Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart Takes On Latest Republican Freak-Out

David Taintor | January 6, 2012, 10:03AM

Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart on Thursday took on the latest Republican freak-out: President Obama's "unprecedented" power grab. What could that possibly be?

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Terrorism

Obama Signs Defense Bill With "Serious Reservations"

Kyle Leighton | December 31, 2011, 4:37PM

President Barack Obama

President Obama signed a controversial defense funding bill sent to him by Congress, but did so with "reservations," and in a signing statement gave his administration broad latitude to interpret and apply the bill as he sees fit.

"Moving forward, my administration will interpret and implement the provisions described below in a manner that best preserves the flexibility on which our safety depends and upholds the values on which this country was founded," Obama wrote.

The bill provides funding for the armed services, intelligence services and other components of the federal government devoted to national security. It also adds further financial sanctions on Iran. The President's issue with the bill is not a fight over funding, but with policy issues contained within the legislation, specifically the treatment of terror suspects, and the authority it sought to remove from the executive.

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Eric Cantor

Eric Cantor Called For 'A Steve Jobs Plan' In Prepared Remarks For Cancelled Speech

Benjy Sarlin | October 21, 2011, 3:20PM

Eric Cantor may have cancelled Friday's lecture on income inequality out of concerns protestors would dominate the audience, but you can still read his prepared remarks, in which the congressman calls on students to take after Steve Jobs and start their own business. The GOP Majority Leader's office sent the complete speech to The Daily Pennsylvanian, UPenn's campus newspaper.

"There is a ladder of success in America," Cantor wrote. "However, it is a ladder built not by Washington, but by hard work, responsibility and the initiative of the people of our country."

He offered his own family as an example, recounting how his grandmother managed to make a life in America after emigrating from Eastern Europe even though "in the early 20th century, the South wasn't often the most accepting place for a young Jewish woman."

Cantor addressed the growing debate over whether the rich are paying their fair share, but never mentioned the growing Occupy Wall Street movement, whose planned protests led to his speech's cancellation, by name.

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Eric Cantor

Eric Cantor Cancels Income Inequality Speech After Protests Planned

Benjy Sarlin | October 21, 2011, 1:41PM

Updated at 3:44 PM ET

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) is abruptly pulling out of a scheduled Friday lecture on income equality at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Business School, according to the school.

Progressive and labor groups, including Occupy Philadelphia, MoveOn.org, the local AFL-CIO, and AFSCME, were planning a protest for the event. According to Cantor's office, the Congressman pulled out after discovering that the speech would be open to the public and seeing reports that the university was allowing protestors to gather on the campus itself.

"The Office of the Majority Leader was informed last night by Capitol Police that the University of Pennsylvania was unable to ensure that the attendance policy previously agreed to could be met," Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring said in an e-mailed statement. "Wharton is a educational leader in innovation and entrepreneurship, and the Majority Leader appreciated the invitation to speak with the students, faculty, alumni, and other members of the UPENN community."

In a statement, the school denied that they had changed their rules as to who could attend the event in advance of the speech.

"The Wharton speaker series is typically open to the general public, and that is how the event with Majority Leader Cantor was billed," the university said. "We very much regret if there was any misunderstanding with the Majority Leader's office on the staging of his presentation."

Mike Morrill, executive director of Keystone Progress, which is organizing the protests, told TPM that the demonstration will continue regardless of whether or not Cantor proceeds with the speech.

"If he has in fact cancelled it says he's willing to meet with the elites but not willing to meet with the 99%," he said. "As soon as he hears there's going to be everyday folks outside...he decides to cancel."

A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, Mark Nicastre, condemned Cantor's decision to cancel the speech as well.

"Majority Leader Eric Cantor canceled his speech on income inequality after his office learned the speech was open to the public," he said in a statement. "It shows that Eric Cantor is afraid to face the public with his policies because he knows that Republicans are wrong on the middle class. Republican policies, driven by the Tea Party, have favored corporate special interests over the middle class - from the Republican plan to end Medicare as we know it to Republican opposition to investments in middle class families."

Lightsquared

White House: We Gave Lightsquared Plenty Of Grief Over GPS

Benjy Sarlin | September 22, 2011, 6:25AM

The White House

The White House is pushing back against charges of favoritism towards a telecom firm Lightsquared, citing numerous instances in which administration officials have raised concerns about its plan to create a new wireless broadband network.

