Tag Archives: Topic: Congress

LA Times: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that he will delay votes on several of President Obama’s nominees for key posts until July, a decision raising the prospect that he’ll seek further changes to Senate rules that would allow executive appointments to be confirmed by a simple majority.

The Hill: Republican Sen. John Thune (S.D.) is demanding that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) refrain from implementing ObamaCare while investigators probe the agency’s targeting of conservative groups.

CNSNews: “Now stop to think about it – the government getting involved in somebody having a prayer meeting. It appears that the IRS essentially offered this group a quid pro quo – You can become a charity if you don’t protest in front of a Planned Parenthood, generally speaking so you don’t have to worry about 6103,” Grassley said.

LA Times: Lois Lerner, the head of the exempt organizations division of the IRS, won’t answer questions about what she knew about the improper screening — or why she didn’t disclose it to Congress, according to a letter from her defense lawyer, William W. Taylor III. Lerner was scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.

Talking Points Memo: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is telegraphing his intention to use the nuclear option to reduce or eliminate the filibuster for nominations this summer if Republicans follow through with their threats to block President Obama’s upcoming nominees.

The Hill: The legislation is aimed at crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), which are clinics often set up by a church or other anti-abortion groups. Democrats in Congress and other pro-abortion groups say these clinics are known to indicate they can perform abortions in order to attract pregnant women patients, and then try to convince them to carry their babies to term.

Ken Klukowski at Breitbart: Following 59 Members of Congress sending a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel regarding Pentagon officials meeting with an anti-Christian extremist, another group of 72 House Members has sent a second wide-ranging letter, exploring whether these infringements on religious liberty violate both federal law and the Constitution. (letter is embedded)

The Hill: Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) will offer a bill to ban late-term abortions in response to the gruesome case of Kermit Gosnell, an abortion provider recently convicted of killing three viable infants.

Politico: Senate Democrats are in such a bind over addressing gay rights under immigration reform that they’re turning to President Barack Obama for help.

Daily Mail: Texas Republican congressman Kevin Brady had the harshest criticism for Miller. ‘Is this still America?’ he asked him. ‘Is this government so drunk on power that it would turn its full force, its full might, to harass, and intimidate, and threaten an average American who only wants her voice, their voices heard?’

Today, the Thomas More Society offered over 150 pages of analysis and evidence to the House Ways and Means Committee about repeated IRS harassment of pro-life organizations.

Weekly Standard (includes video): California congressman Devin Nunes made the claim yesterday that the Justice Department wiretapped telephones in the House of Representative’s Cloak Room, an exclusive part of the Capitol where members are able to privately interact with one another. Nunes made the claim on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show.

Politico: What should Obama do to take advantage of this momentum? It is time for him to focus on a neglected but important part of the nominations process: the problems with how senators supply the president with candidates to be nominated to the federal bench.

LifeNews: Attorney General Eric Holder told a Congressional committee yesterday he is unsure if a federal law stopping after-birth abortions has been enforced.

Tony Perkins at LifeSiteNews: Now, some in Congress want to get in on the act with a bill that would intentionally deprive children of a mother. Under this legislation, the government would punish any adoption agency that gives priority to married, heterosexual couples.

The Hill: The House Ways and Means Committee will examine the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of Tea Party groups at a hearing Friday.

Wisconsin Gazette: Openly gay U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan’s husband has received an ID issued only to the spouses of federal lawmakers. It is the first time the House has recognized the same-sex husband of a member with the House Spouse …

The Hill: The House on Thursday passed legislation that would allow the government to borrow money above the debt ceiling, but only to service U.S. bondholders and make payments related to the Social Security Trust Fund. The Full Faith and Credit Act, H.R. 807, was passed in a 221-207 vote that saw all but eight Republicans favor the bill, and every Democrat oppose it.

Former Sens. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) at The Hill: After trying private negotiations, bipartisan commissions, informal “gangs” and a supercommittee, the search for a long-term federal fiscal plan has come full circle back to where it started — regular order under the budget process in Congress. Or has it?

LifeNews: Republicans in the House of Representatives have sent letters to public health officials in all 50 states asking them what they are doing to prevent “House of Horrors” abortion clinics like the one Kermit Gosnell ran in Pennsylvania.

