Rep. Speier Calls Congress ‘Enablers of Sexual Assault’
Photodisc/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — On Wednesday, Lawmakers came down hard on military leaders, the morning after allegations emerged of another head of a military sexual assault prevention program engaging in the very behavior he was charged with stop…
Going Beyond Cat Videos: YouTube Brings Congress to the People
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Move over C-SPAN, YouTube is now bringing Congress to the people. All members of the U.S. Congress were invited earlier this week to start live-streaming video from their YouTube channels.
“Whether it’s…
Obama, Lawmakers Vow to Ease Suffering from Texas Blast
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — President Obama and lawmakers in Washington, D.C., expressed their condolences Thursday after the devastating explosion in West, Texas, pledging federal resources to help.”Today our prayers go out to the peop…
President Obama’s Weekly Address: Reducing Gun Violence
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) — In his weekly address, President Obama calls on Congress to pass “commonsense measures” to protect the nation’s children by reducing gun violence.The president says in the three months since 20 in…
Poll: Large Racial Gap Marks Trust on Immigration
John Gurzinski/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Slightly more Americans trust Barack Obama than congressional Republicans to handle immigration, but neither side garnered a majority between whites and nonwhites in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll.Amer…
Parents of Violent Mental Disorder Patients Share Their Stories on Capitol Hill
Hemera/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — The father of a young man whose battle with mental illness ended in suicide told a bipartisan group of Congress members Tuesday about the sometimes nightmarish struggles he faced trying to help his son.“I can&rsqu…
Boehner Not Blinking in Budget Deadlock
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — With sequestration set to strike on Friday, House Speaker John Boehner returned to the Capitol after a nine-day recess with no apparent change in his political posture: If the $85 billion cuts are…
Obama Enlists Governors to Help Get Sequester Deal
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) — With less than five days to prevent $85 billion in sweeping, automatic budget cuts, President Obama Monday asked the nation’s governors to help pressure Congress to compromise on a deal to a…
Congress Less Popular than Lice, Cockroaches and Donald Trump
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — How little regard does the American public have for Congress? Lawmakers may not want to know but Public Policy Polling is going to tell them anyway.
After all the partisan bickering and fights with the White …
Senate Swears in a Historic 20 Female Senators
Martin H. Simon/ABC(WASHINGTON) — On Thursday, the Senate will make history, swearing in a record-breaking 20 female senators — four Republicans and 16 Democrats — in office.As the 113th Congress is sworn in Thursday on Capitol Hill, ABC’s World New…
House Democrats Urge Congress To Toughen Gun Laws
Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call(WASHINGTON) — As the country mourns victims of last week’s massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and the debate over gun control takes on new urgency in Washington, House Democrats Wednesday cal…
Which Congressman Is Blocking Bill That Would Protect Kids with Autism?
Architect of the Capitol(WASHINGTON) — Legislation aimed at protecting children with autism and other disabilities from being injured in school has stalled in the House of Representatives at the hands of a single member who objects to federal interven…
Bill to End Rape Kit Backlog Introduced in Congress
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — In the midst of a fiscal crisis, usually divided Democrats and Republicans displayed a rare case of bipartisanship Tuesday on the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Registry (SAFER) Act, an attempt to ensure that rap…
Congress Gets Low Ethics Rating as ‘Fiscal Cliff’ Looms
Ingram Publishing/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Americans rate only car salespeople below Congress in terms of honesty and ethics.Just one in 10 Americans rate the honesty and ethical standards of lawmakers as high or very high, according to a Gallup poll …
John Boehner, Timothy Geithner Report Little Progress on ‘Fiscal Cliff’
TOBY JORRIN/AFP/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — Negotiations between Congress and the White House over the “fiscal cliff” may be continuing in private this weekend, but on television airwaves the top Republican on Capitol Hill reported talks are …
A Very Different Lame-Duck: Lessons from 2010
iStockPhoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — In Congress’s last lame-duck session, things went swimmingly.Washington saw an historically productive lame-duck session after the 2010 midterm elections. President Obama and Congress managed to extend the Bu…
Move the Fiscal Cliff Deadline Up, Senator Proposes
United States Senate(WASHINGTON) — In order to make a strong economic showing to consumers and markets the week before Christmas, one senator Wednesday proposed that Congress should move up its deadline to get a deal to avoid going over the fiscal cli…
Record-Breaking Number of Women in Senate Promise Bipartisan ‘Collaborative’ Spirit
ABC News(WASHINGTON) — The 113th Congress will have a record-breaking number of female senators, the most in history. And it has created a less auspicious historical footnote.“We had the first traffic jam in the United States history in the wome…
‘Our Constitution Has Failed,’ Says Departing Rep. Ron Paul
ABC News(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Ron Paul, the iconic libertarian congressman from Texas, has delivered what will most likely be his final address to Congress.In a sprawling, 52-minute speech to the House chamber, Paul lambasted U.S. government, politician…
Petraeus Will Testify Behind Closed Doors on Benghazi
KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Former CIA Director David Petraeus has agreed to testify at a closed-door session of Congress to answer questions about September’s terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya. Still, he will likel…