A suspicious substance has been discovered on the U.S. Capitol campus, prompting access to the Ford Office Building to be temporarily restricted, according to the U.S. Capitol Police.
Spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider told POLITICO that the area near Room 620 in the Ford Building is being tested to determine what the substance is.
There were no evacuations, Schneider said.
House Minority Leader John Boehner threw his full support behind Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-Calif.) plan to bombard the Obama administration with subpoenas if Republicans take back the House in November.
“I think Congress has an appropriate role under the Constitution to provide oversight of the executive branch. And I would pledge that it’s going to happen,” he told reporters Wednesday.
Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Committee, has said he’ll double the size of his staff if he becomes chairman of the committee next year. He called for an investigation of the Obama administration earlier this year for offering Rep. Joe Sestak an unpaid job if he would drop out of the Democratic primary, and he has promised to investigate the White House in search of similar controversies.
A Chairman Issa would prove a huge headache for Obama, much as Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) was as the committee’s chairman during the Clinton administration. Burton issued 1,052 subpoenas to the White House and other Democrats from 1997 to 2002.
CORRECTED: Issa's party affiliation was incorrect in the original post.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) recommended Glenn Beck for admission to Yale in the 1990s, according to a New York Times profile of the conservative television star.
Buried a few pages into a Mark Leibovich magazine piece creating beltway buzz Wednesday is this nugget about Lieberman, who ran for reelection to the Senate as an independent in 2006 after losing in the Democratic primary to a challenger from his left.
"He even enrolled at Yale, with a written recommendation from an alum who was a listener at the time, Sen. Joe Lieberman. He took one class, early Christology, but says he "spent more time trying to find a parking space than in class and quickly dropped out."
Dr. No is at it again.
Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn took to the Senate floor and blocked a whole series of environmental measures that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sought to quickly pass.
The Crane Conservation Act?
“I object,” Coburn said.
The Marine Mammal Assistance Act?
“Mr. President, I object,” Coburn said.
The Great Cats and Rare Canids Act?
“I object,” he said.
How about the Shark Conservation Act?
“I object,” Coburn said.
The Southern Sea Otter Recovery and Research Act?
“Is there any objection?” asked Sen. Al Franken, who was presiding over the chamber.
“I object,” Coburn said.
At which point, Reid relented from the floor and Coburn sought to be recognized.
Reid’s response? He objected, preventing Coburn from taking the floor.
But a few seconds later, Reid relented, allowing Coburn to rail against what he said were bills that would increase the budget deficit.
The must-pass spending bill pending in the Senate includes a little-noticed provision that would pay the family of the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd for the salary he would have commanded in the next fiscal year.
The Senate handbook says that upon the death of a senator who had been serving in office, “in the next appropriations bill, an item will be inserted for a gratuity to be paid to the widow(er) or other next- of-kin, in the amount of one-year’s compensation.”
As a result, the bill calls for “equal shares” of the late senator’s $193,400 salary to be split between Byrd’s seven children and grandchildren.
The practice has been long followed by both parties and in both chambers, including in 2007 when the widows of Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.) and Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio) each received $165,200 for the salary that the two men would have received.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) is keeping his options open in deciding whether to back a candidate running in Chicago’s mayoral primary – even though Rahm Emanuel is expected to make an entry into the race in the coming days.
“There are 20-30 potential candidates at this point,” Durbin told POLITICO when asked if he’d endorse in the race. “I’m go into wait and see – see who gets in. There are a lot of people, and I know everyone of them.”
But Durbin wouldn’t give his opinion about Emanuel’s potential candidacy, only saying the White House chief of staff is “likely to get in.”
Asked if that’s a good thing, Durbin said: “Sure it’s a good thing, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t run.”
Everyone seems to have an opinion on Rahm Emanuel's pending decision on whether or not to leave the White House and run for mayor of Chicago — everyone but Sen. Roland Burris of Illinois.
Following votes Tuesday, POLITICO caught up with the man who inherited Barack Obama's Senate seat to ask him what he thought about the president's right-hand man running for arguably the most powerful office in Illinois.
Burris's response, however, was more a Cook County Clerk recording than an actual answer to the question.
The exchange:
POLITICO: “What do you think of the possibility that Rahm Emanuel could leave the White House as early as this week and run for mayor?”
Roland Burris: “Guess what?”
POLITICO: “What?”
Burris: “We have an election in Illinois coming Nov. 2. Nov. 2 is for the governorship and the Senate seat.”
POLITICO: “So you're saying...”
Burris: “N-n-nov. 2.”
POLITICO: “So you're saying he shouldn't le...”
Burris: “Nov. 2 is Election day.”
