Tag: U.S. House

House approves bill to make DC a state

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The House, in a party-line vote on Thursday, approved legislation to make Washington, D.C., the 51st state in the nation, sending the bill to the Senate.

It’s the second time the House has approved such legislation in two years, but the statehood bill, long a goal for the nation’s capital, faces an uphill climb in a Senate evenly divided between the two parties.

Winning a vote in the Senate would likely require ending the filibuster that requires most legislation to clear a 60-vote hurdle. Even then, not all 50 Democrats in the Senate back making D.C. a state. Continue reading.

‘Clean up your mess, Kevin’: Hakeem Jeffries slams House Minority Leader McCarthy for demanding Maxine Waters’ censure

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has been calling for a censure of Rep. Maxine Waters in response to her recent comment that if former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is acquitted on the charges he is facing in connection with George Floyd’s death, activists should be “confrontational.” And McCarthy was the target of some scathing comments from Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who found it laughable than he was so offended by Waters’ rhetoric in light of the extremists who are welcome in the GOP in 2021.

Jeffries, on the House floor, declared, “When you think that Kevin McCarthy has the nerve to say something about anyone when he supported the violent insurrection after the mob attacked the Capitol, threatened to assassinate Nancy Pelosi, kill other members of Congress, hang Mike Pence. He then came back to the Capitol, voted to support the Big Lie — which ignited the violent insurrection — and continues to play footsie with Donald Trump. When you’ve got a situation where Lauren Boebert is a mess. Matt Gaetz is a mess. Marjorie Taylor Greene is a mess. Clean up your mess, Kevin.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has defended Waters, saying that the California congressman was advocating peaceful protest, not violence. And she is opposed to censuring Waters. Continue reading.

House rejects GOP resolution to censure Waters

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The House on Tuesday rejected a Republican resolution to censure Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) for saying that “we’ve got to get more confrontational” about police brutality against African Americans.

Lawmakers voted along party lines 216-210, with no defections on either side, to table the resolution from Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) that would have issued the chamber’s harshest disapproval short of expulsion.

Republicans argued that Waters incited violence with her remarks at a protest over the weekend in Minneapolis, where tensions are spiking over the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who’s charged with the murder of George Floyd, and the recent police killing of Daunte Wright. Continue reading.

House Republican proposes constitutional amendment to prevent Supreme Court expansion

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Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), the head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, introduced a proposed constitutional amendment on Thursday to maintain the size of the Supreme Court at nine justices.

The amendment, which has no path to succeed with Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress, is a response to a bill introduced by Democrats that proposes expanding the size of the Supreme Court from nine justices to 13.

“The Supreme Court must faithfully interpret the Constitution. We cannot allow it to fall victim to partisan attempts to pack it with far-left radicals,” Biggs said in a statement. “This desperate power-grab by Democrats will only further divide our Nation. I will not stand for a ‘Supreme Coup’ of our highest court.” Continue reading.

New bill would combat right-wing ‘assault’ on democracy — and change the Supreme Court forever

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Democrats in the House and Senate on Thursday are planning to introduce legislation to expand the number of seats on the U.S. Supreme Court from nine to 13, a proposal hailed by progressive advocacy groups as a critical step in combating the conservative takeover of the high court and protecting key constitutional rights.

Led by Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), and Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) in the House and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in the upper chamber, the Judiciary Act of 2021 is set to be unveiled just days after President Joe Biden signed an executive order forming a 36-member commission tasked with studying potential Supreme Court reforms, including expansion.

But Demand Justice executive director Brian Fallon said in a statement late Wednesday that “we cannot afford to wait six months for an academic study to tell us what we already know: the Supreme Court is broken and in need of reform.” Continue reading.

House committee approves DC statehood bill

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The House Oversight and Reform Committee approved legislation on Wednesday that would make Washington, D.C., a state, sending the measure to the House for a vote later this month. 

The House Oversight and Reform Committee passed H.R. 51, also known as the Washington, D.C., Admission Act, in a 25-19 party-line vote.

The legislation, which has 215 co-sponsors, is likely to pass the House on a narrow, party-line vote, with all Republicans voting against it. Continue reading.

Clyde says he will take magnetometer fine matter to federal court

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Georgia Republican says rule is in violation of the Constitution and ‘meritless’

Rep. Andrew Clyde says he will go to federal court to fight $15,000 in fines he incurred for dodging security screening at the entrance to the House floor.

On Monday, the House Ethics Committee announced it upheld both fines the Georgia Republican was assessed for eluding the magnetometers. Under a rule adopted by the chamber in February, a member who fails to complete security screening is fined $5,000 on the first instance and $10,000 for subsequent offenses. 

Clyde was cited for “deliberately” avoiding security screening by the Capitol Police on two occasions, the first on Feb. 5 and the second on Feb. 8, according to the Ethics panel. Acting House Sergeant-at-Arms Timothy P. Blodgett was tasked with imposing the fine. Continue reading.

House Ethics Committee opens probe into Gaetz

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The House Ethics Committee announced it is opening an investigation into embattled GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) on Friday following allegations of illegal drug use and sharing nude photos of young women with his colleagues on the House floor.

“The Committee is aware of public allegations that Representative Matt Gaetz may have engaged in sexual misconduct and/or illicit drug use, shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misused state identification records, converted campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepted a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift, in violation of House Rules, laws, or other standards of conduct,” the panel said in a statement announcing it is beginning an investigation to gather additional information.

“The Committee notes that the mere fact that it is investigating these allegations, and publicly disclosing its review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee,” the statement noted. Continue reading.

Democrats gear up for major push to lower drug prices

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Democrats are planning a major push to lower drug prices as part of a coming infrastructure package, seeing an avenue to move forward on a long-held goal for the party.

House Democratic leaders are intent on including a measure that would allow the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs, sources say.

That bill, first passed by the House in 2019, would provide about $450 billion in savings that in turn could help fund a spending package with a price tag as high as $3 trillion. Continue reading.

Pelosi appoints first Black sergeant-at-arms

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Friday appointed Gen. William J. Walker to serve as the next House sergeant-at-arms, making him the first African American to hold the position.

Why it matters: Paul D. Irving, the former sergeant-at-arms, resigned one day after the pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan 6.

Details: Walker is the commanding general of the D.C. National Guard, where he is responsible for the strategic leadership and training of Army and Air Force guard. Continue reading.