Free Republic

Rep. Eric Cantor will step down as majority leader, according to several Republicans sources, ending a meteoric 13-year Congressional career. Several GOP sources say his resignation from that job will be effective July 31.

The federal government plans to open a shelter in Tucson for unaccompanied migrant children crossing the border alone, but officials would have to seek zoning exemptions on the two locations being considered. And that process could take months. Part of the issue is that the exemption requires a 30-day notice to residents of the surrounding neighborhood so they can voice their opinion. “What brought the focus and attention right now is that the system that is designed to take care of these children has imploded,” said Wendy Young, executive director of Kids in Need of Defense, during a conference call...

(Reuters) - A Senate panel, responding to what President Barack Obama calls an "urgent humanitarian situation," on Tuesday advanced legislation significantly increasing funds to handle a surge of foreign children entering the United States illegally. Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, included up to $2.28 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services to feed and shelter the estimated 130,000 minors expected to arrive in the fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1. That is up from the $868 million that Congress urgently provided this year to handle an estimated 60,000 undocumented children who will...

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor won’t allow attempts next week to include a measure on a must-pass defense policy bill that would legalize young undocumented immigrants who serve in the military. A spokesman confirmed Friday that the legislation, known as the Enlist Act, will not be among those debated with the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual bill that sets policy for the Pentagon. Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), the Enlist Act’s chief sponsor, had pledged to bring it up as part of the floor battle over the defense bill.

Just a few miles from his family home, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) felt the wrath of the tea party Saturday, when activists in his congressional district booed and heckled the second-most powerful House Republican. They also elected one of their own to lead Virginia’s 7th Congressional District Republican Committee, turning their back on Cantor’s choice for a post viewed as crucial by both tea party and establishment wings in determining control of the fractured state GOP. Former lieutenant governor Bill Bolling, pushed out of last year’s governor’s race by a similar party schism, said he was “extremely disappointed”...

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2014 – Saturday morning dawned for what should have been a great day for Virginia Congressman Eric Cantor. With the Democrats holding all five of Virginia’s state wide offices, Cantor is arguably the top Republican. He is the Majority Leader in the House of Representatives and has fought his Republican opponents with the tenacity of TV’s fictional congressman Frank Underwood. Cantor’s home base is Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. That district covers some of the suburbs of Richmond before heading north and almost touching the suburbs of Washington. Every two years, each Republican District holds a District Convention....

Add another to the lengthy list of contests between powerful Republican incumbents and Washington far-outsiders: An economics professor from Henrico, Va., Dave Brat, will announce his entry into the race for Eric Cantor’s House seat on January 9. He has already hired John Pudner of Concentric Direct as his consultant. “I want to be Eric Cantor’s term limit,” he tells National Review Online. That’s not an easy prospect by any stretch of the imagination, and Cantor is certainly not throwing in the towel. Rory Cooper, a spokesman for Cantor, tells NRO: “Congressman Cantor is proud to serve the people of...

President Obama and his top Democrat on Capitol Hill appear to have reset their sights on the Republican-controlled House passing comprehensive immigration reform, instead of a step-by-step process, as lawmakers leave Washington for the Christmas holiday break. The president on Friday appeared to urge the House to back the comprehensive, bipartisan immigration bill the Senate passed this summer -- a departure from recent comments that suggested Obama was OK with the lower chamber’s apparent piecemeal plan.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) warned Thursday the House might be forced to cancel its September recess to work on a government funding bill. The House was originally scheduled to have the week of Sept. 23 off, but Cantor said lawmakers might have to return to Washington that week and maybe the following weekend to prevent a government shutdown. "Members are advised that pending ongoing discussions on the continuing resolution, the House may be in session during the week of Sept. 23 and possibly into the weekend," Cantor said on the House floor. "Members should expect an announcement next...