Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, today lashed out at Pakistan for the jailing of the doctor who helped lead the United States to Osama bin Laden.

That came as the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which McCain is the ranking Republican, said it wants to require the Defense Department to certify that Pakistan is open to maintaining supply lines -- and not supporting militant extremist groups -- before releasing U.S. funds to Pakistan's armed forces.

"All of us are outraged at the imprisonment and sentencing of some 33 years, virtually a death sentence, to the doctor in Pakistan who was instrumental not on purpose but was instrumental and completely innocent of any wrongdoing."

He added, "It is our goal to make sure that this doctor is not sentenced to death which is basically what he got for helping us apprehend Osama bin Laden."

In announcing this action today, McCain and Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) said they would not put a number on the restricted funds to Pakistan's military. They said they are open to discussing it with the Obama administration.

McCain also reacted to NBC's Andrea Mitchell's interview with President Zardari's son -- he called him "a very articulate young man," but then went on to challenge everything he said.

McCain believes Pakistan's demand for an apology over the airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani's last year is connected to their decision to convict and jail the doctor.

A very animated McCain told reporters,  Why convict an innocent man in response to your dissatisfaction that you didn't get an apology from the United States of America? What's that all about? This is a human being, a human being."

He continued, "To somehow allege that under any countries law that this doctor violated any law is of course just beyond ludicrous. It's outrageous."

McCain said the U.S. has expressed regret over the airstrike and he wants to know more details about it. He said once a complete investigation is done President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will decide if an apology is in order.

Levin and McCain held a press conference to announce completion of the markup of their Defense Authorization bill which included the Pakistan aid restrictions.

Earlier today, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted unanimously to cut an additional $33 million in U.S. aid to Pakistan.

The amendment sponsored by Lindsey Graham (R-SC) cuts $1 million for every year of the 33-year sentence received by the Pakistani doctor.

The cuts will impact U.S. military aid to Pakistan. The Obama administration requested $2.27 billion in aid for the next fiscal year, but the committee pared that back and proposed $800.3 million. This $33 million cut to military aid will reduce that number even more.

“House Speaker John Boehner maintained his hard line on the nation’s debt ceiling in an interview that aired Sunday, saying he is ‘not going to apologize for leading,’” the Boston Globe writes, adding, “Boehner rejected the notion that the anxiety of another debt battle could harm the nation’s economic recovery.”

He also noted though that his caucus is a pretty “disparate” one. “It is hard to keep 218 frogs in a wheelbarrow long enough to get a bill passed,” he said on ABC’s This Week.

On NBC’s Meet the Press, Paul Ryan backed Boehner. “If we fix the programs that are the drivers of our debt, then we reduce a debt crisis likelihood,” Ryan said. “Then we actually bring borrowing down, which opens up certainty for investors.”

AP’s Babington wonders: “Is GOP trying to sabotage economy to hurt Obama?”

Congressional speech has dropped a grade level to 10^th grade. The top two members – Reps. Dan Lungren (R-CA) and Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA). The bottom two – Reps. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) and Rob Woodall (R-GA).

Political Wire: “Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) was ‘forced to sell his dream home’ in Utah with ‘his mortgage bank taking a significant loss -- up to $400,000 -- in a 'short sale' as the housing bust in his neighborhood drained his house's value,’ the Salt Lake Tribune reports.”

House Republicans are holding a hearing, led by Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), pushing a bill that would limit abortion rights in DC. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton was denied her request to testify. It is a generally accepted courtesy that if a member of Congress wants to testify at a hearing they are granted that. The committee is “considering legislation that would ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy in the District,” First Read DMV writes.

The Washington Post: “Rep. Trent Franks’ (R-Ariz.) bill, the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, would prohibit all D.C. abortions beyond 20 weeks except to save the life of the mother, based on the much-debated idea that fetuses beyond that point are capable of feeling pain. The measure will be the subject of a 4 p.m. hearing before the House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution, which Franks chairs.”

More: “D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray (D) also gave his take, sarcastically suggesting that if Franks ‘feels this strongly’ about how the District runs itself, ‘I would invite him to become a candidate for D.C. Council.’”

