Mike Viqueira
From NBC's Mike Viqueira
A House leadership source says that, as of right at this moment, the votes are not there yet to pass the energy bill that the president is talking about this afternoon.
A full-court press in effect. House Democrats want to vote tomorrow, but won't put it on the floor if the votes aren't there to put it over the top.
From NBC's Mike Viqueira
Al Gore's scheduled appearance at a Democratic leadership rally promoting the energy bill has been canceled.
The official reason is that there is now a comfort level with the bill's prospects in the House that was not there just yesterday, and therefore Gore's presence both at a closed-door Dem caucus meeting and subsequent rally is not needed.
"It's a question of what was energy efficient for the vice president," said House speaker
Nancy Pelosi.
There is also the feeling that a splashy rally might not be productive in terms of convincing fence sitters to vote "yeah" on the measure, as many of the holdouts are either moderate Dems or Republicans who might either wouldn't be at the caucus to begin with, or who might not be comfortable having Gore parachute in and be seen as having their arm twisted by the former veep.
From NBC's Mike Viqueira
The House is on course to take up the energy bill on Friday, after a deal was struck between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Colin Peterson.
The pair appeared late today at a presser to announce their agreement. Peterson had been an influential holdout as he sought the best possible deal for farmers.
Now, suddenly, the push is on for the energy bill, which many had originally given a smaller chance of passing than the ballyhooed health-care legislation.
Video: President Obama explains the benefits to his proposed clean energy bill by saying it will 'create a set of incentives that will spur the development of new sources of energy, including wind, solar, and geothermal power.'
Al Gore will appear tomorrow with Pelosi and other Dem potentates at 2:00 pm ET to rally for cameras.
So put down those actuarial tables you have been studying in preparation for the health-care debate, and dust off phrases like "cellulosic ethanol," "woody biomass," etc.
One other thing: The Democratic leadership is threatening to come in on Saturday to get this bill done if they have to. This is the last week before recess, and they don't want the deal to sit out there for a week.
From NBC's Mike Viqueira and Mark Murray
By a 405-1 vote, the House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the violence in Iran and expressing support for the dissidents there.
The measure has no teeth, but these types of things tend to gain attention overseas.
Video: Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., discusses whether Democrats will continue to support President Barack Obama’s cautious stance on Iran
The sole nay vote:
Ron Paul (R-TX). Two voted present:
Brad Ellsworth (D-IN) and
Dave Loebsack (I-IA).
Here's the resolution:
Expressing support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and rule of law, and for other purposes.
Resolved, That the House of Representatives-
(1) expresses its support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and rule of law;
(2) condemns the ongoing violence against demonstrators by the Government of Iran and pro-government militias, as well as the ongoing government suppression of independent electronic communication through interference with the Internet and cellphones; and
(3) affirms the universality of individual rights and the importance of democratic and fair elections.
From NBC’s Mike Viqueira
Anybody out there in the market for cheap metaphors or metaphysical omens, let it be known that for the first time since 2000, Democrats defeated Republicans in the annual Roll Call baseball game last night.
The score was 15-10. This afternoon on the House floor, the manager for the victorious Democrats, Rep. Mike Doyle, brandished the sizable trophy.
"They played like Republicans," said a good-natured Rep. Joe Barton, who was at the helm of the losing Republican squad.
There was much hooting and mirth.
The game was played down the street at Nationals Park (only a slight drop off in the usual quality of play to be found there), and benefited the Washington area Boys and Girls Clubs and the Washington Literacy Council.
One other thing, the Republican staff ace in recent years has been Sen. John Ensign. He did not play last night.
CONTINUED >>
From NBC's Mike Viqueira and Mark Murray
President Obama today will nominate Republican Rep. John McHugh (R-NY) to the post of secretary of the Army.
Video: President Obama introduces Republican Rep. John McHugh as his choice to become the next secretary of the Army.
McHugh is the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.
Strikingly, McHugh wrote a recent op-ed in
The Hill, in which he outlined his view of the ways in which Republicans can serve as the "loyal opposition" to Obama. He argued that the GOP must be more than "the party of no," and put forward a set of national security principles that he said the party should pursue.
