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(CNSNews.com) - The House Ways and Means Committee wants to know when the White House first knew that the Internal Revenue Service was targeting groups for heightened scrutiny for their political views, including groups that used the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax exempt status, or that sought to educate people about the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has provided a timeline to congressional staff that indicates that in the 2010 election year the Internal Revenue Service instructed officials in its "Determinations Unit" to "be on the lookout...

Their own plan doesn´t even come close to balancing, of course, and they´re not interested in other ideas to get there. The first Republican amendment they torpedoed yesterday called for increasing federal spending at a clip of "only" 3.4 percent per year over the next decade, rather than the major acceleration that Democrats have advanced. The second proposed making it more procedurally difficult to pass a budget that does not balance with ten years. Watch as each Democrat-aligned committee member votes in lockstep against these provisions. Make no mistake,

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul is demanding answers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton regarding the release of illegal immigrants from detention centers. In a letter addressed to Morton and carbon copied to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano Wednesday, McCaul expresses concern about news that ICE has started releasing detained illegal immigrants, and in doing so is failing to enforce the law. “This decision reflects the lack of resource prioritization within the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is indicative of the Department’s weak stance on National Security,” McCaul wrote.

United States Senator John Kerry easily overcame the first hurdle of his confirmation as the next secretary of state Tuesday with a unanimous vote of approval by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Kerry, President Barack Obama's pick to replace Hillary Clinton as the nation's top diplomat, must still be confirmed by a vote of the full Senate later in the day, which he is expected to receive without contention. The five-term Massachusetts Democrat, who has been a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 28 years and led it for the past four, said he was "humbled" and gratified...

St. Louis lawyer Ed Martin, who lost his GOP bid this fall for Missouri attorney general, came roaring back Saturday by getting elected as the new chairman of the Missouri Republican Party. Martin narrowly defeated current chairman David Cole, 34-32, on the second round of balloting by the 68-member state GOP committee, sources say. Two members apparently were absent during the voting, which took place at a hotel in Columbia, Mo. The third contender for the post, outgoing state Sen. Jane Cunningham of Chesterfield, was out of the running after garnering only seven votes on the first ballot, which saw...

Politico reported on Thursday that Eva Longoria will co-chair the 2013 inauguration committee along with former Ambassador to Sweden Matthew Barzun, Democratic National Committee National Finance Chair Jane Stetson, and technology entrepreneur and Obama bundler Frank White. “Vice President Biden and I are grateful to these distinguished women and men for agreeing to serve as co-chairs and honorary co-chairs, including presidents from both sides of the aisle who have dedicated their lives to serving the American people,” Obama said in a statement. The actress served as a national campaign co-chair for Obama and bundled $271, 300 for his reelection effort. Additionally,...

The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) terror group vowed to retaliate against Israel on Sunday after announcing that two men killed earlier in an IAF air strike were members of the group, the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency reported. The group confirmed that Izz Addin Abu Nuseira, 23, and Ahmad Abu Fatayir, 22, were affiliated with its Nasser Saladin Brigades. Both were killed when the IAF struck targets in the terrorist haven of Gaza for the fourth time in 24 hours Sunday afternoon. The IAF said the targets were part of a terror squad that had fired a rocket at Israel a...

The head of the Palestinian Olympic delegation has thanked the International Olympic Committee for denying, again, requests to hold a moment of silence to honor the 11 Israeli athletes murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympics. In a letter sent Tuesday to IOC President Jacques Rogge, Jibril Rajoub said any show of solidarity with the victims would constitute “racism.” The Palestinian terror group Black September was responsible for the slayings. “Sports are a bridge for love, communication and the spreading of peace between nations and should not be used for divisiveness and the spread of racism,” Rajoub wrote, according to the...

Congressional Republicans have been targeted by a crime wave this spring, with burglars curiously able to repeatedly break into offices without security noticing. Despite security in the Hill office buildings, the offices of Reps. Jon Runyan (R-N.J.), Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) and Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) were burglarized last month, with Runyan’s office hit twice. Also hit was the Oversight and Government Reform Committee office and the staff office for the Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security, both under control of the Republican majority.

The House passed the administration’s offshore wind power bill Friday amid accusations Gov. Martin O’Malley secured votes on the House Economic Matters Committee with disparity grants to committee members’ districts. “Those of you who have been here longer than two weeks know there’s a lot of complicated pressures that go into making a bill pass or fail,” said House Minority Leader Anthony O’Donnell. “Sometimes it takes a little nudge, sometimes it takes a carrot, and sometimes it takes a stick.” The disparity grant program in Maryland provides subsidies to jurisdictions with income tax receipts that fall below 75% of the...

