House

The House on Friday morning held a pro forma session that lasted about five minutes, good enough for a prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance and a quick reading of the six House members who will serve on the spending-cut supercommittee.

Earlier in the week, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) chose Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) and Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) to serve.

House Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (Ohio) said Thursday night that he is not "overly optimistic" that the 12-member supercommittee will be able to reach an agreement by the end of the year to cut another $1.5 trillion in spending.

"I mean, we will see how it plays out, but I think there is the potential that they just don't reach an agreement," he said on Fox's "Your World" with Neil Cavuto.

Rep. Jim Himes says he agrees on one level with criticism that Obama showed weakness in the talks. 

A handful of House committees are continuing their work over the summer break by holding field hearings across the country on several key issues.

On Aug. 24, the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources holds a hearing titled "American Jobs and Energy Security: Domestic Oil Shale, the Status of Research, Regulation and Roadblocks." That hearing in Grand Junction, Colo., will assess the jobs that could be created by developing oil shale deposits in the Green River formation in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), an outspoken critic of U.S. military involvement in Libya, on Thursday called on the United Nations to ensure that governments are held accountable for civilian deaths in Libya under operations authorized by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973.

In his Thursday letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Kucinich cited press reports that said Libyan authorities are accusing North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces of killing 85 villagers in air strikes, including 33 children.

"If such reports are true, it further highlights the increased risks to civilians that has occurred as a result of military intervention in Libya and is further evidence that continued bombing by NATO under the context of UNSCR 1973 is an inappropriate tool to protect civilians or force Moammar Gadhafi from power," Kucinich wrote.

Freshman Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.) on Wednesday night called on Congress to return from its August break and continue work on the 2012 appropriations bills, warning that failure to take up the bills raises the risk of a continuing resolution or omnibus spending bill.

Speaking on Fox's "On the Record" Wednesday, Allen commended the House for already approving seven of the 12 annual spending bills. But he said the Senate has taken up none of these bills near the end of the current fiscal year.

"[A]nd by the time we would have come back, it would be 7 September, which pushes us up to a new fiscal year, and what you're going to end up hearing once again is continuing resolution and omnibus," he said. The current fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

A subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee will meet next Tuesday in Newnan, Ga., to hold a field hearing on whether federal guidance on bank lending from Washington is hurting efforts of local banks to lend.

The Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit will hear testimony Aug. 16 from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and several local bank CEOs to assess whether Washington is sending "mixed messages" to community banks. A statement from full committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) said that while political officials in Washington are calling on banks to "lend more," bank regulators are holding community banks to tight lending standards that make it difficult to meet that goal.

Freshman Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), one of the 66 GOP opponents of the debt-ceiling agreement that the House approved Aug. 1, is warning against Department of Defense cuts that could either be recommended by the congressional “supercommittee,” or occur automatically if that panel fails to find agreement on how to trim spending.

“National defense should be one of the last cuts,” Brooks said in a meeting with voters in Alabama, as reported by TimesDaily of Florence, Ala. “It produces jobs, just as NASA produces technology and produces jobs. My first concern is the threat of who could get cut. My second concern is, do they push the easy button and just raise taxes?”

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday announced their picks to serve on the House-Senate "supercommittee" tasked with finding more spending cuts by the end of the year.

Boehner announced that he has chosen House Republican Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.), and House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) to serve on the "supercommittee" tasked with finding more spending cuts by the end of the year.

Hensarling will serve as co-chairman of the committee. In choosing these veteran members, Boehner avoided choosing any of the dozens of new Republican freshmen.

"The lawmakers I have appointed to serve on this joint committee are proven leaders who have earned the trust and confidence of their colleagues and constituents," Boehner said. "They understand the gravity of our debt crisis and I appreciate their willingness to serve on this panel."

Federal Reserve has taken another step to end the dollar's reign as a global currency, Rep. Ron Paul said Wednesday.