It's time again to wrap up the week with a review of the most notable deleted tweets from politicians caught and archived by our Politwoops project.
Continue readingIt’s not just Republican House incumbents who face primary opposition
If the media coverage of shutdown politics is to be believed, House Republicans' fear of 'getting primaried' bya more conservative opponent was the major impediment to moderate GOP-ers reaching a bargain with Democrats on healthcare and federal spending. However, a survey of competitive House primaries -- compiled using Sunlight's Realtime FEC tracker -- shows that incumbent Democrats are also subject to serious challenges from partisan opponents.
Continue readingCharlie Rangel’s challenge: The end of an era?
It has the potential to be a primary that makes history.
The seat at stake, in New York's 13th Congressional District, has been a place where black politicians have flourished -- the place where Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. became the Empire State's first African American elected to Congress.
Continue reading“It’s left up to the members”
My colleague Anu Narayanswamy has written on House disbursements; interestingly, they figure in a footnote of Rep. Charles Rangel's defense against the charges leveled against him by the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct:
Members traditionally exercise broad discretion to determine what activities lie within the scope of their official duties. See 123 Cong. Rec. 5900 (daily ed. Mar. 2, 1977) (statement of Rep. Hamilton) (“There are essentially no rules and regulations” that define what is appropriately an official expense. “It is left up to the Members.”). The Standards Committee does not second-guess the reasonable judgments of a Member ...Continue reading
Rangel’s ethics defense, visualized
House to charge Charlie Rangel with ethics violations
Despite his oft repeated assertions to the contrary, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., will be charged by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct for as yet unspecified violations of congressional ethics rules.
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