The Hill: Sanford owes party leaders nothing, as they refused to spend money on his campaign in the closing weeks and held him at arm’s length for much of the race. He’s also a vocal — and stubborn — fiscal conservative . . .

AP: In a story of political redemption, Mark Sanford is headed back to Congress after his career was derailed by scandal four years ago.

More information here.

Hadley Arkes at Weekly Standard: With the scandal over Kermit Gosnell, this seems precisely the moment for pro-life congressmen to return to the Born-Alive Act and hold hearings: They could take evidence now about the volume of these killings, and they could restore the civil penalties that were dropped from the bill. After all, not a single Democrat, in either House, finally voted against that bill. The Democrats agreed that it was wrong to kill a child who survived an abortion, and so they should be faced with the question of how wrong they thought it was: Would it merit at least the kind of penalty that comes with a moving violation in traffic?

Religion Clause Blog: IANS reported last week that 28 members of Congress from both political parties have joined the new American Sikh Congressional Caucus.

Lyle Denniston reports at SCOTUS Blog: The Obama administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to restore the President’s power to fill vacancies in government posts when the Senate is out of town. The petition argued that the D.C. Circuit Court got it wrong in January in sharply curtailing that authority.  (The Circuit Court’s ruling — discussed in this earlier post – is attached as an appendix to the petition but also can be read here.)

LifeNews: Eighteen members of Congress went to the floor of the House today to do the job they said the mainstream media is not doing: talking about the murder trial of abortion practitioner Kermit Gosnell.

Politico: Congressional leaders in both parties are engaged in high-level, confidential talks about exempting lawmakers and Capitol Hill aides from the insurance exchanges they are mandated to join as part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, sources in both parties said.

AP: Frustrated at being left out of an immigration overhaul, gay rights groups are pushing to adjust a bipartisan Senate bill to include gay couples.

Politico: The immigration proposal pending in Congress would transform the nation’s political landscape for a generation or more — pumping as many as 11 million new Hispanic voters into the electorate a decade from now in ways that, if current trends hold, would produce an electoral bonanza for Democrats and cripple Republican prospects in many states they now win easily.

Washington Post: Senator Jeff Merkley, one of the lead sponsors of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, says he intends to introduce ENDA on Thursday, along with several other Republican and Democratic co-sponsors. ENDA would federally prohibit discrimination in hiring on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and it has remained bottled up in Congress for a very long time.

The Hill: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) vowed Wednesday to join with abortion-rights groups and fight a forthcoming GOP bill to ban most abortions in the District of Columbia after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Citizen Link: Liberty Counsel testified before Congress today outlining one of a series of incidents that suggests the Department of Justice (DOJ) violated the Constitution by initiating prosecutions for political reasons.

Brett Harvey and Joel Oster at the Federalist Society: Tension between the Supreme Court’s holding in Marsh and the dictum in Allegheny has created confusion in the lower courts regarding the proper standard(s) to use when evaluating legislative prayer practices. Central to the confusion is the government’s role in regulating the content of legislative prayers. For courts that apply the endorsement test to the context surrounding a legislative prayer practice, distinguishing between private expression and government expression is critical to the viability of the practice. For courts that apply a historical analysis, as in Marsh, the content of the prayer does not define the analysis absent evidence of government exploitation, irrespective of its classification as government or private expression. The First Amendment is a shield against a government-imposed civil orthodoxy. Legislative prayer is a historic tradition practiced across the country at every level of government. The circuits are irreconcilably conflicted about the application of fundamental, constitutional principles. The current disputes provide the Supreme Court with an opportunity to resolve these conflicts and provide clarity to the law.

CNSNews: Chinese civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng, testifying in front of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and a packed crowd Tuesday, held up a list of “corrupt officials” whom he said were responsible for “130,000 forced abortions” in China.

Reuters: Lawmakers held a spirited discussion on the immediate future of the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday, after a recent appeals court ruling that cast doubt on the board’s authority to make decisions.

