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There seems to be a growing movement on the part of some groups topersuade Democratic members of Congress to skip the speech that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be giving to a Joint Session of Congress early next month:

Vice President Joe Biden wont commit to attending Benjamin Netanyahus speech to a joint meeting of Congress next month.

Hes not the only one.

Dozens of House Democrats are privately threatening to skip the March 3 address, according to lawmakers and aides, in whats become the lowest point of a relationship between the Israeli prime minister and President Barack Obama thats never been good.

Democrats have had to balance publicly supporting Israel with backing Obama, whos trying to close a deal with Iran to curb its nuclear programs over vehement opposition from Netanyahu, who has expressed concerns that the U.S. president is being naive. Negotiations are facing a deadline at the end of March for a political framework.

The speech was devised by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer to provide Netanyahu a prominent Washington platform to warn about the dangers of the proposed deal with Iran. But it also appeared to be based on an Israeli perception that Obama was weakened after midterm elections gave control of both houses of Congress to Republicans, and timed to take place just two weeks before Netanyahu faces reelection on March 17 and footage of American officials applauding him couldnt hurt his prospects.

But that reading of Obama seems not to have been updated since November, when Obamas own poll numbers started moving up again, and hough Netanyahus Likud Party is still leading in Israeli polls miscalculated the backlash in Israel from putting his relationship with the American president on the line.

Netanyahus already been denied an Oval Office meeting with Obama. Secretary of State John Kerry has no plans to meet with him while hes in town, a State Department official told POLITICO on Tuesday.

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The president and his aides wont tell Democrats to skip the speech. But they arent telling Democrats to go, either.

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Why Democrats may boycott Netanyahu speech to Congress

There seems to be a growing movement on the part of some groups topersuade Democratic members of Congress to skip the speech that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be giving to a Joint Session of Congress early next month:

Vice President Joe Biden wont commit to attending Benjamin Netanyahus speech to a joint meeting of Congress next month.

Hes not the only one.

Dozens of House Democrats are privately threatening to skip the March 3 address, according to lawmakers and aides, in whats become the lowest point of a relationship between the Israeli prime minister and President Barack Obama thats never been good.

Democrats have had to balance publicly supporting Israel with backing Obama, whos trying to close a deal with Iran to curb its nuclear programs over vehement opposition from Netanyahu, who has expressed concerns that the U.S. president is being naive. Negotiations are facing a deadline at the end of March for a political framework.

The speech was devised by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer to provide Netanyahu a prominent Washington platform to warn about the dangers of the proposed deal with Iran. But it also appeared to be based on an Israeli perception that Obama was weakened after midterm elections gave control of both houses of Congress to Republicans, and timed to take place just two weeks before Netanyahu faces reelection on March 17 and footage of American officials applauding him couldnt hurt his prospects.

But that reading of Obama seems not to have been updated since November, when Obamas own poll numbers started moving up again, and hough Netanyahus Likud Party is still leading in Israeli polls miscalculated the backlash in Israel from putting his relationship with the American president on the line.

Netanyahus already been denied an Oval Office meeting with Obama. Secretary of State John Kerry has no plans to meet with him while hes in town, a State Department official told POLITICO on Tuesday.

()

The president and his aides wont tell Democrats to skip the speech. But they arent telling Democrats to go, either.

See the article here:
Why Democrats may boycott of Netanyahu speech to Congress

A congressional investigation of the 2012 attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, is operating outside rules that require other House committees to publicly disclose how much money they spend and the issues they intend to pursue, according to Democrats on the panel.

The arrangement has added to suspicion among Democrats that the Republican-led committee with no budget constraints or clear end date is politically motivated and aimed primarily at damaging a likely White House run by Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time of the attacks in Libya.

The House investigation of Benghazi operates with no limit on its budget or timeframe, according to a letter of protest submitted by Democrats to the House Administration Committee, which oversees the chambers other panels.

The letter calls for a public debate about the amount of additional time and money Congress plans to spend investigating Benghazi, and for a public hearing before the House Administration Committee, as is typically required of other panels.

The Benghazi committee is on course to spend more than $3million in 2015, exceeding the annual budgets of long-standing committees that oversee veterans affairs and other issues, according to the letter.

The letter was signed by all five Democrats on the Benghazi panel, including Elijah E. Cummings (Md.). A spokesman for the Republican chairman of the Benghazi committee, Trey Gowdy (S.C.), declined to comment.

Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Administration Committee, said in a written response that the issues being raised by Democrats could have been debated on the House floor, and she described the Democrats letter as remarkably odd.

The conflict reflects the extent to which political tensions persist more than two years after Islamist militants killed four Americans in eastern Libya, including the U.S. ambassador to the country, J. Christopher Stevens.

As many as eight previous investigations have rejected many of the most politically charged Benghazi allegations.

A two-year inquiry by the House Intelligence Committee criticized a flawed process that led White House officials to make erroneous assertions about the nature of the Benghazi attack, and concluded that the State Department facility where Stevens was killed had been inadequately protected.

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Rules for Benghazi panel fuel Democrats suspicion of political motive

Congressional Democrats are invoking the threats of the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations in an effort to pressure Republicans to fund the Department of Homeland Security without the stipulations the GOP has pushed for weeks.

The strategy, which draws on recent global events, raises questions about how long Republicans can keep up their fight against President Obama before facing a backlash from an American public that is increasingly wary of terrorism. It also reshuffles the usual politics, in which the GOP has tended to be the party more aggressively appealing to worries about national security.

In floor speeches, press conferences and interviews this week, Democrats have cited a graphic video of Islamic State militants executing a Jordanian pilot and the recent mass killing at a Paris newspaper as reasons not to play politics with funding DHS, which was formed in the wake of the Sept.11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

It should have been urgent a few weeks ago after what we saw in France. It should be even more urgent today after what we saw ISIS did to that poor Jordanian pilot, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters Thursday. Security is vital, and to play games with it makes no sense.

Speaking on the House floor earlier in the day, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) sounded similar alarms.

Dont hold hostage the Department of Homeland Security. Dont put Americans at risk, warned Hoyer.

The rhetoric is a central part of the Democratic effort to persuade Republicans to pass a clean DHS spending bill before current funding runs out on Feb.27. Republicans are trying to use the measure to also stop Obamas executive actions on immigration, since DHS is responsible for allocating the money for the initiatives.

The GOP-controlled House passed a $40billion bill last month that would accomplish those goals through the end of the fiscal year. But Senate Democrats, who wield more power than House Democrats, have stopped it cold.

On Thursday, they put up a united front, blocking the Republican effort to open debate on the measure for the third straight day and leaving GOP leaders scrambling to find a way forward.

Asked by reporters if he knows how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) plans to proceed, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) shrugged his shoulders and said: No.

Read more from the original source:
Democrats invoke perils of terrorism in push for clean DHS funding bill

Democrats who control the Maryland General Assembly said Thursday they doubted much of Republican Gov. Larry Hogan's legislative initiatives would be able to pass this year - a day after his agenda was outlined in a State of the State speech that irritated Democrats.

State of the State: Watch full address | Read transcript

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and House Speaker Michael Busch said many Democrats were frustrated by the tone of Hogan's speech, when he painted a dire picture of Maryland's economy that Democrats say is unfounded.

"Hopefully we can bounce back," Miller said. "Let's say it's a bad day and we can recover and move on and get about the business of governing, because right now that was not a governing speech. It was just a raw campaign speech that was apparently written by people from South Carolina or Texas or somewhere, but it was not a Maryland speech."

The Maryland Senate has 33 Democrats and 14 Republicans, so measures backed by the new governor will need Democratic support to reach the 24 votes needed for Senate passage.

Miller expressed interest in a measure Hogan plans to push to expand charter schools in the state.

"But other than that, I see very, very little in that speech that is going to become law," Miller said.

Busch, D-Anne Arundel, said he is committed to working on addressing rising problems from heroin addiction that the governor noted in his speech. The speaker also said House Democrats are willing to work with the governor to replenish a fund for public campaign finance that has been depleted down to less than $1.1 million without a mechanism in place to add money to it. Hogan became Maryland's first candidate to become governor while using public campaign financing, and he supports a voluntary taxpayer check-off to replenish the fund.

The two presiding officers have been critical of some tax-relief proposals Hogan is advocating, at a time when Democrats are unhappy about less-than-expected funding for public education in Hogan's budget.

"As many times as the Republicans stood up and as enthusiastic as they might have been at some parts of the speech, you still don't get to 71," Busch said, referring to the number of votes needed to pass a bill in the House, where there are 91 Democrats and 50 Republicans.

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Democrats say much of Hogan's agenda will have trouble