Steve Israel

Key Dem: Fewer Tea Partiers Will Mean Less Paralyzed Congress Next Year

Sahil Kapur | May 10, 2012, 11:15AM

Expect more compromise and less paralysis in Congress next year, said Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), the Democrats' point man on House elections this fall.

"Whether or not we take the majority back, there will be more Democrats in the House of Representatives after 2012," Israel said Thursday at a Washington breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. "And I think that the more extreme ideologues who have been about obstruction and paralysis and recklessness will be gone. Which makes me a little more optimistic that compromises can be made and balanced decisions can be effectuated in the next Congress -- simply because there will be more Democrats and fewer tea partiers or extremist Republicans."

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Payroll Tax Cut

Top Republican: Payroll Tax Cut Is Terrible Idea I'll Support With Enough Enticements

Brian Beutler | December 16, 2011, 3:23PM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

In a Bloomberg interview airing this Sunday, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) -- chairman of the House Republicans' campaign committee -- says he thinks cutting the payroll tax for another year is a terrible idea, but one that he can support if paired with enough other goodies.

"I didn't change my mind," Sessions told host Al Hunt. "It is a bad idea. But when you combine that with something else - for instance, when we voted the extension of the tax cuts - when you mirror that with something that's a job stimulus, an economic growth package, then it's a good deal."

Sessions gets a bit more specific, suggesting that the Keystone pipeline or similar measures will be required to get his vote.

HUNT: I mean, what's the bottom line? Not what you - you know, you desire, but what's the bottom line?

SESSIONS: Job growth. How about Keystone pipeline?

HUNT: So you won't support anything that doesn't have Keystone pipeline in it?

SESSIONS: I won't support something that does not show job growth and the development.

This hints at a dynamic that's been largely missed in this debate.

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Social Security

GOP Congressman Ditches Social Security Privatization Bill

Benjy Sarlin | July 11, 2011, 1:56PM

A new attempt by House GOP members to partially privatize Social Security hit a snag as one of the bill's supporters ditched the group over concerns the legislation had become politically toxic.

Led by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), a handful of House Republicans have been pushing legislation that would create a voluntary, privatized version of the program. But a spokesman for seven-term Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) told the Omaha World-Herald this week that he no longer wanted to be a part of the effort.

"Congressman Terry recognizes something must be done to address entitlement reform," spokesman Charles Isom said in a statement. "While he feels this bill does not weaken Social Security, the suggestion by some that this bill is a step toward 'privatization' does not help move the conversation forward. As such he has taken his name off of the bill."

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Social Security

Growing Chorus Of Republicans Demand Social Security Cuts In Deficit Deal

Benjy Sarlin | June 21, 2011, 12:11PM

Add Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) to the list of Republican lawmakers unsatisfied with the party's reluctance to back Social Security cuts.

The longtime Senator, who will retire at the end of her term in 2012, called on both parties to include the program in debt ceiling talks on Tuesday in a speech at the Heritage Foundation. She's releasing her own legislation to spur talks, a bill that would raise the retirement age gradually to 69 and reduce benefits by trillions over the next several decades by pegging the annual cost-of-living- adjustment (COLA) to one percent below inflation every year.

"We could have waited and let things settle after the debt increase vote," she said. "I'm introducing my legislation because I don't think we can wait and I do think it should be part of the overall debate on raising the debt limit."

Hutchison told the audience that the move was necessary, because without changes to the system, recipients would receive a 23% cut to their core benefits in 2036. But an audience member noted to Hutchison that a 1% cut in benefit increases over a similar period of time could produce comparable decreases. Hutchison responded that a key part of her plan was gradually introducing seniors to lower benefits.

"You're right that as you accumulate the cuts it's like anything else over time, it does get to be more," she said. "But if you take it one year at a time, it's a very small lowering of the increase. I don't think at any point would you go into core benefits."

House Republicans avoided Social Security in their budget, which most of the caucus voted for in the Senate as well, and Hutchison isn't the only member of her party annoyed at its exclusion. Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Mike Lee (R-UT) have introduced a bill that would means-test benefits while also raising the retirement age. A group of House members led by Pete Sessions (R-TX) recently introduced legislation that would create an optional privatized Social Security program.

