House and Senate Democrats Press Conference on the Affordable Care Act
Congressman Xavier Becerra (CA-34), Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus will be joined by Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), Congresswoman Diana DeGette (CO-01), Congresswoman Doris Matsui (CA-06),...
By: HouseDems
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House and Senate Democrats Press Conference on the Affordable Care Act - Video
hide captionA Libyan man is shown inside the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after an attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, on Sept. 11, 2012.
A Libyan man is shown inside the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after an attack that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens, on Sept. 11, 2012.
Updated on May, 7, 2014 at 10:46 am
Late Tuesday, House Republicans made public on Speaker John Boehner's website their draft resolution to create the Benghazi select committee. The resolution calls for a panel of seven Republicans and five Democrats and no written rules for the panel.
House Democrats responded with a letter from Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader, and Rep. Steny Hoyer, the minority whip, denouncing the Republican decision to ignore Democratic calls for the panel's membership to be evenly split.
As of this update, Democratic leaders have not yet said whether their members will participate in or boycott the select committee.
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While at least one of their number has said House Democrats should boycott the new select committee created by Speaker John Boehner to further investigate the 2012 Benghazi, Libya, attack that left four Americans dead, other Democrats aren't yet willing to go that far.
True, Democrats consider it a GOP election-year political stunt. They see it as as a Boehner attempt to mollify conservatives after he mocked them on immigration legislation, one which would excite the Republican base, keep the White House on its heels and muddy up Hillary Clinton in advance of 2016.
But while boycotting the select committee, as California Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff has suggested, might de-legitimize the panel, it would also give Republicans an open road to deliver whatever messages they wanted without any immediate Democratic interference. That approach presents obvious problems.
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Democrats Play Wait-And-See On Benghazi Panel
HARRISBURG - House Democrats on Tuesday walked out of a legislative hearing on a measure to impeach Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane, with one calling it a kangaroo court.
Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a conservative Republican from Butler County, called for the proceeding, saying Kane had exhibited "misbehavior" in office.
But Democrats said the State Government Committee hearing was little more than a political stunt by Metcalfe, the committee chairman, to embarrass the Democratic attorney general.
"Have your kangaroo court, pal," Rep. Michael H. O'Brien (D., Phila.) told Metcalfe on his way out the door.
Among the examples Metcalfe has given of alleged misbehavior: Kane's decision not to defend the state's gay marriage ban, and her decision to shut down a sting investigation that caught five Philadelphia Democrats, including four state lawmakers, on recordings accepting money or gifts.
Democrats said the proceeding was not only politically motivated but circumvented the normal process for impeachment hearings, which are rare in the Capitol.
Minutes after the hearing began, the committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Mark Cohen (D., Phila.), asked that it be canceled.
"Impeaching for political reasons is never a good idea," Cohen said. "Using this committee and this legislature to settle political grievances is even worse."
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Democrats walk out of hearing on impeaching Kane
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. (Kathryn Scott Osler, Denver Post file)
WASHINGTON House Democrats opened the door Tuesday to participating in a special panel's investigation of the deadly attack in Benghazi, Libya, even if they say it's little more than an election-year ploy by Republicans to discredit the Obama administration and motivate GOP voters.
Laying out her party's conditions, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Republicans must conduct interviews and share information as part of their new inquest into the Obama administration's response to the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. diplomatic post that killed four Americans. She called for the same number of Democrats as Republicans on the panel, a demand the GOP majority immediately rejected.
"If this review is to be fair, it must be truly bipartisan," Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement. Later, she told reporters that rank-and-file Democrats are "suspicious of whatever the Republicans are trying to do."
A vote to authorize the probe is expected Thursday. A senior GOP congressman has issued a subpoena to Secretary of State John Kerry to testify before a separate committee. And the subject could surface in other hearings this week.
"Look, we're in the majority for a reason. We have more seats in the House," said Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., a former prosecutor who will be chairman of the committee. He called Pelosi's comments a "good sign" that she is considering Democratic participation.
Republicans want a 7-5 ratio on the committee.
"Facts really don't come with a color," Gowdy said. "They're not swing-state facts."
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Democrats hint they will participate in Benghazi committee
By Daniel Newhauser and Matt Fuller Posted at 12:18 p.m. on May 7
(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call File Photo)
House Democrats remain split on how to respond to a new special committee tasked with re-investigating the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, with leaders and party members vacillating between a symbolic boycott or begrudging participation.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., did not tip her hand in a closed door meeting Wednesday and has not yet decided whether she will allow her caucus to participate in the special panel. But more members who spoke up in the caucus meeting said they think Democrats should boycott, according to sources in the room.
One thing is certain: Democrats nearly unanimously believe the investigation is a political sham.
As the Thursday vote on the resolution empaneling the committee approaches, Democratic leaders spent Wednesday whipping their members during and between votes on the House floor against the legislation to keep Republicans from the possibility of picking off a few politically imperiled Democrats.
Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., sent a notice to his caucus urging members to vote no.
A Select Committee is nothing more than an attempt to exploit the deaths of four brave Americans to divert attention away from Republicans own do-nothing record, and throw red meat to the most extreme and conspiracy-obsessed parts of their base, read the email, obtained by CQ-Roll Call.
Yet the email did not note whether leaders would choose to participate, and sources said the choice would be Pelosis alone. That did not keep members of leadership from strongly expressing their opinions.
Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn of South Carolina and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel of New York both spoke against participating in the committee, which they believe is a political stunt.
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Democrats Split on Benghazi Panel Response, GOP Full Speed Ahead