Category: US House of Representatives

Ex-Lawmaker Blasts Clinton for Being Too Insular

Former Rep. George Miller chastised the strategy of Hillary Clinton’s campaign, which he called an “insular group of people who were smoking one another’s exhaust,” the East Bay Times reports. Said Miller: “We didn’t go to Wisconsin at the end of the campaign because they’re always with us? Michigan, where you saved the automobile industry and tens of thousands of jobs and you never went to tell them about it?” He added: “You never get to that point in my mind in politics.

paul Ryan Aims to Prevent Dem Gun Control – Sit-In’

House Speaker Paul Ryan is considering a fine of $2,500 for U.S. representatives who use recording devices on the floor of the House. In the event of a violation, the House sergeant-at-arms would hand down the fine, the goal being to take away the social media appeal of a “sit-in” by effectively blocking such a protest from outside view.

Mexican man charged with rape had 19 deportations, removals

This undated photo provided by the Geary County Detention Center In Junction City, Kan., shows Tomas Martinez-Maldonado. Records obtained by The Associated Press show that Martinez-Maldonado a Mexican national accused of raping a 13-year-old girl on a Greyhound bus that traveled through Kansas had been deported 10 times and voluntarily removed from the U.S. nine times since 2003.

House Dems Promise War Over Paul Ryan’s Proposal

U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi applauds as Rep. John Lewis waves to supporters along with House Democrats after their sit-in over gun-control law on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 23, 2016. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas House Democrats are prepared to go to war over a new rule proposed by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, according to a letter sent to Ryan late Thursday.

With Trump’s victory, GOP hopes to overhaul Medicaid

In this Jan. 13, 2015 file photo, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., left, joined by Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., heads to a meeting of House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington. When President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, Republicans will have the opportunity to do something they have desired for years – overhaul Medicaid, the program that provides health care to millions of lower-income and disabled Americans.

Tribes get say in land management but worry about Trump

In this July 14, 2016, file photo, the Newspaper Rock featuring a rock panel of petroglyphs in the Indian Creek Area is shown to U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell near Monticello, Utah, during a tour to meet with proponents and opponents to the “Bears Ears” monument proposal. President Barack Obama on Wednesday, Dec. 28, designated two new national monuments in Utah and Nevada.

Final step of Indiana income tax cut effective Jan. 1

Indiana’s personal income tax rate will drop slightly beginning New Year’s Day, completing a phased-in reduction that’s half of the 10 percent cut Republican Gov. Mike Pence pushed during his 2012 campaign. The state income tax rate will become 3.23 percent for 2017, down from the 3.3 percent rate that’s been in place the past two years.

US considers mining limits in West to save sage grouse

The Obama administration offered five possible plans Thursday for limiting mining on federal land in the West to protect the vulnerable greater sage grouse, but it isn’t saying which it prefers. The options range from banning new mining activity on approximately 15,000 square miles for up to 20 years to imposing no additional restrictions on mine locations.

Kasich Veto Of Energy Bill Sets Up 2017 ‘Lame Duck’ Shooting Season

When Republican State Senator Bill Seitz issued his statement Monday, following Gov. John Kasich’s veto of Ohio House Bill 554, he didn’t spare the rod to spoil this governor. “It is apparent that Governor Kasich cares more about appeasing his coastal elite friends in the renewable energy business than he does about the millions of Ohioans who decisively rejected this ideology when they voted for President-elect Trump,” Seitz, representing Ohio’s 8th District from Cincinnati, said.

Rep. Franks: Sanctions Based on ‘Leaks,’ Obama Acting ‘Hypocritically’

Congress has not yet been briefed on whether Russia interfered in the presidential election, and it’s a “little premature” to come to conclusions that lead to President Barack Obama’s sanctions against Russia, Rep. Trent Franks said Thursday, and he finds it hypocritical that Obama is making such accusations. “What we’re hearing is information leaked from the intelligence community, primarily from the Barack Obama administration apparatus,” the Arizona Republican, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told MSNBC Thursday afternoon.