Social Security

House Republicans Look To Privatize Social Security

Benjy Sarlin | June 7, 2011, 9:26AM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Republican leaders left Social Security untouched in their House budget this year, but a group of GOP lawmakers are looking to fill the gap themselves with legislation that would create a voluntary privatized version of the program.

Introduced by Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), who also chairs the House's campaign efforts at the NRCC, the "Savings Account For Every American Act" would allow people to immediately opt out of Social Security in favor of a private "S.A.F.E." account. Eventually the program would expand to let employers send their matching contribution to workers' Social Security to a "S.A.F.E." account as well.

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Medicare

Democrats: We'll Use NY-26 Medicare Formula Around The Country

Benjy Sarlin | May 25, 2011, 9:38AM

Kathy Hochul

National Democrats were united in their post-election message after their NY-26 win, issuing a flurry of statements claiming the race as a victory over Paul Ryan's Medicare plan.

Supporters chanted "Medicare" at Democrat Kathy Hocul's victory party, and she made it a centerpiece of her speech.

"We can ensure we do not decimate Medicare," Hochul said. "We will keep the promises made to our seniors who have spent their lives paying into Medicare, so they can count on health care when they need it most."

If Democrats have their way, there will be a lot more speeches along those lines come November 2012. The chairs of both legislative election committees made clear on Tuesday that they believe they have found a winning formula they intend to use elsewhere.

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Spending

GOP Leaders Announce Spending Cut Agreement

Brian Beutler | February 10, 2011, 7:55PM

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

Republican House leaders Thursday night claimed to have reached an agreement with their members on proposed spending cuts, which they plan to unveil Friday.

"What we heard here was a commitment to the $100 billion reduction number," said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor at a press availability after a Republican caucus meeting.

As described here, the spending cuts would trim about $100 billion off President Obama's budget request, which he sent to Congress last year. Republicans settled on these levels after rank and file members threatened to rebel if earlier proposed cuts weren't deepend. But even the updated cuts are significantly less than $100 billion, when compared to current spending levels.

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Nancy Pelosi

Sounding The Alarm: Dems Warned Political Climate Could Incite Lone Wolves

Brian Beutler | January 10, 2011, 12:07PM

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

In March 2010, as he was preparing to vote for the health care law, conservative advocates published photos of then-Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-OH) with his family -- and posted his address, and directions to his house -- on the internet.

Then-House Minority Leader John Boehner, who represents a district adjacent to the one Driehaus served, told a conservative magazine that Driehaus would be a "dead man" in Cincinnati if he voted for the legislation. After the vote, Driehaus vented.

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112th Congress

5 Instant Classic Moments From The 112th Congress (VIDEO)

Eric Lach | January 8, 2011, 9:14AM

Ah, memories. It seems like only yesterday that we were speculating on what the 112th Congress would be like. In fact, it was four days ago. But in a very short span of time, the 112th has already offered us some memorable and telling moments.

Here's a run-down of the best (so far) of the new Congress:

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Mike Fitzpatrick

Reps. Sessions And Fitzpatrick Pen Apology For Swearing-In Snafu

Jon Terbush | January 7, 2011, 5:33PM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA)

Perhaps chastened by all the trouble they caused, Reps. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA), who cast invalid votes on the first day of the 112th Congress because they missed the formal swearing in, are sending a written apology for their gaffe to every member of the House tonight.

In the letter, the Congressmen write:

[W]e are deeply committed to fulfilling our role in our constitutional democracy by maintaining the integrity of the People's House. Our absence on the House floor during the oath of office ceremony for the 112th Congress -- while not intentional -- fell short of this standard by creating uncertainty regarding our standing in this body.

Another excerpt reads:

While we immediately took steps to rectify the situation, we understand that our error allowed the integrity of this great legislative body's proceedings to be called into question," they write. "We regret that this incident adversely affected House proceedings and apologize for any individual inconvenience our actions may have caused.

