As of May 31 2011, the following thirty-four members of the U.S. House of Representatives have not introduced a single bill or amendment for consideration in the 112th Congress. Members in their first term who have not introduced a single bill or amendment: Dan Beniskek of Michigan, conservative Republican Rick Berg of North Dakota, conservative [...]

On the afternoon of May 26 2011, 234 members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted down an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. This amendment, sponsored by Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, would have removed Section 1034 of the NDAA, a new provision to issue a blanket authorization for the President to engage [...]

Section 1034 of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 gives the President of the United States perpetual authority to use military force anywhere in the world that the President believes holds terrorists. Section 1034 abrogates Congress’ constitutional authority and duty under Article I Section 8 of the United States Constitution to declare war. In [...]

The four cosponsors of H.R. 423, a bill to keep the addresses of members of Congress private: Joe Baca (Democrat-CA District 43)Ted Deutch (Democrat-FL District 19)Jeff Fortenberry (Republican-NE District 1)Jared Polis (Democrat-CO District 2) Of these four, those which voted YES on H.R. 514, a bill to reauthorize the Patriot Act and revoke the privacy [...]

Number of supporters of H.R. 875, a bill to prohibit any federal judge from ruling that under Article IV Section I of the Constitution states must recognize and honor other states’ marriages, including same-sex marriage: 27 Number of the supporters of H.R. 875 who also support H.R. 822, a bill to mandate that states must [...]

This morning we have received a message from an incipient Christie Vilsack for Congress campaign, asking us for money and support. A visit to the Christie Vilsack for Iowa website reveals little to nothing in the way of detail, save for a pretty photo of a silo and puffy white clouds. The question is whether [...]

Bill Kaplan considers the possibilities for a Russ Feingold Senate run in 2012 now that Wisconsin’s Herb Kohl has announced his retirement: Two potential front runners, former Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russell Feingold and current Wisconsin GOP Representative Paul Ryan, have completely opposite voting records: Feingold Issue Ryan NO Bush tax cuts YES NO Iraq War [...]

The text of H.R. 875 is nominally neutral in preventing courts from ruling on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act: it prohibits courts from ruling that DOMA is constitutional or unconstitutional. This does not mean that H.R. 875 is neutral in its intent. The following is a list of Representatives who have cosponsored [...]

Although it has been much discussed, the text of the Defense of Marriage Act is both short and simple: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the `Defense of Marriage Act’. SEC. 2. POWERS RESERVED TO THE STATES. (a) IN GENERAL- Chapter 115 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by [...]

As of May 4 2011, the following forty-nine members of the 112th Congress have introduced not one bill or amendment for consideration by the current U.S. House of Representatives since it gaveled into session five months ago. In their first term in the House: Dan Beniskek of Michigan, conservative Republican Rick Berg of North Dakota, [...]