Tough Start

Was Mike Fitzpatrick Holding An Illegal Fundraiser While He Missed His Swearing-In? Inquiring Minds Want To Know
Yes, the moneychangers are back! And by the way, Mike Fitzpatrick isn't a "freshman" -- he was the Incumbent Bucks County PA congressman who was ousted by Patrick Murphy, and then beat him again in the mid-terms. So no, this isn't a little mistake made by a newbie: News broke today that two House members, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and freshman Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), may not have actually been properly sworn in to the House yesterday. They were at the Capitol Visitors Center--and just ...

House clears way for health-care repeal vote
House Republicans began Friday the long effort to Repeal President Obama's health-care law by approving a resolution that cleared the way for next week's vote. They also devoted time toward cleaning up an embarrassing situation involving two lawmakers who missed Wednesday's swearing-in of the 112th Congress. This Story House clears way for health-care Repeal vote Your Take: Have you noticed a change in the Job Market? CBO says Health Care Repeal would deepen Deficit Unemployment drops to 9.4 ...

GOP votes to make Constitution violation go away
At least the Democrats are having fun in the minority. They're never as united as Republicans are, but most House Democrats voted against today's resolution invalidating the Unconstitutional votes taken by Representatives Pete Sessions and Mike Fitzpatrick when they had not yet been sworn in as members of Congress. The resolution magically removes the votes they took while not being members, but doesn't do anything about all the other stuff they did -- like chairing the Rules Committee. Anthony ...

Missing Congressmen take oath in Washington
In a follow-up to the embarrassing non-swearing-in of Reps. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and Mike Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., on Wednesday, the House this morning approved a resolution nullifying their votes on six roll call votes, cast when, it turns out, they were still “representative-elect.” Sessions, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, and Fitzpatrick, elected in November after losing after one term in 2006, were at a reception off the House floor in the Capitol Visi...

GOP Leadership Cannot Even Do Their Own Gimmicks Properly
Republicans in Congress seem to have a genius for screwing up their own gimmicks. Two House Republicans have cast votes as members of the 112th Congress, but were not sworn in on Wednesday, a violation of the Constitution on the same day that the GOP had the document read from the podium.The Republicans, Incumbent Pete Sessions of Texas and freshman Mike Fitzpatrick, missed the swearing in because they were at a Fundraiser in the Capitol Visitors Center. The pair watched the swearing-in on tele...

Apology from GOP Rep. Fitzpatrick for swearing-in gaffe
Two days after they missed their swearing-in on the House floor, Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick of Bucks County and Pete Sessions of Texas apologized Friday for the blunder. In a letter addressed to the newly elected speaker, fellow Republican John Boehner of Ohio, the men said they regretted any inconvenience the misstep caused. "We are deeply committed to fulfilling our role in our constitutional Democracy by maintaining the integrity of the People's House," read their letter, which they mad...

GOP Congressmen Face Criticism From Watchdog Groups For Skipping Oath For Fundraiser
WASHINGTON — Democrats and congressional Watchdog groups accused Republicans on Friday of illegally holding a campaign Fundraiser in the Capitol complex during this week's swearing-in ceremonies for lawmakers. One group said it would ask House ethics officials to investigate, but there were no immediate indications that they would take formal action. A spokesman for the GOP congressman who sponsored the event denied that he had used it to raise campaign money, and said funds collected we...

All Forgiven
By a vote of 257 to 159, the GOP-controlled House has voted to wipe clean the ultra vires votes cast by the not-yet-sworn Reps. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) -- who apparently thought raising their right hands in front of a TV monitor off the House floor was good enough. But there's still the issue of whether the event that Sessions and Fitzpatrick were attending instead of getting sworn in was a Fundraiser, which are prohibited in the Capitol itself. More on that to come ...

Watchdogs want 'oathgate' investigation of GOP lawmaker who missed swearing-in
Two government watchdogs are calling for an ethics investigation into the reception a House Republican held in the Capitol while the 112th Congress was being sworn in on Wednesday. The Campaign Legal Center and the Sunlight Foundation said Friday that the Office of Congressional Ethics should look into whether Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) violated House rules by soliciting Campaign Contributions for his swearing-in ceremony. Fitzpatrick and Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.), the House GO...

Frolic Into Boehnerland
… The Democrats have plenty of creatures like Boehner. But in the new Speaker of the House, the Republicans own the perfect archetype — the quintessential example of the kind of glad-handing, double-talking, K Street toady who has dominated the politics of both parties for decades. In sports, we talk about athletes who are the “total package,” and that term comes close to describing Boehner’s talent for perpetuating our corrupt and Debt-addled status quo: He’s...

Two Members Appear to Break Rules on First Day of New Congress
Paul Blumenthal The Sunlight Foundation Jan. 7, 2011, 9:30 a.m. Two House Republican members, Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick and Pete Sessions, missed their swearing in on Wednesday as they attended a Fundraiser in Fitzpatrick's honor at the U.S. Capitol. These two not-quite-yet Congressmen then voted on Legislation and introduced bills, adding a Dadaist element to the proceedings. Although astonishingly surreal, there’s a serious House Rules-related concern: lawmakers are barred from using official...

Groups, Dems criticize GOP event in Capitol
WASHINGTON—Democrats and congressional Watchdog groups accused Republicans on Friday of illegally holding a campaign Fundraiser in the Capitol complex during this week's swearing-in ceremonies for lawmakers. One group said it would ask House ethics officials to investigate, but there were no immediate indications that they would take formal action. A spokesman for the GOP congressman who sponsored the event denied that he had used it to raise campaign money, and said funds collected were ...

