Apr 11 La. congressman says he won’t heed Republicans’ call to resign By Melinda Deslatte and Bill Barrow, Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. -- Louisiana Rep. Vance McAllister stayed out of sight as calls grew louder from Republicans back home demanding the GOP congressman's resignation after he was caught on video kissing the wife of a friend. McAllister's office vowed… Continue reading
Apr 01 New Ryan budget same as the old Ryan budgets By Domenico Montanaro, Terence Burlij House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's budget blueprint for the 2015 fiscal year bears close resemblance to the proposals put forward the last few years by the Wisconsin Republican. Democrats are already sharpening their knives, hoping to use the familiar… Continue reading
Mar 31 GOP gerrymandering creates uphill fight for Dems in the House By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press Republican strategists spent years developing a plan to take advantage of the 2010 census, first by winning state legislatures and then redrawing House districts to tilt the playing field in their favor. Their success was unprecedented. Continue reading
Mar 07 At CPAC, conservatives search for message that wins elections By Rachel Wellford Thousands of Conservative activists gathered just outside of the nation's capital this week to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference, the movement's largest political gathering. The event featured speeches from Republican party leaders, and drew people from Florida to Montana. Continue reading
Mar 05 Former IRS official refuses to testify on agency’s targeting of conservative groups By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press WASHINGTON — The former Internal Revenue Service official at the heart of the agency’s tea party scandal once again refused to answer questions at a congressional hearing Wednesday that quickly devolved into political bickering between Democrats and Republicans. Lois Lerner… Continue reading
Feb 19 Democrats divided on trade negotiations as 2014 elections approach By Tom Raum, Associated Press The Obama administration wants to fast-track trade negotiations that would create the largest free-trade zone in the world. But some Democrat leaders in Congress are working against him, as the politics of approaching midterm elections intrudes on Obama's plans to… Continue reading
Feb 18 Issa calls on GOP to reframe debate against Obama’s ‘imperial presidency’ By Steve Peoples, Associated Press House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chair Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said in rare remarks that he believed President Barack Obama is "dangerous" to American democracy. He called on Republicans to reframe their arguments against Obama's championed government programs, and even… Continue reading
Feb 11 Watch News Wrap: House votes to raise debt ceiling without conditions By PBS News Hour In our news wrap Tuesday, House Republicans gave up the hope of adding a provision on military pensions to legislation that would raise the debt ceiling. Also, in her first public comments as the chair of the Federal Reserve, Janet… Continue watching
Feb 01 Campaign committees collected almost $500 million in 2013 By Associated Press The major campaign committees collected almost a half-billion dollars in 2013 — a year when just two states chose governors, two had special Senate elections and six House districts had unplanned races — and spent most of it. Continue reading
Jan 30 Watch House GOP recasts agenda as White House alternative, not opposition By PBS News Hour While President Obama pushed his economic agenda on the road, House Republicans met to discuss their way forward on major issues, including immigration. Gwen Ifill gets views on the year’s political outlook from Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson, Neera Tanden… Continue watching