Lightsquared is trying to secure permission from the FCC to launch its new network, but there are concerns that its proposal would interfere with civilian and military GPS devices. The Daily Beast's Eli Lake reported recently that two government officials, including an Air Force General, William Shelton, were asked by the White House to alter their testimony to include a suggestion that the Pentagon could address these concerns with 90 days of testing. OMB routinely reviews officials' statements, so there's nothing inherently wrong in providing suggestions as a general matter, but both ended up rejecting the language and Shelton reportedly felt pressured. Now House Republicans are demanding an investigation into whether donations to Democrats from Lightsquared CEO Philip Falcone and his wife influenced the administration's behavior.

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Jobs

GOP Jobs Plan: More Snakes?

Benjy Sarlin | September 14, 2011, 4:34PM

EcoPrint / Shutterstock

Democrats and Republicans all agree that the nation needs to move on a jobs agenda. And Republicans have a new plan: unleash the reins of snake commerce.

GOP members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee today called attention to a proposed regulation that would restrict the transportation and importation of nine types of snakes, including the Burmese Python.

In a new report entitled "Broken Government: How the Administrative State has Broken President Obama's Promise of Regulatory Reform," GOP members cited the proposed snake ban as one of seven examples of red tape choking off job growth in an already ailing economy.

One witness invited to testify, snake breeder David Barke, told lawmakers that the rules "threatens as many as a million law-abiding American citizens and their families with the penalty of a felony conviction for pursuing their livelihoods, for pursuing their hobby, or for simply moving with their pet to new state."

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Barack Obama

Obama To Congress: 'It's Time For Us To Meet Our Responsibilities'

Susan Crabtree | September 8, 2011, 7:06PM

President Obama delivered a determined address to a joint session of Congress Thursday evening, laying out a bold, nearly half-trillion-dollar plan aimed at creating jobs and giving the weak economic recovery a shot in the arm.

The President's job proposal is wide-ranging, including extensions of unemployment benefits and payroll tax cuts, tax incentives for hiring veterans, as well as funds to rehire teachers, renovate schools, fix roads and rehabilitate neighborhoods suffering from the blight of abandoned homes and buildings, fallout from the housing crisis.

Yet, one of the most serious hurdles the nation and Washington must overcome in jumpstarting the economy, Obama said, is deciding to put country ahead of politics and stop the finger-pointing and inside-the-beltway gamesmanship.

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Barack Obama

Obama's Job Package To Top $350B

Susan Crabtree | September 8, 2011, 5:37PM

President Barack Obama

Details and excerpts of President Obama's plan to spur job creation and economic growth began to leak out Thursday evening ahead of Obama's joint address to Congress scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

"The people of this country work hard to meet their responsibilities," Obama plans to say, according to brief excerpts of the speech. "The question tonight is whether we'll meet ours. The question is whether, in the face of an ongoing national crisis, we can stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy; whether we can restore some of the fairness and security that has defined this nation since our beginning."

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Barack Obama

Obama Pledges to Protect Collective Bargaining While Creating Jobs

Susan Crabtree | September 5, 2011, 2:19AM

President Obama addresses a Labor Day rally in Detroit, MI, September 5, 2011.

President Obama previewed his proposals for job creation and reviving the economy to thousands of supportive union members in Detroit on Labor Day.

The speech at a rally sponsored by the Metropolitan Detroit AFL-CIO came just days before Obama's Thursday evening address before a joint session of Congress where he plans to oultine specific proposals to spur job creation and resuscitate the economy.

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Barack Obama

Obama To Congress: I've Been Working, Why Don't You Try (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | June 29, 2011, 1:18PM

President Obama got a little testy with Congress during Wednesday's nationally-televised press conference in the East Room of the White House.

Congressional Republicans recently forced Obama to take a direct hand in the debt limit negotiations he had put Vice President Biden in charge of. Asked about the risks of default and the August deadline for those talks, Obama got testy with Congressional foot-dragging on getting a debt deal done.

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Anthony Weiner

Anthony Weiner Sends Formal Resignation Letter

Benjy Sarlin | June 20, 2011, 4:25PM

Anthony Weiner

It's official: after declaring his intention to step down from Congress last week, Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) will officially resign his office Tuesday on midnight.