And: “Traditionally, the minority party in the House is allowed to invite the testimony of one witness. For this hearing, Democrats have tapped Christy Zink, a D.C. resident who has spoken publicly before of having an abortion at 21 weeks after tests showed her fetus had life-threatening brain anomalies. Republicans have asked three doctors to testify. A Republican Judiciary Committee aide who requested anonymity to discuss the decision said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), the subcommittee’s top Democrats, ‘has complete discretion as to whom the Democrats’ witness is. Nadler chose a D.C. resident, Christy Zink. Nadler could have invited Ms. Norton, but he didn’t.’ But members of Congress are usually allowed to testify at a hearing, separate from any witness quota, if a bill specifically impacts their districts.”

Politico: “Republicans aren't repeating the mistake they made earlier this year, when a male-heavy panel during a hearing on contraception prompted Norton and other Democrats to walk out in protest. Christy Zink, a George Washington University professor who was forced to have an abortion late in her pregnancy due to complications, will testify.”

DCist: “On yesterday's Rachel Maddow Show, Norton called Franks' bill a ‘straight-out cowardly case of bullying’ and said that ‘abundant precedent’ existed for allowing members of Congress to speak during committee hearings—even if they're not a member of that committee.”

A usually mundane congressional proceeding drifted into testy turf when a prominent Republican colleague accused a Democratic colleague of drunkenness during official proceedings. 

A late-night meeting of the House Rules Committee to conduct what's known as a "mark-up" — a prolonged session of technical fixes to a piece of legislation — contained unexpected fireworks on Wednesday evening. Rep. Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican who heads the House GOP's campaign efforts, accused Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern (D) of drinking on the job. 

“I think we've gotten this that Mr. McGovern is not happy,” Sessions said to McGovern, borne of frustration at the repeated amendments offered by McGovern to the National Defense Authorization Act.

“I think this is also behavior, um, that I wonder if people have been out drinking tonight or whether they are mad or angry or incapable of controlling themselves. And I would question that tonight.”

McGovern took issue with the remarks, and hit back at Sessions.  

“I would say to the gentleman that, you know, there are some issues worth fighting over, and for me ending this war is one of them,” McGovern said referring to the war in Afghanistan, “I'm sorry that the gentleman doesn't think that that — take that very seriously.”  Sessions quickly responded, saying, “Simple asking a question, if the shoe fits.”

View video of the hearing here

The interaction came in the seventh hour of a hearing that ended just before midnight,  eight and a half hours after it started. During that hearing, 241 amendments were submitted for the defense bill, 142 of which were approved to move on to a full vote in the House.  Rules Committee Hearings typically showcase frustration from the minority side, as the majority has control over what amendments are subsequently voted on by the full House or Representatives.

According to McGovern’s office, the congressman had not been drinking and Sessions called to apologize the next morning.  Sessions pushed back to reporters late Thursday, saying that he spoke to McGovern that morning, but failed to confirm that he apologized for the remarks.

“I don’t know what there is to apologize about,” Sessions told reporters, “I mean, I’m not trying to say, ‘No, I didn’t apologize to him,’ that was not the discussion.”

Sessions said he hasn’t seen the tape of the late night exchange, but when reminded by reporters that he had intimated that McGovern had been drinking, he denied it. “No I did not [suggest that he was drinking],” Sessions said, “I’m not trying to intimate anything, I’m trying to say Jim was having a tough night and I’m sorry he did.”

The exchange comes as House Democrats are speaking out against the Republican’s exclusion of an amendment McGovern had submitted during the hearing, which was rejected by the Republican majority on the Rules Committee.  Both House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) spoke out on the House floor against the decision, with Hoyer saying the amendment’s exclusion was “unworthy of the Rules Committee.” 

"I’m rarely surprised around here,” Pelosi said on the House floor, “ I was surprised that that discussion could not take place on this floor in the form of approving that amendment.”

Updated 1:48 p.m. - House Speaker John Boehner refused to comment on whether or not super PACs should use the Reverend Jeremiah Wright in political advertisements, saying instead that the presidential race would be about the economy.

This morning the New York Times broke the story that a conservative super PAC was contemplating -- and even had drawn up storyboards -- of an ad that would link President Obama to his controversial former pastor. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney decried the possible ad saying to Townhall:

"I repudiate the effort by that PAC to promote an ad strategy of the nature they've described. I would like to see this campaign focus on the economy, on getting people back to work, on seeing rising incomes and growing prosperity -- particularly for those in the middle class of America.”

