u.s. house

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy to exit Congress, along with a flock of other lawmakers

BY: - December 6, 2023

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Wednesday joined the growing list of Congress members heading for the U.S. Capitol exits. McCarthy’s planned departure by year’s end, following the expulsion of disgraced New York Republican Congressman George Santos, will leave the House GOP with a razor-thin majority in 2024. The California Republican’s announcement also […]

U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., left, shakes hands with Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., as the House of Representatives holds an election for a new speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 25, 2023 in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Mike Johnson of Louisiana elected speaker of the U.S. House after three weeks of stalemate

BY: and - October 25, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on Wednesday voted for Louisiana’s Mike Johnson as speaker in a chamber that has been frozen for more than three weeks after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was ousted. In a 220-209 party-line vote, all Republicans present backed Johnson, 51, a strongly conservative lawyer who represents northwest Louisiana’s 4th District. All […]

U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican running for U.S. House speaker, is surrounded by members of the press on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, at the U.S. Capitol. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

Louisiana’s Steve Scalise and Ohio’s Jim Jordan jump into race for U.S. House speaker

BY: and - October 4, 2023

WASHINGTON — Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio announced Wednesday they will seek the U.S. House speaker’s gavel after Kevin McCarthy’s unprecedented ouster brought the lower chamber into uncharted territory. Eight dissident Republicans joined Democrats to unseat McCarthy Tuesday, leaving a vacuum of GOP leadership and bringing an abrupt […]

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (center) rejects allegations that she has refused to remove dead voters from the rolls. She's seen here on Jan. 6, 2023, receiving a Presidential Citizens Medal from President Joe Biden. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

A GOP claim that Michigan purposely tried to encourage voter fraud doesn’t fit with facts

BY: - May 5, 2023

Republicans at a recent congressional hearing accused Michigan’s chief election official of deliberately leaving tens of thousands of dead voters on the rolls in order to encourage illegal voting. Even at a time of intense partisan conflict over election policies, it was a strikingly direct charge against a sitting official — and one made not […]

Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, is election day for runoffs from the Nov. 8 election.(Antoinette

Federal agencies lag in registering voters despite Biden executive order, advocates say

BY: - April 11, 2023

Within weeks of taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order — hailed by voter advocates as potentially transformative — that for the first time committed the U.S. government to registering new voters at federal agencies.  But just over two years later, most of the 10 agencies examined in a recent report […]

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew takes questions from Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL) before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23, 2023. (Getty Images)

Members of Congress blast TikTok CEO as bipartisan support for U.S. ban looks possible

BY: - March 23, 2023

A U.S. House panel grilled TikTok’s CEO for more than five hours Thursday over the social media giant’s ties to China, and indicated there may be bipartisan consensus for a national ban on the platform.  Members of both parties showed an unusual level of agreement during tough questioning of TikTok CEO Shou Chew. Several members […]

Copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Bible and a book on sex education, a parental guide.

GOP bill mandating federal Parents Bill of Rights passed by U.S. House committee

BY: - March 9, 2023

WASHINGTON —- A national “Parents Bill of Rights” is headed for a full U.S. House vote after the House Committee on Education and the Workforce early Thursday approved the measure designed to empower parents to inspect books and other teaching materials in schools. Lawmakers on the committee debated the GOP-backed bill that would federally mandate […]

Sen. Bob Menendez

U.S. Senate Democrats unveil legislation to ban high-capacity gun magazines

BY: - February 7, 2023

WASHINGTON — New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, along with 27 of his U.S. Senate colleagues, introduced legislation Tuesday to ban high-capacity magazines, which can be used on the type of semi-automatic firearm that is typically used in most mass shootings.  “High-capacity magazines were designed for one purpose and one purpose only — high-capacity killing […]

Minnesotat Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (center) was removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee a party-line vote Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. Shes seen her with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (left), also a Minnesota Democrat and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-New York) in this 2021 photo. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

U.S. House GOP votes to oust Rep. Omar from foreign affairs panel for past antisemitic remarks

BY: - February 2, 2023

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted along party lines Thursday to remove Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee for past antisemitic statements.  The removal, the first for a Democrat during this session of Congress, followed Democrats’ vote to strip two Republicans of all their committee assignments last Congress for making threats […]

Brandon Dunn, co-founder of Forever 15 Project, testifies in front of an urn containing the ashes of his son Noah, who died from a fentanyl overdose, during a hearing on U.S. southern border security on Feb. 1, 2023 in Washington, DC.

U.S. House Judiciary’s debut hearing on the border centers on blame for fentanyl crisis

BY: - February 1, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans on the Judiciary Committee blamed the Biden administration for fentanyl drug smuggling at the U.S.-Mexico border during a Wednesday hearing. Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio also blamed U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for the number of migrants at the border, and said there are already hundreds of […]

U.S. House Republicans roll out a slew of new committee chairs to steer agenda

BY: - January 10, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republicans filled their top committee seats this week, choosing the leaders who will set the course for bills and issues for the new majority in the 118th Congress. Veteran GOP lawmakers from Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri were among those who won the right to head up […]

House Minority Leader speaks Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks with House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) during a press conference on the 2023 Fiscal Year at the U.S Capitol on Dec. 14, 2022. During the news conference, House Republicans called on Congress to vote on a short-term spending bill for the government, which would allow them to pass further funding in the 118th Congress when Republicans hold the majority. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

U.S. House GOP plan calls for federal spending cuts, conditions on debt limit increase

BY: and - January 10, 2023

WASHINGTON — U.S. House Republican leaders during a closed-door meeting Tuesday shared more details of the secret agreements Speaker Kevin McCarthy made with conservative lawmakers last week to secure the votes he needed to hold the gavel.  The so-called handshake deal, displayed on slides during the GOP weekly conference meeting, if adhered to could have […]