Capitol Briefing

Pelosi: Democrats facing voter 'unrest' over war spending, troop increase

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:32:05 -0500

By Paul Kane House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Tuesday that Democrats face "serious unrest" over President Obama's possible expansion of tens of thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan. Pelosi, in a conference call with economists, said House Democrats were concerned about the "opportunity costs" of steering billions of dollars toward the troop increase as compared to "our ability to invest domestically with an eye to fiscal soundness." The issue of financing new troops in the region has come to a head in advance of Obama's decision, to be announced next week, as a handful of senior Democrats have proposed a "war tax" on the nation's wealthiest wage earners and some corporations to finance the war. Pelosi deflected questions about her support for such a tax-hike proposal but noted that an expensive new war plan faces very high hurdles in her 258-member Democratic caucus, about two-thirds of whom were largely

Hoffman concedes a 2nd time in NY House race

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:23:07 -0500

By Valerie Bauman, Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. -- The Conservative Party candidate conceded a race in upstate New York for a U.S. House of Representatives seat for the second time Tuesday, saying he doesn't have enough votes. Last week, Doug Hoffman withdrew his election night concession to Democratic Rep. Bill Owens, saying the race was close enough that absentee ballots could change the outcome. Now Hoffman says he has no hope of winning. The final ballot count hasn't been tallied and certified, but Owens was leading Hoffman Tuesday by about 3,000 votes out of more than 136,000 cast. Owens was sworn in Nov. 6. Hoffman had started the race as a long-shot candidate labeled as a spoiler. With support from big-name Republicans including Sarah Palin, Hoffman built enough support to force the Republican Party's candidate out of the race. Hoffman sent a letter to supporters last week seeking money for

Landrieu to vote yes on key health-care test

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:11:00 -0500

By Paul Kane Leaving Democrats one vote short with hours to go, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) declared Saturday she will support a key procedural step to advance President Obama's health-care legislation. In a Senate floor speech just before 1 p.m., Landrieu said she would support the motion to begin debate on the legislation, ending days of silence on the matter. Landrieu's move leaves just Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) as the only undeclared Democrat, with the other 59 senators in the Democratic caucus backing this early step. "My vote today to move forward ... should in no way be construed" as signaling what her final vote will be, Landrieu said, indicating that she wants to work on amending the bill on the Senate floor. "Much work needs to be done." Her remarks came during a rare Saturday session during which the Senate launched the final hours of debate leading up to

Senate launches health-care debate, with 2 Democrats undecided

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 10:42:00 -0500

By Paul Kane In a rare Saturday session, the Senate launched the final hours of debate leading up to a nighttime vote that serves as a critical early test for President Obama's health-care proposal. Shaping up as a cliffhanger, all but two of the 60 senators in the Democratic caucus have indicated their support for this early vote, which, if successful, serves to begin what will likely be several weeks of debate on dozens of amendments before a possible final vote before Christmas. Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) needs the last two holdouts - Sens. Mary Landrieu (La.) and Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) - to reach the 60-vote threshold to move forward with the debate. No Republican senator is expected to vote for this initial step. In line with Lincoln's demand for a 72-hour period to read the legislation, the key vote is expected at 8 p.m. Saturday, exactly 72

Neb.'s Nelson agrees to health debate, leaving two senators undecided

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:25:46 -0500

By Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, one of three centrist Democrats who had been undecided on Saturday's motion to debate the Senate health-care bill, has announced he will vote to bring the measure to the floor. "The Senate should start trying to fix a health care system that costs too much and delivers too little for Nebraskans," Nelson said in a statement. But Nelson cautioned that he remains unsatisfied with portions of the $848 billion legislation, including language aimed at restricting federal funds from covering abortions. His vote Saturday "is not for or against the new Senate health care bill released Wednesday," he said. "It is only to begin debate and an opportunity to make improvements. If you don't like a bill, why block your own opportunity to amend it?" Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), another uncommitted moderate, said she would make her decision Saturday morning,

