House Republicans

Sorry Benghazi conspiracy theorists! The GOP House Intelligence Committee's Benghazi report found that there is no Benghazi scandal and they discovered no wrongdoing on the part of the Obama administration. Still, it's all his fault.

House Republicans unveiled a slimmed-down bill Tuesday to address the immigration crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border by sending in National Guard troops and speeding migrant youths back home. The election-year measure would allow Republicans to say they tried to solve the humanitarian problem in South Texas, even though it stands no chance of becoming law.

An insight seemed to strike Hill Republicans last week, if only briefly: Our government is made up of people helping other people. But don’t count on seeing a new era of conciliation or a new embrace of democratic processes. Instead, Republicans seemed to renew their commitment to the principle that only one branch of government — their branch – should control it. Call it the Imperial Congress.

The GOP-led House tries to push through a farm bill with the food stamp provisions removed. President Obama and House Democrats oppose the truncated measure, seeing it as just a ploy to cut aid to the hungry and poor even further.

The main bill provides $17 billion in relief to rebuild infrastructure directly destroyed by Sandy. An amendment made would add another $33.7 billion to prepare for a future storm - for a total of $50.7 billion.