steny hoyer

Yesterday it was the Senate; today the House passed legislation to extend jobless benefits at least 14 weeks nationwide.
The count was 403-12. The “nays” comprised mostly conservative Republicans who oppose the tiny employer surtax that will fund the benefit extension.
The bill will provide an additional 14 weeks of unemployment insurance in every state, with an [...]

It’s Groundhog Day in the Senate.
After voting 85-2 yesterday to proceed to legislation extending unemployment benefits at least 14 weeks nationwide, the Senate remains stalled Tuesday over a second procedural vote required to move to final passage.
Delaying the bill are (1) Republican leaders insisting on consideration of unrelated amendments, and (2) Senate rules requiring two [...]

The threat from moderate House Democrats to derail health reform legislation over abortion funding concerns is a problem that can be worked out this week, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday.
“We are still working on that,” Hoyer said, “but I am reasonably confident. I have talked to people who have varying views [...]

Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) isn’t the only Democrat playing hard-ball on health reform this year. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday that the House won’t support a $245 billion proposal to revamp Medicare’s physician reimbursement formula unless the Senate agrees to adopt pay-as-you-go rules for most other elements of federal spending.

Greg Sargent flags a Michael Steele interview on Univision, in which the chairman of the Republican National Committee deflects a question about whether, per Glenn Beck, President Obama hates white people.
No, no, look, the reality of it is when I ran for the United States Senate and I was called an Uncle Tom by leading [...]

Yesterday, Senate Democratic leaders began moving on a proposal to scrap the current formula dictating doctors’ Medicare rates and replacing it with a system more accurately reflecting the costs to treat those patients. Notably, party leaders appear poised to pass the bill separately from broader health reform legislation in order not to upend President Obama’s [...]

More on the question of Gen. Stanley McChrystal testifying to Congress, as the GOP leadership, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) and now Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) all want, albeit for different reasons. Last month, when Skelton asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to produce McChrystal, Gates spokesman Geoff Morrell replied that “the secretary believes his focus and [...]

Last week I urged people to watch Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Reps. David Obey (D-Wis.) and Jack Murtha (D-Pa) for barometric measurements of deflated Democratic congressional support for the Afghanistan war. Levin, of course, came out on Friday for deferring a second troop increase this year. Now Murtha is opposing [...]

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) — who apparently woke up this morning and said to himself, “Today, I’m going to make some news” — told reporters Tuesday that health reform legislation could pass the lower chamber without a public option, according to reports. But that sentiment puts Democratic leaders at odds on the [...]

Maybe I should have added Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) to my list of Congress members to watch on Afghanistan. At his weekly pen-and-pad briefing, the Democratic majority leader in the House told reporters that the Obama administration needs to give Congress “a plan that members conclude can be successful” before the legislature signs off on [...]