Boehner shrugs off critic's ouster try
WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John Boehner brushed aside a challenge to his tenure Wednesday as the work of a lone dissident Republican amounting to "no big deal."
He said the effort by Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina to strip him of his powerful post "isn't even deserving of a vote."
Speaking at a news conference, Boehner said, "I've got broad support amongst my colleagues."
Boehner was elected to his most recent term as speaker in January over the opposition of Meadows and 24 other rank-and-file Republicans, the most to oppose a winning candidate of their own party in a century.
The Ohio Republican spoke one day after Meadows made his largely symbolic challenge, filing a formal proposal that -- if approved -- would force a new election by the entire House to pick a speaker. The proposal was referred to a committee stacked with Boehner's loyalists and is unlikely to emerge.
Meadows, who was disciplined earlier this year in a move backed by House leadership, said in his legislative proposal that Boehner "has endeavored to consolidate power and centralize decision-making, bypassing the majority of the 435 Members of Congress and the people they represent."
NYC chokehold case files stay sealed
NEW YORK — Meeting transcripts of the grand jury that declined to indict a white police officer in the death of an unarmed black man in New York last year will remain secret, a state appeals court ruled.
The court in Brooklyn on Wednesday upheld a judge’s March denial of a request by New York City Public Advocate Letitia James and others to release the transcripts of the grand jury inquiry of Eric Garner’s death.
The argument “that there is a compelling and particularized need for disclosing the grand jury materials in order to shape legislative debate at the state capitol for potential grand jury reform is unpersuasive,” the court said.
James said she would appeal the decision immediately.
Garner died July 17, 2014, after a police officer, Daniel Pantaleo, placed him in a chokehold during an arrest as other officers wrestled him to the ground. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide, citing the chokehold and compression of Garner’s chest by police.
LA acts to ban high-capacity magazines
LOS ANGELES -- Leaders in Los Angeles unanimously voted to ban the possession of high-capacity gun magazines.
The City Council says the measure it passed Tuesday will address a provision in California law that bans the manufacture and sale of magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition -- but not their possession.
Mayor Eric Garcetti says he will sign the measure and it will go into effect 30 days after that. Those who have the magazines will have a 60-day grace period to legally sell, surrender or take them out of the city.
The National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups have threatened to sue, saying that the ordinance violates the Second Amendment and is pre-empted by state law.
Supporters of the measure say it is a small but important step in curbing violence, and Councilman Paul Krekorian said, "If the NRA wants to sue us over this, bring it on."
The effort to draft the ordinance started two years ago.
Hopeful Cruz uses hearing to target IRS
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas took aim at the IRS during a Senate hearing Wednesday.
The Republican presidential candidate told the head of the IRS that his agency has become "the embodiment of what's wrong with government and what's wrong with Washington."
"We have seen the creation of an entity that I believe is no longer serving the interests of the American people," said Cruz, who has called for the IRS to be abolished.
Earlier this week, 21 Republican House members called on President Barack Obama to fire IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, saying he has obstructed congressional investigations. The IRS disputed the accusation, and the Treasury Department issued a statement supporting Koskinen.
At a hearing in U.S. District Court in Washington on Wednesday, a federal judge threatened to hold IRS officials in contempt for not following an order to produce documents as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Judicial Watch, a conservative group.
In a written order issued Wednesday, Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the IRS to produce documents as they are available every Monday.
A Section on 07/30/2015