Supreme Court Chief Justice Swears In Boehner's Staff

Chief Justice John Roberts Swears in Boehner's staff
ABC's Ariane de Vogue reports: Behind closed doors Chief Justice John Roberts swore in members of speaker designate John A. Boehner’s staff this morning during a private ceremony. The Constitution requires all federal employees to take an oath to support the Constitution, but it’s not every day the oath is administered by the Chief Justice of the United States. Boehner invited Roberts to appear, and the speaker designee’s spokesman believes it could be the first time staff was sworn

Boehner staff gets private swearing-in by Chief Justice Roberts
Washington (CNN) - John Boehner will be sworn in Wednesday as the new House Speaker, but his congressional aides were sworn in Tuesday morning by Chief Justice John Roberts in a private ceremony in the Capitol. According to a senior Boehner aide, the incoming Speaker requested that the Chief Justice perform the swearing in for his aides, and attended the ceremony. Boehner will take the oath as Speaker on Wednesday afternoon....

Justice Roberts swears in Boehner's staff
WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- U.S. House Speaker-designate John Boehner's staff was sworn in Tuesday by U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, a congressional aide said. The aide said Boehner, an Ohio Republican, asked Roberts to perform the ceremony and also attended the swearing-in, CNN reported. "As Boehner said on election night, this isn't a time for celebration; it's a time for focus, commitment and tough choices. The challenges that lie ahead for our nation demand a serious approach," the aide to...

"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States..."
"... against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God." That's the wording of the oath of office taken by members of Congress, used yesterday as Chief Justice John Roberts "presided over a closed-door ceremony in the offices of the soon-to-be ...

Chief Justice Roberts to Privately Swear in Boehner Aides to Uphold the Constitution
Off to a good start. (Politico)- In another statement of the new House Republican majority’s commitment to the Constitution, aides to incoming Speaker John Boehner plan to take their oath of office Tuesday morning — a day before the same oath is administered to the 435 House members of the new Congress. At Boehner’s request, Chief Justice John Roberts will preside over the staff ceremony, which may be a first in congressional history. Aides in Boehner’s Washington and di...

Prayer service opens day for new Congress
The new Congress convenes for the first time Wednesday with a full schedule of events. We have full coverage the first day of the new Congress, complete with live video of the swearing in ceremony and what you're saying on Twitter. Before the day's swearings-in, gavel-passing and Speech-making, lawmakers gathered Wednesday morning for a Bipartisan prayer service that some described as an emotional prelude to the opening of the 112th Congress. Republican and Democratic leaders alike read proverb...

Boehner's day: Subdued, simple
John Boehner has launched the biggest day in his Political Career with a private prayer service, a simple Ohio-themed lunch party and humble Speech before the House he’s about to take over. Boehner, who grew up mopping floors in his father’s bar outside Cincinnati, will be sworn in as speaker of the House around 2:30 this afternoon, marking the first Republican speaker since 2007 when Democrats snatched the House back after 11 years in the minority. Continue Reading Text Size - + ...

John Roberts to Swear in John Boehner's Aides
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will swear in aides to incoming John Boehner on Tuesday, January 4, 2011. (Credit: AP Photo/Jay Reeves) Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath of office to incoming John Boehner aides on Tuesday, Politico reports, in a move seemingly designed to emphasize the imminent speaker's commitment to constitutional reverence. According to Politico, incoming House Speaker Boehner specifically requested that Roberts preside over the ceremony, wh...

Chief Justice Will Swear In Boehner's Staff
Politico reports incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) asked Chief Justice John Roberts to "preside over the staff ceremony, which may be a first in congressional history. Aides in Boehner's Washington and district offices are expected to take the oath in the Capitol in a private, low-key event with no press coverage." ...

Supreme Court Justice Scalia: Roe v. Wade Not in Constitution
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia frequently talks about his views on Abortion and the high Court Case that allowed for unlimited abortions throughout Pregnancy for any reason. As the nation looks to mark the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade later this month and 53 million abortions it has ushered in, Scalia said in a new interview that the case is an “absurdity.” “You want a right to abortion? There’s nothing in the Constitution about that. But that doesn’t mean ...

Proof is in the numbers for Flaherty’s corporate tax cuts
In four years, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has cut federal corporate Income Tax rates, bit by incremental bit, by one-fifth, to 16.5 per cent from 21 per cent. Given tough times, given a vulnerable minority government, given an official Opposition hostile to Corporate Tax cuts and given a generally tax-tolerant populace, Mr. Flaherty has demonstrated remarkable perseverance. In these circumstances, the Finance Minister emerges as an authentic profile in courage. With only one instalment left ...

Scalia Agrees To Speak To New Conservative Members on the Constitution
Associate Justice Antonin Scalia is again in the midst of Controversy with his decision to accept an invitation from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) to speak to incoming conservative members about the Constitution as part of their training. Bachmann, the founder of the House’s Tea Party Caucus, is leading efforts to Repeal Health Care and seek new Legislation based on a more conservative view of the Constitution. The decision to participate in such an event shows exceedingly poor judgment....

Obama Will Try Again On More Than A Dozen Judicial Nominees
What is this? The White House will tomorrow renominate more than a dozen Candidates for judicial positions on federal courts, a person familiar with the administration's plans tells NPR. The Senate failed to vote on the nominees before the last Congressional term expired last month. In all, the Senate never took an Up or Down vote on 19 of the Obama Administration's judicial nominees, leaving them stranded at the end of the congressional session. Among those the president will ren...

