OK, we’re going to try live blogging debate on the House floor as much as we can. Acting speaker right now is Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D- CA). Floor manager Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Judiciary Chairman, has just finished introducing the legislation and expressing his belief that the District Clause allows the Congress to make any laws for D.C. it sees fit. 12:27 p.m.: Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is currently making the case on behalf…

President George W. Bush today formally declared his intention to veto legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives. In a Statement of Administration Policy released by the Office of Management and Budget, the Bush administration stated that “the bill violates the Constitution’s provisions governing the composition and election of the United States Congress” and that any congressional endorsement would be swiftly vetoed. The statement quoted the section of…

An impasse over Nationals broadcasting rights that has been almost two years in the making may soon reach resolution, if only because the powers-that-be are sick of missing games. Pressure on the parties involved is increasing from a number of governmental bodies. This weekend the Maryland Court of Appeals agreed to hear the latest Comcast appeal in a case that pits the cable company against the Orioles and Major League Baseball. The decision to hear…

Yesterday DCist broke the news that Rep. Henry Bonilla, a Texas Republican, was looking to rename 16th Street NW after Ronald Reagan — adding one more dedication for the nation’s 40th president to the 67 that already exist in 24 states. Word spread fast — before the end of the day, Rep. Tom Davis III (R-Va.), whose committee would review the legislative proposal, encouraged Bonilla to “name anything else he has to look at his…

In October 1992, several dozen people gathered at the base of a statue outside the Labor Department building at 3rd and D Streets NW. Together they unfurled large white sheets, and with some effort, draped them over the tall statue. The costume was not part of a Halloween prank. The uninvited decorators were followers of fringe political figure Lyndon LaRouche, the sheets were stitched together to appear as Ku Klux Klan robes, and the statue…