Stories by Amanda Becker:
March 19, 2013
The House Ethics Committee on Tuesday announced that it has formed investigative subcommittees to probe whether Reps. Robert E. Andrews, D-N.J., and Don Young, R-Alaska, violated rules by allegedly misusing campaign funds and making false statements.
March 11, 2013
Former Sen. Larry E. Craig, R-Idaho, may face an uphill battle trying to convince a federal judge that he properly used campaign funds to pay for his legal defense after being arrested for soliciting sex in an airport bathroom.
March 7, 2013
Former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, acknowledged on Wednesday night that while his recently released book paints a harsh portrait of some Washington figures, he isn’t out to settle a grudge.
March 5, 2013
The House Ethics Committee has released the revised forms that members and staffers will have to submit before and after taking trips financed by private entities.
March 3, 2013
Republican congressional leaders opened some room Sunday for a longer-term deficit reduction agreement that eventually could blunt the effects of the $85 billion in automatic spending cuts now in place.
March 3, 2013
Former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized President Barack Obama on Sunday for not finding a way to stop the $85 billion in automatic spending cuts that went into effect Friday.
Feb. 28, 2013
Some of the more conservative justices on the Supreme Court weren’t shy about assessing their neighbors across the street Wednesday during oral arguments in a closely watched Voting Rights Act case.
Feb. 27, 2013
If the Supreme Court’s more liberal justices seemed reluctant Wednesday to find that a key provision of the Voting Rights Act was no longer needed, its more conservative justices seemed just as skeptical that the formula used to determine the statute’s geographic reach is still valid.
Feb. 26, 2013
A group of current and former Republican lawmakers, including two members of Congress, will file a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that same-sex couples have the right to marry in one of two cases on the issue that the Supreme Court will hear next month.
Feb. 24, 2013
A steady drumbeat of press briefings and messaging events is reaching a crescendo as the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments Wednesday in a case that questions whether a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is still needed.
Feb. 17, 2013
Frank “Butch” Ellis Jr. was sitting in his law office a half-hour’s drive from Birmingham, Ala., about three years ago when Edward Blum, an investment banker turned conservative legal activist, called him to discuss the Voting Rights Act. Although the two had never met, they quickly bonded over a common grievance.
Feb. 15, 2013
President Barack Obama’s State of the Union pledge to create a nonpartisan commission to “improve the voting experience in America” has triggered reactions from the election-overhaul community that range from guarded optimism to overt disappointment.
Feb. 15, 2013
Over a seven-year period, former Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr., D-Ill, and a co-conspirator believed to be his wife funneled roughly $750,000 from his re-election account to pay for a $43,000 Rolex watch, furs, Michael Jackson memorabilia and other personal luxuries, according to a formal charging document filed by federal prosecutors Friday.
Feb. 14, 2013
Sen. Robert Menendez continues to be hammered in media reports this week, with scrutiny expanding beyond alleged rendezvous with prostitutes and his cozy relationship with longtime doctor-donor friend Salomon Melgen.
Feb. 13, 2013
A coalition of government watchdog organizations is at odds with a bipartisan group of attorneys over rules published by an independent ethics office related to cases of congressional misconduct.
Feb. 12, 2013
Immigration, same-sex unions, gun control, outsourcing and innovation will all be highlighted during tonight’s State of the Union address — when the camera pans to the guests who have joined lawmakers in the House chamber.
Feb. 8, 2013
Former Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr., D-Ill., has admitted to campaign finance violations in a plea deal with federal prosecutors, according to multiple news reports Friday.
Feb. 7, 2013
The allegations against Sen. Robert Menendez may have started with unsubstantiated stories about trysts with prostitutes, but questions about the lawmaker’s conduct have reached the point where they’re not focused on sex.
Feb. 6, 2013
The House Ethics Committee announced Wednesday that it would continue reviewing cases it received from an outside ethics office concerning Reps. Bill Owens, D-N.Y., and Aaron Schock, R-Ill., but said it would do so without forming a formal investigative subcommittee.
Feb. 5, 2013
Dozens of lawmakers and staffers made what has become an annual pilgrimage from Capitol Hill to the desert in mid-January to attend the trade show hosted by the Consumer Electronics Association each winter in Las Vegas.
Feb. 4, 2013
A bipartisan group of attorneys who represent lawmakers in ethics proceedings said in a letter to the independent Office of Congressional Ethics on Monday that its recent rules changes rolled back important protections for their clients and that there should have been public input.
Feb. 1, 2013
Sen. Robert Menendez’s potentially problematic ties to friend and political donor Salomon Melgen came under further scrutiny late Thursday with a New York Times report detailing the mutually financially beneficial tenor of a decadeslong relationship between the New Jersey Democrat and the Florida eye doctor.
Jan. 29, 2013
The Office of Congressional Ethics opened 32 matters during the 112th Congress and recommended that the House Ethics Committee review 13 of those further for alleged wrongdoing, according to an end-of-year report released Tuesday.
Jan. 29, 2013
The House Ethics Committee was slated to announce Monday its next steps in two cases related to possible House rules violations by Reps. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., and Bill Owens, D-N.Y., but was unable to do so because it has yet to hold its first organizational meeting and therefore does not officially exist as a committee.
Jan. 23, 2013
The House Ethics Committee on Wednesday said members and senior staffers must disclose the underlying assets in certain investment funds and accounts, regardless of whether the person has any role in selecting the investments.