He announced his intentions on Monday in a brief letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo, Speaker John Boehner, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi:

I hereby resign as the Member of the House of Representatives for New York's Ninth Congressional District effective at midnight, Tuesday, June 21, 2011. It has been an honor to serve the people of Queens and Brooklyn

Sincerely,

Anthony. D. Weiner
Member of Congress

The future of Weiner's district is unclear. While the governor is likely to call a special election to find a replacement, it's possible the seat will be lost entirely to redistricting, leaving whoever wins as a brief caretaker.

Medicare/Medicaid

Debt Deal Could Spare Middle and Upper Class Seniors, But Slam The Poor

Benjy Sarlin | June 20, 2011, 5:45AM

Medicaid recipients receive treatment

Democrats' rallying cry on deficit talks couldn't be clearer: It's the elderly, stupid.

That means Medicare benefits are off-limits, a message that Democrats plan to reinforce at every opportunity through November 2012. With Republicans demanding trillions in cuts to raise the debt limit, however, savings are going to have to come from somewhere. The most logical option left is Medicaid, a favorite conservative target whose low-income recipients carry little clout in Washington compared to Medicare's elderly and middle-class base.

But there is one politically tricky obstacle to cutting Medicaid: Millions of seniors -- including those who consider themselves middle class -- rely on Medicaid cover their nursing home care, meaning any raid on its funding could complicate Democrats' image a the tireless champion of retirees across the land.

Mindful of the problem, aides and lawmakers are floating a way forward: shielding the elderly from Medicaid cuts while slashing aid to poor and uninsured Americans.

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Debt ceiling

Experts: Even Brief Default Could Blow Up The Economy

Benjy Sarlin | June 9, 2011, 2:12PM

Concerned by the recent rhetoric surrounding the debt limit debate, Fitch recently put out a memo threatening to downgrade the US government's credit rating if Congress failed to reach a deal by August. Other ratings agencies have issued similarly dire warnings, including Moody's, who said they may strip the US of its prized AAA bond rating by mid-July if the standoff hasn't been resolved.

But ratings alone are relatively abstract. The real question is exactly how bad things would get in such a scenario. Experts who talked to TPM are divided on how much damage would remain after a brief default, but many are concerned that serious long-term consequences in the bond market are possible. If investors becomes spooked, they warn, interest rates on Treasury bonds could spike, a result that would drive up the deficit even further and put pressure on an already depressed housing market.

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Libya

House Rebukes Obama's Handling Of Libya

Benjy Sarlin | June 3, 2011, 4:34PM

The House issued a rebuke to President Obama over his handling of the Libya conflict, passing a Republican resolution with bipartisan support demanding he justify US intervention and provide Congress with more information. A tougher resolution from Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) that would have called on US to withdraw entirely failed in a separate vote.

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112th Congress

House GOP Blocks Vote On Oil Subsidies

Benjy Sarlin | May 5, 2011, 4:45PM

An oil rig at Port Arthur, TX

Republicans on Thursday unanimously voted down a motion from Democrats to consider legislation to end subsidies to oil companies.

Democrats sought to attach the measure, which failed in a 241-171 vote that saw seven Democrats defect, to a bill that would allow oil companies to more easily secure drilling permits off the Gulf Coast. That bill passed.

Speaker Boehner suggested in an interview with ABC last month that he was open to ending oil subsidies, prompting calls from the White House on down to quickly pass legislation doing so.

A number of Republicans, such as Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), have suggested that oil subsidies and other corporate tax breaks could be eliminated as part of a broader tax reform package but there has been less appetite for a standalone bill targeting the industry.

Oil

John Boehner: GOP Could Ditch Oil Subsidies

Benjy Sarlin | April 25, 2011, 6:10PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) told ABC News on Monday that he would be open to reevaluating billions of dollars in subsidies to oil companies that have enjoyed strong support from the GOP.

"It's certainly something we should be looking at," Boehner said. "We're in a time when the federal government's short on revenues. They ought to be paying their fair share."

Democrats have relentlessly attacked Republicans in recent months for supporting tax breaks and subsidies aimed at oil companies, contrasting the corporate aid with GOP proposals to drastically reduce long-term funding for Medicare and Medicaid. Boehner's small -- but significant -- step back from the traditional Republican position is a clear indicator that he senses political vulnerability as gas prices soar.

In addition to his new line on subsidies, Boehner went out of his way to take a dig at oil companies' profits in the interview.

"Everybody wants to go after the oil companies and, frankly, they've got some part of this to blame," he said, discussing rising oil prices.

