By James A. Lyons
By arming the rebels, we're aiding al Qaeda
The chairman of a key House committee on Thursday demanded that the State Department's office of inspector general explain passages in internal documents that refer to pressure from department higher-ups to quash investigations into suspected criminal activity — including the solicitation of prostitutes, illegal drug activity and sexual assault — by U.S. diplomatic personnel overseas.
FBI Director Robert Mueller told a House committee on Thursday the government's massive undercover surveillance programs were court-approved and have been conducted in compliance with U.S. law and with oversight from Congress.
A House committee is expanding its investigation of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius after the Cabinet secretary acknowledged she reached out to three more health care companies to raise money to assist in implementing President Obama's health care law.
A House committee Tuesday approved measures to end public financing of presidential campaigns and national party conventions, as backers say the programs have lost support among voters and candidates and are a waste of taxpayer money.
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee say the Justice Department's defense of Eric Holder is inadequate and it dodges a real question behind the agency scandal: What role did the nation's leading law enforcer play in the agency's surveillance and records seizure of members of the media?
Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole has until the end of business Friday to tell a House committee how and when his boss, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., recused himself in the Justice Department's subpoena of two months of telephone records of at least 20 reporters and editors at The Associated Press.
Lawmakers in Illinois could sign off on legalizing fracking as early as this week, but approval of the highly controversial drilling method won't come without a fight.
The career diplomat who led the internal State Department probe into the Benghazi terrorist attacks has agreed to a private, transcribed interview with investigators from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which had issued a subpoena after his initial resistance.
There's an immeasurably deep cleavage between left and right in America, illustrated vividly in the way Americans regard the Benghazi scandal and outrage. It's in the DNA.
The noise in the hen house this morning is the flutter and cackle of the chickens from Benghazi, scuttling home to roost. The House committee opening hearings Wednesday on what happened there is likely to serve up chicken surprise.
Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline contend that it would lead to dramatic increases in greenhouse gas emissions, but a supporter of the $7 billion oil sands project says approval would help cut harmful emissions and make the transport of American oil much more efficient..
The White House on Monday attempted to deflect new criticism on the administration's handling of the Benghazi attacks from a firsthand witness and an additional whistle-blower, arguing that an internal State Department review charged with investigating the September attacks was led by an "unimpeachable" team.
The White House accused Republicans of a political distraction Wednesday after House committee chairmen asked President Obama to release a State Department cable that they said would prove Hillary Rodham Clinton, as secretary off state, signed off on security cuts at the diplomatic post in Benghazi ahead of the attack Sept. 11.
The federal program that protects workers in multiemployer pension plans expects to be exhausted in 10 to 15 years, and the financial hit will most likely land on retirees, a new report said this week.
A House committee approved legislation Wednesday that would require the firing of federal employees who are "seriously tax delinquent."