Boehner did not go as far as Romney, refusing to directly renounce the prospective ads.

"Listen, this election is going to be about the economy," he said. "I don't know what the other people do or why they do it, all I know if the American people vote with their wallets."

When reminded by NBC News that four years ago, Arizona Sen. John McCain, who was then the GOP nominee, disallowed his campaign from using Wright in any ads, Boehner responded, “The campaign is going to be about economics, it's going to be about jobs, as it should be.”

Since the outset of the Obama administration, Boehner has shown a reluctance to wade into the culture wars that have grown from some conservatives' intense dislike of the president, preferring instead to focus squarely on the economy. Boehner never outright condemns factions of his party that question the president’s patriotism or birthplace nor does he give them relevance, instead he repeats his mantra: “Where are the jobs?”

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel added: "As Boehner said, this election should be about the economy - not Rev. Wright."

Dennis Kucinich will call it quits after a long and high-profile career on Capitol Hill, the Ohio congressman announced Wednesday.

Kucinich, a liberal stalwart whose district was eliminated during Census-directed reapportionment, said that he had opted against running in a newly-created district in Washington state and would instead leave Congress.

"I will complete my service in the U.S. House on January 2, 2013, with the same passion and devotion to duty with which I began it on January 3, 1997," he said in a statement. "And when I do, I shall think of you and all those who have given me encouragement to continue to be of service, and I will smile, knowing that we shall meet again in our celebration of the potential of citizen activists to change the world."

Kucinich twice sought the Democratic presidential nomination on a platform well to the left of most of his rivals, but fell short both times. His work in Congress fueled Kucinich's reputation as one of the Capitol's more eccentric figures. The Democrat had also pushed for the impeachment of President George W. Bush.

A former mayor of Cleveland, Kucinich's political fortunes turned after the Ohio legislature, controlled by Republicans, drew his district together with Toledo Rep. Marcy Kaptur's. Kaptur won the resulting primary this spring after a campaign that had turned surprisingly bitter.

President Obama warned leaders in Congress that he wouldn't tolerate another "self-inflicted political crisis" associated with the need to raise the nation's debt limit.

Over lunch Wednesday at the White House, Obama cautioned House Speaker John Boehner, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell against another standoff that plagued Washington last summer.

“We're not going to recreate the debt ceiling debacle of last August,” Press Secretary Jay Carney recounted the president saying during his lunch meeting with House and Senate leaders.

Boehner’s office released its own account of the meeting shortly after Carney began the White House daily briefing, saying that the House speaker had asked the president whether he would aim for a debt limit increase that didn’t include any spending cuts, to which the president responded, “Yes.”

According to Boehner’s office, the speaker responded, "As long as I'm around here, I'm not going to allow a debt ceiling increase without doing something serious about the debt."

Carney said Boehner asked whether the president was advocating “the clean debt ceiling,” which Carney argued was “a little different” than asking whether or not it would include spending cuts.

But, Carney continued, “The essence is the same. And the president's point was, we should not hold the full faith and credit of the United States hostage to one party's political agenda.”

Obama and the four leaders in Congress dined on hoagies fetched earlier in the day by the president during a stop at Washington's Taylor Gourmet sandwich shop.

House Speaker John Boehner today denied he was threatening default when he called yesterday for equal or greater spending cuts to accompany a future increase in the debt ceiling.

"I'm not threatening default," he said in response to a question by NBC News. "What I'm trying to do is encourage people on both sides of the aisle on both sides of the Capitol and on both ends of Pennsylvania Ave to be honest with the American people and to be honest with ourselves to begin to tackle this problem in an adult manner."

NBC News: Speaker Boehner? Why are you threatening default on the debt limit in May of 2012?

BOEHNER: "I'm not threatening default."

NBC NEWS: But you said yesterday cuts must match debt limit increase no matter what...

BOEHNER: "Let's remember something, the issue here is the debt, almost $16 trillion dollars worth of debt, $1.3 trillion dollar budget deficit this year, one only has to read the publications that many of you write for to realize that the situation in Europe is becoming grimmer every day. We have time to deal with our problems and what I'm trying to do is encourage people on both sides of the aisle on both sides of the Capitol and on both ends of Pennsylvania Ave to be honest with the American people and to be honest with ourselves to begin to tackle this problem in an adult manner."

