congress
A handy guide to all Congress happenings on both sides of the aisle. Thank goodness for this political body that keeps Presidential power in check.
Bryan Watch: Nov 2019
It was a fairly slow week for Congress. Only fifteen votes, and five of those on noncontroversial bills. The biggest action in the House this week was the start of Impeachment Hearings, with several career diplomats testifying. Steil is not on any of the relevant committees, but he did claim that impeachment was a distraction from Congress funding the federal government (Fund the Military, H 8970, November 13). Apparently he is not convinced that Congress can walk and chew gum at the same time.
By John Heckenlively6 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch: Halloween
Obviously the big news of the week is that the House made the impeachment of Donald Trump official, setting up the rules for further proceedings. It was a party line vote, 232 to 196, with only two Democrats (Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Dan Drew of New Jersey) voting against. Steil and every other Republican voted against the investigation. (RC 603 and 604, H Res 660, October 31). Rep. Steil always answered at his party's call this week, going 21 for 21 on party-line votes.
By John Heckenlively6 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch: Oct 22-25
This Wednesday, while the rest of Congressional Republicans were busy voting when they weren’t obstructing justice, Rep. Steil had a photo opportunity with Vice President Mike Pence. As a result, Steil missed votes on a bill to protect the 2020 elections against interference by foreign governments.
By John Heckenlively6 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch: Sept Week 3
A major bodyslam for Donald Trump this week regarding the whistleblower complaint of August 12. In a unanimous vote of 421 to zero, the House demanded that Acting Director of National Intelligence Maguire immediately stop stonewalling and send the complaint to the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. They also demanded that Maguire protect the whistleblower from any retaliation by the Trump administration (House Resolution 576, RC 548, Sep 25). This follows a similar vote by the Senate on Tuesday. Trump has literally not got a soul in Congress willing to defend him on the whistleblower issue.
By John Heckenlively6 years ago in The Swamp
Bryan Watch: Sept II
Fairly slow week for Congress this second week back. There were only ten votes this week. The National Defense Authorization Act (the budget for the Pentagon) is currently in conference between the House and Senate to resolve differences. A motion to close portions of the conference (end debate on parts of the bills everyone agreed on) passed 407 to 4 (RC 532, Sep 17). The four dissenters were Justin Amish (MI) and Tom Massie (KY) from the conservative side and Earl Blumenauer (OR) and Rashida Tlaib (MI) from the liberal side.
By John Heckenlively6 years ago in The Swamp
The New Congress
The 116th Congress is run by 67 Democrats and 44 Republicans, to which I say, good. For once, Congress has some diversity. Yes, there is the occasional black representative, but see, my own people, Hispanics, have historically been underrepresented. The New York Times is a publication I got my free subscription to because my dabbling in real journalism is going nowhere without access to information like the type found in The New York Times. Okay, we have 101 fresh Representatives in the House, mostly white, although there are some people of color.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez6 years ago in The Swamp
The House of Representatives
The House makes up half of Congress as the government’s legislative branch. The House has 325 voting members, their positions are based on the population of the 50 states. A representative is referred to as a congressman or congresswoman. The number of voters for the House was set at 435 on August 8, 1911, in effect since 1913. The number of representatives per state is proportionate to the population. Article one, Section two of the Constitution has provided for the minimum and maximum sizes for the House of Representatives, as there are five delegates representing the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez6 years ago in The Swamp
The Way Congress Works
Congress is the legislative body of the United States government. Our lawmakers make decisions that affect us on a federal level, and federal generally refers to the entire country. Individual state law is different from multi-national law that affects the entire country. Each state in the Union is represented by two law makers from the state. There are two chambers that make up Congress, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. Congress has 535 voting members, and 100 Senators. There are six non-voting members representing Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, The Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez6 years ago in The Swamp
