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Ehlers Likely to Announce Retirement Wednesday

Feb. 9, 9:37 p.m.

Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.) will make an announcement about his “future plans” Wednesday morning, and he is expected to say he will not seek re-election. Michigan TV station WWMT Newschannel 3 as well as Hotline's On Call blog, citing anonymous sources, are reporting that Ehlers will announce that he is retiring.

Pelosi: Democrats Will 'Definitely' Retain Majority

Feb. 9, 8:16 p.m.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is literally laughing off the suggestion House Democrats could lose their majority in the midterm elections.

Reid Backs Off Threat to Push for Votes on Jobs Bill

Feb. 9, 7:55 p.m.

With another snowstorm descending Tuesday evening on the weather-weary Washington region, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) backed off his push to begin floor debate on an $80 billion jobs bill.

Reid Urges Obama to Recess-Appoint Nominees

Feb. 9, 7:47 p.m.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) went to the floor Tuesday to lament the slow progress of confirming nominees and called on President Barack Obama to take action over the Presidents Day recess.

Senate Rejects a Nominee as Obama Threatens Recess Appointments

Feb. 9, 5:25 p.m.

The Senate voted down one of President Barack Obama’s nominees Tuesday, hours after Obama warned he would use his recess appointment power to get members of his team in place if necessary.

Obama’s Bipartisan Meeting With Hill Leaders Produces Little

Feb. 9, 4:55 p.m.

Congressional leaders from both parties put on their happy faces after Tuesday’s meeting at the White House, but nobody could point to any bipartisan progress made toward advancing Democrats’ priority issues.

Senate GOP Leaders Seek Ground Rules for Health Summit

Feb. 9, 4:13 p.m.

Senate Republican leaders stopped short Tuesday of threatening to boycott President Barack Obama’s bipartisan health care summit, but they stressed that the ground rules of the Feb. 25 meeting must be pre-negotiated to ensure the talks are substantive and not simply a public relations exercise to benefit the White House.

Minimal Services Running in Capitol

Feb. 9, 3:52 p.m.

The Capitol complex was again functioning with a low level of services Tuesday, even as Senators braved the snowy streets to make a scheduled late afternoon vote.

Reid Expects Votes to Begin Earlier Than Originally Scheduled

Feb. 9, 3:43 p.m.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) suggested that votes could be moved up Tuesday because of an oncoming snowstorm and said that the chamber might not be in session Wednesday.

Hoyer Expects Dicks to Take Murtha’s Chairmanship

Feb. 9, 2:21 p.m.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday he expects Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) to take over the chairmanship of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense vacated by the death Monday of Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.).

Senate Republicans Say No Jobs Deal Yet

Feb. 9, 2:01 p.m.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) expressed confidence that he would be ready to announce a bipartisan jobs bill on Tuesday, but GOP leadership aides cautioned that Republicans have yet to sign off on any deal and are unlikely to do so until they have had a chance to read the bill.

Hoyer: No House Votes This Week

Feb. 9, 1:13 p.m.

The House will not vote this week because of a second major snowstorm expected to hit the region Tuesday afternoon, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer’s (D-Md.) office announced.

Senate Convenes at 2 p.m., Votes Still a Go

Feb. 9, 12:20 p.m.

The Senate remains on schedule to convene at 2 p.m. Tuesday and move to two votes at 5 p.m., even as the city braces for a second blizzard in less than a week.

Obama Presses Hill Leaders to Come Together on Jobs

Feb. 9, 11:46 a.m.

President Barack Obama on Tuesday pressed Congressional leaders to break through their partisan logjam and pass bills focused on his top priorities for 2010: job creation and deficit reduction.

Hill Leaders Meeting With Obama to Talk Jobs

Feb. 9, 9:56 a.m.

Congressional leaders from both parties will huddle with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden on Tuesday morning to discuss working together on the economy and jobs.

Shelby Releases Holds on Most, Not All, Nominees

Feb. 9, 9:28 a.m.

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has dropped his holds on a large block of President Barack Obama’s nominees but is still holding up consideration of three nominations until the Air Force moves forward with plans for a new fleet of refueling tanker airplanes.

Murtha’s Death Stuns Democratic Ranks

Feb. 9, 12 a.m.

The death of Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) on Monday sent shock waves through the Democratic ranks, stunning Congressional allies who hoped he was on the mend after complications from a recent surgery and raising questions about a power vacuum left by his passing.