Modern corporate culture is in L-O-V-E, love with meetings (and any opportunity to engage in groupthink). But if you look back, history's real intellectual heavyweights weren't "team players." Intellectual giants like DaVinci, Einstein, and even Steve Wozniak, all developed their best works in near solitude. Quiet, by Susan Cain, examines why the world's best thinkers have usually been lone wolves. March 5, 1975. A cold and drizzly evening in Menlo Park, California. Thirty unprepossessing-looking engineers gather in the garage of an unemployed colleague named Gordon French. They call themselves the Homebrew Computer Club, and this is their first meeting. Their...

Committee Weighs Contempt Citation Against White House Over SolyndraBy James Rosen Published December 02, 2011 | FoxNews.com Members of Congress investigating the $535 million loan guarantee that the Obama administration gave to now-bankrupt solar panel manufacturer Solyndra are considering suing the White House to obtain access to documents relating to the case, Fox News has learned. For close to a year, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has been probing the circumstances surrounding the loan and its subsequent restructuring, which subordinated taxpayers to private investors in the recovery of the company's assets. Solyndra's chief investor, billionaire George Kaiser, is a...

Additional budget cuts could force House committees to lay off staffersBy Debbie Siegelbaum - 11/30/11 04:38 PM ET Lawmakers expressed significant concerns about the ability of House committees to maintain staffing levels and perform congressional duties as they stare down additional budget cuts. In July, the House approved the fiscal year 2012 Legislative Branch Appropriations bill, instituting a 6.4 percent cut to leadership, committee and personal office budgets for the coming year. This is on top of a 5 percent cut committees already took in January 2011. On Wednesday, the Committee on House Administration heard testimony from the chairmen and...

The 2012 political year is right around the corner and the recent failure by the so-called "Super Committee" to reach agreement on $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction will re-cast the environment on Capitol Hill and shape the 2012 campaign. With divided control of Congress, and a 60-vote threshold in the U.S. Senate, major Congressional action before the 2012 election is now extremely unlikely. Congress always seems to need a deadline to make the members focus on the country's business, and December promises to be a busy month. It's likely that members of Congress will do the following: - Pass yet...

Minister of Science and Technology Daniel Hershkowitz (Jewish Home) used uncharacteristically blunt words to condemn Likud ministers who opposed the bill that would make Supreme Court nominees subject to parliamentary hearings before confirmation. He said they were "serving the Left" by opposing the vetting process. The bill, which was initiated by MKs Yariv Levin and Ze'ev Elkin (Likud), will be debated at the Ministerial Committee for Legislation next week. It was supposed to be debated today (Sunday) but the controversy around it caused the discussion to be postponed by one week. "It is strange that ministers from the Likud are...

“Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice” Senate Judiciary Committee Full Committee View a webcast of this hearing DATE: November 8, 2011 TIME: 10:00 AM ROOM: Dirksen 226 OFFICIAL HEARING NOTICE / WITNESS LIST: October 31, 2011 NOTICE OF COMMITTEE HEARING The Senate Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a hearing entitled “Oversight of the U.S. Department of Justice” for Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. By order of the Chairman. Witness List Hearing before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary On Tuesday, November 8, 2011 Dirksen Senate Office Building,...

Super Secrecy of Debt 'Super Committee' Rubs Some Lawmakers the Wrong WayFoxNews.com Published October 21, 2011 Hiding behind closed doors may be an attempt to actually get something done, but the secrecy of the so-called congressional “super committee” tasked with finding $1.2 trillion in deficit reductions over the next 10 years is drawing scorn from fellow lawmakers who want the process to be more open. Sen. Dean Heller unveiled a bill last month to open up the talks, though it's unlikely to get action in the next five weeks the panel has left to come up with a plan. Sen....

"We know that the debt is now 100 percent -- approximately 100 percent of (gross domestic product)," said Allan Meltzer, a professor of political economy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "That doesn't include the unfunded liabilities. It doesn't include (mortgage lenders)Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It doesn't include a number of other things." Chris Edwards, Director of Tax Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, argues that U.S. debt is so far out of control that it must be contained soon. "We've had five trillion (in) deficit spending since 2008, the most enormous sort...

Tea Party group forms its own 'super committee'By: CNN's Kevin Liptak Washington (CNN) - As the congressional "super committee" works in Washington to cut America's federal debt, a panel of tea party activists will meet at a Denny's restaurant in Orlando to propose their own debt solutions. The gathering, convened by the large conservative political group FreedomWorks, will meet Sept. 23, coinciding with the Florida Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual meeting of right-leaning politicians. "FreedomWorks believes that President Obama's 'super-committee' will inevitably fall prey to special interest groups, shutting American taxpayers out of the discussion on how to reduce...

On Thursday the House Energy and Commerce Committee ramped up its ongoing investigation of the federal government’s $535 million loan to Solyndra, a solar energy company that recently announced it will file for bankruptcy. In a letter to the White House, committee Chairman Fred Upton and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns requested a scheduled briefing on the matter by no later than September 12 and asked for all documents related to the loan guarantee between Solyndra and the White House. In 2009, Solyndra was the recipient of a half-billion-dollar loan through the Department of Energy, funded by stimulus...