Pentagon Gives $4M in No-Bid Contracts to Murtha Nephew

Veteran Dem has steered $100M to probed company

(NEWSER) - Federal agents yesterday raided the offices and homes of two Pennsylvania defense contractors with strong ties to powerful Congressman John Murtha, Politico reports. The lawmaker has steered more than $100 million in federal contracts to the companies, and their employees have given more than $65,000 in contributions to Murtha. A US attorney would say only that it's an "ongoing investigation" and that ties to lawmakers are a part of it. More»

Murtha accused of rules violation after threat to deny future funding

(NEWSER) - Rep. John Murtha, the pugnacious Democratic chairman of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, is accused of breaking House rules by threatening to withhold future spending from a GOP member with whom he had a disagreement. Politico reports that Rep. Mike Rogers is calling for a House vote to reprimand Murtha. More»

Funds to beef up security are showered on connected firms

(NEWSER) - The John P. Murtha Institute for Homeland Security may look like a mostly deserted basement below an Indiana University of Pennsylvania dormitory, but over the years it’s overseen $50 million in federal funds—almost all of it going to Murtha’s friends and industry allies, a Washington Post investigation finds. The institute is supposed to vet and oversee projects to make the nation safer, or clean up the environment, but few have actually succeeded. More»

(NEWSER) - They gave up on the F22, but Congress is still trying to give the Pentagon $6.9 billion in planes, helicopters and ships the Defense secretary doesn’t want, the Washington Post reports. House Democrats have loaded the defense spending bill with earmarks for programs Barack Obama and Robert Gates have specifically targeted as waste, and the White House says if it isn't pruned Obama may veto it. More»

Old spending bill proves minefield for Democrats

(NEWSER) - Democrats were hoping they could sneak the $410 billion omnibus spending bill from last fall quietly through the Senate and onto the president’s desk, to make way for the 2010 budget. But John McCain is having none of it. “If it seems like I’m angry, it’s because I am,” McCain declared in an impassioned rant on the floor yesterday. Continuing his often hostile approach to Obama, he accused the president of ditching his campaign promise to “go line by line” eliminating earmarks. More»