Stories related to: House of Representatives

A retired three-star general who allegedly misled investigators about the death of former NFL player Pat Tillman in Afghanistan could be stripped of his stars and part of his pension, Pentagon officials told CNN. Retired Lt. Gen. Phillip Kensinger told inspectors he didn't know the Green Beret was killed by friendly fire, a statement an army probe didn't "find credible." More »

The House voted late today to require the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq to begin within 120 days as part of legislation that sets an April 1 deadline for complete redeployment. The 223-201 vote, a largely symbolic move given that Senate support isn't sufficient to override a filibuster, went largely along party lines. More »

In an aggressive use of executive privilege, President Bush instructed two of his former aides yesterday to disregard congressional subpoenas demanding they testify about the attorney firings scandal. In a letter to Congress, Bush's counsel rebuffed Democratic senators for encroaching on internal White House affairs, bringing the two branches closer to an possible Supreme Court showdown. More »

A decorated disabled Iraq war vet announced she won't launch a second battle for an Illinois congressional seat, despite losing the last election to a Republican by less than 3%. Tammy Duckworth, who lost  her legs in a grenade attack on a helicopter she was co-piloting, said she'll continue her current job as state director of veterans' affairs. More »

Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan declared her intention to challenge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her congressional seat yesterday unless the top-ranking Democrat draws up articles of impeachment against President Bush. "Democrats and Americans feel betrayed by the Democratic leadership," said Sheehan. "We hired them to bring an end to the war." More »

The White House shot down attempts to subpoena internal documents concerning the US attorney firings today by invoking executive privilege. Though not a surprise, the refusal moved the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to accuse the administration of "Nixonian stonewalling." If the committee doesn't back down, the Times reports, the next step is a Congressional resolution on contempt citations. More »

The Senate gave a green light to an energy plan that would pump total fuel-economy standards to 35 mpg by 2020, and require vehicles to run on 85% ethanol by 2015. Democrats say the bill will reduce America's reliance on foreign oil, help control gas prices and counteract the effects of global warming, while analysts say it's a blow to Detroit. More »

Hundreds of thousands of White House e-mails sent on Republican National Committee accounts have been deleted or are missing, an apparent violation of the law governing presidential records. The Washington Post reports that Karl Rove personally sent or received 140,000 e-mails, more than half of which appear to be official White House business. More »

Alaskan tribes are so successful in securing no-bid government contracts, they're spurring a federal investigation into conduct by Alaskan senator Ted Stevens, reports Salon . In 1986, Stevens pushed through a law that gave Alaskan companies "small business" preferences—even if they belong to a multi-billion dollar parent corporation and employ no natives. More »

A tangle of privacy laws helps prevent officials from sharing vital info about mentally ill individuals who may be dangerous, making it possible for them to buy handguns—and setting the stage for incidents like the Virginia Tech massacre. Greater awareness of the leeway officials have when safety is a concern could improve record-sharing, a high-level federal report says. More »

The House approved the stem cell bill today by a wide but not veto-proof margin, sending the legislation to the White House to await rejection by President Bush. The bipartisan bill, which loosens restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, passed the Senate in April and sailed through the House by a 247 to 176 vote. More »

The New York Times blows the whistle on Don Young, the House's most notorious earmarker, who this time managed to slip in $10 million for a boondoggle that's not even in his home state of Alaska. A 2006 transportation bill mysteriously includes funds for a project in Florida that happens to be close to the heart of a Young campaign  contributor. More »

Pressure mounted on William Jefferson to resign from the House yesterday as leaders of both parties piled on in the wake of his indictment on corruption, racketeering and bribery charges. Republicans moved to initiate proceedings to have the Louisiana Democrat, expelled—which, Dems noted, they did not do when GOP members Tom DeLay and Robert Ney were indicted. More »

House Democratic leaders are splitting the new Iraq funding bill into two distinct amendments, the Politco reports. One will be the $103 billion Bush requested for the war in Iraq, which will speak of benchmarks but won't demand a withdrawal date, the other a $17 billion domestic spending package. More »

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 »

Three retired generals are the faces of an ad campaign launched yesterday warning moderate Republican legislators that if they follow President Bush's policies in Iraq, they shouldn't expect to be re-elected. "It's past time for change," retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste said in an interview. "Our strategy in Iraq today is more of the same: a slow grind to nowhere." More »

Nancy Pelosi says the House could sue President Bush if he tries to circumvent provisions in its new Iraq appropriations bill. Bush has suggested he'll append a signing statement to the bill, a controversial practice that could let him treat parts of the law—like timetables on progress in Iraq—as optional. More »

Republican John Doolittle has ceded his coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee—a week after FBI agents made a surprise raid on his Virginia home. Doolittle and his wife, Julie, a consultant, are under investigation for their ties to besmirched fundraiser Jack Abramoff. More »

A House panel authorized subpoenas yesterday and the Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to do so today in an effort to force Karl Rove and other top administration figures to testify about the firings of federal prosecutors. With the White House offering only private interviews, not under oath, the scene is set for a head-on constitutional collision. More »