Outside the Beltway

Gabriellie Giffords, a three-term Arizona Congresswoman, was shot and killed today along with six others outside a campaign event in Tuscon.

A tragedy this afternoon in Tuscon

Some members of Congress sleep in their offices in lieu of renting residences in DC. Fiscally responsible or kinda odd?

I don’t like it when things my allies say are misquoted and attacked; it’s no better when my allies do it.

The filibuster reform package that Senate Democrats unveiled yesterday has much to recommend to it. Unfortunately, it’s probably doomed.

Anti-Immigrant groups are beginning their assault on the 14th Amendment, but don’t expect it to go anywhere.

David Kurtz reports, “House Republicans are about to use “deem and pass” — a.k.a., a self-executing rule — which you may recall was the same legislative mechanism they decried last year during the health care reform debate as a threat to all that is right and good about America.”

Freshman Members of Congress are threatening to block a vote to raise the debt ceiling that Congress will have to take by this Spring. They’d be irresponsible if they did so.

The next round in the health care reform wars is about to start.

The reaction to President Obama’s recent recess appointments provide us with yet another example of bipartisan hypocrisy.

Earmarks or no, members of Congress are going to bring home the bacon to their districts. It is what their constituents want (and expect) them to do.

With just over a week to go before the 112th Congress convenes, battle lines are already being drawn in battle over the defense budget.

Republicans are renaming three House committees, including bring back Ethics and taking out Labor.

The abuse of the filibuster is just a symptom of a much wider problem.

For the first time in 35 years, the Senate may finally be on the verge of reforming the filibuster.

The new House Republican majority will force lawmakers to vote when they want to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, publish committee attendance records, ban former members from lobbying in the House gym and require new mandatory spending to be offset by cuts to other programs.

Ohio Congressman Steve Driehaus is suing a pro-life PAC for “defamation” and “loss of livelihood” over its role in his defeat in the 2010 Elections.

The 20th Amendment was supposed to eliminate lame duck sessions, but it didn’t.