Tea Party

White House: Tea Party Is Wagging The GOP Dog

Susan Crabtree | October 12, 2011, 4:57PM

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney

White House spokesman Jay Carney on Wednesday trained his fire on the Tea Party, blaming "one element" of the Republican party for Standard and Poor's mid-August downgrade of U.S. credit worthiness.

In response to a a question about why support for President Obama is slipping among Latino voters, Carney readily acknowledged that approval ratings for both Obama and Congress have fallen sharply this year as Americans have grown increasingly disgusted by the brinksmanship between the two parties, which was on vivid display during the mid-summer debt crisis.

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Barack Obama

Things That Make You Go, Huh?? Obama's Unlikely New BFF On Bridges: Rand Paul

Susan Crabtree | September 22, 2011, 5:25PM

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)

President Obama is getting a little strange bedfellow help on his plans to rebuild the nation's bridges from the unlikeliest of sources: none other than Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).

Paul accompanied the President on Air Force One Tuesday to Cincinnati and attended Obama's jobs speech in front of the crumbling Brent Spence Bridge, which spans Southern Ohio, conveniently close to Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) district, and Northern Kentucky, home to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Both Boehner and McConnell have rejected the majority of the President's jobs plan.

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John Kerry

Kerry Discloses Democrats' Sticking Point In Debt Talks

Susan Crabtree | July 30, 2011, 7:23PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) isn't saying why both sides aren't any closer to a debt deal after a day filled with feverish negotiations Saturday, but Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) spelled it out during a floor speech Saturday night.

The sticking point for Dems, Kerry said, involves detailed negotiations over an enforcement mechanism that would require Congress to act on entitlement and tax reform by a date certain or faces the consequences. Democrats want to ensure that such a trigger does not simply mandate severe spending cuts, but also includes tax increases -- the so-called "shared pain" Democrats have cited lately.

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John Boehner

The 22 Republicans Who Bucked Boehner On The Debt Bill

Susan Crabtree | July 29, 2011, 7:27PM

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH)

After a dramatic 24 hours filled with vote delays, arm-twisting, and the Tea Party flexing its political muscle, in the end House Republicans managed to pass Speaker John Boehner's (R-OH) debt bill quite easily in a party-line vote of 218 to 210.

Boehner ended up agreeing to include a balanced budget amendment -- even though it has no chance of passing in the Senate. The concession was enough to attract a majority of Republicans, many of whom were elected on pledges to slash spending. The real heavy-lifting now begins between Boehner and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) who must forge a compromise that can pass both chambers and be signed by the President before the rapidly approaching Aug. 2 deadline for default.

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Budget

Van Hollen On House GOP: 'Speaker Boehner Is Not In Control'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | April 7, 2011, 4:32PM

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

The ranking member on the House Budget Committee said Thursday that the tea party has taken over in the House of Representatives, and turned Speaker John Boehner into little more than a rubber stamp for their social agenda as the government careens toward its first shutdown since 1995.

"Speaker Boehner is not in control," Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said on a conference call with reporters when asked by TPM about the prospects of a shutdown. "The tea party caucus has their hands on the steering wheel and they are prepared to drive right into a government shut down if they don't get 100% of their demands met."

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Budget

Dems Open To Bending On Some Policy to Strike Budget Deal

Susan Crabtree | March 29, 2011, 3:48PM

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) for the first time expressed a willingness to consider some GOP policy amendments that House Republicans are insisting lawmakers tack onto the spending bill to fund the government past April 8.

The concession is one hopeful sign in an otherwise stubborn standoff that both parties can strike a deal that avoids a government shutdown next week. But as with anything, the devil is in the details and which policy amendments the Democrats are considering.

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Lamar Smith

White House Signals Intent To Work With GOP On Their Immigration Ideas

Jillian Rayfield | December 29, 2010, 8:45AM

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)

Immigration groups eager to see reform might not have been happy with Rep. Lamar Smith's (R-TX) proposal to expand the E-Verify program, but they're unlikely to be any more pleased with the White House's response to it. President Obama has previously expressed support for the program, and the White House today left open the possibility of working to achieve Smith's vision.

