Two Members Appear to Break Rules on First Day of New Congress

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...

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...

Foundation says rep. who missed own swearing-in broke House rules
Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., one of two Republican lawmakers who missed being sworn in to the House of Representatives Wednesday to apparently attend a Fitzpatrick Fundraiser, violated House rules by using official resources for campaign or Fundraising activities, the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation determined. While House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, administered the oath of office to members in the House chamber , Fitzpatrick and Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Te...

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...

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 ...

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...

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 ...

Two Republicans Voted Before They Took Oath
Friday, January 07, 2011 By Larry Margasak, Associated Press Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, attends a meeting of the House Rules Committee on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Jan. 6, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak) Washington (AP) - It only took two days for majority Republicans in the House to suffer their first embarrassment. Two of their members, including the House Republican campaign chairman, voted a half-dozen times in Wednesday's opening session before they were sworn in. Reps. Pete Sessio...

Did Rep Who Skipped Swearing In For Fundraiser Break The Law?
WASHINGTON - A Republican who missed the swearing-in ceremony on the House floor because he was at a Fundraiser in the Capitol has removed critical details of the event from his website. A spokesman for Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) told The Huffington Post that the event was not a Fundraiser and that the funds being solicited were intended merely to cover the cost of bus transportation from the district. If supporters traveled to Washington on their own dime, he said, they could attend the e...

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...

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 ...

GOP Capitol event comes under fire
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 for the cost...

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 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 ...

Tough Start
It's always good to start the day with a healthy dose of irony. Two Republican members of Congress skipped out on being sworn in.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 ...

Rep. Weiner (D-NY) slams GOP for violating their own rules, limiting debate
Today the Republicans attempted to provide a quick fix to a Constitutional problem caused when two of their own members failed to attend a swearing-in ceremony before casting votes.  Representatives Pete Sessions (R-TX) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) both attended a Fundraising event while the rest of the House was being sworn in.  Article VI of the United States Constitution requires all members take an oath before performing any of the duties of their office.  Rep. Session actually...

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...

Lawmakers Were at Illegal Fundraiser
The Sunlight Foundation notes that the two House Republican members who missed their swearing in and then voted on Legislation and introduced bills, may have done something even more serious: They were attending a Fundraiser at the U.S. Capitol even though lawmakers are barred from using official resources for campaign or Fundraising activities. ...

The Early Word: Constitutional
From Today’s Times: The second day of the 112th Congress begins with a public reading of the U.S. Constitution — setting the tone for another day of ceremony and symbolism under the newly installed House Speaker, Representative John A. Boehner. Facing this new era of divided government in which a firm hold on the political center will be crucial, President Obama is preparing to name former Clinton Administration officials as his new Chief of Staff and a top economic adviser. The panel...

House set to fix Pete Sessions oath-taking noshow snafu; ethics questions raised
The House is poised to rectify the problem caused when Dallas Rep. Pete Sessions, a member of GOP leadership, left the House chamber on Wednesday before Speaker John Boehner administered the oath of office en masse to House members. Sessions was elsewhere in the Capitol complex with a GOP freshman he had helped elect. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, and while both raised their hands when they saw Boehner on a big screen TV, but that didn't count. (As one snarky reader has asked, if I raised my hand wh...

Republicans patch over constitutional snafu
Call it a constitutional do-over. Two days after they took control of the House, Republicans on Friday had to clean up the mess left when two of their members failed to properly take the oath of office, even though they had been voting and conducting business as if they had. Rep. Pete Sessions, Texas Republican and a member of the GOP leadership, and freshman Rep. Michael G. Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania Republican, were not in the House chamber when new Speaker John A. Boehner administered the oath...

House GOP fixes it's 'oath problem'
HOUSE GOP FIXES IT'S 'OATH PROBLEM'.... The new House Republican majority ran into some trouble yesterday when it realized two of its members had been conducting official business without having been sworn into office. Today, the chamber cleaned up the mess, but some lingering questions remain. To briefly recap, Reps. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) missed the official swearing in ceremony, but claim that they raised their hand and took the oath while watching the proceedi...

Mike & Pete's not so excellent fundraiser
The 112th Congress has barely finished reading its abridged Constitution and Tea Party types see behaviour that concerns them. In actual fact much of it started before they were even sworn in. It turns out the tone-deaf precedent set by the $2500 a ticket gig with LeAnn Rimes and the K Street elite organized by an incoming Republican early this week is just the tip of the iceberg. It wasn’t just Tea Party types who thought the event was cloth-eared, “consultants” weren’t ...

A Note to Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick
I don't care about Pete Sessions; he's from Texas and his district is basically a lost cause. But Mike Fitzpatrick represents Pennsylvania's 8th District (where my parents live) and he defeated my friend Patrick Murphy (who had defeated him four years earlier) to take office. I'm appalled that Rep. Fitzpatrick chose to blow off taking the oath of office so he could attend an illegal Fundraiser in the Capitol Building and then fraudulently voted on roll calls three thru eight. He wasn't actually...

Sessions, Fitzpatrick apologize
GOP aides say Republican Congressmen Pete Sessions (who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee) and Mike Fitzpatrick sent this letter to colleagues late today to apologize for not being sworn in to the 112th Congress, but later participating in votes. They were sworn in later. As Members of Congress, we have no greater honor than the opportunity to serve our country by representing our constituents in the House of Representatives. The solemn trust we are elected to uphold - codif...