Senate ethics committee admonishes Burris

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:30:01 -0500

Updated 12:33 p.m. By Paul Kane Sen. Roland W. Burris (D-Ill.) has been admonished by the Senate ethics committee for his public comments about his appointment last December to the body. In a three-page "public letter of qualified admonition" issued Friday, the committee formally reprimanded Burris for statements -- some made under oath to an Illinois legislative committee -- in which he denied trying to raise any campaign contributions for indicted former governor Rod Blagojevich for his political committees. (Here is a PDF of the letter.) Several weeks after making those statements, and after being sworn in to the Senate, Burris amended his testimony to say that he had discussed trying to gather donations for Blagojevich. Blagojevich appointed Burris to the Senate after being arrested by the FBI for allegedly trying to sell the seat, once held by President Obama, to the highest bidder. Fearful of seating anyone selected by

Calling election stolen, Hoffman rescinds concession in New York

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:26:51 -0500

Doug Hoffman's campaign site on Nov. 19, 2009. (Screencapture by John Amick/The Washington Post) Updated 7:14 p.m. By Garance Franke-Ruta For the second time this week, Conservative Party congressional candidate Douglas L. Hoffman sought to rescind his concession in the special election in New York's 23rd district, telling supporters that new information showing the results of the election closer than believed on election night made him reevaluate his decision to throw in the towel. "I am therefore revoking my statement of concession," he wrote in a fundraising letter titled "Stop Another Stolen Election!" and posted on his Web site Wednesday night. "ACORN and the unions did their best to try and sway the results to Obamacare supporter Bill Owens," he told supporters, naming the Democrat who claimed victory and has been seated in the House of Representatives, though election results will not be certified until next month. "I was forced

Fort Hood hearing focuses on homegrown threats, 'political correctness'

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:13:11 -0500

Updated 12:57 p.m. By Ben Pershing A Senate committee on Thursday morning launched the first public hearing into the Fort Hood shooting attack with a focus on the perils of homegrown extremism and "political correctness" and with partial cooperation from the Obama administration. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hopes to probe what the government knew about shooting suspect Army Maj. Nidal Hasan and whether federal agencies either missed key warning signs or failed to communicate with each other before the attack. The panel heard from five experts on terrorism and homeland security. Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) started the hearing by calling the investigation "as serious as any this committee has even undertaken." "The purpose of our investigation is to determine whether that attack could have been prevented, whether the federal agencies and employees involved missed signals or failed to connect the dots in a way that

Today on the Hill

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:24:03 -0500

The Senate convenes at 9:30 a.m. ET. Following morning business, the Senate will resume post-cloture debate on the nomination of David Hamilton to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit. The Senate also reached an agreement to consider S.1963, Veterans Health Care initiatives bill upon disposition of the Hamilton nomination. Under the agreement, the only amendment in order is the Coburn amendment regarding funding priorities. There will be 30 minutes of general debate on the bill and 3 hours for debate on the amendment. The House meets at 10:00 for legislative business. The House will consider, among other legislation, H.R. 1842, Expanding Entrepreneurship Act of 2009. For a list of Congressional committee hearings, visit Today in Congress. Visit our Votes Database for more information on the House and Senate, including vote history and member profiles.

House shifts focus to 'jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs'

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:47:36 -0500

By Lori Montgomery Now that they've finished their health-care bill, House leaders are turning their attention to the soaring unemployment rate. But don't look for another economic stimulus package. This time, House leaders said, they want to put together a "jobs bill." "It's jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs," Rep. John B. Larson (D-Conn.), the No. 4 Democrat in the House, said shortly before convening a meeting of rank-and-file lawmakers late Monday. "Members of this caucus feel ... that a jobless recovery is just simply unacceptable to us. This caucus, every caucus going forward, is going to be focused on putting Americans back to work." Senior Democratic aides said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who banished the term "stimulus" two weeks ago, has yet to decide what form such a measure would take. But a number of possibilities are under discussion beyond the safety-net measures so far approved by Congress, including an