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David Barton

Bachmann: Scalia Will Teach Constitution Class For New Conservative Caucus

Jillian Rayfield | December 14, 2010, 12:58PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Rep. Michele Bachmann is planning a series of seminars so that her new conservative caucus can get a weekly refresher on the Constitution -- and she says that she has already enlisted Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia as the first speaker.

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Tea Party Caucus

House Tea Party Caucus Members Requested Over $1 Billion In Earmarks

Eric Kleefeld | December 2, 2010, 10:40AM

Hmm, something seems odd about the House Tea Party Caucus -- the group founded to promote cuts in government spending. As National Journal reports, a new study finds that the caucus' 52 members requested a total of more than $1 billion in this past Congress.

According to a Hotline review of records compiled by Citizens Against Government Waste, the 52 members of the caucus, which pledges to cut spending and reduce the size of government, requested a total of 764 earmarks valued at $1,049,783,150 during Fiscal Year 2010, the last year for which records are available.

"It's disturbing to see the Tea Party Caucus requested that much in earmarks. This is their time to put up or shut up, to be blunt," said David Williams, vice president for policy at Citizens Against Government Waste. "There's going to be a huge backlash if they continue to request earmarks."

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Michele Bachmann

Infighting! Bachmann To Run For House Leadership

Brian Beutler | November 3, 2010, 3:24PM

Michele Bachmann

Conservative Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) -- founder of the Tea Party Caucus -- will make a bid to be part of House leadership next Congress, likely touching off a tough intra-GOP battle for influence over the new majority.

In a message to her supporters on Facebook, Bachmann writes, "I am pleased to announce that I am running for Chairman of the House Republican Conference! Constitutional Conservatives deserve a loud and clear voice in leadership!"

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Tea Party

5 Constitutional Amendments That Constitution-Loving Tea Partiers Would Change

Brian Beutler | October 28, 2010, 8:41AM

A Tea Party Rally in Washington DC.

Earlier this week, we looked at many of the various (and popular) long-existing laws that tea parters and their leaders think are actually unconstitutional. They run the gamut from Social Security to civil rights to abolition of the Department of Education and on and on.

But despite all the talk about "returning" to the Constitution, don't confuse tea partiers with Constitutional purists, who happen to read the document in a conservative way. True, about half of the changes they want to make to the social fabric result from a peculiar interpretation of the Constitution as it exists. The other half, though, would actually require Congress and the states to change it altogether.

Here's how tea party candidates and organizers would amend the Constitution.

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Michele Bachmann

Bachmann: Impeach Obama? That's Up To Congress (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | July 28, 2010, 1:39PM

President Obama and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), the chair of the new House Tea Party Caucus, seems to be sitting on the fence over whether President Obama should be impeached. Instead, she's saying that those questions are up to Congress to determine.

In an interview with NewsMax, Bachmann was asked about former Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo's (Republican/Constitution) statements that Obama should be impeached for allegedly refusing to secure the border in order to force an immigration reform package. Bachmann -- who has said that subpoenaing and investigating the Obama administration is "all we should do" if Republicans gain control of Congress -- didn't quite give a definite answer.

"When it comes to the issue of securing our borders, again it seems to have a political basis rather than a basis that is grounded in what is good for America, our economy, and the safety and health of the American people," said Bachmann. "Whether or not this is an impeachable offense is one that the Congress would have to make a determination on. But I think clearly the president isn't acting out of the best interests of what would be good for people's safety and good for our economy."

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Tea Party

Bachmann Bungles Rollout Of House Tea Party Caucus

Evan McMorris-Santoro | July 22, 2010, 9:59AM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) with Dannie Hollars and her son Damian, tea partiers from Woodbridge, VA.