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Mike Fitzpatrick

Sleazy But Legal? Sessions Swearing-In/Fundraiser SNAFU Skirts The Line

Evan McMorris-Santoro | January 7, 2011, 4:16PM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA)

The legislative fallout from GOP Reps. Pete Sessions' and Mike Fitzpatrick's decision to skip the House swearing-in ceremony Wednesday has been neatly cleaned up by the pair's Republican colleagues in the House majority. But that doesn't bring an end to the story, which now shifts to whether Fitzpatrick and/or Sessions broke the law by holding a prohibited political fundraiser at the Capitol rather than going to the ceremony with the rest of their colleagues.

The event Sessions and Fitzpatrick attended instead of the swearing in was a reception for Fitzpatrick supporters held in the massive underground Capitol Visitors Center complex, part of the larger Capitol campus and attached to the Capitol basement. Sessions is the chair of the NRCC, so he spends a lot of his time appearing with/raising money for/spending money on House candidates. Fitzpatrick's victory was a sweet one for the GOP (he re-won the seat he lost in 2006 to Democrat Patrick Murphy) and it's not really surprising that Sessions might want to make an appearance at Fitzpatrick's victory celebration. Sessions apparently reserved the room for the event as well.

Exactly what that celebration was is the center of the continuing controversy about Wednesday. If it was a fundraiser -- which the Huffington Post's Ryan Grimm reported it was, pointing to a website set up for the event by Fitzpatrick's campaign -- then it could be a violation of election law. The law strictly prohibits fundraising on Capitol complex grounds.

Momentum is building around the idea a law may have been broken. But an election law expert I spoke to today says it's more likely that the only real law Fitzpatrick and Sessions violated was Thou Shall Not Allow Poor Optics.

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Pete Sessions

House GOP Bails Out Sessions & Fitzpatrick With Oops! Bill

Evan McMorris-Santoro | January 7, 2011, 11:40AM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

The Republican-controlled House voted this morning to wash away the massive fail caused by Reps. Pete Sessions' (R-TX) and Mike Fitzpatrick's (R-PA) decision to skip Wednesday's swearing-in ceremony in favor of taking the oath to a television set at a Capitol complex event for Fitzpatrick.

By a vote of 257 to 159, the House voted in a special rule written for Sessions and Fitzpatrick to essentially rewrite Congressional history so the votes they cast as unsworn members-elect Wednesday and Thursday never happened.

"Be it Resolved, that the votes recorded for Representative-elect Sessions and Representative-elect Fitzpatrick on rollcalls 3 through 8 be deleted and the vote-totals for each of those rollcalls be adjusted accordingly, both in the Journal and in the Congressional Record," the resolution reads.

Read the full text of the two-page resolution here.

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Pete Sessions

House GOP Scrambles To Clean Up Sessions' Mess

Evan McMorris-Santoro | January 7, 2011, 9:47AM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA)

House Republican leaders will be busy today constructing the parliamentary Rube Goldberg device they'll need to briefly turn back the House clock after Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) skipped Wednesday's official swearing-in ceremony, rendering everything they did between the moment the Republicans officially took over and yesterday afternoon unconstitutional.

Roll Call reports that House Rules Committee chair David Dreier (R-CA) is planning to nullify those votes via a rule in the procedures his committee is writing for the health care repeal process, the first major vote of the new Congress which is expected to come next week.

Basically, Drier's proposed scheme would allow Sessions' votes and other actions in the Rules Committee, of which he is a member, and Fitzpatrick's actions on the floor (including the reading of the Constitution yesterday) to be made Constitutional by a full vote of the House, which of course is now controlled by the Republicans. (The Democrats could have allowed the Sessions mess to be cleaned up by a unanimous consent decree, rendering all that the pair did before being sworn in Thursday to count retroactively, but Politico reports the Democrats weren't interested in playing ball.)

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Pete Sessions

Pete Sessions Breaks Rules, Briefly Shuts Down Rules Committee

Evan McMorris-Santoro | January 6, 2011, 5:17PM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Call it a stumble out of the gate. Or a failure to find the gate entirely. Veteran Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and freshman Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) failed to make the official swearing in ceremony yesterday, a violation of the Constitution that has sent Republicans scrambling and briefly brought an end to the new majority's push to repeal the health care reform law.

While the rest of the House was being made official in the chamber, Sessions and Fitzpatrick were outside the room at an event for Fitzpatrick supporters. The pair reportedly took their oath to a televised image from inside the chamber. Huffington Post's Ryan Grimm reports the event was part of fundraiser for Fitzpatrick.

