The Tennessee Department of Health has been asked to investigate evidence that Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN) “had a sexual relationship with a patient, an allegation that could open the congressman to disciplinary action for violating medical ethics,” the Tennessean reports.

The complaint was filed “following reports that he encouraged an unnamed woman to have an abortion after she told him she was carrying his child.” The woman was a patient of DesJarlais.

A Washington Post investigation finds that, contrary to many popular perceptions, lawmakers don’t get rich by merely being in Congress. Rich people who go to Congress, though, keep getting richer while they’re there.

The report also found that “the wealthiest one-third of lawmakers were largely immune from the Great Recession, taking the fewest financial hits and watching their investments quickly recover and rise to new heights. But more than 20 percent of the members of the current Congress — 121 lawmakers — appeared to be worse off in 2010 than they had been six years earlier, and 24 saw their reported wealth slide into negative territory.”

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) is expected to be cleared of charges in an ethics investigation that has spanned three years, Roll Call reports.

The verdict would clear the way for Waters “to pursue the title of top Democrat on the Financial Services Committee as ranking member Barney Frank (D-MA) prepares to retire at the end of this Congress.”

“Aside from the sheer biological ludicrousness of Todd Akin’s ideas on female physiology, one unsettling subplot to the debacle is his presence on the House of Committee on Science, Space and Technology,” Wired reports.

“That’s right: A man who, to put it gently, ignores what science tells us about how babies are made, helps shape the future of science in America. It would be shocking, but for the fact that many of the committee’s GOP members have spent the last several years displaying comparable contempt for climate science… But in both cases, there exists a factual proposition that can be studied through observation and hypothesis-testing — and it’s the scientific method itself that’s ultimately under attack in the House science committee.”

Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, says he’s been diagnosed with a “very early, highly treatable and curable type” of cancer, the Detroit News reports.

Camp said in a statement “that doctors found non-Hodgkin lymphoma during a recent physical. Camp says he’ll continue in Congress and retain his committee chairmanship during chemotherapy.”

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) is at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota “for extensive inpatient evaluation for depression and gastrointestinal issues,” the Chicago Tribune reports.

“Jackson’s whereabouts have been a mystery since he went on medical leave June 10. The statement issued Friday said the congressman ‘has arrived at Mayo Clinic,’ but did not say where he came from.”

A Businessweek infographic looks at the 54 “mostly-trivial” bills sent to President Obama for his signature this congressional session.

“It’s a really simple rule: if you’re wearing a tie, you should be wearing socks.”

— House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), quoted by National Journal, chiding reporter Luke Russert for not wearing socks.

He apparently forgot his own appearance on a local television station years ago.

[Read more…]

Lynn Sweet says it’s “very premature to write off the political career of Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) — at an undisclosed location getting treated for a serious ‘mood disorder.’ He has $246,625 in his political warchest as of June 30–a virtually unknown GOP opponent running in a heavily Democratic district with no political cash and a savvy top political strategist — his wife.”

Said GOP nominee Brain Woodworth: “We haven’t hit the $5,000 mark yet.”

Woodworth has not even raised or spent enough — $5,000 — to trigger having to file a report with the Federal Election Commission.

Ezra Klein: “Hating on Congress is a beloved American tradition. Hence Mark Twain’s old joke, ‘Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.’ But the 112th Congress is no ordinary congress. It’s a very bad, no good, terrible Congress. It is, in fact, one of the very worst congresses we have ever had.”

“I know a lot of people are saying, ‘When is he going to get back to work?’ Why should he get back to work to a Congress that does no work?”

— Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanual (D), quoted by the Chicago Sun Times, reacting to Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s (D-IL) medical leave from Congress.

Meanwhile, The Week has a guide to Jackson’s mysterious disappearance.

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) has published A Mindful Nation which the Washington Times says is “a book touting the benefits of a meditative practice known as mindfulness.”

It’s target audience: “anyone and everyone suffering from chronic stress, emotional exhaustion, information overload.”

Said Ryan: “I don’t want to give away names, but I’ve had members of Congress approach me and say, ‘I want to learn more about this.’ Between the fundraising, being away from family, the environment of hyperpartisanship, Washington is really stressing people out. They’re getting sick.”

NBC News reports that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), whose mysterious absence from Congress has prompted calls for more disclosure, is
being treated for alcoholism and addiction at an Arizona facility.

However, the AP reports a statement from Jackson’s office responding to the report says the lawmaker is receiving “intensive medical treatment” for a “mood
disorder.”

The House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress over the “Fast and Furious” investigation. The vote was 255-67, with 17 Democrats voting in support of a criminal contempt resolution.

Roll Call: “The stage is now set for a protracted court battle over whether the
Justice Department can shield internal documents under executive
privilege.”

New York Times: “Democrats dismissed the effort as an election-year witch hunt. They said
previously disclosed documents and testimony had established that Fast
and Furious was the work of Arizona-based law enforcement officials who
were frustrated by the difficulty of bringing low-level gun cases, and
they contended that Republicans were seeking to embarrass Mr. Holder for
political reasons.”

The Fix: “And yet, for all of that amped-up oratory from top leaders in their
respective parties, the likely effect of today’s vote… is to convince people that all the bad things they think
about Congress are, well, true.”

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s (D-IL) office announced in a news release that the congressman has been on a medical leave of absence since June 10 and is being treated for exhaustion, the AP reports.

Asked why Jackson’s office waited two weeks to tell his constituents about his absence, a spokesman told the Chicago Tribune that the lack of disclosure was a “family request.”

The House is scheduled to vote on recommendations that Attorney General Eric Holder be held in contempt of Congress on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.

“Republican leaders plan to bring the issue to the floor on Thursday, meaning lawmakers likely will vote on contempt charges on the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court is slated to announce its ruling on the constitutionality of the 2010 health-care reform law. The timing likely deprives advocates for contempt charges of the big headlines they might have received if the vote were held another day this week.”

At least 34 members of Congress “took steps to recast their financial portfolios during the financial crisis” after phone calls or meetings with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; his successor, Timothy Geithner; or Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, the Washington Post reports.

“The lawmakers, many of whom held leadership positions and committee chairmanships in the House and Senate, changed portions of their portfolios a total of 166 times within two business days of speaking or meeting with the administration officials. The party affiliation of the lawmakers was about evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, 19 to 15.”

“One-hundred-thirty members of Congress or their families have traded stocks collectively worth hundreds of millions of dollars in companies lobbying on bills that came before their committees, a practice that is permitted under current ethics rules,” a Washington Post analysis has found.

“Almost one in every eight trades — 5,531 — intersected with legislation. The 130 lawmakers traded stocks or bonds in companies as bills passed through their committees or while Congress was still considering the legislation. The party affiliation of the lawmakers was almost evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, 68 to 62.”