Boehner cautioned that he wasn't ready to abandon support for subsidies just yet, saying he wanted to make sure he first studied "what impact this is going have on job creation here in America."

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112th Congress

Scott Brown Praises Paul Ryan, Says "Everything is on the Table" for Medicare

Benjy Sarlin | April 5, 2011, 1:53PM

Senator Scott Brown (R-MA)

House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan's plan to end Medicare and Medicaid as we know them might be slow to accrue supporters within his own party, but Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), a key swing vote in the Senate, indicated to TPM on Tuesday he was at least open to the idea.

"Listen, everything is on the table right now and the people understand everything is on the table," he said when asked by TPM if he had concerns about privatizing and cutting Medicare. "People recognize that we're in a financial emergency and as a result of that to say that something is not on the table is really irresponsible and I'm thankful that we have people like Congressman Ryan working and coming up with a plan."

Nonetheless, Brown suggested Republican leaders' efforts would be better spent preventing a government shutdown this week than debating new entitlement plans.

"I'm appreciative that they're finally taking debt and deficit and spending cuts seriously, but let's be real: we should be focusing on funding the government," he said. "It's great to talk about next year, but how about this week? How about getting the leadership together and just focusing on funding the government and doing what the American people expect us to do?"

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Barack Obama

Obama Steps Up Role In Endgame Budget Talks

Susan Crabtree | April 4, 2011, 4:29PM

President Barack Obama

With the threat of a government shutdown looming if Republicans and Democrats don't agree on spending cuts by the end of the week, President Obama is stepping up his role in last-minute budget negotiations and plans to meet with Congressional leaders over lunch Tuesday.

Democratic senators and Vice President Joe Biden have said both sides have agreed to a rough spending-cut figure of $33 billion but are still haggling over whether to include several policy riders on the bill and exactly where to focus some $6 to $8 billion of the spending cuts.

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112th Congress

House Defeats Effort to Remove Anti-Union Provisions of FAA Bill

Benjy Sarlin | April 1, 2011, 1:57PM

The House GOP weathered a number of defections to defeat attempts to remove anti-labor language from a bill reauthorizing the FAA on Friday.

An amendment to strip the bill of a provision requiring workers to be present for votes on union representation or be counted as a "no" vote failed 220-206, with 16 Republicans joining Democrats on the losing side of the ledger. Labor groups had been hoping a larger defection might materialize, allowing them to carry the vote.

Despite their success in preserving the measure, House Republicans still have to get past President Obama and the Democratic Senate. The White House has stated that it will veto any FAA bill that includes the provision.

Newt Gingrich

Newt Tells Freshman To Make Democrats Own Compromise

Benjy Sarlin | March 31, 2011, 10:09AM

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA)

Newt Gingrich met with Republican freshmen Thursday morning, imparting his advice to a group that Speaker Boehner has struggled at times to hold onto during negotiations over funding the government.

Gingrich told reporters afterwards that news reported in TPM and other outlets of a breakthrough in negotiations was premature based on his own discussions with Republican leaders. Nonetheless, much of his advice for freshmen appeared to be on how to spin such a deal after it's announced.

"We talked about how really important it was to communicate to our activists and our base that the primary problem is the 23 Democratic Senators who are up for re-election and the Democratic President in the White House," he told reporters after the meeting. "We need to make sure people understand that the House Republicans are really committed to very dramatic changes, but are limited by the reality and the Constitution."

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Tea Party

GOP Freshmen Push Back Against Blame For Shutdown

Benjy Sarlin | March 30, 2011, 2:01PM

With Democratic leaders aggressively assigning blame to the Tea Party for derailing funding talks, a group of freshman Republicans held a press conference on Wednesday to assert instead that the impasse was instead the fault of Senate Democrats.

Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY), claimed yesterday that they were close to a deal with House Republicans and the White House before conservative rank-and-file Republicans revolted, but the group of about half a dozen Republicans insisted they were on the same page as House Republican leaders.

"They want to frame the debate as one within the Republican caucus, but the American people are not buying it," Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) said. "The fight is between Republicans who want to cut Washington spending and Democrats who want to defend it."

The group blamed Reid for the looming shutdown, taping a letter from 30 freshmen Members onto the door of the Senate in a manila envelope addressed to "MR. REID" in Sharpie that called on Democrats to jump start negotiations by passing their own CR. The Senate rejected the House's long-term continuing resolution earlier this month but has not passed its own long-term bill funding the government.

