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The House Appropriations Committee this morning is marking up the FY2013 State, Foreign Operations, and Other Programs bill. Some cuts are proposed, and yet much stays the same. The so-called Drug War, to cite one example, will continue unabated, as the following committee statement indicates: The Committee recommendation restores reductions proposed in the request for key countries in Latin America. The Committee believes it is critical to continue robust support for counternarcotics and law enforcement efforts, as well as assistance for rule of law and judicial reform activities in Mexico, Colombia, Central America, and the Caribbean to fight drug trafficking...

The Congressional Research Service recently released another in a series of “Gun Control Legislation” reports by William J. Krouse, Specialist in Domestic Security and Crime Policy. While the entire report is an invaluable guide for understanding the scope and nature of related firearms control issues being considered by Congress, the report references a recommendation of particular interest to those following the “Project Gunwalker” (Operation Fast and Furious) story. From page 30 of the report (page 34 in the pdf file): As called for originally by Senator Grassley, the House Appropriations Committee included report language in the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations...

Examiner columnist and talk radio host Hugh Hewitt ruffled feathers Monday by noting that most of the 29 Republican members of the House Appropriations Committee are "content to labor away spending, spending, spending in national obscurity but powerful within the Beltway where their control of trillions of tax dollars makes them very popular indeed." Understand that Hewitt is nobody's fool when it comes to the ways of Washington, having served as general counsel at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management during the first Bush administration. He's also a constitutional law professor at Chapman University. What sparked Hewitt, he wrote Monday,...

This is a bit of a rant but a timely one since our brand spankin’ new Congress will be sworn in today and start work on January 6, 2011 — perhaps with a reading of the United States Constitution, a wholesome but largely symbolic gesture. We elected the new folks and got rid of lots (but not enough) of the old because we wanted them to do something to end the accelerating spiral rush toward a multicultural Hell on which we have been little more than unwilling passengers, required to go along for the ride but not allowed access to...

House Republican leaders went with Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) – a.k.a. “The Prince of Pork” – to chair the House Appropriations Committee. As I wrote last week, the prospect of Rogers chairing Appropriations is about as inspiring as re-heated meatloaf when it comes to his potential for pushing serious spending reforms.

Can a tiger change his stripes? Can the "Prince of Pork" swear off earmarks? Do the Republicans get it? Judging by who they named to chair the powerful Committee on Appropriations, the answer would be a resounding "NO!" Says Politico: Rep. Hal Rogers may have sworn off earmarks as he lobbied his way into the powerful House Appropriations Committee chairmanship, but there's a reason he's earned the nickname "Prince of Pork."Over the past two years, Rogers has requested $175,613,300 in earmarks, including funding for a cheetah protection nonprofit that his daughter works for.That earmark figure, compiled by the LegiStorm...

The U.S. government is operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) that expires on December 3. Congress must do something to keep the government operating after that date... Politico said the Democrats "have only themselves to blame ... after failing to pass a budget this year or any of the dozen annual appropriations" bills. Apparently anticipating that an omnibus bill cannot be passed, the White House wants a year-long CR according to Politico, because a short-term CR would mean that the budget would have to be taken up again early next year when Republicans have control of the House giving them...

Politics as usual? Is this a case of newly elected Republicans doing their part to stop the earmarks and bring down the deficit, or instead is it a case of ducking and hiding to save their future hides? A band of conservative rebels has taken over the House, vowing to slash spending, cut the deficit and kill earmarks. And of course they’d love a seat on the powerhouse Appropriations Committee so they can translate their campaign zeal into action, right? Not really. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) was asked to be an appropriator and said thanks, but no thanks. Rep....

There is lots of election analysis elsewhere, and I won’t try to provide more of it here; suffice it to say that the people have spoken, loudly and effectively. Despite all spin, President Obama won’t be able to get contentious new legislation through the Congress, and the House can prevent the funding of some Obama initiatives already passed; Yes he Can’t. Lame-duck congress? Bad stuff may happen but there are cures. Appropriations bills are initiated in the House, and it must provide separate and detailed appropriations bills. For example, if the separate EPA appropriations bill were to prohibit the use...

Rep. David Obey’s retirement announcement wasn’t even official before the competition began for his Appropriations chairmanship. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.) will make a run for the gavel, sources close to the lawmaker told POLITICO, putting him in a potential competition for that chairmanship with Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Wash.). “Fattah is very interested in setting spending priorities that would focus on education, health, [and] urban and rural communities, and sees the chairmanship as an opportunity to articulate those priorities in a way that defends the Democratic majority in the House,” said one source. Obey (D-Wis.) announced Wednesday that he will not...

Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Carney’s bid to follow in the footsteps of his two Republican 10th District representative predecessors by sitting on the powerful House Appropriations Committee will have to wait A secret ballot vote conducted Thursday by the 11 members of the Pennsylvania Democratic congressional delegation resulted in U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Murphy, of Bristol, Bucks County, being recommended for a seat on the committee. The House Democratic Steering Committee will have the final say and could accept that recommendation or opt to choose someone else, even from another state. The vacancy opened up in February when U.S. Rep...

Less than a day after President Obama signed the Democrat’s healthcare bill into law, the Ranking Republican of the House subcommittee with funding jurisdiction over federal healthcare spending has proposed House-Senate strategy discussions to defund the new law. U.S. Congressman Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) has sent a letter to House and Senate leaders proposing that meetings begin immediately to "undo the damage" done by the new healthcare law, including moves to defund the new mandates. Tiahrt is the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education. "Now that President Obama has signed the unconstitutional...

WASHINGTON — The Senate today passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill with increased budgets for vast areas of the federal government, including health, education, law enforcement and veterans' programs. The more-than-1,000-page package, one of the last essential chores of Congress this year, passed 57-35 and now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. The weekend action underlined the legislative crush faced by Congress as it tries to wind up the year. After the vote, the Senate immediately returned to the debate on health care legislation that has consumed its time and energy for weeks. Senate Democrats hope to reach...

House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Murtha, D-Pa., said Wednesday that he expects the fiscal 2010 Defense spending bill will include funding to buy about 10 C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes, but signaled he is worried about the $250 million price tag for each aircraft. Before he signs off on the additional planes, Murtha said he wants Boeing Co., the plane's maker, to give the government a price more comparable to the roughly $200 million per plane the government paid as part of the last multiyear procurement deal for C-17s, which ended in 2007. The House-passed Defense Appropriations bill included...

“Getting Around Congress?” It’s Much Worse than That by John Armor (632 words) The Treasury Department announced today that it would “convert its preferred stock in the nation’s largest banks into common stock.” The stated advantages were that this would allow Treasury to aid more banks without going back to Congress for more money than what was already approved. Some Administration officials even said that this would “get around Congress.” That alone would be bad enough. But the actual meaning of this action subverts the entire Constitution and is an assault on the American people. It is a take-over of...

The Senate voted overwhelmingly to preserve thousands of earmarks in a $410 billion spending bill on Tuesday, brushing aside Sen. John McCain's claim that President Barack Obama and Congress are merely conducting business as usual in a time of economic hardship. McCain's attempt to strip out an estimated 8,500 earmarks failed on a vote of 63-32. The Arizona senator's proposal also would have cut roughly $32 billion from the measure and kept spending at last year's levels in several federal agencies. Last year's Republican presidential candidate said both he and Obama pledged during the campaign to "stop business as usual...

The US Senate's oldest and longest-serving member, Robert Byrd, announced Friday he was stepping down as chairman of the appropriations committee. For the last 10 years, the 90-year-old Democratic dean from West Virginia has headed the committee which helps the government decide how to spend its money. Byrd, re-elected for his ninth Senate term in 2006, has spent nearly 50 years as a committee member and senator, casting a record 18,000 ballots as of last year. "A new day has dawned in Washington, and that is a good thing," Byrd, who endorsed Illinois Senator Barack Obama this year in his...

Last week, AUSA President Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, USA, Ret., urged congressional leaders to move quickly on the fiscal 2009 Defense Authorization and Appropriations Bills. In a letter to the House and Senate leadership, Gen. Sullivan said, “Our ability to win the Global War on Terrorism and sustain the all volunteer force is dependent upon timely defense authorizations and appropriations. The bills must meet the Army’s baseline budget and fund the war. I stress the necessity of getting the bills to the president for signature before September 30, the end of the fiscal year.” While the House finished its version...

All eyes will be on Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) Wednesday. The 90-year-old senator is expected to chair a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on an Iraq war spending bill and his appearance should send “an important signal” as to whether he can continue as chairman. But that may not happen. At least two Democratic sources said Tuesday that Byrd’s health remained a question and that staffers had taken the extremely rare step of holding off scheduling a time for the hearing. A notice finally went out at the end of the day, announcing the hearing would take place at noon on...

Senior executives of the Texas Department of Transportation can expect some heavy grilling from state legislators when the state Legislature convenes next January, state Rep. Jim McReynolds said Friday. Speaking to the monthly First Friday luncheon of The Chamber, Lufkin-Angelina County, McReynolds said many legislators, especially those from rural East Texas, are unhappy with TxDOT leaders over the Trans- Texas Corridor project and how it has incorporated plans for an Interstate 69 through the region. McReynolds said he attended all four of the TxDOT hearings on the TTC held in his district, which included one in Diboll, and "never heard...