Political Wire

  • Front Page
  • Sign in
  • Members
    • Monthly – $6 a month
    • Annual – $60 a year
    • Member Benefits
    • Exclusive Analysis
    • Member Library
    • My Favorites
  • Resources
    • Political Calendar
    • Political Job Hunt
    • Political Dictionary
    • Electoral Vote Map
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Archives for House of Representatives

Hastings Wants to Screen Federal Judges In Florida

March 5, 2021 at 9:58 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) announced that he and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) formed three screening conferences that will recommend candidates to fill federal judicial openings as well as vacant U.S. Attorney and U.S. Marshal positions in their state, Fox News reports.

One problem: Hastings was impeached and removed as district judge for bribery and perjury in 1989. The vote in the Democratic-controlled House to impeached Hastings was 413 to 3.

Filed Under: House of Representatives

Swalwell Sues Trump and Allies Over Insurrection

March 5, 2021 at 8:26 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) filed a lawsuit against former President Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and Rep. Mo Brooks (R-SC) alleging that they and others are “responsible for the injury and destruction” of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Axios: “The lawsuit adds to the mounting legal exposure Trump has found himself facing since leaving office.”

Filed Under: House of Representatives

Reading the Tweets

March 5, 2021 at 7:39 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This is extraordinary: Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s (D-CA) office went through the social media posts of all the House Republicans who objected to the certification of now President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory on Jan. 6.

No conclusions were made in the report, probably because the tweets speak for themselves.

Filed Under: House of Representatives

GOP Grapples with Extremism Among Its Own

March 5, 2021 at 6:31 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “Some fear that if the conference — which just ushered in a historically diverse freshman class — doesn’t stomp out those political brush fires now, there’s a risk they will spread and engulf the party. Democrats are already trying to make QAnon, the far-reaching conspiracy theory labeled as a domestic terrorism threat by the FBI, the face of the GOP ahead of the midterms.”

Filed Under: House of Representatives, Republicans

Malinowski Failed to Disclose Trades

March 4, 2021 at 5:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) failed to publicly disclose dozens of personal stock trades, an apparent violation of the federal STOCK Act, Insider reports.

Filed Under: Financial Markets, House of Representatives

Probe Looks at Messages Between Lawmakers and Rioters

March 4, 2021 at 5:10 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Federal investigators are examining records of communications between members of Congress and the pro-Trump mob that attacked the US Capitol, as the investigation moves closer to exploring whether lawmakers wittingly or unwittingly helped the insurrectionists,” CNN reports.

“The data gathered so far includes indications of contact with lawmakers in the days around January 6, as well as communications between alleged rioters discussing their associations with members of Congress.”

Filed Under: House of Representatives

Man Who Had Feet on Pelosi’s Desk Yells at Judge

March 4, 2021 at 3:24 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Richard Barnett, the man who had his feet on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s desk during the Jan. 6 insurrection, had an outburst in court Thursday, yelling at the judge that it isn’t “fair” he is still in jail, KNWA reports.

Said Barnett: “I’ve been here a long time… another month… It’s not fair. You’re letting everyone else out. I need help.”

Barnett is also accused of carrying a stun gun into the Capitol.

Filed Under: Crime, House of Representatives

GOP Lawmaker ‘Accidentally’ Voted for Police Reform

March 4, 2021 at 3:08 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The final House vote on the police reform bill contained a big surprise: Just one Republican, staunch Trump ally and conservative Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX), voted in favor of the act, the Washington Post reports.

Explained Gooden, in a since deleted tweet: “I accidentally pressed the wrong voting button and realized it too late. I have changed the official record to reflect my opposition to the partisan George Floyd Policing Act.”

Filed Under: House of Representatives

Capitol Police Want National Guard for Two More Months

March 4, 2021 at 1:22 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“U.S. Capitol Police have requested a 60-day extension of some of the 5,200 National Guard members activated in the District of Columbia in response to security threats and the Jan. 6 assault on Congress,” the Washington Post reports.

Filed Under: House of Representatives

House Democrats Pass Sweeping Elections Bill

March 4, 2021 at 6:48 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The House late Wednesday night passed expansive legislation to create uniform national voting standards, overhaul campaign finance laws and outlaw partisan redistricting, advancing a centerpiece of the Democratic voting rights agenda amid fierce Republican attacks that threaten to stop it cold in the Senate,” the Washington Post reports.

“The bill’s voting provisions would guarantee no-excuse mail voting and at least 15 days of early voting for federal elections; require states to use their existing government records to automatically register citizens to vote; restore voting rights to felons who have completed their prison sentences; and mandate the use of paper ballots.”