Freshly-minted House Rules Committee chair David Dreier (R-CA) had to recess hearings on repealing the health care law after he learned that Sessions, a member of the committee, was not in fact a Constitutionally-valid member of the 112th Congress. Sessions had been casting votes all day like the duly-sworn members on the committee.

Dreier spokesperson Jo Maney told TPM that she "didn't know it happened" that Sessions wasn't sworn in, but after Dreier found out about it, he recessed the hearing to sort out the mess.

Sessions has now been officially sworn in as required by the Constitution, Maney said. The same goes for Fitzpatrick, she said, though that's of less concern to the health care repeal as he's not a member of the Rules Committee like Sessions is. But the failure to be sworn in could mean the rules package the House passed on Wednesday doesn't count, according to Roll Call. The action is now behind the scenes, as Speaker John Boehner tries to persuade House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to agree to a unanimous consent decree that would make all the work Sessions and Fitzpatrick did over the past day count retroactively.

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Pete Sessions

Pete Sessions Declines Run For Whip, Will Stay Head Of NRCC

Brian Beutler | November 8, 2010, 9:18AM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions announced this morning that he will not make a run for Majority Whip and will instead remain head of the NRCC for another term. The announcement means the GOP will avoid a tough leadership fight with Rep. Kevin McCarthy, according to ABC News.

That was soon-to-be Speaker John Boehner's preference, and, as GOP sources predicted just before the election, the GOP leadership is transitioning fairly smoothly into the majority.

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2010 elections

Will The GOP Be Riven By Power Struggles Post Election?

Brian Beutler | October 29, 2010, 8:37AM

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

In the early days of the 111th Congress, many observers assumed that between repeated electoral defeats and an angry constituency, the existing guard of GOP leaders would not survive into the 112th -- that a power struggle would ensue and new top dogs would emerge. But in the days before the election, that doesn't appear to be the case. Over the course of the last two years, John Boehner has, against expectations, consolidated his power. And GOP sources say they expect a more or less ordinary transition if the Republicans win back the majority.

"The leadership races operate without the same pressure of external forces that normal campaigns and elections operate under," says a former GOP leadership aide. "Blog posts, articles, public profile with the media, etc., don't impact the folks voting in the conference on leadership the way they might in a normal election setting."

Translation: the right flank of the caucus, and conservative activists, might be clamoring for new blood, but this decision will be made transactionally, via secret ballot, and the current leadership team will likely survive.

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Pete Sessions

Top GOPer Pete Sessions Makes Racially Insensitive Remarks About Dem Incumbents

Brian Beutler | October 7, 2010, 5:14PM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

It's true that Democrats are spending ad money in a number districts recently considered safe. But NRCC chairman Pete Sessions dramatized that fact in a peculiar way in an interview with Roll Call today.

Sessions said that it's telling that the DCCC is spending money on "African Americans like Sanford Bishop. And when you have to retreat back to ... your hard base you're having to make tough decisions."

Democrats are seizing on the remark.

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Tea Party Caucus

NRCC Chair Pete Sessions Joins Tea Party Caucus

Eric Kleefeld | July 20, 2010, 3:53PM

Reps. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) and Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-MN) newly formed Tea Party Caucus has just picked up yet another member from the Republican leadership: Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), the chair of the House GOP's campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Sessions is the second member of the leadership to join, following House GOP Conference Chair Mike Pence (R-IN).

As The Hill points out, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) is not joining, but according to his office this is because he has a policy of not joining caucuses other than the Republican Conference itself. Another member has joined from outside the leadership, Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA), who has warned about President Obama potentially forming an authoritarian government.

Additional reporting by Evan McMorris-Santoro.

George W. Bush

Cornyn: George W. Bush Stock Rising (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | July 19, 2010, 12:24PM

Democrats were already pretty pleased with the fact that NRCC chairman Pete Sessions pushed for a return to Bush era policies over the weekend. Now they have more ammunition. On C-SPAN's Newsmakers yet, NRSC chairman John Cornyn went a step further.