Nati Harnik / Associated Press

Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer applauds her supporters with her husband Bruce Fischer, left, at her election party May 15 in Lincoln, Neb.

Updated 11:20 p.m. — Insurgent Republican candidate Deb Fischer bested two rivals with superior financing and organizations to win the Republican Senate nomination in Nebraska on Tuesday. 

Fischer earned the right to face former Sen. Bob Kerrey in a Senate race seen as crucial to Republicans' chances of retaking the Senate next year. She and Kerrey will battle to succeed the retiring centrist Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson. 

Fischer bested her two Republican rivals, state Attorney General Jon Bruning and Don Stenberg, according to Associated Press projections. Bruning had enjoyed establishment support and had raised the most money, while Stenberg, who'd previously run for the Senate three times before, had worked to consolidate support from conservatives. 

A state senator who heads the Nebraska legislature's transportation committee, Fischer made a late charge for the nomination aided by a nearly yearlong fight between Bruning and Stenberg. 

Adding to that momentum was former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who on Monday released a letter in support of Fischer.

Romney wins Nebraska primary

“We admire your conservative principles and know that you will not go to Washington to amass great wealth or power. You will go to Washington to serve the people of Nebraska, protect our Constitution and work for common sense solutions to help restore America,” wrote Palin, who made a habit of backing insurgent and Tea Party Senate candidates in 2010, often shortly before Election Day.

Fischer won't face a cakewalk on her way to Washington, though. Democrats tapped former Sen. Bob Kerrey, who served two terms representing Nebraska before becoming president of The New School in New York City, to succeed Nelson.

But Republicans are optimistic that they can paint Kerrey, a Vietnam War hero who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992, as an out-of-touch liberal. Kerrey, for instance, said last week that he also supports same-sex marriage in light of President Barack Obama’s similar pronouncement – a position that might not prove popular with Nebraskans come November.

Fischer has been the least well-funded of the candidates, and her small organization relative to her two primary challengers could prompt more assistance from the national Republican Party.

Moreover, were Fischer to become Republicans’ candidate, she would be facing statewide exposure for the first time, and against a seasoned political figure like Kerrey.

Republicans' chances of winning the Senate could be diminished, though, if they fail to win over Nebraska. While Democrats will play defense this fall in more Senate seats than the GOP, Republican candidates have struggled to catch fire in some states that had been previously seen as opportunities, narrowing the party's pathway to a majority.

While Fischer's victory would seem at first glance to fall along the fault lines in 2010 Senate primaries, which pitted less-experienced conservative insurgents against establishment-backed Republicans, the three-way primary in Nebraska made for a more complex breakdown in political loyalties. 

Bruning had raised the most money and developed the most extensive organization. Both Rick Santorum, the erstwhile presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania senator, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had endorsed Bruning, giving him particular heft among the state’s social conservatives.

Stenberg, who had hoping the fourth time was a charm in his bid to win a Senate seat, won the backing of Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., a conservative kingmaker in primary races, along with the fiscally conservative Club for Growth.

Both Bruning and Stenberg had been fighting intensely in the GOP primary for much of the past year, aided in part by outside groups who have assisted each candidate.

House Speaker John Boehner offered a rare glimpse Tuesday into his summer 2011 negotiations with President Obama on a "grand bargain" to rein in spending and address mounting debt.

The Ohio Republican reflected on how the spending fight that plagued Washington last year would affect his legacy, and hinted that he would make another attempt at extracting reforms by using the nation's borrowing limit as a bargaining chip.

In a speech at a Washington conference at fiscal issues, Boehner called the time span between Election Day and the end of the year, during which Congress must address expiring tax cuts and a looming hike in the debt limit, an "action-forcing event."

Boehner spoke of himself in historical terms and seemed to recognize a far-reaching debt deal could cement his legacy as an effective speaker.

“I’m ready, and I’ve been ready. I’m not angling for higher office. This is the last position in government I will hold. I haven’t come this far to walk away," he said. "All my life, I’ve operated by a simple code: if you do the right thing for the reasons, good things will happen. Well, NOW is the time to do the right thing."

