On Tuesday, Rep. Tim Walz joined all but one of his Minnesota DFL colleagues in support of a repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents the federal government from recognizing legally married same-sex couples.
Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Mike Honda (D-Calif.) will endorse legislation today that would ease immigration for gay and lesbian couples. The Uniting American Families Act, which was introduced by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) in early 2009, would allow citizens and legal permanent residents to bring foreign same-sex More…
The war in Afghanistan has produced divisions among Democrats in Congress from the start, but a series of votes on Thursday night revealed a rising tide of Democratic discontentment that could alter the trajectory of the Obama administration’s approach to the conflict.
[Security1] A measure to fund the administration’s 30,000-troop More…
The New York Times’ editorial board weighs in today in favor of Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s (D-N.Y.) proposed legislation to effectively overturn two recent Supreme Court cases that significantly narrowed the ability of many victims to have their day in court.
Does a House bill about legal civil procedures provide a way to restore the protection of civil rights in America, or is it an unwarranted gift to trial lawyers that could be “paralyzing if not deadly” to the federal government?
That’s the question a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee More…
Republicans on Capitol Hill were sure quick to go after the new federal guidelines recommending that women should seek routine mammograms beginning at age 50 instead of 40. “This is how rationing begins,” Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said Wednesday on Capitol Hill. “This is when you start getting More…
Seven major civil rights and open government organizations today sent a letter to leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees urging them to pass legislation to restrict the government’s ability to use the “state secrets” privilege to dismiss litigation charging government wrongdoing. Although the Obama administration yesterday announced a More…
One of the highlights of today’s House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on the expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act was Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers’ (D-Mich.) repeated lamentations about the sneaky way that the Patriot Act got passed in the first place, offering an interesting glimpse into the behind-the-scenes workings More…
Several House Democrats will introduce legislation next week to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, the 1996 law that bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, The Advocate reported yesterday.
The bill, sponsored by Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) Jared Polis (D-Col.) and Tammy Baldwin More…
Former Guantanamo Bay detainees could support terrorism in the United States, even if they’re locked up in a maximum security prison, FBI Director Robert Mueller suggested at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday. Concerns about terrorists being held in the United States “run from concerns about providing financing, More…
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