POLITICO: “So you're saying he shouldn't...”
Burris: “Nov. 2. Nov. 2 is election day.”
POLITICO: “...leave before Nov. 2?”
Burris: “Nov. 2 is the Election day. Remember that. In Illinois.”
Democratic leaders are pressing Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) to stop blocking Office of Management and Budget director nominee Jack Lew, a top Democrat said Tuesday.
Landrieu informed Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) late last week that she would block Lew's confirmation until the White House lifted its deep-water drilling moratorium – a ban she says is devastating the Louisiana economy. Since then, Democratic leaders have been working to change her mind.
"We are in dialogue with the senator from Louisiana," said Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat. "We've got to fill that spot. We have a new budget coming up as soon as we return. Time is of the essence. Not to mention the fact that the deficit commission will be meeting and deliberating in November and reporting to the Senate in December and there are some policy questions that may have to be asked of the administration."
If Landrieu does not relent on her request, as reports indicate following a meeting with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, President Barack Obama could make Lew a recess appointment, installing him in office without going through the formality of a full Senate confirmation vote. Though Durbin emphasized the importance of filling the OMB director role swiftly, he also said he would prefer Lew face an up-or-down vote.
"I'm anxious to take care of it," Durbin added. "Of course, Jack Lew could be appointed on a recess basis but I'd much rather see him win the confirmation of the Senate."
Lew was nominated by Obama in July to replace former director Peter Orzag. The OMB is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President and has a huge role in preparing the government's annual budget. Since Orzag left the office at the end of July, the directorship has been vacant.
Landrieu, however, expressed serious concerns about the White House stance on drilling since a massive oil spill in the Gulf earlier this summer. The Louisiana Democrat was clear she would halt the confirmation process until she felt assured the moratorium on Gulf drilling would be lifted.
"I cannot support further action on Mr. Lew’s nomination to be a key economic advisor to the president until I am convinced that the president and his administration understand the detrimental impacts that the actual and de facto moratoria continue to have on the Gulf Coast," Landrieu wrote in a letter Thursday.
But Tuesday, Durbin expressed optimism that leaders will be able to clear the way for a vote.
"I'm more optimistic that Sen. Landrieu will be able to move our way. We're working on it," Durbin said.
Republican-turned-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said Tuesday that the "nation's business is floundering" because moderate Republicans "have fallen like flies at the hands of extremists,” calling Christine O'Donnell's primary victory in Delaware "stunning" and implying she is incompetent.
In an oddly timed and strongly-worded speech, Specter took aim at the Republican Party, which he claimed has "changed the most ideologically" and took not-so-veiled shots at colleague Jim DeMint, who has emerged as the champion of the conservative electorate.
"Within days of the start of the Obama administration, before the ink was dry on his oath of office, Republicans openly bragged about plans to 'break' him and engineer his 'Waterloo,'" Specter said. "Announcing that ideological purity was more important than obtaining a majority, the prevailing Republican motto was 'We’d rather have 30 Marco Rubios in the Senate than 50 Arlen Specters.'"
Both the comments about Obama's "Waterloo" and Marco Rubio, the conservative candidate who won the GOP nomination for Senate in Florida, were made by DeMint.
Specter — who lost the Pennsylvania Democratic primary after switching parties last year— also lamented the primary losses of Republicans Bob Bennett in Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and established Congressman Mike Castle in Delaware.
"Moderates and some conservatives have fallen like flies at the hands of the extremists in both parties. Senator Robert Bennett’s 93% conservative rating was insufficient for renomination in Utah. Senator Lisa Murkowski was rejected by Alaska’s Tea Party’s dominance in their Republican primary. In perhaps the most stunning election, an opponent whom conservative Republicans characterized as incompetent, beat Congressman Mike Castle," Specter said.
In addressing what has largely been acknowledged as the genesis of the "test of ideological purity," Specter provided behind the scenes tick-tocks for the passage of the Troubled Asset Relief Fund under former President George W. Bush and the stimulus under Obama, even saying that former Vice President Dick Cheney told the GOP conference that if Congress did not pass TARP, "George W. Bush will turn into a modern day Herbert Hoover."
With several outgoing moderate senators, including Specter, Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and George Voinovich of Ohio, the Pennsylvania, Specter's speech on the floor is likely the first of several on Senate gridlock that will be made in this session's waning days. But Specter's speech seemed particularly charged because of the unique path of his fall, from one party to another to a defeat in a primary where the White House had thrown its support behind him.
He claimed Republicans have embraced a "scorched earth policy" to obstruct Democrats, but his overwhelming message was that moderates of both parties have been burned.
Nicholas Marsh, one of the prosecutors in the corruption trial of the late Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), committed suicide over the weekend, a tragic development that comes just as Stevens will be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday.