Republicans ready to take full command in Washington, D.C.

When the new Congress convenes next Tuesday on January 3, 2017, Republicans will still be in control of both the House and Senate, but with their party ready to take over the White House later in the month, it presents a whole new opportunity for GOP lawmakers to push ahead with a raft of policy ideas. “We’re beside ourselves, I really don’t know how else to say it,” said Rep. Markwayne Mullin , who told me it will make a big difference for the GOP Congress to pass legislation, knowing they have an ally in the White House who will sign their bills, not stand in the way.

Republicans ready to take full command in Washington, D.C.

When the new Congress convenes next Tuesday on January 3, 2017, Republicans will still be in control of both the House and Senate, but with their party ready to take over the White House later in the month, it presents a whole new opportunity for GOP lawmakers to push ahead with a raft of policy ideas. “We’re beside ourselves, I really don’t know how else to say it,” said Rep. Markwayne Mullin , who told me it will make a big difference for the GOP Congress to pass legislation, knowing they have an ally in the White House who will sign their bills, not stand in the way.

What were they thinking?

Related stories this week: The year in review CN&R editors take a look back at the biggest stories of 2016. The top 10 stories of 2016 CN&R looks back at the biggest news events of the year.

What were they thinking?

Related stories this week: The year in review CN&R editors take a look back at the biggest stories of 2016. The top 10 stories of 2016 CN&R looks back at the biggest news events of the year.

A Lawmaker’s Tweet Sparks A Rally In Springdale

The Department of Health and Human Services is considering using the Ouachita Job Corps Center as a housing facility for undocumented immigrant children. Three days before Christmas, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton posted this tweet: “HHS should halt any plans to use the Ouachita Job Corps Center facility as an immigration shelter….” which then linked to a longer statement, that U.S. Senator John Boozman and Congressman Bruce Westerman both agreed.

Pressure’s on for Trump to make diplomats safer

Donald Trump hammered rival Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign for failing to prevent the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, when she was secretary of state. Soon he’ll be the one responsible for protecting America’s diplomats, but he’s offered little insight into how he’ll do that.

3 reasons we’ll get tax reform in 2017

“There’s only one missing ingredient for tax reform and that’s going to change in 2017,” House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady 3 reasons we’ll get tax reform in 2017 Trump’s 10 biggest allies in Congress Five questions for Trump’s tax reform MORE said on Tax Day 2016 . On Nov. 8, the chief tax writer in the House got his wish: a president who counts tax reform among his top priorities.

Trump’s path to a diplomatic nightmare

Donald Trump hammered rival Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign for failing to prevent the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, when she was secretary of state. Soon he’ll be the one responsible for protecting America’s diplomats, but he’s offered virtually no insight into how he’ll do that.

Elected officials in Montana condemn attacks on Jews

The two U.S. senators from Montana and its governor were among the state’s top elected officials who condemned attacks on the Jewish community there and across the nation. Sens. Jon Tester, a Democrat, and Steve Daines, a Republican, along with Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, were among those who signed on to an open letter issued Tuesday.

Wisconsin GOP eyes Duffy for senate

Despite rumors that Rep. Sean Duffy might make a run for the U.S. Senate against democratic incumbent Tammy Baldwin in 2018, he said it’s too early to make that decision. “I was just elected to serve another term in the 7th Congressional District,” Duffy said.

U.N. anti-Israel vote finds contempt from both sides of House

The vote by the United Nations Security Council to condemn Israeli settlements on the West Bank has drawn sharp criticism from Brooklyn lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in the House of Representatives. On Dec. 23, the 15-member Security Council voted to adopt a non-binding resolution, stating that establishing Israeli settlements in The U.S., which in the past has blocked anti-Israel resolutions by vetoing them, abstained this time around.