Politico: Since 1948, every president except for Obama has had at least one of his nominees confirmed to the court. Obama cannot tolerate a filibuster of Srinivasan. If Republicans filibuster, he should break it. After the hearings, Obama should nominate a judge for each of the court’s remaining three vacancies.

Indian Congressman Marlin Stutzman has issued this press release that includes this: “Regardless of any ruling, referendum, or law, marriage is the union of one man and one woman,” said Stutzman. “Washington cannot redefine marriage any more than it can govern gravity. As the cornerstone of society throughout history, marriage is a unique institution and the safest environment for raising children. My commitment to marriage is matched by my abiding commitment to the civil rights of all individuals—every American must be treated with dignity and respect. However, marriage is neither a civil right nor a political platform . . . ”

LifeNews: A Democratic state legislator in Nevada is making waves for comments saying she does not regret killing her baby in an abortion. Assemblywoman Lucy Flores, a Democrat from Las Vegas . . .

Washington Post: The effort reflects a new White House effort to tilt in its favor the conservative-dominated U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which is one notch below the Supreme Court and considers many challenges to executive actions.

Bloomberg: President Barack Obama is pressing Republicans to stop obstructing federal judicial nominees, protesting the delays in private conversations with senators and in public declarations by administration officials

Washington Post: Illinois Republican Sen. Mark Kirk on Tuesday became the second Republican senator and the fourth GOP Member of Congress to support gay marriage. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), and Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) are the other three. Here’s a closer look at each of them — and their reasons for breaking with their party’s long-held position on marriage.

Huffington Post: That leaves just seven Senate Democrats against gay marriage: Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.). Two among that list, Landrieu and Pryor, face tough reelection battles in 2014 in conservative states.

Gay Politics: The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund today announced its endorsement of openly gay Massachusetts State Rep. Carl Sciortino in a likely special election to replace Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

Marine Corps Times: Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., a longstanding advocate of abortion rights, reintroduced the Military Access to Reproductive Care and Health (MARCH) for Military Women bill, which would permit physicians at military facilities to conduct abortions if female service members or Tricare beneficiaries use private funds to pay for the surgeries.

Turtle Bay and Beyond: The following is a Statement to the Congressional Record made by Congressman Daniel Webster (R-FL) in support of the March for Marriage to be held next Tuesday, March 26 in Washington DC. The March is being organized by the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) and is joined by a large coalition of pro-family organizations, state partners, African-American, Latino, Catholic and Protestant leaders.

LifeNews: Members of the Senate voted today on a mostly party-line vote to reaffirm the controversial HHS mandate, that compels religious groups to pay for birth control and abortion-causing drugs despite their religious or moral objections.

Washington Blade: A total of 110 U.S. House members have signed a letter calling on President Obama to take action to protect LGBT workers from discrimination — although the letter has the notable absence of members of Democratic leadership and Republican lawmakers.

CNSNews: Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Democrats will “fill up the DC circuit one way or another,” even it means changing the rules in the Senate to get nominees confirmed.

LifeNews: As the Senate continues the debate on the Budget Resolution, pro-life amendments will be filed and therefore may be considered as part of Vote-a-Rama Senate Democrats have planned for changes to the must-pass bill to keep government running and funded. Votes on these amendments are expected as soon as Friday.

Human Events: Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) continues in his effort to establish a full-spectrum profile of policy positions with his Life at Conception Act, rolled out on his website last week as follows . . .

CNSNews: The Catholic bishops of the United States are asking the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to do something concrete and effective–rather than merely symbolic—to repeal a regulation the administration has issued under Obamacare that will force Catholics and other Christians to act against their faith in purchasing or providing health-care plans that cover sterilizations, contraceptives, and abortion-inducing drugs.

Boston Herald: The Massachusetts Citizens for Life Political Action Committee said Tuesday that Sullivan “has been a fighter for the unborn,” and as a senator would vote to support restrictions on abortion.

Religion Clause Blog: Last Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing onThe Worsening Plight of Religious Minorities in Iran.

LifeSiteNews: Cao Ruyi, a Chinese woman who was spared a forced abortion last June when she was five months pregnant, is thankful her baby boy is alive and well – but the couple still faces the grim prospect of persecution from the totalitarian state apparatus.

