D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has just released the following lengthy statement on today’s sudden announcement that the D.C. House Voting Rights Bill will not come to the floor for a vote this year after all. UPDATE 3:36 p.m.: Norton’s office has issued a correction to this statement, acknowledging that the congresswoman had mistakenly indicated that Sen. Orrin Hatch had been joined in his opposition to the House version…

Photo by Heather Goss Just like that, it’s over. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has announced that he will not allow the D.C. House Voting Rights Act to come to a vote this year after all. The decision comes after several heated days of posturing among city officials, with some lining up in favor of Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s decision to push forward despite a controversial amendment that would have stripped the District…

Following more than a year of more or less refusing to speak up in favor of passing the D.C. House Voting Rights Act, President Barack Obama has finally come out in favor of the legislation. In an official statement today marking the celebration of Emancipation Day in the District, Obama urged Congress “to finally pass legislation that provides D.C. residents with voting representation and to take steps to improve the Home Rule Charter.” This is…

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Ut.), pictured alongside Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), after the Senate’s February 2009 vote on the bill. A day after news broke that legislation granting D.C. a voting seat in the House of Representatives would be re-introduced next week, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Ut.) has threatened to filibuster the bill unless changes are made. According to the Hill, Hatch wants language regarding the additional seat Utah would be granted to be changed from…

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton To follow-up on Martin’s post about the resurrection of the D.C. House Voting Rights Act, Eleanor Holmes Norton has emailed out the following statement (she’s stuck at home with laryngitis, according to her office). This constitutes Norton officially raising the white flag and giving up any real hope of scrubbing the gun amendment language completely from the bill. After a year of stalling while she looked for a way…

Photo by Mark Poblete The Washington Post is reporting the long-stalled bill that would finally grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives may be re-introduced as early as next week. According to the Post, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer today indicated that details are still being ironed out, but the bill will likely have some version of the original gun amendment that stalled it last summer. The amendment, supported by various…

The New York Times has a handy map showing how each member of Congress from across the U.S. voted for health care reform. Locally, there aren’t many surprises. On the Maryland side, Rep. Steny Hoyer and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, both members of the Democratic leadership, predictably cast votes in favor of the reform they worked so hard to marshal through the House. Rep. Donna Edwards, a solid if young progressive voice, also voted…

Photo by Laura Padgett Despite increasingly long odds, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton says she is still trying to push the D.C. House Voting Rights Act through Congress. Norton recently told WAMU that she’s at this very minute working with the House Rules Committee to finally bring the legislation to a vote. “We are close to the point where we will be taking this bill to the floor. We’re working on odds and ends of…

Photo by andertho With the federal government still closed today and fresh flakes set to start falling any time now, it’s looking increasingly like many area residents will end up with an entire week off. Politico is reporting that the House of Representatives has just canceled all votes for the remainder of the week. The Senate is still soldiering on for now, but we wouldn’t be surprised if that changed later today. The Office…

Our thoughts are with the family, friends, staff and colleagues of Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), who passed away today at Virginia Hospital Center after suffering complications from gallbladder surgery. He was 77. Murtha was a decorated Vietnam War veteran who rose to prominence in Congress by earning a reputation as the “King of Pork,” a nickname bestowed upon him due to his ability to expertly funnel earmarks to his home district. More recently, Murtha…