"Look, I think President Bush's stock has gone up a lot since he left office," Cornyn said. "People appreciate his resolve and commitment in the face of a national security threat like 9/11. He had his challenges no doubt. We have learned a lot about things we could have done better as Republicans in terms of fiscal responsibility...I think a lot of people are looking back with a little more -- with more fondness on President Bush's administration, and I think history will treat him well."

Looks like both Democrats and Republicans want the 2010 elections to be a referendum on the bush administration. Video below the fold.

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2010 elections

GOPers And Dems Agree: 2010 Should Be A Referendum On Bush

Brian Beutler | July 19, 2010, 8:50AM

Sen. Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and President Barack Obama

Republicans and Democrats alike seem content to let the November elections hinge on a question the answer to which once seemed obvious to voters: Was the Bush era good for the country?

Though for most of President Obama's tenure Republicans were eager to run away from that question, they now act as though the answer makes them bulletproof. With the economy still in crisis, and polls showing Republicans poised to pick up many seats this November, GOP leaders have found the nerve to explicitly argue that what the country needs is a return to the same policies that triggered country's woes in the first place.

"We need to go back to the exact same agenda that is empowering the free enterprise system rather than diminishing it," said NRCC chairman Pete Sessions on "Meet the Press" Sunday morning.

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Sunday Shows

The Sunday Show Line-Ups

Eric Kleefeld | July 16, 2010, 3:22PM

Vice President Joe Biden

Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:

• ABC, This Week: Vice President Joe Biden.

• CBS, Face The Nation: Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM), former Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ).

• CNN, State Of The Union: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD).

• Fox News Sunday: House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC), House Republican Conference Chair Mike Pence (R-IN).

• NBC, Meet The Press: National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (R-TX), Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ), National Republican Congressman Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-IN), Democratic Congressional Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).

Repealing health care

Republican Leadership Jumps On Health Care Repeal Bill After Conservative Pressure

Christina Bellantoni | July 1, 2010, 8:30AM

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and other GOP leaders.

Key members of the House Republican leadership this week finally signed on to a measure that would repeal health care reform -- after pressure from the ultra-conservative Club for Growth.

We've written thousands of words about Republicans' on-again, off-again desire to repeal the health care reform law passed this spring. There are plenty of bills out there that would repeal the measure, and the official GOP platform as they attempt to win back power in Congress during this fall's elections is that they would "repeal and replace" reform with their own version. This strategy comes as the Republican base is pushing them more and more to fight what critics call "ObamaCare," while the general public is warming to the law. Another new poll yesterday adds to the trend that health care reform's popularity is on the rise.

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Rush Limbaugh

Limbaugh Is Now Too Oily For Republicans To Touch

Brian Beutler | June 23, 2010, 10:37AM

Rush Limbaugh

If more politicians were as forthright as Rep. Steven King (R-IA), Rush Limbaugh might have more friends in Congress these days. In fact, Republicans are so on-message with the idea that Joe Barton was wrong, and speaking for himself, when he apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward that they're even willing to throw the conservative talk show host and noted GOP opinion-mover under the bus.

King says that's mostly for show. Republicans, he suspects, are publicly distancing themselves from Tony Haward apologist Joe Barton while privately acknowledging that he was right to accuse the White House of shaking down BP.

"I think there will be a few that, like me, will agree with JB's words, and his description, and there will be a lot of others that privately agree with what he said," King told TPMDC yesterday.

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Joe Barton

Top Republican: Barton's Seat On Energy Committee Is Safe

Brian Beutler | June 23, 2010, 9:00AM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

NRCC chairman Pete Sessions, whose job it is to increase GOP ranks in the House, says Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) will likely retain his post as the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee. Asked last night after a House vote if Barton may face further repercussions for apologizing to BP CEO Tony Hayward, Sessions told reporters that Barton's already paid his penance.

"I don't think that's the direction we're headed in," Sessions said. "...I believe that Joe has adequately addressed the issue."

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2010 elections

'94 Or Bust: Republicans Drafting New Contract With America In Effort To Retake Congress

Christina Bellantoni | April 22, 2010, 8:35AM

Republicans who think they can reclaim the majority this fall want to reprise a major element that swept them to power in 1994 as a new Democratic president suffered in the polls. Voters can expect to see this fall a new "Contract" pledging the GOP would be better stewards of taxpayer money and would shine sunlight on Congressional dealings.