GOP Fears Obama’s Health Summit Is a Trap

Feb. 9, 12 a.m.

President Barack Obama’s call for a bipartisan health care summit was greeted with suspicion Monday by Congressional Republicans, who vowed to approach the televised Feb. 25 meeting with open minds even as they worried that the White House was using them as political “props.”

Capitol Hill Remains Mostly a Ghost Town

Feb. 9, 12 a.m.

On Monday morning as the city remained almost immobilized by the weekend snowstorm, Shelley Welcher persuaded her husband to hop into their Toyota Highlander and drive her to Capitol Hill from their home in Clinton, Md.

Timing for Renzi Case Uncertain

Feb. 9, 12 a.m.

Attorneys for ex-Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) and his co-defendants are scheduled to appear in court Friday for a status hearing, with a host of legal issues still unresolved a month ahead of the latest trial date.

Top House Republicans Set Ground Rules for Health Care Talks

Feb. 8, 7:39 p.m.

In a tersely worded letter to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on Monday, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) wrote that Republicans “would rightly be reluctant” to participate in the Feb. 25 bipartisan health care meeting if the White House refused to consider scrapping the current health care reform bills.

Ben Nelson to Oppose Obama NLRB Nominee

Feb. 8, 7:18 p.m.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) announced Monday that he will oppose the nomination of Craig Becker to serve on the National Labor Relations Board, likely dooming the nominee’s Senate confirmation.

Snow Confuses Congress’ Plans

Feb. 8, 6:41 p.m.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday remained intent on forcing lawmakers to return to the Capitol on Tuesday in the hope of quickly pushing through the first in a series of job-creation bills, brushing aside concerns that a second severe snowstorm was bearing down on Washington, D.C.

Progressives Plan Bicameral Health Care Huddle on Tuesday

Feb. 8, 5:30 p.m.

House and Senate progressives plan to huddle Tuesday evening — weather permitting — to strategize on how to revive the public option in the health care reform debate.

Members Mourn Loss of Murtha

Feb. 8, 5:04 p.m.

Congressional leaders in both parties were grieving Monday afternoon over the loss of Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), who died after suffering from complications from gallbladder surgery. He was 77.

Murtha Dies at 77

Feb. 8, 2:46 p.m.

Rep. John Murtha (D), who died Monday at 77, leaves behind a record as the longest-serving Congressman in Pennsylvania history, a key ally of the first female Speaker of the House, and as a Member whose appropriations efforts earned both praise and intense scrutiny.

Senate Still Scheduled to Reconvene Tuesday

Feb. 8, 1:23 p.m.

The Senate is sticking with its plan to reconvene for votes Tuesday at 5 p.m., even as the region struggles to dig out from a weekend blizzard and braces for another snowstorm expected to strike Tuesday evening.

Democrats Love to Hate Baucus

Feb. 8, 12 a.m.

For nearly a decade, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus has been a source of near-constant aggravation for Democrats.
While he’s been atop arguably the most powerful committee in Congress, the Montana Democrat has been accused of being a traitor to his party, a power-hungry egocentric and a brazen political opportunist.

Incumbents Pouring Funds to DSCC

Feb. 8, 12 a.m.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee continues to collect big money from its Members, despite a right turn in the political environment that has chased some incumbents into retirement and put others in jeopardy of losing re-election this year.

House Republicans Divided on Debt Strategy

Feb. 8, 12 a.m.

Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) has presented his fellow Republicans with a dilemma.
The Budget ranking member’s audacious plan to balance the budget by reinventing slimmer versions of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the tax code is forcing Republicans to determine how specific they want to be about taking on the enormous federal debt.

GOP Holds Fire on Jobs Bill, So Far

Feb. 8, 12 a.m.

Senate Republicans have, at least for now, held their fire on a pending Democratic jobs creation bill, hedging their bets should a bipartisan deal come together.

Homeland Security Has a Message for Pesky Reporters: Get Lost

Feb. 8, 12 a.m.

Roll Call's efforts to get data on lawmakers' travel ran into a brick wall at the Department of Homeland Security. 'You don't need that information,' a Freedom of Information Act officer informed a Roll Call reporter. Really?

Obama Proposes Bipartisan Meeting on Health Care

Feb. 7, 6:41 p.m.

Congressional Democratic leaders reacted coolly Sunday to President Barack Obama’s call for a bipartisan White House meeting on health care later this month, even as they pledged to attend.

