house of representatives

A caucus that includes most House Republicans endorses a 15-week national abortion ban and a bill that could eliminate IVF access A caucus representing most House Republican lawmakers endorsed a national abortion ban on Wednesday.  The Republican Study Committee (RSC), which includes nearly 80 percent of all House Republicans, released its 2025 budget proposal on Wednesday, titled “Fiscal Sanity to Save America.” Despite being billed as a budget plan, it is a highly ideological document. …

The Republican impeachment push against President Joe Biden has always rested on the thinnest of evidentiary ice, but with one of their key informants facing criminal charges for lying to federal investigators, the charade is now on the verge of falling apart.  On Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee — one of the three Republican-controlled committees overseeing the Biden impeachment inquiry — held a hearing in an attempt to salvage the effort.  Democrats brought in Lev Parnas, a former Rudy Giuliani crony…

The House of Representatives has decried the recurring destruction of oil and gas pipelines in the country and persistent lack of transparency in the operations and regulatory activities in the sector. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, chairperson, Special Committee on Oil Theft, condemned the act at a meeting with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Ltd in Abuja. The engagement was to unravel the root cause of oil theft in the country and the possible solution to stop the menace. Mr Ado-Doguwa said it had…

The House of Representatives is moving to review the parameters of the 2024 budget due to the depreciation of the Naira against major currencies. The House, on Thursday, mandated its Committees on National Planning and Economic Development, Appropriation and Finance, to review the parameters in the budget, particularly the exchange rate. This resolution followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Kafilat Ogbara (APC, Lagos) during plenary. The naira was on a free fall for months following the decision…

The House of Representatives pushed through a government funding bill days before the deadline of a partial government shutdown — and some far-right Republicans are not happy. The $450 billion “minibus” spending bill passed the House Wednesday in a 339-85 vote, with nearly all Democrats and 132 Republicans voting in favor. Members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus voiced their consternation at the compromise. The hardline group released a joint statement Tuesday encouraging other Republicans to vote…

The Senate passed a $95.3 billion aid package for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan in a bipartisan vote early Tuesday morning — but like pretty much everything these days, it seems destined to end up in the House GOP’s legislative graveyard.  In a 70-22 vote, a rare supermajority in the upper chamber, the Senate approved $60 billion in aid for Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia, $23 billion in security and humanitarian assistance to Israel, and $4.8 billion for partners in the Indo-Pacific region.  They…

The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the alleged hoarding of dollars by some commercial banks. This resolution was a sequel to a motion moved by Babajimi Benson (APC, Lagos) on Wednesday during plenary. Mr Benson, in his motion, said some banks are sabotaging the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria to halt the slide of the naira against major currencies. He stated that the banks have not been complying with the new FX risk management circular released by the CBN. Last week, the CBN released…

Nigeria’s Central Bank Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, will appear before the House of Representatives to speak on the state of the economy, the Clerk of the House, Yahaya Danzaria, announced on Monday. Mr Cardoso is scheduled to speak to the lawmakers during plenary to brief them on the free fall of the naira and other issues affecting the monetary side of the economy. According to the statement issued by Mr Danzaria, the CBN governor will appear before the lawmakers for a sectorial debate focusing on the financial…

The Senate has finally released its long-discussed, much-debated, bipartisan border package. Despite their demands for many of the increased security measures the bill would provide, House Republicans are setting aside their self-proclaimed commitment to border reform in favor of blocking a potential PR victory for the Biden administration.  Only hours after the 370-page document was released, House Republican leadership was already shutting the doors on its prospects in the lower chamber.  “I’ve seen enough.…

It’s an election year, which means it’s once again time for Republicans to care about the border. The GOP has done all it can to raise hell over the issue — from holding government funding hostage over their extreme demands, to trying to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, to backing Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s legally dubious crusade against the federal government’s dominion over the border — while blocking efforts to bring about real change. Republicans in the House, for example, are refusing to…