Stories by Jonathan Strong:
March 11, 2013
Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Marcia L. Fudge is escalating her campaign to urge President Barack Obama to pick African-Americans for his Cabinet, publicly releasing a letter that slams the first black president for a lack of diversity among his closest advisers.
March 9, 2013
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers is working to bolster the communications team at the House GOP Conference, bringing in a bevy of campaign staffers with aspirations of broadening the GOP’s media outreach to new audiences such as moms, minorities and youth.
March 7, 2013
Rep. Tom Cole has firmly staked out a position as a foil to conservative hard-liners in the GOP conference, using the media’s megaphone to push back against Republicans who want to hold a firmer line in spending battles with President Barack Obama.
March 5, 2013
Speaker John A. Boehner sought to assure his conference on Tuesday that the “Hastert rule” is still regular practice, on the heels of breaking it for the third time this Congress.
March 2, 2013
In late February 1997, the second month of President Bill Clinton’s second term, the media was in a feeding frenzy over documents obtained by the House oversight panel that showed Clinton had used perks such as overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom to woo big-dollar donors.
March 1, 2013
House Armed Services Chairman Howard “Buck” McKeon decried the sequester spending cuts that will begin hitting the Pentagon on Friday, standing with a group of the panel’s subcommittee chairmen to demand replacement spending cuts.
Feb. 26, 2013
Three days before the sequester is set to kick in, Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio notched up the rhetoric, telling reporters that the Senate should get “off their ass” and pass a bill to replace the across-the-board spending cuts.
Feb. 22, 2013
Speaker John A. Boehner’s decision to wait on the Senate before taking up a sequester replacement bill may be more tied to his own difficulties getting the votes for one than to a calculated political messaging strategy.
Feb. 22, 2013
Pressed by President Barack Obama to support more revenue increases, congressional Republicans may relent on the carried interest loophole that tends to benefit wealthy Wall Street investors.
Feb. 16, 2013
About one month into her new position leading the Congressional Black Caucus, Rep. Marcia L. Fudge already has shown a willingness to push the nation’s first African-American president aggressively behind the scenes to embrace her group’s priorities.
Feb. 15, 2013
A pending budget proposal from House Republicans won’t be “significantly different” on Medicare despite the fact that it will balance in 10 years rather than over several decades, according to Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, vice-chairman of the House Budget Committee.
Feb. 15, 2013
If the tea party class of 2010 was elected to stand athwart trillion-dollar deficits, yelling “Stop!,” the 2012 class seems to think it was elected to give peace a chance.
Feb. 15, 2013
The House adjourned and left town Friday for the weeklong Presidents Day recess, as Democrats strenuously objected to the move.
Feb. 13, 2013
A top House Democrat who is participating in bipartisan negotiations on immigration said President Barack Obama is ready to introduce his own legislation and take further executive action if those talks fall apart.
Feb. 12, 2013
An immigration overhaul — the most significant plank in President Barack Obama’s agenda that could see congressional action — faces its most perilous hurdle in the House.
Feb. 12, 2013
House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer sought to establish a middle ground in the debate over whether the federal government has a “spending problem,” saying the problem is debt.
Feb. 10, 2013
“They got rid of me for two years, but now I’m back,” Florida Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson said with a wide grin. To clarify, the Alan Grayson — the insult-dishing, left-wing lightning rod, cable TV mainstay — is back.
Feb. 8, 2013
LEESBURG, Va. — At a retreat here that has been notable for the improbable exuberance of an energized House Democratic Caucus, President Bill Clinton offered doubt.
Feb. 8, 2013
LEESBURG, Va. — House Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra said a secretive bipartisan working group he is part of on immigration is “on the cusp” of striking a deal.
Feb. 8, 2013
LEESBURG, Va. — Comedian Stephen Colbert addressed House Democrats at their retreat here Friday, adding a bit of humor to an agenda dominated by big political fights on Capitol Hill.
Feb. 8, 2013
Updated 2:30 p.m. | LEESBURG, Va. — President Barack Obama has agreed to do more than just raise money for House Democrats’ effort to win back the majority in 2014: He is also going to help with candidate recruitment.
Feb. 7, 2013
LEESBURG, Va. — The mood among House Democrats these days — gathered for what amounts to an annual party pep rally — does a good job of masking their status as the least relevant caucus on Capitol Hill.
Feb. 7, 2013
LEESBURG, Va. — President Barack Obama took a hard line on looming automatic spending cuts Thursday, saying a standoff with Republicans over whether to replace the cuts in part with new tax increases is “an argument I’m more than willing to engage in.”
Feb. 6, 2013
LEESBURG, Va. — Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. delivered an emotional push for gun control measures that the administration is proposing at a House Democratic retreat here, saying recent tragedies leave lawmakers no choice but to act to mitigate the damage of future incidents.
Feb. 6, 2013
LEESBURG, Va. — Top Democrats are walking a fine line in assessing the GOP’s signals on an immigration overhaul, both criticizing what they described as tepid steps forward by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor while praising what Republicans privately say they will be willing to do.
