By Adam Bitely — Republicans in Congress have a real chance to show that they are serious about cutting spending with the upcoming sequestration cuts. If they hold firm on this, this will be the first example that they are willing to actually make cuts instead of negotiate deals with Democrats that only increase the spending and the debt. There [...]

UPDATE 12:00 PM: Click here to watch a live feed of the House. By Adam Bitely — This afternoon the Speaker of the House will be elected for the 113th Congress. As we noted yesterday, rumors are running wild on Capitol Hill that Boehner will fall short of the necessary 218 votes to secure the speakership. Outgoing Rep. Jeff Landry [...]

UPDATE at 9:40 AM: The Boston Globe has endorsed Boehner for Speaker because he will keep Tea Party “extremists” from being relevant in Congress… “For placing ideological purity over compromise, and a willingness to use procedural mechanisms to gum up Congress in order to get his way, Cantor would be a poor choice. Americans who want a more cooperative approach [...]

Here are the names of the 85 Republicans that supported the ‘fiscal cliff’ deal in the House: Alexander Barletta Bass (NH) Benishek Biggert Bilbray Boehner Bono Mack Brady (TX) Buchanan Calvert Camp Coble Cohen Cole Crenshaw Denham Dent Diaz-Balart Dold Dreier Emerson Fitzpatrick Fortenberry Frelinghuysen Gallegly Gerlach Gibson Grimm Hanna Hastings (WA) Hayworth Heck Herger Herrera Beutler Johnson (IL) Johnson [...]

By Adam Bitely — House Republicans were given a majority in Congress in the 2010 mid-term elections to fight back against the explosion of government spending. Instead of fighting back, they seem to mostly be rolling over on one of the most important issues that Congress will deal with this decade. Just as recently as July 18, Republicans were presented [...]

By Bill Wilson — If House Republicans believed in anything, they would vote to make the current tax rates permanent, send that to the Senate, and make that the only option to prevent the nation from driving off the fiscal cliff at year’s end. And if Harry Reid doesn’t want to go along with it, then it’s on him. It [...]

By Adam Bitely — After just 14 months at the levers of power of the House, it appears that some House Republicans are ready to admit that they have been unsuccessful in kicking their spending addictions. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) is suggesting to House Republicans that the ban on earmarking be lifted so that members of Congress could “grease the [...]

By Bill Wilson — It is disappointing that within a mere 14 months into the House Republican majority, they appear to be giving up on the principles that got them elected in 2010. Rep. Mike Rogers has openly called for abandoning reforms to the appropriations process by potentially lifting the ban on earmarks. This is being proposed as a legislative [...]

The House rejected a Balanced Budget Amendment today. According to Politico: The House voted 261-165 on Friday to reject a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. The vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed. The House last voted on a balanced budget amendment in 1995, which passed with a 300-132 vote.

By Bill Wilson — Anti-tax increase advocates were alarmed on Nov. 2 when 40 House Republicans signed a letter indicating they were open to new revenues as part of a package expected from the so-called congressional Supercommittee. “To succeed, all options for mandatory and discretionary spending and revenues must be on the table,” the letter stated. Members who signed the [...]