“Other provisions would create new disclosure requirements for ‘dark money’ donations to political groups; require states to appoint independent commissions to draw congressional districts; and create new federal standards for election equipment vendors.”

Filed Under: Election Administration, House of Representatives

House Passes Expansive Police Reform Bill

March 3, 2021 at 9:44 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The House on Wednesday passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, an expansive police reform measure named for the 46-year-old Black man who died last Memorial Day after a Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against his neck for more than eight minutes,” the Washington Post reports.

“The bill passed 220-212 along mostly party lines with two Democrats voting against it and one Republican voting for it.”

Filed Under: House of Representatives

Threats to Members of Congress Nearly Double

March 3, 2021 at 3:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Associated Press: “The acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police says there has been a more than 93% increase in the number of threats received by members of Congress in the first two months of this year compared with the same period last year.”

Related in The Hill: Threats to Capitol prompt House to change schedule.

Filed Under: House of Representatives

Police Uncover ‘Possible Plot’ to Breach Capitol

March 3, 2021 at 1:45 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Associated Press: “The U.S. Capitol Police say they have intelligence showing there is a ‘possible plot’ by a militia group to breach the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. The revelation was detailed in a statement from the Capitol Police. It comes at the same time the acting police chief is testifying before a House subcommittee.”

Filed Under: Crime, House of Representatives

Pentagon Took 3 Hours to Approve National Guard

March 3, 2021 at 10:25 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

William Walker, commanding general of the D.C. National Guard, will testify that it took three hours and 19 minutes for the Pentagon to approve a request for National Guard assistance during the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Filed Under: House of Representatives, Senate

House Democrats Still Seeking Trump Financial Records

March 3, 2021 at 8:29 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“House Democrats have reissued their subpoena to former President Donald Trump’s accounting firm for a trove of his financial records,” CBS News reports.

Politico: House fight for Trump’s financial records poised to stretch into the summer.

Filed Under: House of Representatives

Watchdog Issues Scathing Report on Ronny Jackson

March 2, 2021 at 10:38 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Department of Defense inspector general has issued a scathing review of Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) during his time serving as the top White House physician, concluding that he made ‘sexual and denigrating’ comments about a female subordinate, violated the policy for drinking alcohol while on a presidential trip and took prescription-strength sleeping medication that prompted concerns from his colleagues about his ability to provide proper care,” CNN reports.

“Jackson claimed the report was politically motivated in a statement to CNN on Tuesday, saying the inspector general ‘resurrected’ old allegations against him because he refused to ‘turn my back on President Trump,'”

Filed Under: House of Representatives, Trump Legacy

House Democrats Ready Ambitious Agenda

March 2, 2021 at 10:36 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“House Democrats are pursuing an ambitious agenda to approve several progressive bills supported by President Biden in the coming weeks, but these measures face an uncertain future in the evenly divided Senate, where most legislation will require support from Republicans to advance,” CBS News reports.

“Several of these measures have previously passed in the House but stalled in the Senate, as then-Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to bring them to the floor for consideration. Speaker Nancy Pelosi had referred to McConnell as the ‘grim reaper,’ overseeing the ‘legislative graveyard’ of the Senate. However, even with Democrats now nominally in control of the Senate, many of these bills still face an uncertain future.”

Filed Under: House of Representatives

GOP Freshman Flipped Her Staff

March 2, 2021 at 9:44 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) “has lost her chief of staff, communications director and legislative director already. And she’s only been in Congress for 57 days,” Punchbowl News reports.

“Van Duyne fired chief of staff Brendan Belair and legislative director Erica Barker. Van Duyne’s spokeswoman Amanda Gonzalez Thompson also quit last week.”

“Turnover isn’t uncommon on Capitol Hill, especially for a new lawmaker, but this level of churn this early in a congressional career is quite notable, and it’s very strange.”

But this is even stranger: “On Feb. 10, Christian Dillard, the former spokesperson for Van Dyune’s campaign and a longtime acquaintance of the congresswoman, shot and killed himself outside Van Duyne’s home. Van Duyne was home at the time of the incident.”

Filed Under: House of Representatives

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 186
  • Next Page »

Your Account

Sign in

Latest for Members

  • The Election Democrats Don’t Want to Happen
  • A Big Bet on Centrism

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Praise for Political Wire

“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”

— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”

“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”

— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report

“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”

— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report

“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”

— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia

“Political Wire is a great, great site.”

— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”

“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”

— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”

— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”

— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.

Copyright © 2021 · Goddard Media LLC | Privacy Policy

Political Wire ® is a registered trademark of Goddard Media LLC