msnbc.com: Capitol Hill

Lawmaker: Panetta terminated secret program

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:32:24 GMT

CIA Director Leon Panetta has terminated a "very serious" covert program the spy agency kept secret from Congress for eight years, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, a House Intelligence subcommittee chairwoman, said Friday.

House Dems to tax rich for health care

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:29:40 GMT

House Democrats plan to pay for a sweeping health care overhaul by boosting taxes on the wealthy. The taxes will hit households with incomes of $350,000 a year and above.

Newsweek: Panetta orders internal CIA probe

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 20:45:31 GMT

CIA director Leon Panetta has ordered an internal inquiry into the agency's handling of a contentious, but still highly-classified intelligence collection program. The move appears to be an acknowledgement that the CIA should have disclosed information about the post-9/11 secret program to Congress much earlier than it did.

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Thu, 9 Jul 2009 20:45:31 GMT

Burris not running, cites fundraising

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:22:34 GMT

Embattled Illinois Sen. Roland Burris planned Friday to say he won't run for a full term in 2010, making official the end of a short Senate career clouded by the circumstances of his appointment by disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

House boosts funding for veterans programs

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:26:01 GMT

The House has passed a bill giving a big budget boost to provide health care to injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan and other veterans.

Sotomayor rulings ‘extraordinarily thorough’

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 09:35:39 GMT

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's opinions show support for the rights of criminal defendants and suspects, skepticism of corporations, and sympathy for plaintiffs alleging discrimination.

House Democrats say CIA lied

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 18:50:59 GMT

Democrats are accusing senior CIA officials of repeatedly misleading Congress, but Republicans say the allegations are just political maneuvering to protect House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Firefighter to testify against Sotomayor

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 20:20:44 GMT

Republicans announced Thursday that they plan to call a white firefighter to testify against Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor during her Senate confirmation hearings that open Monday.

Ensign: My parents gave mistress money

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 21:36:05 GMT

Sen. John Ensign said Thursday his parents gave his mistress and her family nearly $100,000 "out of concern for the well being of longtime family friends during a difficult time," providing his first public acknowledgment that the woman received payments tied to the affair.

Dems look at taxing the rich for health care

Thu, 9 Jul 2009 18:49:16 GMT

House Democrats working on President Barack Obama's goal of health legislation are narrowing in on an income tax surcharge on the highest-paid wage earners to help subsidize insurance for the 50 million people who lack it.

Watchdog: FEMA still lacks housing plan

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 21:57:32 GMT

The government could end up repeating mistakes seen after Hurricane Katrina without a better plan for housing people after a catastrophe, FEMA's internal watchdog told lawmakers Wednesday.

Burris won’t run for full Senate term

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:13:01 GMT

An Illinois Democrat close to Roland Burris told NBC News on Thursday that the beseiged senator will not run for a full term in 2010.

Senate backs 700 miles of fencing on border

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 18:03:48 GMT

The Senate voted Wednesday to require actual fencing along 700 miles of the border with Mexico rather than vehicle barriers and high-tech equipment.

Audit: States using stimulus just to stay afloat

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 18:52:36 GMT

Projects in some of the nation's poorest areas don't appear to be getting a fair shake in the spending of $787 billion in stimulus funds, the chairman of the House oversight committee said Wednesday.

Franken sworn in as Minnesota senator

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 22:04:10 GMT

Minnesota Democrat Al Franken was sworn in Tuesday, ending an eight-month political and legal struggle. He gives the Democrats 60 votes to thwart possible Republican filibusters.

Franken lands in familiar spot

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 20:00:57 GMT

When Al Franken assumed his new Senate perch Tuesday, the numbers told the tale: Minnesota's second senator, the symbolic 60th vote for Democrats — and No. 100 on the seniority list.

Hatch calls for Justice investigation into BCS

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 23:27:51 GMT

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch is calling on the Justice Department to investigate college football’s Bowl Championship Series for what he views as violations of antitrust laws.

