Politics: U.S. House of Representatives

Democrats are trying to send one last powerful signal to House Republicans in the 2008 cycle by picking up one more GOP-held slot — a conservative seat in the Deep South that has been in Republican hands for the past two decades.

Democrats are on pace to gain about 20 seats in the House of Representatives, handing Nancy Pelosi the most commanding majority of any Democratic speaker in a generation — and providing President-elect Barack Obama a secure launching pad for his legislative agenda. 

House minority leader John Boehner's spokesman confirms the accuracy of this quote, from an Ohio student newspaper:

Treading on complicated turf, George Bush is reportedly forwarding House Republicans complaints about the Ohio voter rolls to the Justice Department.

An internal document circulating among House Republicans warns of an impending congressional bloodbath, listing 58 Republican-held House seats being at risk, and 11 already considered as good as gone. As many as 34 GOP-held seats are in serious jeopardy of swinging to Democrats, the assessment shows.

A post-election session of Congress seems all but certain next month with House Democrats beginning to focus on more permanent tax breaks for middle- and working-class families, along with shorter-term spending proposals to stimulate the economy.

We’re starting to see the first tangible impact of the financial deficit that House Republicans are facing.

The decision by John McCain’s campaign to yank field staff out of Michigan could pull the carpet from under the state’s two vulnerable House Republicans and leave them in serious political jeopardy, statewide GOP operatives said.

The Senate hopes to revive Treasury’s $700 billion financial rescue plan Wednesday night by packaging it together with more than $100 billion in popular tax breaks as well as aid to rural schools important to House Republicans.

An air of confusion and disbelief still reigned among House Republicans on Tuesday, as GOP leaders kept a low public profile, quietly calling their colleagues to try to figure out what led to Monday’s bailout vote meltdown and what steps to take next.

It could have been Rep. Spencer Bachus’ moment of redemption — coordinating the final House floor debate on the bailout just days after his own party yanked him from negotiations, saying that he didn’t speak for House Republicans.

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) called House Republicans “juvenile” Tuesday for voting against the $700 billion bailout because of partisan language in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s floor speech.

John McCain has a piece of advice for the House of Representatives when it reconvenes later this week for a second go around at a $700 billion financial package, call the bill a “rescue” rather than a “bailout.”

Time may be running out for House Republicans opposed to the Bush administration's financial bailout plan.

Barack Obama and John McCain are headed to Mississippi and House Republicans have sent a more credible negotiator to the table. Sen. Harry Reid and President Bush, for once on the same page, both seem optimistic that a bailout bill could get done within days.

House Minority Leader John Boehner Tuesday reiterated his desire to see Congress pass bailout legislation. However, he acknowledged the concerns some of his members have with the proposed $700 billion plan.

Whipsawed by the government’s on-again, off-again intervention in the nation’s financial crisis, House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said Wednesday that congressional Republicans “don’t feel like they understand the coherent strategy” of the Bush administration — “if there is one.”

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Sarah Palin’s command performance accepting the Republican vice presidential nomination gives House Republicans a fresh, high-profile champion for the drilling-based energy policies they have fought so hard to publicize all summer.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Democrats could reap electoral rewards from several years of political organizing, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said, a sentiment echoed by several other prominent conservatives.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has a message to reporters scrutinizing John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin: "Please, media, keep it up."

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) is lukewarm on Palin, speaking to South Carolina radio, via The Page:

The House ethics panel announced Thursday that it would review Rep. Charles B. Rangel's lease of four rent-stabilized apartments in a Harlem high-rise as well as his use of congressional letterhead to contact potential donors to an educational center that bears his name.

Barack Obama returns to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to speak with House Democrats, and Republicans will try to spoil the party by linking the Democrats’ presidential nominee to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and their reluctance to allow votes on offshore oil drilling.

A House Republican will circulate a letter among his colleagues on Wednesday asking the New York Times whether a third-party group can take out a full-page advertisement in the paper to run a previously rejected editorial by their presidential candidate, Arizona Sen. John McCain, according to people familiar with the decision.

A new playbook for House Republicans urges them to run essentially as independents, showing empathy for voters, emphasizing local issues and ignoring many traditional party campaign practices. 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi hoped to send House Democrats home for the Fourth of July recess with a series of votes that would show they’re serious about easing the pain at the pump.

House Democrats appeared prepared Tuesday night to strip out new jobless benefits from a war funding bill in hopes of advancing what’s become the party’s higher political priority: expanded education aid for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The retirement of Rep. Vito J. Fossella (R-N.Y.) has removed one problem for House Republicans even as it puts another GOP-controlled seat in play this November.

After a week of tension and recriminations following a special election loss in Mississippi, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner and NRCC Chairman Tom Cole will unveil a series of changes Wednesday aimed at quelling criticism and positioning their party for November’s elections.