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Libya

Obama: 'I Refused' To Let A Massacre Happen In Libya

Susan Crabtree | March 28, 2011, 8:47PM

President Barack Obama

President Obama delivered a clear and determined defense of his decision to authorize U.S. military-led air strikes in Libya, stressing that he could not allow an impending massacre in the country to occur but would not use military might to topple Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi from power.

The speech, delivered Monday night, was cloaked in broad statements about American values and U.S. responsibilities to support democratic movements against brutal and repressive regimes.

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Social Security

Senate Democrats Rally Against Social Security Cuts

Benjy Sarlin | March 28, 2011, 4:33PM

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)

With Republicans pledging to address entitlement spending this year, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) led a rally in the Capitol on Monday to protest any cuts to Social Security.

While Republican budget cuts currently under negotiation would not touch benefits, Reid warned that a proposed $1.7 billion cut to the Social Security Administration would "really hurt Social Security" by reducing the program's ability to quickly process claims.

"They cut the money to allow Social Security to be funded properly so they can administer the programs they need," Reid said.

Attendees chanted "Raise the cap!" in response to a call by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) to fund the program by expanding taxes to higher incomes rather than lowering benefits or raising the retirement age.

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112th Congress

Harry Reid: Tea Party Has Derailed Budget Negotiations

Benjy Sarlin | March 28, 2011, 2:44PM

Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) accused Tea Party lawmakers of destroying budget negotiations with Republicans on Monday, demanding the GOP sort out its internal disputes before further talks proceed.

"We've tried to wait patiently for them to do that, but our patience and the American people's patience is wearing very thin," Reid said in a speech on the Senate floor.

According to Reid, "the biggest gap in this negotiation isn't between Republicans and Democrats - it's between Republicans and Republicans" and it needs to be resolved in order to finalize a deal.

"Democrats are ready to negotiate and to legislate," he said, but complainted that "we cant negotiate with ourselves and we can't do it through the media."

In a statement released earlier in the day, Reid warned that "Tea Party Republicans are scrapping all the progress we have made and threatening to shut down the government if they do not get all of their extreme demands."'

As TPM reported today, Republicans are expected to reject a White House proposal to cut the budget by $30 billion below current spending levels, a number that would be roughly in line with early proposals by GOP leaders before they moved the goalposts in response to complaints from the conservative wing of the party. A subsequent revolt by conservative Republicans in the House against the most recent bill to temporarily fund the government forced Speaker John Boehner to rely on Democratic votes to ensure its passage. The government will shut down if the two sides can't negotiate another funding bill by April 8.

"Apparently these extremists would rather shut down the government and risk sending our economy back into a recession than work with Democrats or even their own leadership to find a responsible compromise, " Reid said. "For the sake of our economy, it's time for mainstream Republicans to stand up to the Tea Party and rejoin Democrats at the table to negotiate a responsible solution that cuts spending while protecting jobs."

Libya

Key House Republican Pulls a Newt on Libya?

Benjy Sarlin | March 24, 2011, 4:34PM

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)

Hillary Clinton has been invited to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Libya next week, and if committee Chair Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's (R-FL) recent statements are to be believed, she'll face some tough questions as to just why America has taken military action. But it's unclear just what Ros-Lehtinen's own position on Libya is, having apparently shifted between support and opposition for military operations over the last month.

Before President Obama joined an international effort to defend Libyan rebels under siege with air attacks on Qaddafi's forces, Ros-Lehtinen unambiguously backed a no-fly zone with a specific mission of protecting Libyan civilians under attack by the regime.

In a February 26 press release, she said that "stronger penalties must be imposed in order to hold the regime accountable for its heinous crimes, and to prevent further violence against the Libyan people. Additional U.S. and international measures should include the establishment and enforcement of a no-fly zone, a comprehensive arms embargo, a travel ban on regime officials, immediate suspension of all contracts and assistance which benefit the regime, and the imposition of restrictions on foreign investment in Libya, including in Libya's oil sector."

Ros-Lehtinen's support for a no-fly zone likely came as little surprise given her harsh condemnation of Qaddafi only days earlier.

"The United States and all responsible nations should show in both word and deed that we condemn the Libyan regime's actions and that we will not tolerate such blatant disregard for human life and basic freedoms," she said in a statement on February 22.