Second thoughts on health benefits tax

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 01:17:38 GMT

Senate Democratic leaders rebelled Tuesday against a proposed tax on health insurance benefits, raising fresh doubts about the prospects for bipartisan legislation on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

Feds: Exec with Murtha ties took kickbacks

Tue, 7 Jul 2009 14:24:13 GMT

A former executive for a defense contractor with ties to Democratic U.S. Rep. John Murtha has been charged by federal prosecutors with taking about $200,000 in kickbacks from a subcontractor.

Work of slaves in Capitol to be marked

Wed, 8 Jul 2009 00:07:37 GMT

The House on Tuesday ordered officials to place a marker inside the new Capitol Visitor Center to acknowledge the use of African-American slaves in the construction of the U.S. Capitol.

Former Defense Secretary McNamara dies

Mon, 6 Jul 2009 19:36:55 GMT

Robert S. McNamara, the cerebral secretary of defense who was vilified for prosecuting the Vietnam War, then devoted himself to helping the world's poorest nations, died Monday.

Senate to post staff salaries, expenses

Mon, 6 Jul 2009 14:12:11 GMT

How your senators are spending their multimillion dollar budgets for staff salaries, travel, and office expenses may soon be just a computer mouse click away.

Senator: Will race infect Sotomayor rulings?

Mon, 6 Jul 2009 16:53:13 GMT

A top Republican senator said Monday that he wants to find out whether Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor would let racial bias affect her decisions as a justice.

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Mon, 6 Jul 2009 16:53:13 GMT

Rep. Kennedy returning to Congress

Mon, 6 Jul 2009 21:18:12 GMT

Rep. Patrick Kennedy said he's "feeling healthy and strong" and plans to return to Congress Tuesday after receiving treatment at an undisclosed medical facility.

Senate's Leahy finds solace in Vermont

Mon, 6 Jul 2009 21:35:37 GMT

Sen. Patrick Leahy calls his Vermont home Drawbridge Farm for the shelter and solace it can offer him from the rigors of life in Washington. But its 300 acres is not enough to keep out the politics of Sonia Sotomayor's upcoming confirmation hearings.

Senators say compromise key to health care bill

Sun, 5 Jul 2009 20:06:44 GMT

It will take a compromise on a government option for insurance if the Senate is to agree on a health care overall before next month's break, two senators said Sunday.

Health overhaul means big Medicare changes

Wed, 1 Jul 2009 13:07:10 GMT

If you're not a Medicare recipient, your parents probably are, or soon will be. And you yourself will be on Medicare eventually. That’s a reason to pay attention as Congress debates an overhaul of health insurance.

Senate panel readies gov't insurance option

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:02:04 GMT

Senators on a key committee are putting the finishing touches on a government health insurance option that they hope will win broad support among Democrats and the public.

Fineman: My pal Franken must prove self

Wed, 1 Jul 2009 01:42:22 GMT

As the pivotal Sixtieth Democrat, Franken will be on the very fault line of American politics. He will have to show the same discipline and control that he mustered in defeating Sen. Norm Coleman

Sen.: Sotomayor advised 'extreme' group

Thu, 2 Jul 2009 22:15:23 GMT

A top Republican senator said a Puerto Rican legal advocacy group advised by Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor took extreme positions on capital punishment, abortion and racial quotas.

BCS won’t change ‘if Congress does nothing’

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:07:00 GMT

The Senate plans to hold a hearing next week looking into antitrust issues surrounding the Bowl Championship Series. It’s the second time this year that Congress is shining a light on the polarizing system college football uses to crown its national champion.

Obama prods Senate to OK climate bill

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:48:59 GMT

After the House passed landmark legislation meant to curb greenhouse gas emissions and create an energy-efficient economy, President Barack Obama urged senators to show courage and follow suit.

Conyers says little about wife's legal woe

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:05:55 GMT

U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., has been nearly silent regarding his wife's legal troubles. Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers pled guilty to bribery Friday and faces prison time.

Is a 'public plan' the fix for health insurance?

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:52:25 GMT

Two words — public plan — now dominate the debate over how to overhaul the nation’s health insurance system. Would you and your family be better off if there were such a government-sponsored rival to private insurers?