House Democratic Caucus

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland won election today as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, the fourth-ranking position in the party leadership. Hoyer, 50, the deputy chairman of the caucus for the last 6 months, defeated Rep. Barbara B. Kennelly of Connecticut 165 to 82 in a closed meeting of House Democrats. Two votes were cast for others in the secret balloting. The Maryland lawmaker, who first came to Congress in a special election in 1981, said he wants to "revitalize" the caucus, which holds meetings of all House Democrats on party policy positions.

Angry House Democrats on Thursday voted to reject the tax-cut extension package negotiated by President Obama with Republicans. In an emotional voice vote in their caucus, Democrats, who have repeatedly attacked the agreement as too generous to the rich, said the package should not come to the floor in its current form. The next step is up to the leadership. “In the caucus Thursday, House Democrats supported a resolution to reject the Senate Republican tax provisions as currently written,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.

Rep. William H. Gray III (D-Pa.), whose office is under a Justice Department investigation, said a new wave of "ethical McCarthyism" aimed at the Democratic Party is paralyzing the federal government. Gray, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said continued attacks on Democrats for possible ethics problems are a throwback to the tactics used by the late Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy (R-Wis.) in his witch hunt for communists in government during the 1950s. Gray said the attacks by Republicans have included rumors, allegations and false leaks by government agencies.

In an untraditional twist, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) will replace Rep. Charles Rangel as acting chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee rather than Rep. Pete Stark (D-Fremont). Because of seniority, Stark had been in line to take the job and, as of Wednesday evening, House Democrats indicated that it was his, at least on an interim basis. But Stark's politics -- he's an unapologetic liberal -- and his volatility, with a history of making controversial and provocative statements, concerned other members of the committee as well as the Democratic leadership.

The Justice Department is investigating news leaks of information on government probes involving prominent Democratic politicians, a spokesman said today. Spokesman David Runkel said the news leak inquiry, ordered by Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh, began last week and has been broadened to include reports that the FBI was investigating personnel practices in the office of Rep. William H. Gray III of Pennsylvania, the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House. Gray, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, questioned the timing of the reports and the motives of the unidentified sources in view of the fact that he may soon be competing for higher position in the House Democratic hierarchy.

House Democrats Thursday backed off a plan to strictly limit the after-hours floor speeches that have become a vehicle used by some Republican members to savage political opponents on cable television. Instead, members of the House Democratic Caucus withdrew the proposal to restrict so-called "special order" speeches and referred the controversial issue to a bipartisan study committee. The compromise was first suggested Wednesday by House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.).

Rep. Henry A. Waxman of Los Angeles on Tuesday pulled out of the race for House majority whip, the third-ranking spot in the House Democratic leadership, saying that he entered the contest too late and his candidacy might divide the Democratic Party. The key job opened up when Rep. Tony Coelho of Merced decided to retire from Congress rather than face an ethics inquiry related to his purchase of a $100,000 junk bond. Waxman, an influential liberal who had hoped to retain the leadership post for a Californian, said that it would have been "very, very tough" to pry his colleagues away from commitments they have made to three other candidates in recent weeks.

House Democrats, rebuilding their tattered leadership, elected former presidential contender Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri and Rep. William Gray of Pennsylvania to their No. 2 and No. 3 posts today. Gephardt, 48, a seven-term congressman, defeated Rep. Ed Jenkins of Georgia for majority leader, the second-ranking House position after the Speaker, by a 181-76 vote in a closed meeting of the House Democratic Caucus. Gray, 47, a Philadelphia preacher, was elected to the No. 3 post of Democratic whip in a three-way race.

Rep. Gillis W. Long, a veteran Louisiana Democrat who helped lead his party's opposition in the House to Reagan Administration programs, is dead of an apparent heart attack. He was 61. Long, who died at his Washington home Sunday night, chaired the House Democratic Caucus from 1981 through the end of 1984 and had been scheduled to be elected chairman of the congressional Joint Economic Committee today.

In an untraditional twist, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) will replace Rep. Charles Rangel as acting chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee rather than Rep. Pete Stark (D-Fremont). Because of seniority, Stark had been in line to take the job and, as of Wednesday evening, House Democrats indicated that it was his, at least on an interim basis. But Stark's politics -- he's an unapologetic liberal -- and his volatility, with a history of making controversial and provocative statements, concerned other members of the committee as well as the Democratic leadership.

After weeks of fractious debate that threatened to derail President Obama's healthcare overhaul, House Democrats on Wednesday reached a critical if fragile agreement that appeared to pave the way for the chamber to vote on a package in September. The deal, worked out between a group of fiscally conservative Democrats and Rep. Henry A.

The Thumpin' How Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats Learned to Be Ruthless and Ended the Republican Revolution Naftali Bendavid Doubleday: 262 pp., $23.95 --- IN politics, 24 months can be an eternity. At a press conference two days after the 2004 election -- in which Republicans not only held the White House but also picked up seats in the Senate and House of Representatives -- President Bush crowed: "I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it."

In the traditional pecking order on Capitol Hill, newly elected lawmakers are supposed to be seen and not heard, left to labor in powerless obscurity until they bank several years of seniority. But the Democrats who control the House are upending that tradition, treating their party's 42 freshmen like royalty. Democratic leaders are already working overtime to ensure that the newcomers are reelected in 2008 -- no easy task, because many of them come from conservative political territory.

Democratic leaders outlined plans Thursday to compel President Bush to begin withdrawing U.S. combat forces from Iraq as soon as this summer, marking the first time the majority in Congress had called for a deadline to end the unpopular war. The proposals dramatically shift the debate on Capitol Hill from symbolic measures to concrete plans to bring troops home just two months after Democrats assumed power.

In a clash highlighting tensions between Democratic leaders and one of their party's most important constituencies, House Democrats on Thursday backed a move to oust scandal-scarred Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) from a powerful committee post, despite opposition from the Congressional Black Caucus.

One is a hero of environmental activists. Another routinely gets a 100% rating from labor unions. And more than half of them voted against President Clinton's landmark 1996 law to end welfare as we know it. Such is the political profile of some of the Democrats who will be running the show if their party wins control of the House on election day. From Rep. Henry A. Waxman of Los Angeles, a leading advocate of expanding access to health care, to Rep. John Conyers Jr.

In a clash highlighting tensions between Democratic leaders and one of their party's most important constituencies, House Democrats on Thursday backed a move to oust scandal-scarred Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) from a powerful committee post, despite opposition from the Congressional Black Caucus.

Deep in the subbasement of the Rayburn House Office Building, members of the U.S. House of Representatives gather for the daily 4 p.m. basketball game. Eleven congressmen are on hand, one too many for two starting teams of five players each. Rep. Thomas Downey (D-N.Y.), commissioner of the Members Basketball Assn., surveys the group and singles out Vermont's Rep. Bernard Sanders to sit out the game.

As 535 members of Congress return to Washington today to ponder the future of President Clinton, few will be as closely watched as a small group of Democrats whose support is considered essential--and whose defections could prove disastrous. While other lawmakers certainly can influence the course of events, it is this handful of Clinton loyalists who serve as bellwethers of the president's political base within his own party.

The Clinton Administration's $40-billion plan to bail out the Mexican economy ran into mounting opposition Wednesday from both Republicans and Democrats, forcing President Clinton--supported by a phalanx of corporate executives and Administration aides--to begin a full-scale lobbying campaign on behalf of the program. Despite the best efforts of Treasury Secretary Robert E.