Fox News: The wife of the American pastor imprisoned in Iran for his Christian faith is on her way to Washington, where she will press lawmakers to fight for her husband’s freedom.

The Hill: The party’s principal fiscal road map, Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) budget blueprint, has left some Republican conservatives dissatisfied because it would not repeal the Obama administration’s healthcare reform law entirely.

Talking Points Memo: In a closed door lunch meeting with Senate Democrats on Tuesday, President Obama expressed his frustration with Republican slow-walking and filibustering of key nominees, and urged them to address the issue, according to a senior Senate Democratic aide.

SCOTUS Blog: The National Labor Relations Board will seek to go on to the Supreme Court in a major constitutional test of the President’s power to make appointments to government offices when the Senate is out of town, the Board announced Tuesday.

Jonathan Adler at Volokh Conspiracy: Over the weekend, the NYT published a highly misleading story about Republican filibusters of President Obama’s judicial nominees. Consider the very first sentence of the article: “A fresh feud over federal judgeships has again begun to agitate the Senate, with Republicans so far blocking President Obama from filling any of the four vacancies on the nation’s most prestigious and important appeals court.

Wall Street Journal (via Google News): Senate Republicans used a filibuster last week to block the nomination of Caitlin Halligan to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and Democrats are in full boil. President Obama denounced “the Republican pattern of obstruction,” but Republicans are merely following the filibuster precedent that Democrats set when George W. Bush was President. Turnabout is unfair play.

CNSNews: When the U.S. Senate this week takes up the continuing resolution to fund the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2013, Sen. Ted Cruz (R.-Texas) will offer an amendment that will prohibit funding for the implementation of Obamacare during that period.

The HIll: Freedom Works, for example, was livid that GOP leaders refused to allow a floor vote on an amendment to defund the implementation of President Obama’s healthcare law . . . “Rep. (John) Fleming (R-La.) believes, as he stated in a letter to leadership last week, that the CR [continuing resolution] was a prime opportunity to move conscience legislation that would restore protections stripped away by Obamacare,” Fleming spokesman Doug Sachtleben explained in a statement to The Hill.

NPR: It’s not solely Senate Republicans who are to blame for the headless government. Obama has failed to put forward nominees for some posts, and Light says the president is “moving at a snail’s pace” to make other nominations. Light says the administration also has “the longest questionnaire in the presidential history for vetting people who might become nominees. It’s brutal.” That serves to discourage some people from wanting to become nominees in the first place.

LifeNews: Seventy-two members of the U.S. Congress have signed a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting updated detailed information about government grants to Planned Parenthood.

CNSNews: The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted 267-151 on Wednesday to approve a $982-billion continuing resolution (CR) to fund the federal government through the rest of fiscal 2013 that fully funds the implementation of Obamacare during that period.

Roll Call: The Senate voted 51-41 to end debate on the nomination, nine votes shy of the 60 needed to move forward. Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski was the only Republican to cross party lines, voting to invoke cloture.

The Hill: In a subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, two legal scholars said that the Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act would be held constitutional despite arguments it would infringe upon the power of the Executive Branch.

Amanda Becker at Roll Call: Some of the more conservative justices on the Supreme Court weren’t shy about assessing their neighbors across the street Wednesday during oral arguments in a closely watched Voting Rights Act case.

Breitbart: In 2012, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) released a report that found more than $99 million in waste or possible PPFA fraud, including an alleged illegal taxpayer funding of abortion and abortion-related procedures.

The Hill: All five candidates pursuing the seat vacated by Secretary of State John Kerry (D) have collected far more than the necessary 10,000 signatures to join the primary ballot, indicating there will likely be a three-way Republican primary and a two-way Democratic primary in the special election.

Washington Times: A group of 72 lawmakers have revived an effort to ask the government’s watchdog agency to scrutinize taxpayer dollars going to Planned Parenthood and five other organizations who provide family-planning services.

WSJ Market Watch carries the text of the speech.

U.S. News and World Report: Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul delivered the Tea Party rebuttal to Obama’s State of the Union speech

AP: President Barack Obama is telling Congress that he will take action to combat climate change if lawmakers don’t do it themselves.