Free Republic

The Senate Appropriations Committee helda hearing on the federal government resources needed to combat the Ebola outbreak in Western Africa and to better prepare U.S. medical facilities for future infections. Witnesses included Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell; Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and Homeland Security Security Jeh Johnson.

Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) overcame tea party-backed challenger Chris McDaniel in a runoff Tuesday night after finishing second behind him in the primary three weeks ago. Although he now faces a Democrat in November, Cochran’s runoff victory likely secures him a whopping seventh term in the U.S. Senate. Alabamians were paying unusually close attention to the out-of-state race because of its potential impact on the committee assignments of one of our own U.S. senators, Richard Shelby. (SNIP) With all of the action in Republican primaries now, the teachers’ union and liberal activists launched a coordinated effort to get traditionally Democratic...

"The House of Representatives can not only refuse, but they alone can propose the supplies requisite for the support of Government. They, in a word, hold the purse; that powerful instrument by which we behold, in the history of the British Constitution, an infant and humble representation of the People gradually enlarging the sphere of its activity and importance, and finally reducing, as far as it seems to have wished, all the overgrown prerogatives of the other branches of the Government. This power over the purse may, in fact, be regarded as the most complete and effectual weapon, with which...

The House voted unanimously Saturday morning to approve a bipartisan bill ensuring furloughed federal workers receive backpay once the government shutdown ends. The vote on the Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act was 407-0. Twenty-five members didn't vote. The measure now moves to the Senate, where it is expected to pass. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) had introduced a Senate version of the bill earlier this week.

Sen. Rand Paul conceded Saturday that congressional Republicans have little chance of stopping Obamacare. “We probably can’t defeat or get rid of Obamacare,” the Kentucky senator told reporters at a gathering of Michigan Republicans, according to the Associated Press. Paul acknowledged that time is running out for Congress to pass a government funding bill, however he said House Republicans’ efforts to defund Obamacare in its government funding bill could lead to a compromise. ~~snip~~ Reid has said any bill defunding Obamacare would be dead on arrival, and Sen. John McCain said Thursday that it was “not rational” to think the...

Some have argued that because much of Obamacare constitutes “mandatory” spending—namely, new entitlements such as the massive Medicaid expansion and exchange insurance subsidies—Congress is powerless to defund the entire law as part of its annual appropriations bills. These claims are false. Congress routinely enacts changes to mandatory spending programs as part of its annual appropriations process. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recognizes these changes when analyzing spending bills and scores them as CHiMPS—changes in mandatory program spending. In February 2011, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1—legislation intended to reduce federal spending by $100 billion, consistent with House...

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) is saying the House WILL fund the government, in yet another vote needed to support the swayed-back of Obama administration spending.  We are out of money again on September 30th. When Boehner was asked if ObamaCare will be defunded in the next Continuing Resolution, he coyly answered: "our goal would be to make sure the government is funded." Many are taking that answer as yes, we will continue to fund ObamaCare. We have no budget. The unconstitutional spending will continue through a Continuing Resolution (CR). See why there is plenty of precedent for not funding this...

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...