Marsh’s death was first reported by NPR on Monday.
Marsh was part of the prosecution team that helped indict and convict Stevens in 2008 on federal corruption charges of failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in improper gifts from an Alaska businessman. Stevens' lost his reelection bid shortly after his conviction, ending a 40-year Senate career.
Stevens' defense team had complained throughout the trial that prosecutors in the Public Integrity Section of DOJ, an elite office, had failed to turn over exculpatory information to them.
And when an FBI agent later alleged that one of his colleagues had an improper relationship with the lead government witness, Bill Allen, Attorney General Eric Holder moved to have the conviction vacated.
Marsh was transferred to a less prestigious office within DOJ in June 2009.
"Our deepest sympathies go out to Nick's family and friends on this sad day,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer in a statement released by the Justice Department.“The Department of Justice is a community, and today our community is mourning the loss of this dedicated young attorney."
House Democratic leaders Friday evening announced they would bring back to to the floor a bill to bolster health services for 9/11 first responders next week during the last few days in session before the midterm election.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said in a joint statement that they’d bring the bill to the floor for a second time under a rule, requiring a simple majority to pass. It had been brought up under suspension of the rules, and failed to meet the higher vote threshold required because of Republican opposition.
Republicans who opposed the legislation didn’t like how it was paid for. Democratic leaders avoided bringing the bill to the floor under a rule because of a peripheral fight over illegal immigrants.
A Democratic House leadership aide said they will “make clear that this issue is far too important to use as a vehicle to score political points.”
“We are confident that if Republicans don't play games with the heroes of 9/11, the bill will pass,” the leadership aide said.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who last month called for abolishing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is going after Fannie Mae for its foreclosure practices.
Frank is sending a letter to the company Friday accusing it of allowing banks to foreclose on homes even if the banks don’t have the right to.
The New York Times reported earlier this month that judges in Florida are signing off on foreclosures without properly vetting whether the banks actually own the property.
In one case, a bank was able to foreclose on a home, even though Fannie Mae actually owned the house.
“Given that Fannie Mae is at this point a government entity, and it is the policy of the government that foreclosures are a costly situation best avoided if there are any lower cost alternatives, what steps is Fannie Mae taking to avoid the use of foreclosure mills? What additional steps is Fannie Mae going to take to ensure that foreclosures are done only when necessary and only in accordance with recognized law?” Frank demands in his letter, also signed by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fl.) and Rep. Corinne Brown (D-Fl.).
He also says he looks forward to learning more about “these disturbing dynamics” in future hearings.
Frank said in August that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be “abolished,” and instead replaced with an agency that encourages cheap rental housing.
The two housing companies, now in conservatorship, have served as a regular punching bag for Republicans, who say that Democrats should have reformed them long ago.
Former Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska will be buried with honors at Arlington National Cemetery, according to a statement released by a family spokesman Friday.
Stevens, a World War II veteran who served in the Senate for 40 years, will be buried Tuesday Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. in a ceremony open to family and friends.
The Alaska Republican died in an August plane crash near Dillingham, Alaska.
The three House Republicans dubbed the Young Guns will keep their marketing blitz going with a D.C. town hall next week at American University, a nod to their increasing stature during a strong year for the GOP.
The Kennedy Political Union will host House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) and Reps. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Paul Ryan (Wisc.) on the evening of Sept. 29. They are expecting a crowd of between 400 and 500 for a two-hour, town-hall style event.
The trio has had a slew of high-profile media appearances and their book “Young Guns: A New Generation of Conservative Leaders” is ranked 308th on Amazon.com.
And this weekend, the book will debut on the New York Times Bestseller List at 34th on the paperback non-fiction best-seller list – one spot above Michael Lewis’s “Liars Poker.” A spokesman for the project said the book is in its fourth printing.
“The success of the Young Guns effort makes clear that Americans are yearning for a new generation of leaders who will talk straight about the problems facing our country and work to ensure that the government once again starts working for the people who pay for it,” said Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring. “From coast-to-coast, Americans are rallying around a clear, common-sense conservative vision that creates private sector jobs, maximizes individual liberty, and returns our country to prosperity.”
The book hasn’t been without a dash of criticism from Democrats, who use the trio’s conservative economic plans to paint Republicans as wanting to privatize Social Security and strip seniors of their Medicare. Ryan – poised to be the chairman of the Budget committee – has proclaimed that entitlements are broken and one way to fix them is his plan, known as the "Roadmap."
The House will not vote Friday, as was expected, because its leadership did not find agreement on a stop-gap bill that would fund the federal government.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) announced late Thursday evening that the House will return Wednesday Sept. 29 for two days in session -- the body will not be in on Friday Oct. 1.
