House of Representatives

From the Democratic Party of Virginia: "Speaker [William] Howell is in a pretty bad place if he's trying to distract Virginians from the Terry Kilgore scandal by drawing attention to... the other Terry Kilgore scandal."

The House GOP is pushing for an exemption that would allow big corporations to forgo publishing financial information – a huge setback for advocates of open data and transparency.

After a surprise primary election loss, U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor will resign his seat in the House of Representatives months earlier than expected.

MoveOn.org's script for people to use when asking legislators to push for GMO-labeling is weak. Here's something with a little more teeth to use when calling your representatives.

The Senate is set to take up legislation to keep federal highway money flowing to states, with just three days left before the government plans to start slowing down payments. The House passed a $10.8 billion bill last week that would pay for highway and transit aid through the end of May 2015 if transportation spending is maintained at current levels.

A U.S. House candidate in Montana is benefiting from a political action committee he created, leading at least one opponent and some experts to question the legality of the peculiar arrangement. Ryan Zinke, a former Navy SEAL who is seeking the Republican nomination for Montana's lone congressional seat, created the Special Operations for America (SOFA) super PAC to back Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign. The committee now backs candidates who support the military — and their first candidate is Zinke, a 52-year-old former state senator.

Legislation passed the House of Representatives that would again put under scrutiny four states with a history of voting rights violations: Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The states would have to gain approval from the Justice Department before making any changes to their voting laws.

Florida Republican Rep. Henry "Trey" Radel pleaded guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge of cocaine possession and was sentenced to a year on probation. "I've hit a bottom where I realize I need help," Radel told a judge in acknowledging that he purchased 3.5 grams of cocaine from an undercover police officer.

Senate Democrats are drafting legislation to raise the nation's debt limit without the type of unrelated conditions that Republicans have said they intend to demand, officials said Monday, as the White House signaled it would accept even a brief extension in borrowing authority to prevent an unprecedented default. Republicans have said they will seek long-term deficit cuts or reforms to benefit programs and perhaps a wholesale rollback in environmental rules as the price for raising the current $16.7 trillion debt limit.

Ashleigh Banfield of CNN asked Republican Reps. Marsha Blackburn and Dana Rohrabacher if they would give up their salary during a government shutdown, like many other federal employees would be forced to do. They would not respond.