Pete Sessions Breaks Rules, Briefly Shuts Down Rules Committee

[sonias]

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/pete-sessions-breaks-rules-shuts-down-rules-committee-1.php?ref=fpa">Talking Points Memo 1/5/11
Pete Sessions Breaks Rules, Briefly Shuts Down Rules Committee

Call it a stumble out of the gate. Or a failure to find the gate entirely. Veteran Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) and freshman Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-PA) failed to make the official swearing in ceremony yesterday, a violation of the Constitution that has sent Republicans scrambling and briefly brought an end to the new majority's push to repeal the health care reform law.

While the rest of the House was being made official in the chamber, Sessions and Fitzpatrick were outside the room at an event for Fitzpatrick supporters. The pair reportedly took their oath to a televised image from inside the chamber. Huffington Post's Ryan Grimm reports the event was part of fundraiser for Fitzpatrick.

Freshly-minted House Rules Committee chair David Dreier (R-CA) had to recess hearings on repealing the health care law after he learned that Sessions, a member of the committee, was not in fact a Constitutionally-valid member of the 112th Congress. Sessions had been casting votes all day like the duly-sworn members on the committee.

(snip)

Sessions has now been officially sworn in as required by the Constitution, Maney said. The same goes for Fitzpatrick, she said, though that's of less concern to the health care repeal as he's not a member of the Rules Committee like Sessions is. But the failure to be sworn in could mean the rules package the House passed on Wednesday doesn't count, according to Roll Call. The action is now behind the scenes, as Speaker John Boehner tries to persuade House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to agree to a unanimous consent decree that would make all the work Sessions and Fitzpatrick did over the past day count retroactively.

Arrogant assholes! They act like it's their first day out in the world. The supposed "rule of law" repukes never seems to understand the law. :rofl:

[kentauros]

1. I'd say that in their case,

it's the "rule of guffaw" :rofl:

Perhaps Pelosi will give Boner a taste of his own medicine and just say "No" :D

[TEXASYANKEE]

2. Stand tough, Nancy!

I'd love for Nancy to tell Boener to shove it!!

[sonias]

3. Pete Session buys a clue

Huffington Post 1/7/11
GOP Congressmen Apologize For Missing Oath

(snip)
"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 -- while not intentional -- fell short of this standard by creating uncertainty regarding our standing in this body," they wrote in a letter provided to Politico.

"While we immediately took steps to rectify the situation, we understand that our error allowed the integrity of this great legislative body's proceedings to be called into question," they write. "We regret that this incident adversely affected House proceedings and apologize for any individual inconvenience our actions may have caused."

Take them to the shed and do them what they want to do to the American people.

[sonias]

4. Sessions Swearing-In/Fundraiser SNAFU Skirts The Line

Talking Points Memo 1/7/11[br />Sleazy But Legal? Sessions Swearing-In/Fundraiser SNAFU Skirts The Line

The legislative fallout from GOP Reps. Pete Sessions' and Mike Fitzpatrick's decision to skip the House swearing-in ceremony Wednesday has been neatly cleaned up by the pair's Republican colleagues in the House majority. But that doesn't bring an end to the story, which now shifts to whether Fitzpatrick and/or Sessions broke the law by holding a prohibited political fundraiser at the Capitol rather than going to the ceremony with the rest of their colleagues.

The event Sessions and Fitzpatrick attended instead of the swearing in was a reception for Fitzpatrick supporters held in the massive underground Capitol Visitors Center complex, part of the larger Capitol campus and attached to the Capitol basement. Sessions is the chair of the NRCC, so he spends a lot of his time appearing with/raising money for/spending money on House candidates. Fitzpatrick's victory was a sweet one for the GOP (he re-won the seat he lost in 2006 to Democrat Patrick Murphy) and it's not really surprising that Sessions might want to make an appearance at Fitzpatrick's victory celebration. Sessions apparently reserved the room for the event as well.

Exactly what that celebration was is the center of the continuing controversy about Wednesday. If it was a fundraiser -- which the Huffington Post's Ryan Grimm reported it was, pointing to a website set up for the event by Fitzpatrick's campaign -- then it could be a violation of election law. The law strictly prohibits fundraising on Capitol complex grounds.

My vote is the're both sleazy and illegal. Bust them out of Congress on ethics violations!

:kick:

[Melissa G]

5. Can we really bust them out of Congress on an ethics violation?

[sonias]

6. Probably not

After all look at Rep. Rangel (one of our own Ds). All get got was censure.

USA Today 12/2/10
U.S. House censures Rep. Charles Rangel for ethical misconduct

The House has just voted overwhelmingly to censure veteran New York congressman Charles Rangel for a long pattern of ethical misdeeds, including failing to pay taxes and improperly soliciting nonprofit donations from companies with business before his tax-writing committee. Only 22 other lawmakers have been censured in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Just wishful thinking on my part.

:shrug: