Congress, House Of Representatives | featured news

A U.S. congressional panel voted on Wednesday to charge Attorney General Eric Holder with contempt of Congress after the Obama administration invoked executive privilege for the first time since coming to office, withholding some documents related to a failed gun-running investigation... "Instead of creating jobs or strengthening the middle class, congressional Republicans are spending their time on a politically motivated, taxpayer-funded election-year fishing expedition," White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said.

The current Congress has worked just as many days as its legislative predecessors. It just has a lot less to show for it.

House Republicans are reserving more than $18 million in ad time as they look to protect their majority... As with House Democrats, who announced $32 million in ad reservations earlier this year, the NRCC could shift its spending or increase it. But the ad reservations offer an early idea of where Republicans think they will play offense and defense.

All had their reasons for seeking the congressional seat in the wealthy Detroit suburbs where Mitt Romney grew up. But none could have expected to win - until now... The Michigan attorney general has launched an investigation into why more than 80 percent of the signatures on McCotter's nominating petitions were invalid - many apparently photocopied from other petitions. The problem developed after the five-term congressman gave up his little-noticed campaign for president and entrusted his staff to prepare his re-election paperwork.

A House committee announced Monday it will consider a measure next week to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for failing to provide requested information on the department's handling of the "Fast and Furious" gun-smuggling sting operation.

The tax, originally part of the Affordable Care Act, was set up to pay for an expansion in health programs to cover the uninsured in America, which studies have linked to over 45,000 deaths a year.

Federal pay rates would be frozen for the third straight year in 2013 under several plans that advanced in the House on Wednesday. A spending bill covering general government matters for the coming fiscal year approved by a House Appropriations subcommittee contains no additional money to pay for a raise, effectively rejecting President Obama’s request for a 0.5 percent increase in January.

The Republicans who control the House are using cuts to food aid, health care and social services like Meals on Wheels to protect the Pentagon from a wave of budget cuts come January....

The nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service is urging the House to quickly pass legislation to let it close low-revenue post offices and eliminate Saturday delivery.

At a closed door meeting with rank-and-file Republicans, House Speaker John A. Boehner reiterated his concerns the party could lose control of the House majority this fall, giving his troops file a sober reminder of the challenge ahead.