Today on the Hill

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:23:36 -0500

The Senate convenes at 10:00 a.m. ET. Following morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of H.R. 3082, Military Construction/VA Appropriations. The Senate will recess from 12:30 until 2:15 to allow for the weekly caucus luncheons. At 2:15, the Senate will proceed to vote in relation to the Inhofe amendment #2774 (Guantanamo) to be followed by a vote on passage of H.R. 3082, as amended. Upon disposition of H.R. 3082, there will be up to 60 minutes for debate with respect to the nomination of David Hamilton to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit. Upon the use or yielding back of time, the Senate will proceed to a cloture vote on the nomination. The House will begin legislative business at noon. On the schedule: A possible consideration of a motion to go to conference on H.R. 2847, the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010. For

White House won't provide witnesses for Fort Hood hearing

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:03:12 -0500

By Ben Pershing The first public congressional hearing on the Fort Hood attack will not include testimony from any current federal law enforcement, military or intelligence officials because the Obama administration "declined to provide any" such witnesses, according to a Senate committee source. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has released the witness list for its hearing "The Fort Hood Attack: A Preliminary Assessment," scheduled for Thursday at 10 a.m. ET. The list includes four experts on terrorism and intelligence issues: retired Gen. Jack Keane, the former U.S. Army vice chief of staff; Brian Jenkins, a senior advisor at the Rand Corp.; Mitchell Silber, the director of analysis for the New York City Police Department's Intelligence Division; and Juan Zarate, a senior advisor for the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. But the list does not include anyone actively involved in investigating the

Abortion-rights backers join health-care ad fray

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:45:26 -0500

By Ben Pershing Supporters of abortion rights have jumped into the advertising fray over health-care legislation, hoping to sway the Senate as that chamber inches toward voting on a reform bill. The Center for Reproductive Rights is launching a television ad Tuesday aimed at convincing Congress not to enact the restrictive abortion language contained in the health-care bill passed by the House. The spot will run for a week on Washington, D.C., cable stations and on selected Web sites. The group did not disclose the size of the ad buy. The spot features a stand-up comedian at a club making "a health-care reform joke" about health insurance plans covering breast implants and plastic surgery, but not abortions. No one in the audience laughs. "Don't let Congress ban abortion coverage millions of women already have," the ad's announcer says at the end. The bill passed by the House Nov. 7

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Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:45:26 -0500

Reid Looking at Medicare Tax Hike on Well-to-Do Couples

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:53:00 -0500

By Lori Montgomery Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid, days away from unveiling the Senate's version of health reform legislation, is considering a new tax on families earning more than $250,000 a year to help finance the package, Democrats said Thursday. Reid (D-Nev.) is looking at raising the Medicare payroll tax, currently set at 1.45 percent, on such high earners, according to two Senate Democratic sources who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss private negotiations. Another option is applying the Medicare tax for the first time to capital gains income, White House budget director Peter Orszag said Thursday at a Washington summit organized by a corporate affiliate of Bloomberg News. Either option would generate more cash, which would allow Reid to increase subsidies in the Senate's package to help low- and middle-income people purchase health insurance. Alternatively, the money could be used to scale back a tax

Result of N.Y. special election still unofficial, even with one candidate now in Congress

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:45:28 -0500

By Garance Franke-Ruta More than a week after a special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District, Democrat Bill Owens has already been sworn into Congress and has already cast a critical vote in helping the House pass the health-care reform bill. Nevertheless, that Upstate New York race may yet hold one final twist. According to Mark Weiner of The Post-Standard -- your source for all news on Syracuse and Central New York -- the race still has not been certified and Owens's margin of victory over Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman has narrowed sufficiently that absentee ballots will determine whether the announced result stands up. [John Conklin, communications director for the state Board of Elections] said the state sent a letter to the House Clerk last week explaining that no winner had been determined in the 23rd District, and therefore the state had not certified the election. But the