Senate Votes Pushed to Tuesday

Feb. 7, 4 p.m.

Senate leaders have decided to push back votes to Tuesday in light of the weekend snowstorm that blanketed Washington, D.C., and halted activity at area airports.

Republicans Say Brennan Briefing Wasn’t Comprehensive

Feb. 7, 2:31 p.m.

Republican leaders on Sunday denied they were fully briefed by White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan on the arrest of Christmas Day bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, charging the Christmas Day call was scant on details and little more than a “courtesy call.”

Brennan: GOP Leaders Didn’t Raise Concern About Handling of Terrorist Suspect

Feb. 7, 11:40 a.m.

Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan on Sunday defended the administration’s handling of the Christmas Day bomber, accusing Republicans of attempting to use national security issues as a “political football.”

Senate Will Debate Two More Nominees

Feb. 6, 2:04 p.m.

Just one day after sports fans tune into the Super Bowl, the Senate will turn to its latest game of political football as it debates two more Obama administration nominees. The Senate is set to vote Monday on Joseph Greenaway, a judicial pick for the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, and on a procedural motion for the nominations of Craig Becker, a controversial nominee to the National Labor Relations Board.

Obama Stresses Accomplishments, Bipartisanship in Speech to Party Faithful

Feb. 6, 12:20 p.m.

Change is coming, President Barack Obama promised a crowd of party loyalists on the final day of the Democratic National Committee’s Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Obama Pitches Small-Business Proposals

Feb. 6, 6 a.m.

President Barack Obama on Saturday used his weekly radio address to talk up a series of proposals he is pitching to Congress aimed at providing assistance to struggling small businesses.

Bond, White House Spar Over Terrorism Disclosure

Feb. 5, 3:31 p.m.

Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) has rejected a White House request for an apology after accusing the president of playing politics with the release of information about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the man allegedly behind the foiled Christmas Day airline attack.

Gay Lawmakers Mixed on Administration’s Plan to Repeal DADT

Feb. 5, 2:47 p.m.

Congress’ three openly gay lawmakers have mixed feelings about the administration’s path forward for repealing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” military policy that prohibits gays from serving openly.

Rep. Radanovich's Wife Dies

Feb. 5, 1:59 p.m.

The wife of Rep. George Radanovich (R-Calif.), Ethelinde “Ethie” Weaver Radanovich, died Friday in northern Virginia after a three-year fight with ovarian cancer. She was 50. The Congressman announced in December that he wouldn’t run for re-election so he could spend more time with his ailing wife.

Congress Begins Mass Exodus in Snow

Feb. 5, 1:58 p.m.

As snow began falling on Capitol Hill on Friday afternoon — and weather forecasts became increasingly grim — Members closed offices and staffers began a mass exodus home.

Boehner Calls Obama Debt Commission Partisan Exercise

Feb. 5, 1:51 p.m.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Friday called on President Barack Obama to scrap his administration’s plan for a federal debt commission and said the proposal amounted to a “partisan Washington exercise.”

Liberals Look to Resurrect Public Option

Feb. 5, 1:07 p.m.

House and Senate liberals are going to meet next week to try to revive the public insurance option as part of health care reform, but the odds are still stacked against them.

Dodd: Moving Ahead With Financial Reform

Feb. 5, 11:16 a.m.

Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said Friday he is charging ahead with introducing a regulatory reform measure after months negotiating with Republicans on the committee.

Pelosi Urges Party Faithful to Get Involved

Feb. 5, 10:49 a.m.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) used an address to the Democratic National Committee’s winter conference on Friday to try to energize party loyalists and encourage them to “get the word out” about Democrats’ accomplishments so far.

Democrats Applaud Jobless Rate, but More Must Be Done

Feb. 5, 9:42 a.m.

As Democrats continue to contemplate a jobs bill — or a series of bills — the Labor Department provided them good news Friday, announcing that the unemployment rate fell to 9.7 percent in January, the lowest it’s been since August.

GOP Hands Party-Switcher Griffith Plum Post

Feb. 4, 6:15 p.m.

The newest member of the House Republican leadership team will relinquish his seat on the Energy and Commerce Committee next week, allowing the Conference to reward party-switcher Rep. Parker Griffith (R-Ala.) with a plum post.

Brown Becomes GOP’s No. 41

Feb. 4, 5:22 p.m.

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) was sworn in Thursday, officially becoming the GOP’s 41st vote and giving the minority the power of the filibuster.