The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza writes that McHugh's departure from Congress could "set off an extremely competitive special election for" New York's 23rd congressional district. "According to Swing State Project calculations, Obama carried the 23rd district 52 percent to 47 percent over Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008 and four years earlier George W. Bush won it by a similar 51 percent to 47 percent margin."
From NBC's Mike Viqueira and Mark Murray
Here's the latest in the back-and-forth between the House Democratic leadership and the Central Intelligence Agency: House Appropriations Chairman David Obey has fired off a letter to CIA Director Leon Panetta, pointing out that the CIA mistakenly listed that an Appropriations staffer sat in on a key CIA briefing in 2006.
Of course, the CIA listing House Speaker Pelosi sitting in on a similar 2002 briefing -- and suggesting that she learned of controversial interrogation techniques like waterboarding there -- is at the heart of the dispute over what Pelosi knew about the practices and when she knew it.
The full letter:
May 18, 2009
The Honorable Leon Panetta
Director
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, DC 20505
Dear Director Panetta:
In light of current controversy about CIA briefing practices, I was surprised to learn that the agency erroneously listed an appropriations staffer as being in a key briefing on September 19, 2006, when in fact he was not. The list the agency released entitled "Member Briefings on Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EITs)", shows that House Appropriations Committee defense appropriations staffer Paul Juola was in that briefing on that date. In fact, Mr. Juola recollects that he walked members to the briefing room, met General Hayden and Mr.Walker, who were the briefers, and was told that he could not attend the briefing. We request that you immediately correct this record.
Sincerely,
David R. Obey
From NBC's Mike Viqueira
Speaker
Nancy Pelosi says that if AIG folks are really coughing up their bonuses, "then we have accomplished what we set out to do."
Recall that it was Pelosi who last week rushed the 90% bonus tax to the floor of the House, only to see congressional ardor for legislation fade this week in the Senate. It now appears that the Senate won't even get to its own version of the "clawback" measure until late in April, after the spring recess.
Pelosi says the goal was "to get the taxpayer money back," yet it is unclear just how much will be returned by AIG bonus recipients.
ON another front, Pelosi is supportive of Geithner's proposal for new power to "unwind" companies like AIG through a broadening of federal power. "It is a good step in the right direction," she said.
From NBC's Ken Strickland
Today Sen. John McCain failed in his effort to strip thousands on earmarks from a government funding bill moving through Congress. His amendment would also have reduced the funding for several government departments to last year's lower spending levels.
His amendment failed 63-32, with a simple majority needed for passage. Only two Democrats voted with McCain: Evan Bayh and Claire McCaskill.
There were eight Republicans who voted against McCain, thereby supporting the earmarks and the higher levels of spending. All but one of those Republicans (Snowe) sit on the Senate Appropriations Committee. That panel is tasked with writing the spending bills and are best positioned to add earmarks. Those GOP committee members voting against McCain were Bennett, Bond, Cochran, Collins, Murkowski, Shelby and Specter.
From NBC's Mike Viqueira and Ken Strickland
The U.S. House has just begun procedural debate on the stimulus conference report. Following this debate and a procedural vote, general debate on the conference report will take place. It will last roughly two hours.
A final vote will occur in the 1:00 pm ET. It's expected to pass, of course. Then it's on to the Senate, but we don't have an exact time the chamber will start the final vote on the bill. Majority Leader Harry Reid said it would happen either late afternoon or early evening.
Reid also has said he will hold the vote open, probably for a few hours, to accommodate Sen. Sherrod Brown, who will be attending a memorial service for his mother. She died in Ohio earlier this week.
Because Sen. Ted Kennedy will not be voting today, Brown's vote is absolutely critical, since it will take 60 votes for passage. The last procedural vote yielded 61; without Kennedy, it's down to 60 assuming everyone votes the same (and that Judd Gregg votes against the measure).
Yesterday, Reid said Brown may not be able to get back to Washington until 8:00 pm. So there will likely be a scenario where at Nightly News time, the are 59 votes while they wait for Brown to fly back and be the final decisive vote for passage.