But her position appeared to shift dramatically over the ensuing days, and by the time the UN passed a no-fly zone resolution, she was arguing that "the case has not been made for me to be satisfied that this is the right move for the United States at this time," according to an interview with CBS Miami on March 19, the same day military action against the Qaddafi regime began.

"The bottom line is you've gotta ask what is the U.S. security interest in getting involved in Libya," Ros-Lehtinen said in that interview. "Because there's unrest everywhere. Today its Libya, tomorrow it will be somewhere else."

She cited the cost of the war as another major concern, saying that "we are broke and that's why we have to be selective about where we're going and why we're going."

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Darrell Issa

Oversight Committee Vet: Issa Could Be Headed For Trouble

Benjy Sarlin | March 21, 2011, 9:58AM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and David Bossie

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has been off to a shaky start since taking over as chairman of the House Oversight Committee this year, firing his prominent spokesman Kurt Bardella this month after he was revealed to have shared reporters' emails with a New York Times reporter working on a book.

In his first interview since losing his job, Bardella told the North County Times over the weekend that he had made mistakes. "I did lose my way a little bit," Bardella said. "Certainly, in this case, what I did left people in the reporting community uncomfortable."

David Bossie has plenty of sympathy for Bardella after having held a similar position as an aide to then-chairman Dan Burton (R-IN) during the committee's years-long investigations into President Clinton back in the '90s. Known for his friendliness with the press, Bossie says he had the same role as Bardella in all but title in addition to his duties as an investigator. Like Bardella, Bossie left his position in scandal, resigning after tapes of interviews conducted as part of Burton's Whitewater investigation were found to have been selectively edited to incriminate the Clintons.

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112th Congress

House Passes Bill To Block Funds to NPR

Benjy Sarlin | March 17, 2011, 4:38PM

The House approved a bill Thursday that would bock federal funding to NPR and affiliate stations, drawing the condemnation of the White House, which opposed the legislation.

The final tally was 228-192, largely on party lines. No Democrats voted for it while seven Republicans voted against it. In speeches ahead of the vote, a number of Democrats mocked Republicans for targeting the public broadcaster with a variety of puns based on popular NPR programs.

The bill is considered dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled Senate, but was fast-tracked in the House via an emergency meeting of the Rules Committee yesterday. A number of Democrats, such as Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), objected to the process, arguing that such urgency was unseemly in the wake of ongoing disasters abroad and a looming government shutdown.

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NPR

Dems Fundraise Off GOP's Emergency NPR Hearing

Benjy Sarlin | March 16, 2011, 6:08PM

Responding to a new attempt by House GOP lawmakers to defund NPR, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is hitting up supporters for cash to help defend the embattled public broadcaster.

"We can't let this outrage go unchallenged," a fundraising e-mail from DCCC chair Steve Israel on Wednesday read. "Republicans and their right-wing media backers are gearing up for this fight, and they're hoping grassroots Democrats like you will stay on the sidelines."

The House Rules Committee held an emergency hearing the same day on a bill that would prohibit any federal funding from going to NPR, with a vote expected in Congress on Thursday.

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Nuclear Energy

Could House Restore Nuclear Safety Funding?

Benjy Sarlin | March 16, 2011, 10:02AM

U.S. lawmakers are sticking to their past support for nuclear power despite Japan's ongoing crisis, but the disaster could put the kibosh on proposed funding cuts to nuclear safety programs in America.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) has called on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he is the ranking minority member, to hold hearings on nuclear safety, and National Journal quotes a Republican aide saying that there will a budget hearing on the issue in the wake of Japan. The Republicans' proposed bill funding the government through September would cut $131 million from the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy as well as $1.4 billion from emergency response training to chemical and radioactive disasters.

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NPR

House GOP Declares Emergency ... Over NPR Funding

Benjy Sarlin | March 15, 2011, 3:39PM

House Republicans are holding an emergency meeting of the Rules Committee on Wednesday to take up legislation that would block funding to NPR in the wake of James O'Keefe's hidden camera prank on the news organization.

The meeting will examine HR 1076, introduced by Republican congressman and NPR-nemesis Doug Lamborn of Colorado, which would bar the government from providing any funding to NPR and its affiliate stations. The House already passed an amendment to its Continuing Resolution funding the government through September that would defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports both NPR and PBS, but the Senate defeated the bill and the latest CR only cuts $50 million in scheduled increases to NPR's funding that the White House had already cut from its own budget proposal.