But what's still unclear is whether it will be a Contract with America or the Contract from America. While House Republicans are drafting a new Contract with America they'll drop after Labor Day, top conservatives are glomming onto a potentially competing document that promises health care repeal and opposes a cap-and-trade system for climate change. That Contract from America was created in part with help from tea partiers and is making the rounds on the Internet.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) became the first member of Congress to sign yesterday, lauding that it was "created by the people" thanks to more than 450,000 people who submitted ideas online.

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Repealing health care

GOP Confronts New Political Reality On Health Care: Repeal ... And Then What?

Christina Bellantoni | March 25, 2010, 11:56AM

Clockwise, from top left: House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), a tea partier's protest sign, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and an online pledge to repeal health care reform sponsored by the Senate Conservative Fund

Now that health care reform is actually law, Republicans who first attempted to kill it are faced with a key question -- would you repeal it? Repeal and revise? Repeal and replace? A full repeal -- or just the 'bad' parts? Or is repeal the wrong strategy?

Republicans are all over the map on this one.

TPMDC has been keeping a close eye on Capitol Hill Republicans who fought to kill the bill and how they are being forced to transition to a "What next?" scenario. They haven't landed on a consistent message, though many are leaning in the "repeal and replace" idea pushed by House Minority Leader John Boehner today in a Des Moines Register op-ed in advance of President Obama's visit to Iowa City. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has suggested they are settling on "repeal and replace" as their 2010 mantra.

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2010 elections

NRCC Raising Money In Wake Of House Vote On Health Care

Eric Kleefeld | March 22, 2010, 9:23AM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

House Republicans are already raising money off of last night's passage of the Democratic health care bill, with National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX) sending out a fundraising e-mail after the vote.

"This past week Democrats ignored millions of phone calls, email and letters from everyday Americans, but they listened to their big time contributors like Organized Labor and the Trial Lawyers," Sessions wrote. "Your support is critical to ending Pelosi's reign as Speaker. Democrats made their choice, today is your chance to tell them, in terms they understand, how you feel about their choice - and in November you get to make your choice."

Check out the full e-mail after the jump.

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Pete Sessions

Nat'l Dems Step Up Attacks On Pete Sessions In Texas

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 8, 2010, 11:50AM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Two weeks ago, we told you about one of the DCCC's unlikely 2010 targets: Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX). National Democrats say Sessions is vulnerable, and they've placed him on their list races to watch this year. Last week, as Sessions launched his reelection campaign the DCCC stepped up its attacks on the well-known conservative.

National Democrats are eager to highlight Sessions' ties to alleged Ponzi schemer Alan Stanford. After Stanford came under investigation from the SEC last year, Sessions, who accepted tens of thousands in donations from Stanford for the NRCC, sent Stanford a note that suggested their relationship was a close one.

The DCCC couldn't be more pleased. It didn't take the group long to go after Sessions after he opened his new campaign headquarters last week.

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2010 elections

Dems Trying To Turn Pete Sessions Into The Right's Harry Reid?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | January 27, 2010, 8:40PM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid isn't the only party leader on Capitol Hill with a target on his back this year. According to CQ, NRCC chair and conservative darling Pete Sessions (R-TX) has now been targeted for defeat by national Democrats.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer will be among the guests at a fundraiser for the Democratic nominee running against Sessions, lawyer Grier Raggio. A DCCC source told CQ that the stop isn't just a formality -- the organization has put Sessions on its list of potentially targeted races this year and has been hammering him in press releases.

Even with the backing of the national party, however, Raggio faces an uphill climb against the well-funded and even more well-connected Sessions, who's a fixture on the national scene. But Sessions faces a slew of tea party-inspired conservative opponents on the right before the general election, which DCCC officials have called a sign that Sessions position is weakening.

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TX-32

Sessions Opponent Raises Cash Off 'Smoker' Remark

Rachel Slajda | November 10, 2009, 2:10PM

Democratic candidate Grier Raggio, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Last week, during a Rules Committee meeting on the health care bill, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) angered a lot of people when he implied it's OK to charge women more for health insurance, comparing them to smokers. Now, his Democratic challenger is trying to cash in on the outrage.

