Former U.S. Senator John Ensign, his campaign committees and his parents will pay a total of $54,000 in penalties resulting from a Federal Election Commission investigation that stemmed from the extramarital affair that ended the Nevada Republican’s political career. The FEC announced...
Read more »Ensign to Join Parents in Paying FEC Fines Totaling $54,000
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Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) speaks during a hearing before the House Ways and Means Committee on May 17, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
Mike Kelly’s IRS Spotlight for John Q. Public: Standing Ovation
Rep. Mike Kelly came to politics late and, only in his second term at 65 years of age, the actuarial tables don’t favor him rising to become a Capitol Hill kingpin. He could retire tomorrow, though, and know that he made the most...
Read more »IRS: Republicans’ Own Selective Examination: ‘Targets’
Speaking of the truth vs. the whole truth, House Republicans did some selective editing of an inspector general’s report during today’s hearing on the Internal Revenue Service. Steven Miller, the acting — and outgoing — commissioner of the Internal Revenue...
Read more »Ex-Rep. Maguire Readies New Jersey Comeback Campaign
More than 30 years after leaving Congress, New Jersey Democrat Andy Maguire is preparing for a comeback effort in 2014. Maguire, 74, filed a federal statement of candidacy to seek the northern 5th District seat held by Republican Scott Garrett,...
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A cardboard cut-out of President Barack Obama in a tent defending "Obamacare" at a street fair in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Obamacare in Three Words: OMG
The long-running competition for one-upsmanship over Obamacare in three pithy words has reached a fever pitch, pitting the White House and allies against repeal-minded Republicans with all sorts of bystanders weighing in — remembering that last summer one of those...
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The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) headquarters in Washington, D.C.
IRS Scandal Good for Tax Reform: Baucus, Camp, in Interview
Written with Peter Cook The scandal at the Internal Revenue Service is emboldening the chief congressional proponents for rewriting the tax code, they said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “This actually leads to new momentum for tax reform,” said...
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Danny Werfel, federal controller, Office of Management and Budget, testifies before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in Hart Building on the impacts of the sequestration on his agency.
Obama Naming Werfel for IRS
Updated at 3:25 pm EDT President Barack Obama has picked Danny Werfel, controller of the Office of Management and Budget, as acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. Werfel, 42, will replace Steven Miller, who was forced to resign yesterday...
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People march through the streets of Oxnard, California, for immigration reform and to honor the legacy of Cesar E. Chavez, founder of the United Farm Workers of America, on March 24, 2013.
Immigration Bill: Promise with a Prayer
At the rose-adorned grave-site of Cesar Chavez, co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association, widow Helen Chavez had one wish for the visiting President Barack Obama. “I would like to make sure and request that you get immigration reform passed,”...
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Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford arrives to give his victory speech on May 7, 2013, in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Sanford won back his old congressional seat in the state's 1st District in a special election.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: 16
That’s how many U.S. House members in the current 113th Congress have served non-consecutive tenures. The total includes Mark Sanford, a South Carolina Republican who was sworn in yesterday to the House, where he previously served from 1995 to 2001....
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Speaker of the House John Boehner, left, conducts a ceremonial swearing-in with U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC), center, and his mother Peggy Sanford, right, at the Capitol on May 15, 2013 in Washington, DC.
Sanford Takes Office, Declaring Himself ‘Humbled’ and Appreciative
Written with Greg Giroux Mark Sanford, the former South Carolina governor disgraced when he lied about his whereabouts to conceal an extramarital affair, found political redemption May 7 when South Carolina voters elected him to fill a vacant seat in Congress....
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