Cybersecurity bill features rare collaboration in House; now comes the Senate challenge

House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, is tantalizingly close to achieving one of his top remaining cybersecurity goals - a year before he gives up the gavel after six years of running the committee - in creating a prominent, stand-alone cybersecurity agency within the Department of Homeland Security. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act was unanimously approved by the House on Dec. 11, and the fate of McCaul's bill is now in the hands of Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and other senators, who apparently want to make some last-minute tweaks to the measure.

Rubio’s defection threatens Senate GOP’s edge on tax bill

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio declared Thursday he will vote against the GOP'S sweeping tax package unless negotiators expand its child tax credit, jeopardizing the Republicans' razor-thin margin as they try to muscle the $1.5 trillion bill through Congress next week.

Rubio’s defection threatens Senate GOP’s margin on tax bill

Republican Sen. Marco Rubio declared Thursday he will vote against the GOP'S sweeping tax package unless negotiators expand its child tax credit, jeopardizing the Republicans' razor-thin margin as they try to muscle the $1.5 trillion bill through Congress next week. Rubio wants to increase the portion of the basic $2,000-per-child tax credit that would go to low-income families.

N.J. Republican to lead investigation into lawmaker accused of sexual harassment

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Leonard Lance has been tapped to lead an ethics investigation against a Texas lawmaker accused of sexual harassment. It will be the first such case against a sitting member of Congress since the high-profile resignations of several lawmakers, including U.S. Sen. Al Franken.

Farenthold to retire from House amid harassment accusations

Texas Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold won't seek re-election next year, two Republicans said Thursday, adding his name to the list of lawmakers leaving Congress amid sexual harassment allegations that have cost powerful men their jobs in politics, the arts and other businesses. The accusations against Farenthold first surfaced in 2014, when a former aide sued him over sexually suggestive comments and behavior and said she'd been fired after she complained.

Actually, Barbara Comstock Has Taken the Lead on Combatting Sexual Harassment

Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post took time recently to accuse Republicans, specifically Representative Barbara Comstock of Virginia and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina of sounding "altogether too complacent, too passive and too resigned" to Roy Moore's failed U.S. Senate candidacy. Moore, of course, spent the last several weeks giving conflicting answers in response to accusations that he is a child molester.

Pelosi: Lawmaker accused of sexual misconduct should resign

The top House Democrat says a Nevada lawmaker should resign after a second woman accused him of sexually inappropriate behavior. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi first said Rep. Ruben Kihuen should resign on Dec. 2, one day after a former staffer said Kihuen sexually harassed her during his congressional campaign in 2016.

Support from Conservative Freedom Caucus boosts tax bill

Conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus said Thursday they support a sweeping tax package speeding toward votes in Congress next week, giving GOP leaders a boost from a key faction as they work to deliver a major legislative victory to President Donald Trump. "I think it's going to pass.

Today’s stories

The French interior ministry says a school bus and a regional train have collided in southern France, killing four children and critically injuring seven other people on the bus, the French interior ministry said 21st Century Fox says it will continue to pursue its 11.7 billion takeover offer for Sky, even though Disney is buying a large part of the company owned by Rupert Murdoch's family The developer that wanted to build three new skyscrapers, one 80 stories tall, off the downtown lakefront has been told no by the neighborhood alderman.

Dan Johnson, Kentucky lawmaker accused of sexually assaulting teen, dies in apparent suicide

Dan Johnson , a Republican state lawmaker in Kentucky who defiantly denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl in the basement of his home, died in an apparent suicide, the county coroner said. Bullitt County Coroner Dave Billings said Johnson died of a single gunshot wound Wednesday night on Greenwell Ford Road in Mount Washington, Kentucky.

Blog: Another Disclosure Requirement for California Higher Education…

All higher education institutions in California, with the sole exception of the California Community College system, will beginning with the 2018-19 academic year have to provide their students an annual summary of their total borrowing to pursue their education and an estimate of their future monthly payments. Majority Leader Ian Calderon, the author of the new law , describes its purpose as ensuring that college students have up-to-date information about their cumulative student loan debt when they are making borrowing decisions.