Solyndra

Key GOPer Supported Loan Guarantee Under Issa Attack

Susan Crabtree | October 28, 2011, 6:00AM

Rep. Darrell Issa in recent days has moved on from bashing the Obama administration's support for the failed solar-company Solyndra to training his sights on another federal loan guarantee -- $730 million for the U.S. subsidiary of a Russian steel company.

During an interview on Fox News Thursday, Issa said the loan for Severstal North America, which is based in Dearborn, Mich. "never should have passed the sniff test."

"We'd like to have a reversal on the commitment," Issa said of the $730 million Severstal loan. "...One of the great scandals here is, remember, this is just making steel, and as a matter of fact, the type of steel for which there's an excess in the market. But more importantly, the jobs that are being, quote, created here are being moved from other plants. So this is an example, no jobs created, not green energy, not necessary to make this happen, and not a U.S. investor. So on every possible count, the American people care about, this loan never should have passed the sniff test."

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Barack Obama

GOP Takes Aim At Companies On Obama's Jobs Council

Susan Crabtree | October 20, 2011, 12:14PM

House Republicans are no longer content to use the investigative powers of Congress to go after President Obama's healthcare overhaul by compelling Obama administration to cough up information and testify before their committees.

In recent weeks, the GOP has launched a dragnet for internal information from companies with ties to the White House about the healthcare law and its impact on business.

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Super Committee

Super Committee Members Raked In $41M From Wall Street

Susan Crabtree | September 26, 2011, 1:31PM

Members of the deficit-reduction super committee have received a combined total of $41 million from the financial and real estate sectors during their time in Congress, according to a new report from Public Campaign and National People's Action.

The report also found that at least 27 current or former aides for members of the super committee have traveled through the revolving door between K Street and Capitol Hill and have lobbied on behalf of financial firms.

"Wall Street bought the deregulation that led to our economic collapse and the American public has paid the price," Nick Nyhart, president of Public Campaign said in a release. "The super committee should not give Wall Street and big banks another free ride because of their campaign cash."

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Super Committee

GOP Leaders Pick Conservative Members To Serve On Deficit Super Committee

Brian Beutler | August 10, 2011, 12:19PM

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have announced their selections to serve on the new so-called Super Committee -- the panel called for in the debt limit bill that's been tasked with reducing deficits by at least $1.2 trillion.

McConnell's picked his Whip, Jon Kyl (R-AZ), as well as conservative freshman Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH), and arch-conservative Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA).

Boehner tapped Reps. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), chair of the GOP conference, and the caucus' top message man; Dave Camp (R-MI) chair of the Ways and Means Committee, which controls tax revenue; and Fred Upton (R-MI), whose powerful Energy and Commerce Committee has broad jurisdiction over just about everything other than taxes, but particularly health care.

As head of the majority party in the House of Representatives, Boehner was asked to name the committee's GOP co-chair, and for that he chose Hensarling -- an extremely conservative member who in recent weeks falsely characterized the debt limit fight as a consequence of spending policies enacted by President Obama and past Democratic congresses. By quite a ways, most existing debt is the result of GOP policies, or bipartisan initiatives like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Hensarling served on President Obama's fiscal commission, headed by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, but ultimately opposed their recommendations, because they included higher revenues.

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Health Care

House Republican's Health Care Reform Probe Could Backfire On GOP

Brian Beutler | March 24, 2011, 6:00AM

If House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) really wants to know what deals were struck between the White House and the health care industry to pass health care reform, he may end up giving health care reform some free advertising.

As part of his quest to publicize all of the dealmaking that characterized the health care reform process, Upton says he'll consider pressing industry leaders for details on their private negotiations with the Obama administration.

"It's something that's not off the table, in terms of what we may do," Upton said at a recent press conference with House leadership.

So far, Upton has directed all of his inquiries at the White House, to no avail. Changing course would give him easier access to the information he seeks (or claims to seek), but might put him behind the eight ball politically. That's because many of the stakeholders in question -- drug manufacturers, hospitals, and other interested parties -- either support the law, or entered a sort of non-aggression pact with the administration.

And if Upton drags those leaders -- many of whom lean Republican -- up to the Hill for a public hearing about their participation in the process, he may hear more about how they think it's a good law, than about how shady the whole process was.

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Nuclear Energy

Markey Calls On U.S. To Dispense Anti-Radiation Pills

Susan Crabtree | March 16, 2011, 11:55AM

Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA)

Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) is calling on the U.S. government to require residents within 20 miles of a nuclear plant to have iodine tablets on hand as sales of the pills in the U.S. and Canada soar in response to the nuclear explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

It's been 22 years since scientists recommended implementing the tablet policy after the Three Mile Island incident, Markey said.

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Health Care

White House Rebuffs GOP Investigation Of Secret Health Care Meetings

Brian Beutler | March 7, 2011, 2:40PM

President Barack Obama

The White House has rejected a request from the House Energy and Commerce committee for information about "every meeting, briefing or telephone call" the administration had with non-governmental parties in the lead up to, and wake of, passage of the health care law.

In a letter obtained by TPM, White House counsel Bob Bauer directs committee and subcommittee leaders to publicly available information about the White House's meetings with health care stakeholders. But it looks like they won't get much more than that without a subpoena.

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Health Care

GOP Turns To K Street Veterans To Help Unravel Health Care Law

Brian Beutler | December 27, 2010, 2:53PM

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) with members of the GOP leadership

House Republicans are turning to old friends on K Street to lead their legislative attempts to repeal the new health care law.

Three recently hired Republican aides -- two set to work in senior positions on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee, and one for soon-to-be Speaker John Boehner -- spent the past years lobbying on behalf of insurance companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, and other corporate interest groups with a vested interest in weakening or repealing the law.

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Republicans

Meet The Chairmen! House GOPers Get Back To The Gavels

Eric Kleefeld | December 10, 2010, 8:40AM

The Republicans' midterm sweep in the House of Representatives doesn't just mean that John Boehner will become Speaker -- it means a drastic shift of leadership and legislative priorities throughout the whole chamber.

This week, House Republicans officially rolled out the list of committee chairs in the new Congress. And as can be expected, some of them are really interesting personalities. It is these individuals who will be holding hearings on legislation and oversight of the executive branch -- that is, attacking the Obama administration and trying to dig up scandals, as typically occurs during periods of divided government.

So let's take a look at several of the key GOPers who will be heading up these important House panels: Their backgrounds, their positions, their histories -- and a few gaffes, too.

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