Rep. Michelle Bachmann's (R-MN) House Tea Party Caucus debut yesterday mimicked the tea party movement it hopes to represent in Washington -- it was confusing, bumbling and offered a dearth of solid policy goals.

Bachmann says the caucus aims to be a "receptacle" in Washington D.C. for the tea party's frustration with spending, taxes, socialism and, uh, billboard design. But if the caucus' first day is any impression, Bachmann's group will also mirror the amateurish political organizing of the movement.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Meet The Tea Party Caucus]

Before yesterday's unbelievably diverse press conference introducing the caucus got underway, a Bachmann staffer handed out a list of the 28 Republicans that Bachmann's office said were members of the caucus. Before we fourth estaters could fold the thing up and dutifully bury it in a pocket somewhere, we were told the list was wrong -- it was missing Rep. John Mica (R-FL), we were told.

The trouble is, Mica isn't in the Tea Party Caucus -- as a general rule, he doesn't join caucuses ever, his staff told reporters. Turns out that wasn't the only thing wrong with the list -- or the last stumble of the caucus roll-out.

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Tea Party

Meet The Tea Party Caucus

Ben Frumin | July 21, 2010, 10:13AM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

After the inaugural meeting of the House "Tea Party Caucus" this morning, members of the press were given a list of the caucus' membership. Scroll down for the full list.

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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.

Michele Bachmann

Bachmann: Pay For Unemployment Benefits, But Tax Cuts 'Shouldn't Be Considered A Cost' (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | July 20, 2010, 2:18PM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) speaking at CPAC

You can add the name of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) to the list of Republicans who believe that unemployment benefits should have to be paid for, but potential deficits from tax cuts should not be paid for.

Bachmann, the founder of the newly-formed House Tea Party Caucus, appeared today on Good Morning America, and was asked about this very topic by George Stephanopoulos.

"I think we need to be paying for all the spending that's going on," said Michele Bachmann. "But when people can keep more of their own money that shouldn't be considered a cost."

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Tea Party Caucus

Bachmann: I Invited Nancy Pelosi To Join My Tea Party Caucus (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | July 20, 2010, 11:08AM

Rep. Michelle Bachman (R-MN) and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Rep. Michele Bachmann says her new House Tea Party Caucus is open to anybody -- in fact, she's even invited Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to join.

Appearing on Fox News this morning, host Bill Hemmer asked Bachmann whether more people would be joining. "Oh absolutely. The very first member to join the Caucus is a member of the Republican leadership," said Bachmann, referring to House GOP Conference Chair Mike Pence (R-IN). "I've written a letter to invite Speaker Pelosi to join as well. It's bipartisan, open to everyone. And it's really -- the Tea Party is not a political party, like Republican Party or Democrat Party. It's a set of ideas. And the ideas are very simple."

What exactly would Pelosi do if she joined the Tea Party Caucus? Hang herself in effigy?

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Michele Bachmann

Bachmann Forming House 'Tea Party Caucus'

Eric Kleefeld | July 16, 2010, 10:50AM

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), one of the great stars of the Tea Party movement, has announced that she is forming a new "Tea Party Caucus" in the House of Representatives, with herself as its initial chair. Bachmann's office said in a press release that the issues caucus would "promote Americans' call for fiscal responsibility, adherence to the Constitution, and limited government."

Bachmann also said in the press release:

"The American people are speaking out loud and clear. They have had enough of the spending, the bureaucracy, and the government knows best mentality running rampant today throughout the halls of Congress. This caucus will espouse the timeless principles of our founding, principles that all Members of Congress have sworn to uphold," Bachmann stated. "The American people are doing their part and making their voices heard and this caucus will prove that there are some here in Washington willing to listen."

Bachmann has previously organized and starred at Tea Party events in Washington and around the country, most notably the Capitol Hill event last fall that she had promoted as "the Super Bowl of Freedom." Sometimes her language hasn't been too successful, such as when she rallied up a Washington crowd in December by declaring, "It's the charge of the light brigade!" -- a military disaster in which the light brigade lost.