Roll Call
CQ Roll Call May 25, 2013

Executive Branch Archive

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Reid Raises Possibility of Using Nuclear Option to Speed Confirmation of Nominees

Senate Majority Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell tangled over nominations for the second day in a row Thursday, with Reid raising the possibility of changing the filibuster rules on a simple majority vote to speed action.

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Transportation Secretary Nominee Ducks Highway Financing Questions

Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx sidestepped persistent questioning Wednesday about how to fill revenue shortfalls in the Highway Trust Fund, telling senators weighing his confirmation as Transportation secretary that he would “bring together a wide variety of stakeholders”

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Lerner to Invoke the Fifth, Former IRS Commissioner Describes 'Dismay'

The IRS official in charge of the division accused of improperly targeting conservative groups will invoke her Fifth Amendment rights against compelled self-incrimination at a committee hearing Wednesday, a sign of concern that the political controversy is heading into the criminal arena.

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Obama Kept in Dark by Staff on IRS Targeting

Top White House staff, including Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, knew that a potentially damaging inspector general’s report on the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of tea party groups was looming but decided not to inform President Barack Obama.

Lawmakers Considering User Fees For Animal Pharmaceutical Industry

Last year, Congress reauthorized the Food and Drug Administration’s user fee system for drugs and devices made to address human needs, and this year lawmakers are working on similar legislation for the growing industry of animal pharmaceuticals.

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Sequester Withholding of FDA User Fees Irks Industry

The Food and Drug Administration is able to do its work in part because of a symbiotic relationship with the industries it regulates. But recently that relationship has been knocked off balance.

Obama Defends Battle Against National Security Leaks

President Barack Obama defended his administration’s effort to stamp out national security leaks amid the controversy over the seizure of Associated Press phone records by the Justice Department.

The Real Problem at the IRS | Commentary

Everyone can agree it is unacceptable for the IRS to target particular organizations based on political ideology. If that’s what agents at the IRS were up to, they were wrong and there should be consequences. The real problem, however, is not that the IRS is overly aggressive but that it has sat by idly while an ever-increasing number of groups blatantly violate the laws governing 501(c)(4) organizations. Where is the outrage over that?

IRS Probe Should Result in Jail Time, Boehner Says

Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio said on Wednesday that somebody deserves go to jail as the investigation begins into why the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative-leaning groups.

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On AP Probe, Wide Gap Between Reid and Obama

As a trio of scandals continued to circle the White House on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid threw some jabs at Republicans regarding the IRS and Benghazi controversies. Then he landed a roundhouse on the Obama administration over the Justice Department’s secret acquisition of Associated Press telephone records.

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Conservatives Seek More Spending Cuts in Debt Limit Strategy

Looking to up the ante on debt limit negotiations, House conservatives will push to enact spending changes included in the House-passed budget in exchange for an increase in the nation’s debt ceiling.

Obama Calls IRS Scrutiny of Conservatives 'Outrageous,' Dismisses Benghazi Dispute as 'Sideshow'

President Barack Obama said it would be “outrageous” if the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups and that he would hold the agency accountable, while angrily dismissing the new reports last week over the editing of Benghazi talking points by his administration as a “sideshow” trumped up by his political opponents.

Obama Picks Vance-Cooks to Head GPO | Campus Notebook

President Barack Obama on Thursday said he would nominate Davita Vance-Cooks to be public printer, the lead officer for the Government Printing Office.

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House Republicans to Meet Next Week to Plot Debt Ceiling Strategy

House Republicans announced Tuesday a special two-hour conference meeting to be held next week to discuss the way ahead on debt ceiling negotiations.

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Obama's Budget Would Restructure Airport Improvement Program

While President Barack Obama complained that averting Federal Aviation Administration furloughs by transferring airport capital improvement funds amounted to “using our seedcorn,” his own fiscal 2014 budget would cut the Airport Improvement Program by 17 percent.

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Airport Operators Worry That Furloughs Deal Will Reduce Capital Spending

Airport operators were relieved that Congress enacted legislation before the recess rolling back air-traffic-controller furloughs — though they were less than pleased about where lawmakers found the money to offset the cuts.

Tapping Renewable-Fuel Mandates' Brakes

A House panel’s decision to look back at mandates set in the 2007 renewable-energy law could be a pivotal moment for industries hoping to slow down growth in the ethanol industry.

Inexact Projections Drive Fuel Policy

The Renewable Fuel Standard underscores the difficulties of trying to plan for the future.

Sustaining the Housing Recovery | Commentary

The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance recently held a hearing to discuss the fiscal health of the Federal Housing Administration. The same day, President Barack Obama released his fiscal year 2014 budget, reflecting the FHA’s growing success these past few years, yet also noting the likely need for it to draw more than $940 million from Treasury to cover losses from high-risk loans they insured during the housing crisis.

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Obama Challenges Congress on Its Refusal to End Sequester

President Barack Obama chided Congress Tuesday for failing first to prevent, and now to stop, the sequester and defended his decision to sign a legislative fix carved for the Federal Aviation Administration to prevent air traffic delays.

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