Congresspedia's "Congress in the News" updates, Sept. 20-Oct. 17, 2006
Share this
- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) improperly paid Christmas bonuses to staff from his Ritz-Carlton condo from his campaign fund. (AP story)
- After meeting with the House Ethics Committee, Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.) confirmed that allegations had been made against a second congressman in relation to the congressional page scandal. (Reuters story)
- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced that he is filing an amendment to his ethics report to more fully describe the circumstances surrounding a Las Vegas land deal. (AP story)
- Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) is under investigation by the Justice Department for allegedly aiding clients of his daughter's lobbying firm in an unlawful way. (McClatchy News story)
- Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) pled guilty to bribery charges stemming from his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. (Washington Post story)
- Billing statements from ex-clients of Jack Abramoff contradict statements by Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) asserting that he had never been approached professionally by the disgraced lobbyist. (TPMmuckraker story)
- Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) failed to properly report circumstances surrounding a Nevada land sale. (AP story)
- The FBI is investigating a staffer of Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) for allegedly steering defense funding to clients of her husband, a lobbyist. (USA Today story)
- In April, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) became the second senator to have his financial disclosure forms reviewed by the FBI during the current session. (Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) was the other). (Roll Call story)
- Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) did not properly disclose stock options he had accrued while working in the private sector upon taking up his Senate seat. (AP story)
- According to a new study, the turnout rate in this year’s primary elections was the lowest ever recorded. (Associated Press story)
- Rep. Tom Reynolds’s (R-N.Y.) chief of staff has resigned in relation to the Mark Foley congressional page scandal. (AP story)
- According to its communications director, the National Republican Congressional Committee would accept former Rep. Mark Foley's (R-Fla.) campaign money if he chose to donate it to them. (New York Times story)
- The FBI is investigating possible criminal activity in relation to sexually explicit emails and instant messages sent by ex-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) to former House pages. (Washington Post story)
- Ex-Rep. Mark Foley's (R-Fla.) name will remain on the ballot for the November elections despite his resignation from office. (TPMmuckraker article)
- Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) resigned over questions regarding inappropriate emails and instant messages he sent to former House pages. (AP story)
- The House passed a measure giving the president the authority to order wiretaps on U.S. citizens for up to 90 days without a court order. (New York Times story)
- Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) severed ties with his top advisor in response to a tape of the advisor pressuring a psychiatrist to hire a physician as a favor to Menendez. (Newark Star-Ledger story)
- The opponent of Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) is calling for an investigation into whether e-mails sent by the congressman to a former House page were inappropriate. (TPMmuckraker story)
- The Senate rejected an amendment sponsored by Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to a detainee bill that would have given terror prisoners habeus corpus rights. (Washington Post story)
- The House of Representatives passed a bill establishing clearer guidelines for the interrogation of terror detainees, but still barring those prisoners from challenging their detentions in court. (Washington Post story)
- House leaders suspended a multi-million dollar wireless communications license after prosecutors charged that it was improperly awarded by Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) in exchange for gifts from lobbyist Jack Abramoff. (Washington Post story)
- The House passed legislation sponsored by Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen (R-Fla.) making it a federal crime to accompany a minor across state lines in order to obtain an abortion without parental notification. (New York Times story)
- A top aide to Rep. Charlie Bass (R-N.H.) resigned after admitting to posing as a liberal blogger to make posts discounting the electoral chances of Bass’s opponent. (AP story)
- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has requested the first closed meeting of the House of Representatives since 1983 in order to discuss classified material related to the War on Terror. (AP story)
- Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called for the release of a second intelligence report painting a grim picture in Iraq as well as April’s National Intelligence Estimate. (TPMmuckraker story)
- Sens. Dick Durbin (R-Ill.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) will call on the Director of National Intelligence to discuss with Congress revelations from the April 2006 National Intelligence Estimate and possible misleading statements made by Vice President Dick Cheney. (TPMmuckraker story)
- Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Texas) denied charges that in 1997 he, at the behest of Jack Abramoff, called into question the credibility of a sex crime victim in order to benefit an Abramoff client. (TPMmuckraker story)
- An aide to Rep. Charlie Bass (R-N.H.) was caught using his office computer to pose as a liberal blogger suggesting “fellow” liberals direct their resources away from the campaign of Bass’s November opponent. (Roll Call story)
- Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) has received $6,000 from troubled Rep. Bob Ney’s (R-Ohio) political action committee, but claims that she cannot return the money because it has been spent. (Miami Herald story)
- A military court has ruled that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) cannot serve as both a member of Congress and a military judge at the same time, something the senator has been doing. (Associated Press story)
- The House Ethics Committee cleared Jeffrey Shockey, deputy chief of staff for the House Appropriations Committee under Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), of any wrongdoing in accepting a $2 million dollar buyout from his previous employer, a prominent lobbying firm. (Roll Call story)
- Sens. John Warner (R-Va.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) reached a compromise with the White House over legislation dealing with the treatment of terror detainees. (Washington Post story)
- A recent poll found that only 25% of Americans approve of the way Congress is doing its job. (New York Times story)
- The House of Representatives passed a bill requiring that voters show government- issued photo ID's in order to participate in federal elections. (Roll Call story)
- The House Judiciary Committee rejected, reconsidered, and then passed a Bush Administration-backed bill dealing with the treatment of terror detainees. (TPM Muckraker story)
- Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) of the Senate Judiciary Committee have requested that their committee be allowed to review and approve the Warner-McCain-Graham detainee treatment bill before it is sent to the floor for consideration. (TPM Muckraker story)
- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) named Sens. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), and Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Reps. Alan Mollohan (D-W.V.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.), Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), Richard Pombo (R-Calif.), John Doolittle (R-Calif.), Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), Tom Feeney (R-Fla.), Pete Sessions (R-Texas), Katherine Harris (R-Fla.), John Sweeney (R-N.Y.), William Jefferson (D-La.), Charles Taylor (R-N.C.), Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Gary Miller (R-Calif.), and Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) as the most corrupt members of the U.S. Congress in 2006. (CREW press release)
- Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) has asked Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) to appear in front of the House Ethics Committee to explain an alleged conversation he had in his congressional office with DNC Chairman Howard Dean regarding campaign funding. (The Hill story)
- Senate Democrats, including Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), have called for a probe into cronyism with regards to hiring practices in Iraq. (Reuters story)
Printer-friendly version
Today's popular content
- Wisconsin’s System Increasingly Rigged Against the Unemployed (40)
- The Health Care Industry vs. Health Reform (23)
- Wisconsin Bill Would Treat Organic Milk, Sharp Cheddar, Brown Eggs as "Junk Food" (20)
- About ALEC Exposed (18)
- More Corporations Drop Off ALEC's Conference Brochure (13)
- Harold Camping's Global Apocalypse PR Campaign (12)
- Why Do We Need Health Care Reform? Don't Ask George Will (11)
- PBS Killed Wisconsin Uprising Documentary "Citizen Koch" To Appease Koch Brothers (11)
- Resources for Investigating ALEC/NRA Gun Bills (11)
- Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama Raises Funds Off Colorado Tragedy, Fleeces Contributors (10)
Readers' Comments
-
Voters SupressionSubmitted by: Anonymous
-
ANON. Comments SHOULD be DeprecatedSubmitted by: pbarnrob
-
Bee health - Jim ScottSubmitted by: EarlBowden
-
extra chargesSubmitted by: Anonymous
-
its not the governmentSubmitted by: Anonymous
-
primary care doctors commentsSubmitted by: Anonymous
-
doctors visitSubmitted by: Anonymous
-
doctors visitSubmitted by: Anonymous
-
As someone with a brainSubmitted by: Anonymous
-
What about discharging theSubmitted by: AndrewG
more