First, what happened: At the meeting, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) had been railing against gender discrimination in insurance pricing when Sessions interjected, "But that's not against the law."

"No, but we would make it against the law," Pallone responded. "Why do you have a problem with that? Why should a woman pay more than a man?"

"Well, we're all different," Sessions said. "Why should a smoker pay more?"

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Tea Party

GOP Could Face More Challenges From Right, After NY-23

Eric Kleefeld | November 6, 2009, 5:06PM

Capitol Hill, Tea-Party Rally

In the wake of the NY-23 right-wing revolt, could the GOP be on the verge of seeing even more challenges from the activist right? Some recent developments suggest that the natives are getting restless.

• NRCC chairman Pete Sessions is being challenged in the Republican primary by David Smith, a corporate financial analyst. Smith told us that the NY-23 mess was not a factor in his decision -- but it should help him in attacking Sessions: "It's nice to have my opponent in the national news for a bad reason at the same time I'm announcing my candidacy."

• Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL) is facing a Republican primary challenge from Jason Sager, a currently unemployed audio-visual engineer. Sager specifically cited Brown-Waite's having campaigned for Dede Scozzafava, the moderate Republican nominee in NY-23 who ultimately dropped out of the race and endorsed Democrat Bill Owens, as a reason for his challenge.

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Pete Sessions

Tea Party Activist Challenging NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions In GOP Primary

Eric Kleefeld | November 6, 2009, 3:23PM

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), the chairman of the NRCC, may have another problem on his hands in addition to the House GOP's recent woes in the NY-23 race: A primary challenge from a conservative activist back home.

David Smith, a corporate financial analyst, has declared his candidacy against Sessions in the Republican primary, citing the budget deficit, federal spending, and Sessions' votes for the Wall Street bailout as his main issues.

In an interview with TPM, Smith said that he has participated in Tea Parties as an activist, though he has not been an organizer, and explained that those events are motivated by the same issues of spending in Washington that he's long been concerned about. "And that begun under Republican control of the House and Senate and Republican control of the White House," said Smith. "I know it didn't boil over into marches in the streets and to the White House until a Democrat got elected, but that happened because Republicans weren't doing what people wanted, and Pete was a part of that."

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NY-23

NRCC Officially Endorses Conservative Party's Hoffman In NY-23

Eric Kleefeld | October 31, 2009, 11:42AM

NY-23 Candidate Doug Hoffman (Conservative)

A GOP source tells TPM that the National Republican Congressional Committee is going to get behind Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman in the NY-23 special election, now that moderate Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava has dropped out.

Hoffman is in a close race with Democrat Bill Owens, and Scozzafava suspended her campaign today after polls showed her in third place. With the NRCC's backing, Hoffman will go from insurgent third-party candidate to being the de facto new Republican nominee (though Scozzafava will still be on the ballot as the GOP's candidate).

NRCC chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX) will have a statement out shortly.

Late Update: The NRCC has released a joint statement -- co-signed by Sessions, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) -- backing Hoffman. It is available after the jump.

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NY-23

A Conservative House GOP Revolt On NY-23?

Eric Kleefeld | October 8, 2009, 5:28PM

NY-23 candidates Dede Scozzafava (R) and Bill Owens (D)

The American Spectator reports that the House GOP could be seeing a minor revolt among its members over the NY-23 special election, in which the local Republican Party nominated a candidate who is pro-choice and pro-gay marriage.

State Rep. Dede Scozzafava, the Republican candidate, is in a three-way race with Democratic attorney Bill Owens and Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman. The third-party candidate Hoffman has received the endorsements of the Club For Growth, Gary Bauer and former Sen. Fred Thompson. And it appears that some House GOPers would rather be helping him than the socially liberal Scozzafava:

[NRCC Chair Pete] Sessions was called out by conservative members of the caucus, and challenged when asked why NRCC resources -- cash and personnel -- were being used for Scozzafava. "We have a conservative running in this race, and the Republican Party is not with him," says a conservative House member who attended the meeting. "There are a number of us who are profoundly embarrassed by this race, and while we don't blame Pete, we do blame the NRCC staff for apparently not doing its job."