Spending

Dems Fight To Protect For-Profit Colleges From Disclosure Rules

Brian Beutler | February 17, 2011, 12:19PM

Dep. of Education Sec. Arne Duncan

There's a fight brewing between Democrats over whether to allow the government to crack down on for-profit colleges and universities.

The Department of Education is tired of federally subsidized student loans going to shady for-profit colleges that have poor track records of getting the students who do graduates good work -- often leaving them stuck with mountains of debt. To curb this phenomenon, the agency has been moving along with a new regulation they call the "Gainful Employment" rule.

Under "Gainful Employment" rules, for profit schools would have to show that their students can find work without getting stuck with unreasonable debt in order to qualify for federal loans.

But behind the scenes, a bipartisan bloc of House members see things differently. They say the rule would reach too far and clamp down on institutions that do a decent job of educating and preparing students. But they want to tie the Department of Education's hands completely, and block the funds they'd need to implement the rules at all.

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Oversight Committee

Pelosi Power Play Doomed Towns On Oversight Committee

Brian Beutler | December 16, 2010, 5:09PM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Rep. Ed Towns (D-NY) surprised everybody Tuesday afternoon when he announced that he'd dropped out of the race to be ranking member on the House Oversight Committee next year.

The move did not reflect his personal preferences though. On Tuesday, according to two sources close to Towns, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Towns and told him, essentially, that she could not support his candidacy.

Towns had all but locked down the position last month. But that was over the wishes of congressional leadership and the White House, both of whom want the ranking member to be a bulldog, who can stand toe to toe with incoming chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA).

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Oversight Committee

Towns Will Back Maloney Over Cummings In Oversight Committee Fight

Brian Beutler | December 15, 2010, 1:30AM

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)

After unexpectedly dropping out of contention to be the Ranking Member on the House Oversight Committee next year, Rep. Ed Towns (D-NY) has thrown his support to fellow New Yorker, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) -- the next-most senior Democrat on the committee -- who will fight it out for the panel's top spot with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).

"I support Carolyn Maloney to become Ranking Member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee," Towns says in a statement sent my way. "She is next in line on the Committee, she has the seniority and competence to serve the Caucus well."

Initial reports this evening suggested that Towns also supported Cummings. But both Cummings and Maloney say that's not the case.

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Elijah Cummings

Switcharoo: Towns Out Of Oversight Spot, Kucinich Backs Cummings

Ryan J. Reilly | December 14, 2010, 7:14PM

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)

Rep. Ed Towns (D-NY) made the surprise announcement on Tuesday night that he'll be stepping down as ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, setting up a fight between Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) for the right to square off with incoming Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA).

"After much thought, Chairman Towns today made the decision not to seek the Ranking Member position on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee," a spokesman said in a statement.

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Oversight Committee

New York Congressmen Back Towns To Take On Issa

Brian Beutler | November 18, 2010, 2:22PM

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY)

New York House Democrats, including members who lost their seats on November 2, want fellow New Yorker Edolphus Towns to keep the top spot on the Oversight Committee next year.

"As members of the New York delegation, we are supporting our colleague Rep. Edolphus Towns, current Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to become the committee's Ranking Member," the 25 Dems wrote in a letter to colleagues.

More on the brewing battle between towns and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) for the ranking member position here.

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Darrell Issa

Inside The High Stakes Fight To Take On Darrell Issa

Brian Beutler | November 17, 2010, 2:04PM

Reps. Ed Towns (D-NY) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

The race is officially on to determine who will take on Darrell Issa next year as top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. But this contest is in a lot of ways more complicated than the other post-election power struggles we've seen in the last couple weeks. And unlike, say, the House Democratic Whip struggle, which centered on an inside-baseball leadership position, the stakes here are very public and very high.

The two principle combatants are the current Oversight Committee chair, Edolphus Towns, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) -- one of the committee's senior members.

According to Democratic aides who agreed to speak off the record to discuss the contest candidly, there's no easy answer here.

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