"I was hopeful that we would be able to reach an agreement with the Senate on a continuing resolution so that the House could act on it tomorrow, but while negotiations are progressing they are not complete," Hoyer said in a statement. "We will be back next week to complete action on it. "
Democrats, though, are hardly upset about heading back to their districts during a rocky political season. House leadership aides have indicated they'd prefer Democrats head home to spend time in front of the voters.
The administration and Congress are trying to crack down on single-person, “ultralight” aircraft that Mexican cartels are using to smuggle drugs across the border.
The Homeland Security Department is seeking to purchase technology that would detect and track the small, low-flying aircraft. And on Thursday, the House easily passed a bipartisan bill that would create stiffer penalties for those caught using the aircraft to smuggle narcotics.
The Ultralight Smuggling Prevention Act, introduced by Reps. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.), was sent to the Senate for consideration.
“Ultralights are the latest weapon in the ever expanding arsenal of the narco-terrorists, capable not only of transporting drugs but any number of dangerous payloads,” Giffords, who has positioned herself as a border-security hawk amid a tough re-election battle, said on the House floor.
The legislation would amend the Tariff Act of 1930, establishing the same penalties for drug smugglers who use ultralights as those who use airplanes or automobiles. Under the bill, a smuggler can receive up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for using ultralights.
The aircraft, which largely can avoid traditional radar detection, can carry hundreds of pounds of narcotics and have been detected 200 miles north of the border.
Senate Republican leaders are making clear that Rep. Mike Castle would lose the support of the party establishment if he ran as a write-in candidate - even though they vigorously backed his candidacy just days ago.
Even though polls show her trailing to Democrat Chris Coons, party leaders told POLITICO that they would back Christine O'Donnell if Castle were to run as a write-in candidate.
"We've got our nominees; we're going to support our nominees obviously," said Sen. John Thune, who is no. 4 Senate leadership. "In terms of where the leadership is and where the caucus is it's pretty clear - we're behind the individual that voters have selected."
Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, the GOP conference chairman, said despite his personal friendship with Castle - and Lisa Murkowski in Alaska - "it's not up to me to pick the Republican nominees in Alaska and Delaware."
Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the minority whip, was even more explicit: "The Senate campaign committee's view is once the nominee is determined, that's who we support."
POLITICO reported earlier this week that Castle was considering a write-in bid, though he signaled it was unlikely.
An anti-gay comment left on an Internet site discussing gays in the U.S. military appears to have come from Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ district office, the Republican’s office confirmed last night.
The case is currently being investigated by the Senate Sergeant at Arms Office, which comes just days after a push to allow gays to serve openly in the military died in the Senate.
The comment from a blog known as “Joe.My.God”: “All [gays] must die,” was left by a user identified as “Jimmy”, who blog readers traced back to an Atlanta office building where Chambliss has an office using a computer IP address.
"There has not been a determination as to who posted the comment. That part of the review is ongoing, and is now in the hands of the Senate sergeant at arms," Chambliss’ office said in a statement.
The investigation narrowed to Chambliss’ staff after Sen. Johnny Isakson, who also has an office in the building, denied anyone from his office had posted the statement.
Senate Sergeant at Arms Terry Gainer did not return a request for comment.
Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday he "absolutely" believes Democrats will maintain control of both Houses after November's midterm elections.
Speaking at a fundraiser for former Senate colleague Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, Biden declared that Democrats have "a heck of a positive record to run on" and that the final electoral results will reflect that.
“I guarantee you we’re going to have a majority in the House and a majority in the Senate. I absolutely believe that,” Biden said at a private event in a home in Chevy Chase, Md, though he conceded that the economy is still a source of "anxiety" among voters.
He added that Democrats should be encouraged by a recent swing in generic ballot numbers, which revealed that Democrats are nearly tied with Republicans only a few short days after trailing by double-digits.
As for Mikulski, Biden — the former senator from Delaware — had nothing but praise, saying that he "loves her gumption" and likening her to a top draft pick in a fantasy football draft.
“If this were like Fantasy Football” for Democrats, Biden asked, “who would be among the first two or three people you would pick?” before saying Mikulski would be among his first choices.
Mr. 41 is still a "no" on Senate Democrats' campaign finance bill.
"You think the 15 million people who are unemployed right now care about the political content of political ads in the middle of an election season to give one party a tactical advantage? No, they care about jobs," Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) told reporters. "The fact that we are wasting time dealing with this ... is outrageous for people looking for work."
He said he won't support the latest version of Sen. Chuck Schumer's so-called Disclose Act, which is being debated in the Senate this week.
