Congressional Glance
President Barack Obama has directed the Justice Department to give Congress' intelligence committees access to classified legal advice providing the government's rationale for drone strikes against American citizens working with al-Qaida abroad, a senior administration official said Wednesday.
A drumbeat of demands to see the document has swelled on Capitol Hill in recent days as the Senate Intelligence Committee prepares to hold a confirmation hearing for John Brennan, who helped manage the drone program, to be CIA director.
Obama orders Justice Department to send lawmakers classified rationale for drones
43 Senate Republicans renew blockade of Obama's Consumer Bureau pick
Senate Republicans are renewing their vow to block any nominee to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) unless major changes are made to its structure.
In a letter sent to President Obama on Friday, 43 Republican senators committed to refusing approval of any nominee to head the consumer watchdog until the bureau underwent significant reform. Lawmakers signing on to the letter included Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), the ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee.
Majority Says the Federal Government Threatens Their Personal Rights
As Barack Obama begins his second term in office, trust in the federal government remains mired near a historic low, while frustration with government remains high. And for the first time, a majority of the public says that the federal government threatens their personal rights and freedoms.
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Jan. 9-13 among 1,502 adults, finds that 53% think that the federal government threatens their own personal rights and freedoms while 43% disagree.
Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell Reach Filibuster Reform Deal
Progressive senators working to dramatically alter Senate rules were defeated on Thursday, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and his counterpart, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), set to announce a series of compromise reforms on the Senate floor that fall far short of the demands. The language of the deal was obtained by HuffPost and can be read here and here.
The pressure from the liberal senators, led by Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley and backed by a major coalition of progressive groups, created the political space for Reid to cut the deal with McConnell, which includes changes to how the Senate operates but leaves a fundamental feature, the silent filibuster, in place.
Hillary Clinton lashes Ron Johnson at Benghazi hearing
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has lashed out at a senator who accused the Obama administration of misleading the public over a raid on a US consulate.
A member of the Senate foreign relations committee suggested there had been a cover-up of events surrounding the assault in Benghazi. Mrs Clinton thumped the table as she clashed with Senator Ron Johnson.
Earlier in the hearing, she took responsibility for security failures that led to the attack.
Group argues Armed Services panel has not done enough on sexual assault
A victims advocacy group argues the House Armed Services Committee and its chairman have not given enough attention to the persistent problem of sexual assault in the military ahead of a Wednesday hearing on the issue.
The aggressive tactics from Protect Our Defenders (POD) — which have included an online petition and Twitter campaign, as well as op-eds targeting Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) — have prompted accusations that the group has ignored important work the committee has done to try to reduce sexual assault in the military.
Non-believers on rise in Congress
The number of members of Congress who don’t identify with any particular religion is on the rise, according to an analysis by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), not a single member of the House or Senate said they didn’t belong to any particular faith, didn’t know or refused to disclose their religion. But in the new 113th Congress, 10 members fall under that category.
That’s twice as many as in the 111th Congress (2009-10).
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