According to a spokeswoman for Lamborn, Catherine Mortensen, the new standalone bill would only target NPR. And unlike the CR amendment would have defunded public broadcasting through the 2011 fiscal year, HR 1076 would permanently prohibit all federal funding to NPR and affiliate stations.

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112th Congress

GOP Senators Blocking New Commerce Secretary Until Trade Deals Go Through

Benjy Sarlin | March 14, 2011, 5:25PM

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) took a break from budget negotiations this week to get back to one of the Senate GOP's most popular pastimes: blocking presidential nominees. McConnell, along with Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), pledged in a letter on Monday to hold up any White House nominee to replace departing Commerce Secretary Gary Locke as well as nominees for any other trade-related posts until trade agreements with Colombia and Panama clear the Senate.

"My fear is in trying to appease their union allies the administration is willing to let these two agreements wither on the vine," Hatch said at a press conference Monday announcing the move. "We are here today to make clear that we will not allow that to happen."

President Obama said that the agreements were a priority in his State of the Union this year, but U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said last month that the Latin American countries must address their own outstanding labor issues, including accusations of violence against labor leaders in Colombia, before a final deal is reached.

112th Congress

Sen. Kirk: Expand Radicalization Hearings to Other Groups

Benjy Sarlin | March 9, 2011, 5:13PM

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL)

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) is uncomfortable with singling out Muslims in House inquiries into radicalization, telling reporters that he favors a broader look at terrorism. Rep. Pete King (R-NY) is set to conduct hearings on Islamic radicalization Thursday amidst complaints from critics that that they'll be used to stigmatize Muslim Americans.

"I mean I think it's a problem obviously that radical Islam led to the murder of 3,000 Americans, so it was the greatest mass murder ring in the history of our country," Kirk told reporters Tuesday. "But it would probably be pretty good for Pete to follow up with hearings on radicals of all types and then certainly including radical Islam in his purview."

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) defended the hearings Tuesday, telling reporters in a briefing that King had "credibility" on the issue and that "we are threatened by the spread of radical Islam."

112th Congress

Poll: Plurality Of David Wu's District Wants Him Gone

Benjy Sarlin | March 9, 2011, 8:17AM

Rep. David Wu (D-OR)

After a string of incidents of erratic behavior in recent months, Rep. David Wu (D-OR) appears to be in serious trouble with his constituents, a plurality of whom want him to resign, a new poll shows.

According to the SurveyUSA poll of 605 voters, 46 percent of those questioned said Wu should resign versus 42 percent who believe he should remain in office. Those calling on him to leave office include 72 percent of Republicans, 26 percent of Democrats, and 45 percent of independents. Wu also fares poorly in a hypothetical matchup with Republican Rob Cornilles, whom Wu defeated in 2010. If a rematch were held today, 41 percent of respondents say they would pick Cornilles versus only 33 percent who would back Wu.

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112th Congress

Rep. Denny Rehberg Pushed On Minimum Wage

Benjy Sarlin | March 8, 2011, 12:31PM

Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT)

Democratic operatives are circulating a video of Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), who is challenging Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) for his seat in next year's election, in which Rehberg is asked what the current minimum wage is in Montana. Rehberg has voted several times in the past against increasing the minimum wage, which is currently $7.35 in Montana.

"Congressman Rehberg is more out of touch than we ever could have imagined," Democratic Senatorial Campaign Communications Director Eric Schultz said in a statement. "This is not the first time Congressman Rehberg has shown a disdain for the working men and women of his state. Time and again he has voted against giving Montanans a livable wage. But today he has sunk to a new low."

A spokesman for Rehberg, Jed Link, noted that Rehberg voted for a minimum wage increase that passed in 2007 as well as for an earlier attempt to raise the minimum wage in 2006 as part of a package cutting the estate tax.

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112th Congress

John Ensign's Political Career Felled By Neverending Scandal

Benjy Sarlin | March 7, 2011, 3:00PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) announced he would call it quits on his Senate career today, capping a lengthy and sprawling scandal that began close to two years ago and at one point included a criminal investigation. In a press conference announcing the move, Ensign told reporters he had come to a decision only in recent weeks after determining it would be best for his family not to seek another term.

