Today in CongressFebruary 17, 2012
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Unemployment Insurance Cuts in the Latest Deal by Donny Shaw February 15, 2012
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It’s not official yet, but it appears that Democrats and Republicans in Congress are on the verge of striking a deal on extending the payroll tax holiday and unemployment insurance benefits. While the payroll tax holiday would be continued in its current form under the deal, the policies governing extended unemployment insurance for the would change significantly. Under the deal, long-term unemployed workers in most states would see their maximum length of benefits restricted, and they may face new drug testing and job retraining requirements to continue receiving benefits. Here are the details of the the deal as it currently stands, according to an outline obtained by CNN:
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Amid an ethics committee investigation, Sen. John Ensign [R, NV] announced on April 22nd that he was resigning his Senate seat effective May 3rd. Ensign had an extramarital affair with the wife of his former top aide, whom he helped secure a lucrative lobbying job for while the affair was still going on. The investigation will be dropped once Ensign is now longer a member of the Senate. Under Nevada law, the governor will appoint a replacement, most likely Rep. Dean Heller [R, NV-2].
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Rep. David Wu [D, OR-1] has announced his plans to resign from Congress in response to allegations that he sexually assaulted the teenage daughter of one of his campaign contributors. In a statement Wu said that he would step down "effective upon the resolution of the debt-ceiling crisis."
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