Achieving the "right thing" might involve a bipartisan deal along the lines Boehner and President Obama had negotiated during the height of the debt ceiling showdown. But gridlock in Congress, driven by hard-charging conservatives and a deep chasm between the Republican House and the Democratic Senate, has shown that such a deal would be easier said than done.

Boehner's pronouncement that he's seeking no further office, combined with Obama's sentiment that this election is his last, could open the door to a new agreement between the two leaders.

But Boehner also decried the way in which Obama had allegedly "moved the goalposts" during their 2011 talks.

“We were on the verge of an agreement that would have reduced the deficit by trillions, by strengthening entitlement programs and reforming the tax code with permanently lower rates for all, laying the foundation for lasting growth," he said. "But when the president saw his former colleagues in the Senate getting ready to press for tax hikes, he lost his nerve.  The political temptation was too great.  He moved the goalposts, changed his stance, and demanded tax hikes.”

The White House has contended that Boehner never had the GOP votes to achieve a true bipartisan compromise because House Republicans would be reluctant to accept any increase in taxes.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) presaged another developing moment of brinksmanship on taxes and spending, vowing that House Republicans would vote to extend expiring tax cuts before the election, and insist on further cuts in spending to accompany another increase in the debt limit.

Boehner said that the House would vote this fall "before the election" to extend the Bush-era tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of this calendar year. Income taxes would spike upward on Jan. 1 barring action to either extend the tax cuts or reform taxes on a permanent basis.

The Republican speaker said the extension on which the House will vote, which comes on top of the two-year extension approved by Congress and President Obama in late 2010, would give lawmakers a chance to work on broad-based tax reform next year.

"This will give Congress time to work on broad-based tax reform that lowers rates for individuals and businesses while closing deductions, credits, and special carveouts," Boehner said in advance excerpts of his speech to a fiscal summit Tuesday in Washington. "Our bill to stop the New Year’s Day tax increase will also establish an expedited process by which Congress would enact real tax reform in 2013."

Boehner's warning, though, reflects the uncertain political terrain facing lawmakers after Election Day. Republicans have hopes of winning the Senate as well as the presidency, though their odds of accomplishing both have been tempered in recent months. Boehner himself warned that the GOP has a one-in-three chance of losing the House.

If Congress were to fail to address taxes and a looming vote to increase the nation's borrowing authority -- Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner suggested that wouldn't be necessary until 2013 -- it would force a reckoning with those two difficult issues during a lame-duck Congress. But either party could conceivably claim a mandate for its prescriptions as a result of the election results, and find an incentive in punting on either issue until the new Congress convenes in January, and the president -- either the same one, or a new one -- is inaugurated.

"I don't think you'll see a permanent resolution to our problems in a lame duck session. I'm not sure that's the appropriate place to do that," House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) said at the same summit.

To that end, Boehner also laid down markers for the parameters on which House Republicans would insist in order to again raise the debt limit. "I think in the lame duck you'll see something to make sure that we don't have a train wreck. Does that mean we'll have permanent entitlement reform, a grand bargain that will fix every fiscal problem once and for all? I don't see that happening."

"When the time comes, I will again insist on my simple principle of cuts and reforms greater than the debt limit increase," Boehner said in prepared remarks. "This is the only avenue I see right now to force the elected leadership of this country to solve our structural fiscal imbalance."

The speaker said that while stopgap measures weren't "ideal," he would accept them in order to insist upon the bigger cuts and reforms.

"It is pretty galling for Speaker Boehner to be laying down demands for another debt ceiling agreement when he won't even abide by the last one," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) in response to Boehner's remarks, referring to GOP efforts to undo the mandatory defense cuts in the debt-ceiling deal. "The last thing the country needs is a rerun of last summer's debacle that nearly brought down our economy."

Indeed, the debt ceiling fight took a political toll on nearly all of the political actors involved, especially Congress, which saw its approval ratings tumble to an all-time low. Even some Republicans have conceded their party risked seeming intransigent as a result of the fight.

That might offer encouragement for Democrats to hold out against an agreement; if their numbers in Congress are improved next year, and President Obama is re-elected, they might be in a stronger bargaining position to insist on their proposals that the wealthy shoulder a larger portion of the tax burden.

Frank Thorp contributed.