GOP Swearing-In Absentees May Have Violated House Ethics Rules With Fundraiser
The story about Reps. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) missing their swearing-in and possibly not being official members of Congress while conducting their business on the House floor has gotten a lot of attention for the amusement factor, but the Sunlight Foundation points out a more serious related issue: The Fundraiser the two almost-representatives were holding instead of attending their own induction may have violated House Rules. "House rooms and offices are not to be used...

Happy Hour Roundup
* Takedown of the day: Rick Brookhiser on the fantasy that Rudy Giuliani has any chance of becoming the 2012 GOP nominee. Short, but brutal. * Jonathan Cohn is optimstic that Dems are finally showing some fight on Health Care. * But Gallup finds Americans favor Repeal 46-40, though with 14 percent Undecided, there's still plenty of room for either side to make real gains. Settle in for a long fight. * Reality check of the day: Ezra Klein on the real reasons health reform may be in trouble. Als...

Two watchdog groups call for investigation of GOP Reps over swearing-in debacle
The Republicans have effectively patched over the Constitutional error committed when two of their members failed to swear-in before casting votes.  However, two government Watchdog groups are calling for investigations into the background behind what is now being called “Oathgate.”  The Campaign Legal Center and Sunlight Foundations have both asked the Office of Congressional Ethics to look into the event that caused the absence of Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Pete Ses...

Worst First Day Ever!
The Democrats in Bucks County are running with Mike Fitzpatrick's swearing-in gaffe. For those unfamiliar with this week's event, Mike Fitzpatrick was in Washington Wednesday to be sworn in, which he ended up missing while later in the day cast some votes. Although he had already signed the written oath of office, the Constitution requires an oath be taken and House rules require it be done within proximity of the speaker. What really is foolish about this entire matter is that he is a returning...

House Rewrites History for AWOL Members
(Wall Street Journal) - The House has the power to rewrite history -- at least its own. Members voted Friday to wipe the record clean of votes that Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Pete Sessions of Texas cast this week without being properly sworn in as members of the 112th Congress. Both Republicans missed the official swearing in ceremony Wednesday because they were attending a reception in the Capitol Visitor Center for Fitzpatrick’s constituents from Bucks County, Pa. The gui...

Oh, Republicans, why do you insist on violating the Constitution?
By Michael J.W. Stickings Hilarious: Two House Republicans have cast votes as members of the 112th Congress, but were not sworn in on Wednesday, a violation of the Constitution on the same day that the GOP had the document read from the podium. The Republicans, Incumbent Pete Sessions of Texas and freshman Mike Fitzpatrick, missed the swearing in because they were at a Fundraiser in the Capitol Visitors Center. The pair...

GOP House members 'apologize' for missing oath
(CNN) - Two members of the U.S. House were particularly remorseful Friday night after missing the crucial oath of office ceremony for the 112th Congress which took place on Wednesday. GOP Congressmen Pete Sessions of Texas and Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania wrote a letter of Apology to House Speaker John Boehner to express their regret. "Our absence on the House floor during the oath of office ceremony for the 112th Congress - while not intentional - fell short…by creating un...

Two House Republicans violate Constitution, House rules on day 1
So you might have heard that two GOP representatives violated the Constitution yesterday, the day the Constitution was being read on the House floor. Here's what happened. WASHINGTON -- Two House Republicans have cast votes as members of the 112th Congress, but were not sworn in on Wednesday, a violation of the Constitution on the same day that the GOP had the document read from the podium. The Republicans, Incumbent Pete Sessions of Texas and freshman Mike Fitzpatrick, missed the swearing in b...

GOP Congressmen Apologize For Missing Oath
Reps. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.) have sent out a letter to their GOP colleagues apologizing for the procedural snafu they created by skipping the official swearing-in in favor of a questionable Fundraiser, and then casting some key votes anyways. "[W]e are deeply committed to fulfilling our role in our constitutional Democracy by maintaining the integrity of the People's House. Our absence on the House floor during the oath of office ceremony for the 112th Congress ...

Two GOP Lawmakers Apologize to House Colleagues for Missing Oath
Oops, sorry about that. Two GOP lawmakers are formally apologizing to their House colleagues for casting votes after missing the official oath of office during the opening of the 112th Congress earlier this week. In a letter distributed late Friday, Reps. Pete Sessions and Mike Fitzpatrick expressed regret for breaking House rules by voting after inadvertently skipping the swearing-in ceremony. Only a sworn member of Congress can take part in official business. "[W]e are deeply committed to ful...

Same party that continually feeds the Constitution into a shredder suddenly worried about two representatives voting before taki
Does it get any more hypocritical than the miscreant known as Anthony's Wiener? Yesterday, Reps. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) failed to take the oath of office on the House floor along with the other 433 members of Congress which caused the GOP Caucus to scurry, worrying that some of the congressional actions Sessions and Fitzpatrick took yesterday may not have been valid. This morning, the House passed a resolution to fix this problem by a vote of 257-159 — with 27 Dem...

House Cleans Up After Swearing-In Snafu
As they try to establish their ability to run the House smoothly, the new Republican leadership team obviously could have done without the snafu of two Republican lawmakers missing their swearing in on Wednesday but taking part in floor and committee proceedings anyway. As a result, the House had to vote Friday morning to expunge a series of votes taken Wednesday by Representatives Pete Sessions of Texas and Mike Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, a bit of embarrassing parliamentary cleanup that drew...

More Accusations Leveled At Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.)
US Reps. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.), left, and Mike Fitzpatrick, (R-Pa.) raise their hands and recite the oath of office on Wednesday as they watch a television broadcast of speaker of the house John Boehner administering the oath from the House floor, during a reception for Fitzpatrick supporters in the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington. (AP photo/The Intelligencer, David Garrett) WASHINGTON, DC (CBS) — A government Watchdog agency is questioning whether Bucks County congressman Michael Fi...