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Editorial: Vacancy Rate

Nov. 18, 12 a.m.

We stipulate that the empty desk/empty bench syndrome afflicting the federal government is fundamentally President Barack Obama’s fault.

Categories for DoubleClick Ads

Nov. 11, 2:16 p.m.

This document contains a list of all the story categories that are available for use with DoubleClick ads. The categories can also be used on ACM pages.

Editorial: Ethics Squabble

Nov. 4, 12 a.m.

The good news, arising from a leak last week, is that both the House ethics committee and the Office of Congressional Ethics are doing their jobs investigating possible wrongdoing.

Editorial: Financial Fracas

Oct. 28, 12 a.m.

A curious turnabout occurred last week when House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) criticized the House ethics committee and the complexity of financial disclosure forms — and then retracted what he said the same day.

Editorial: Behind Closed Doors

Oct. 21, 12 a.m.

Part of what killed former President Bill Clinton’s push for health care reform in the 1990s was the perception that the bill was crafted wholly behind closed doors. Members of Congress from both parties felt as if they were shut out of the process — and rightly so. With little investment in the success of the bill, most Members did not feel the need to overly extend themselves to ensure its passage. Sure enough, it sank like a stone.

Editorial: Act on Rangel

Oct. 14, 12 a.m.

It’s been more than a year since the House ethics committee began investigating Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel’s (D-N.Y.) many alleged financial misdeeds. It’s time that the committee act either to punish him or clear him.

Editorial: Scandals

Oct. 7, 12 a.m.

As columnist Michael Kinsley famously observed years ago, “a scandal isn’t what’s illegal — it’s what’s legal.” And two cases in point have surfaced recently that deserve anti-scandal action.

Editorial: Smackdown

Sept. 30, 12 a.m.

Tension between the House ethics committee and the new Office of Congressional Ethics burst into plain view this month with a surprising accusation — that the OCE had concealed evidence that might clear a Member under investigation.

Editorial: ‘Czarism’

Sept. 23, 12 a.m.

Members of Congress of both parties have raised serious questions about President Barack Obama’s appointment of multiple “czars” capable of making national policy without legislative oversight.

Editorial: Apology in Order

Sept. 16, 12 a.m.

Two years ago, Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) tearfully apologized to the House for outrageous remarks that he’d made on the floor the week before accusing President George W. Bush of lying and of sending young Americans “to get their heads blown off for [his] amusement.”

Editorial: The Kennedy Model

Sept. 9, 12 a.m.

Besides mourning, eulogizing and praising the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) as one of the most effective lawmakers in the history of the Senate — which he was — we fervently hope that Members of Congress will study and follow his example.

Editorial: A Complete Probe

Aug. 5, 12 a.m.

We were reassured in mid-June when the House ethics committee announced — after being prodded by the full House — that it is investigating allegations involving the PMA Group, but now there’s reason to question the way the probe is being conducted.

Editorial: Frank Fight

July 29, 12 a.m.

About 20 Republican House Members have been blocked by Democrats from using their mail franking privileges to send constituents the chart we’ve reprinted below, and now they are calling the ruling “censorship.”

Editorial: Save Those Docs

July 15, 12 a.m.

There are, or should be, paper trails for many things that Congress does, including earmarks, those Member-requested funding provisions that allow lawmakers to focus federal spending on priorities in their states or districts. Earmarks, of course, have sparked controversies such as the “Bridge to Nowhere” and scandals including one involving the PMA Group lobbying firm.

Editorial: Make It Clear

July 8, 12 a.m.

The House ethics committee needs to quickly resolve suspicions that it’s trying to undercut the powers of the Office of Congressional Ethics in the new rules package that it has just adopted.

Editorial: Register Everybody

June 29, 12 a.m.

Among the developed countries of the world — and even some less-developed ones — the United States has the lowest voter registration rate with just 68 percent of registered voters actually signed up to do so.

Editorial: Black Hole?

June 24, 12 a.m.

The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has served notice that it will file an ethics complaint against Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), and we concur — without prejudging the case — that issues arising from his sexual affair with a former aide deserve examination.

Editorial: Intimidation

June 17, 12 a.m.

Ever since last year’s presidential campaign, we’ve protested President Barack Obama’s broad-swath vilification and systematic exclusion of lobbyists as unfair and counterproductive.

Editorial: End the Games

June 10, 12 a.m.

So, the suspense continues — and so does the damage to the House’s reputation stemming from suspicious connections between campaign funds raised by a now-defunct lobbying firm, the PMA Group, and earmarks secured for its clients by Members of Congress.

Editorial: No Food Fights

June 3, 12 a.m.

We are gratified — and relieved — that Senate Republican leaders are rejecting the intemperate hostility of some GOP partisans toward the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court and are promising a “fair” and “respectful” examination of her qualifications.

Editorial: Imperfectly Clear

May 26, 12 a.m.

Democratic Congressional leaders can legitimately pat themselves on the back for increasing the transparency of the earmarking process — which only raises the question, “Why not make it perfectly clear?” Right now, it’s far from that.

Editorial: Get It Done

May 20, 12 a.m.

Ever since the 2000 election, when military and other overseas ballots were an issue in the Florida recount, Members of Congress, election officials and interested outside groups have been calling for reforms to make military voting easier.

Editorial: Cantor’s Fine Line

May 13, 12 a.m.

As believers in a strong two-party system, we support Republican efforts to “rebrand,” “reach out” to the public and develop new ideas.

Editorial: Name Names

May 6, 12 a.m.

'The ethics committee has a job to do, and I hope they do it.” So opined House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) last week about possible connections between campaign money raised by PMA Group, the now-defunct lobbying

Editorial: FEC Test

April 29, 12 a.m.

President Barack Obama obviously has enormously important problems on his plate, but he should find the time to set the Federal Election Commission on a more effective path by nominating three new commissioners.