Confirming evidence: The breakdown in advice and consent
Chief Justice John Roberts' State of the Judiciary report released last week raises the specter of partisan gridlock over the selection of Federal Judges: "Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of Judicial Nominations, depending on their changing political fortunes." He is not the first chief justice to rail against the Senate's treatment of nominees. Indeed, observers of the courts have been wondering if and when Roberts would take up...

Obama Will Try Again On More Than A Dozen Judicial Nominees
What is this? The White House will tomorrow renominate more than a dozen Candidates for judicial positions on federal courts, a person familiar with the administration's plans tells NPR. The Senate failed to vote on the nominees before the last Congressional term expired last month. In all, the Senate never took an Up or Down vote on 19 of the Obama Administration's judicial nominees, leaving them stranded at the end of the congressional session. Among those the president will ren...

On history's stage: Chief Justice John Roberts Jr.
In January 1993 principal deputy U.S. Solicitor General John Roberts Jr. was arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case brought by an inmate in a Nevada penitentiary. The Prisoner, a nonsmoker who had been sharing a cell with a five-pack-a-day man, claimed that being subjected to so much Secondhand Smoke amounted to "cruel and unusual punishment" in violation of his Eighth Amendment Constitutional Rights. The United States, represented by Roberts, was siding with Nevada in arguing that the ...

New Congress and the Spending Thicket
The 112th Congress, convening today, promises to be one of the most politically charged sessions in recent memory--and one in which Government Spending will dominate the agenda. Barring a sudden crisis, Foreign Policy will be an afterthought amid an intensifying debate over the Debt and the Deficit. Both parties have taken one potentially explosive National Security issue--cuts in defense spending--off the table. Obama is unlikely to demand a vote on any Controversial treaties after his bruisi...

County parties keep up anti-Straus pressure
Tarrant and Dallas GOP Activists call for change in speaker’s election, Peña takes heat back home and John Boehner takes the gavel. Forgive any typos this morning, stayed up a little too late to read about #lessambitiousmovies on Twitter. Seemed like a good idea at the time. The Tarrant County GOP Executive Committee passed resolutions Tuesday night that appear to take aim at Speaker Joe Straus. From the Forth Worth Star-Telegram: “They want House Republicans to choose a House S...

Whats Going on With the New Jersey Supreme Court?
What’s Going on With the New Jersey Supreme Court? Yahoo! Buzz Take your eyes off of New Jersey for a few days and you’ll almost surely miss a strange political dustup or two. The latest to play out among our friends across the Hudson River involves the New Jersey Supreme Court. A political feud playing out between Gov. Chris Christie and Democratic lawmakers is threatening to leave the court short two justices come September. Click here for the WSJ story; here for the NYT story; her...

Silly Women.You have no rights protecting you from discriminationaccording to a SUPREME COURT JUSTICE
The equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not protect against Discrimination on the basis of gender or Sexual Orientation, according to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. In 1868, when the 39th Congress was debating and ultimately proposing the 14th Amendment, I don’t think anybody would have thought that equal protection applied to sex discrimination, or certainly not to sexual orientation. So does that mean that we’ve gone off in error by ap...

9th Circuit Court Punts Prop 8 To State Supreme Court On Standing
TM NOTE: This post has been front-paged from “In the News,” which was originally posted at 2:55 pm today. Joyce will begin a weekly posting this Saturday entitled “Queer Talk.” As you’ll see in the comment section, she took part in a Q&A by Adam Bink’s “Courage Campaign,” with updates added there. Via JoeMyGod, news that the court decision on California’s Prop 8 has been punted, and sent to the California State Supreme Court. Another one ...

Dawn Of A New Congress
What is this? Good morning. As Korva said earlier, the day's big story is the opening of the 112th Congress — an event marked by the hand-off of control in the House of Representatives from the Democrats to the Republicans and a narrower majority for Democrats in the Senate. On Morning Edition, NPR's Andrea Seabrook profiled the new speaker of the House, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio. She reports that "Boehner's mantra — words you'll hear often in the coming year — is 'smaller...

Why ruin really necessary cybersecurity legislation with a really bad idea?
A recent white paper written under the auspices of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), asserts that the Federal Government should disregard existing professional cybersecurity certifications in favor of supposedly more advanced ones that test both knowledge and skills, and even goes so far as to claim that existing certifications are wasting scarce resources.  Talk about an absurd notion, and one that certainly does not need to be legislated. Let’s take it apart bit ...

Appeals court turns to state on key Prop. 8 issue
(01-04) 18:36 PST San Francisco -- California's highest court, which has issued three rulings on same-sex marriage in less than seven years, was handed another crucial question Tuesday - whether sponsors of a voter-approved measure banning gay and Lesbian Weddings have the right to defend it in court. The state Supreme Court was brought into the fray by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which heard arguments last month about whether Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative ou...

Appeals court turns to state on key Prop. 8 issue
(01-04) 18:36 PST San Francisco -- California's highest court, which has issued three rulings on same-sex marriage in less than seven years, was handed another crucial question Tuesday - whether sponsors of a voter-approved measure banning gay and Lesbian Weddings have the right to defend it in court. The state Supreme Court was brought into the fray by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which heard arguments last month about whether Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative ou...