Ensign, a former member of the Republican Senate leadership and once considered a possible presidential contender, became a thorn in his party's side during that time, lingering in office as details slowly emerged about his affair with a married campaign aide. The story broke in June 2009, when Ensign publicly admitted that he had a relationship with campaign staffer Cindy Hampton. Hampton's husband, Doug Hampton, also worked for Ensign and the senator reportedly told colleagues at the time that his announcement was necessary to head off an extortion attempt by the man. Several lawmakers in whom he confided as a member of a Christian house in DC known as "C Street" reportedly urged him to come clean as well.

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112th Congress

Report: John Ensign To Announce Retirement at 3 PM

Benjy Sarlin | March 7, 2011, 1:43PM

Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)

Update: Roll Call reports that Ensign will announce his retirement at today's press event.

Embattled Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) will hold a press conference today at 3 PM ET in order to discuss his "political future," according to a report by local station KSNV. He is up for re-election in 2012 and a number of candidates from both parties have been discussed by observers as possible opponents in the primary and general election.

The junior Senator from Nevada has been caught in a long-running scandal concerning an affair with a married staffer and questions surrounding whether he helped the husband of the aide in question, also a staffer, get a lobbying job after he discovered their relationship. While Ensign says the Department of Justice is no longer investigating the issue, the Senate Ethics Committee is still looking into the issue.

112th Congress

Boehner Moves To Defend DOMA In Court

Benjy Sarlin | March 4, 2011, 4:13PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), and other members of the GOP leadership

House Speaker John Boehner announced plans Friday afternoon to defend the Defense of Marriage Act on behalf of Congress, filling the legal void left by the White House's decision to drop its support for portions of the law.

"I will convene a meeting of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group for the purpose of initiating action by the House to defend this law of the United States, which was enacted by a bipartisan vote in Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton," Boehner said in a statement. "It is regrettable that the Obama Administration has opened this divisive issue at a time when Americans want their leaders to focus on jobs and the challenges facing our economy. The constitutionality of this law should be determined by the courts -- not by the president unilaterally -- and this action by the House will ensure the matter is addressed in a manner consistent with our Constitution."

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112th Congress

Rep. Dan Lungren: "Unusable" Cafeteria Utensils Behind Styrofoam Change

Benjy Sarlin | March 4, 2011, 9:45AM

Democratic leaders and environmental groups are lashing out at House Republicans this week over their decision to replace the cafeteria's biodegradable utensils with -- gasp -- styrofoam. Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA), who made the call as chair of the House Administration Committee, says that the move will save $475,000 and that the program was inefficient by its own standards according to an audit by the Inspector General. But the whole flap really started with the crappy green-friendly cups, containers, and forks.

"The utensils it utilized were unusable," Lungren told TPM. "I had complaints -- bipartisan, Republican, Democrat, constituents, employees, members of Congress -- all saying 'Could you please give us implements at mealtime that actually work?'"

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112th Congress

Sen. Harkin: "Greatly Disappointed" in WH Budget Negotiations

Benjy Sarlin | March 3, 2011, 4:20PM

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)

Vice President Joe Biden is set to meet with House and Senate leaders today to jumpstart negotiations on a resolution to fund the government through September, but not every Democratic lawmaker is happy to see the White House take a more hands-on approach.

"It depends on what kind of hands they're putting on it," Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) told TPM. "I'm greatly disappointed so far in what they're advocating."

Harkin said that he objected to the White House's emphasis on non-security discretionary spending, which is about 12% of the overall budget but has drawn the overwhelming attention of both parties in their efforts to trim the deficit. Neither Democratic or Republican leaders are proposing raising taxes to help bridge the gap. According to Harkin, discretionary spending cuts disproportionately hurt working families by targeting safety net programs and education.

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112th Congress

David Wu: "Heartwarming" How Colleagues Have Got My Back

Benjy Sarlin | March 3, 2011, 2:53PM

Rep. David Wu (D-OR)

After revealing last month that he had sought treatment for mental health issues and that his medication could possibly be contributing to recent behavior some have labeled strange, Rep. David Wu (D-OR) told TPM on Thursday that he's been humbled by a bipartisan outpouring of support on the Hill.

"It's a heartwarming thing," a smiling Wu said. "The people who come up to say supportive things are almost equally divided between Democrats and Republicans."

Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) told reporters last week that discussion of Wu's resignation was "premature" and that Wu had his support in his efforts to get healthy. "I understand that he has said he is seeking mental health services and that's the appropriate step for him to take. If he had a broken arm, he'd get it fixed," Hoyer said.

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