House

One Democratic congressman believes the Supreme Court may well declare the healthcare reform law’s individual mandate unconstitutional.

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), who's expected to run for governor next year, said Tuesday he's "seriously" considering it.

The House next week is expected to take up at least three bills when it returns next week, including H.R. 658, which would reauthorize Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs through 2014.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee marked up the bill on March 10, and Republicans will accept amendments to the bill that are introduced by March 29. The committee has also approved a bill to authorize FAA spending through May 31, but as of Wednesday that bill was not scheduled for consideration in the last week of March.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said conservatives know the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy is gone for good. 

Frank pointed to last month's House debate over a continuing resolution funding the government, noting that no Tea Party-backed Republicans offered an amendment to reinstate the policy that banned openly gay service members. 

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) have agreed to meet with Democrats to discuss the prospects for legislation that would extend unemployment benefits an additional 14 weeks.

The bill, H.R. 589, was sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), and has 74 co-sponsors. Boehner and Cantor will meet in the coming weeks with Lee and Rep. Robert "Bobby" Scott (D-Va.).

Republicans on Wednesday indicated that they could be willing to allow consideration of the bill as long as Democrats can agree to spending cuts to offset the cost of the additional benefits. The estimated cost of the bill is about $16 billion.

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) said there are some moments in history that demand action from "the forces of good."

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) says the U.S. lacked the constitutional authority to attack Libya without the approval of Congress.

"I don't think we have the constitutional authority," said Paul told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Monday night. "We just flat out don't have the authority to go around the world pretending we can take care of everybody and police the world.”

A bipartisan group of four House members have reintroduced legislation to legalize online gambling and say passage of the bill would provide a much-needed revenue stream for the federal government and might also boost job creation.

"Clearly, Americans want to gamble on the Internet, and policymakers need to provide both the freedom to do so, as well as ensure that appropriate consumer protections are in place," Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) said this week. "Regulating online gaming and making certain that these sites are operating legally in America will also create economic growth through generated tax revenue and the possibility of attracting foreign players to U.S. sites."

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said the recession remains ongoing and the spending cuts proposed by House Republicans are "devastating."

The senator told a Vermont paper he doesn't believe the recession has ended.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Tuesday morning that he supports President Obama's decision to commit U.S. troops to military operations in Libya, but any expansion of their mission would require a more thorough explanation to Congress.

"Certainly if there was any thought to expanding the scope and timing of this operation, then I think it would be very important that the president speak more broadly to the American people," Van Hollen said in a C-SPAN interview. "But I want to make it clear, he has said that this is going to be limited in scope and limited in time, that this was a response to a potential humanitarian catastrophe, a potential bloodbath with Gadhafi's forces."