Free Republic

House Speaker John Boehner’s top allies are racing out the door to retirement, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. Top Boehner allies that are retiring in 2014 include four committee chairmen: Reps. Mike Rogers (R-MI) of the Intelligence Committee, Buck McKeon (R-CA) of the Armed Services Committee, Doc Hastings (R-WA) of the Natural Resources Committee and Dave Camp (R-MI) of the Ways and Means Committee. One of Boehner closest friends, Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA), is retiring this year, and another—Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID)—may lose his seat in a primary in Idaho against conservative Bryan Smith. “In a Capitol where accomplishments are...

North Carolina Rep. Mike McIntyre and New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy will not seek reelection this year, according to multiple Democratic sources familiar with their plans – marking a blow to Democratic efforts to win control of the House. The 57-year-old McIntyre, who was elected in 1996 to the Wilmington-area congressional seat, narrowly defeated Republican state Sen. David Rouzer in 2012 and was poised to face him in a 2014 rematch. His retirement from the heavily Republican district will further thin the ranks of Blue Dog Democrats. It comes less than a month after another Blue Dog, Utah Rep. Jim...

DES MOINES — Aides to U.S. Rep. Tom Latham say the 10-term Iowa Republican will not seek re-election in 2014. The 65-year-old Republican from Clive will have spent 20 years in Congress and is Iowa's senior U.S. House member. His decision creates an open seat that includes the Des Moines area, Iowa's most populous region.

Democrats charged in a Friday memo that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is leading the Republican Party, and that his "brand of conservatism" will hurt Republicans running for office in Iowa in 2014. The memo, issued by the Democratic National Committee and the campaign committees for both chambers and the party's governors, came as Cruz is slated to headline a Friday night fundraising dinner in Des Moines, Iowa. "Make no mistake: Ted Cruz is leading the Republican Party. Candidates want to be him. Incumbents are afraid of him. The Republican Party base is energized by him," the memo reads. It's the...

Republicans Chuck Grassley and Steve King were the only two members of Iowa’s congressional delegation to vote against the deal that has ended the federal government shutdown and extended the government’s borrowing authority. King said once spending issues and the debt limit were joined in one bill, the momentum toward passage was inevitable. “The American people have fatigue and I understand that, but it’s worth the fatigue if we can accomplish the goal in the end,” King said during an interview with Radio Iowa. “We didn’t get that done in this battle. This battle is not indicative of the entire...

The party has an outside chance of winning the five or six seats it needs to retake control, but needs to find top-tier recruits in several states and is running out of time to do so. ....Here are five states where the party needs to land strong candidates to broaden the battleground and have a hope of winning back the Senate. Michigan Iowa Montana Arkansas New Hampshire

When the presidential campaigns bombarded Iowa over the summer, there was an unintended consequence: Every House race in the state became more competitive. Consequently, a state once expected to feature one or two competitive House races could see all four seats in play. This newfound dynamic slightly favors Republicans, who face tough climbs to unseat Democratic incumbents in two eastern Iowa seats. But Democrats also reap the benefits of a more competitive field that is energizing their candidates in the western half of the state, including Rep. Leonard Boswell (D) in his marquee battle with Rep. Tom Latham (R). The...

Speaker John Boehner pushed his debt-ceiling bill through the House Friday night with the support of 218 Republicans. Here are the 22 no votes: Justin Amash (Mich.) Michele Bachmann (Minn.) Chip Cravaack (Minn.) Jason Chaffetz (Utah) Scott Desjarlais (Tenn.) Tom Graves (Ga.) Tim Huelskamp (Kans.) Steve King (Iowa) Tim Johnson (Ill.) Tom McClintock (Calif.) Mick Mulvaney (S.C.) Ron Paul (Texas) Connie Mack (Fla.) Jim Jordan (Ohio) Tim Scott (S.C.) Paul Broun (Ga.) Tom Latham (Iowa) Jeff Duncan (S.C.) Trey Gowdy (S.C.) Steve Southerland (Fla.) Joe Walsh (Ill.) Joe Wilson (S.C.) CORRECTED: Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) voted YES on the Boehner...

The following twenty-two House members stood firm and opposed the Boehner bill, which is nothing more than a vehicle which will be sent to the Senate, reworked by Harry Reid into something even worse than it already is, and then returned to the House. Boehner will dutifully bring it up and the Tea Partiers who voted for it will then vote against it, but it will not matter. Boehner and Reid will pass the Bill in the House with Democrat votes and Obama will sign it. The votes today cast by conservatives, many of whom are good people, are very...

Leonard Boswell and the Democrats in Washington have force fed the American people more unconstitutional legislation that is bad for Iowa. This takeover of our health insurance system is unconstitutional and infringes on the rights of citizens by mandating the purchase of a service. This legislation as been pushed through behind closed doors and it violates the public trust of each and every citizen, who deserves the chance to see it in the full light of day. The taxes which will start immediately will do more harm to an already weakened economy and do further damage to businesses everywhere. “I...

Latham intends to formally introduce the "Keep Terrorists Out of the Midwest Act” on Thursday. He has sent a personal letter to each of his colleagues in the 11 states affected by the legislation. Latham hopes his fellow Midwest Congressmen will join him in taking the lead