Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be abolished, Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said Tuesday when asked whether the mortgage giants should play a role in housing market reforms. "I think they should be abolished," Frank told Fox Business Network's Neil Cavuto in an evening interview. "The only question is what do you put in their place. This is a situation where given the importance they had come to play in housing, you can't tear down the old jail until you buil... (more)

WASHINGTON — Congressional incumbents, already nervous about increasingly unpredictable November elections, are facing a potentially make-or-break political decision: Whether to vote on extending expiring Bush era tax cuts before the election. The White House and many congressional leaders want to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for everyone but the wealthy; they'd let tax rates on the rich rise back to 1990s levels. Republicans, and moderate Democrats, want to extend the tax cuts for the wealthy, a... (more)

WASHINGTON — A House investigatory panel is alleging 13 violations of congressional ethics and federal law statutes by veteran New York Rep. Charles Rangel. It came despite efforts by Rangel's attorneys to negotiate a last-minute deal. The charges include allegations that Rangel failed to report rental income on vacation property in the Dominican Republic and over the course of nearly a decade failed to report more than $600,000 on his financial disclosure statements. Rep. Michael McCaul of Texa... (more)

Rep. Charles Rangel, who has spent half of his 80 years as a member of Congress, said Thursday he was looking forward to fighting ethics charges. However the ethics trial sought by the New York congressman and former Ways and Means Committee chairman will coincide with campaign season and Democrats will have to defend their party's conduct. If enough of them lose, the party could cede control of the House after November's election. Ahead of the first public meeting before the House ethics committ... (more)

The House Administration Committee on Friday officially approved Rep. Michele Bachmann's request to form the House Tea Party Caucus, the Minnesota Republican announced on Facebook and Twitter on Monday. The tea party protest mainstay, who found out about the confirmation Monday, now becomes the chairwoman of the caucus, institutionalizing the movement that has been gaining significant steam in tax day protests and GOP primaries around the country. "She's excited to get the ball rolling," Bachmann s... (more)

Two indicators to watch today that should concern Democrats greatly with just 134 days until the November elections. My colleague Michael Muskal writes about Gallup's new survey measuring enthusiasm among Democratic and Republicans (more)

The author of the Senate's amendment to audit the Federal Reserve expressed confidence on Tuesday that it will remain in Wall Street reform legislation once the House and Senate merge their two bills. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) told Vermont Public Radio that the measure has the support of people on both sides of the political spectrum. (more)

A little-noticed analysis by the CBO last week showed that rather than controlling costs in the near- and long-term, ObamaCare does nothing to change the upward pressure on medical costs. In fact, as Keith Hennessey argues in a guest column at Business Insider, the bill in combination with the anticipated “doc fix”, it will substantially worsen the situation. CBO chief Douglas Elmendorf obliterates the Obama administration’s argument that the health-care cost issue was at the heart of the deficit crisi... (more)

A bipartisan group of Senators “tonight scored a victory that will provide strong protections for investors while promoting small business startups vital to job creation,” according to a joint press release. A bipartisan amendment sponsored by Senators Kit Bond (R-MO) and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and co-sponsored by Senators Mark Warner (D-VA), Scott Brown (R-MA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Mark Begich (D-AK) was adopted by voice vote as part of the financial reform bill ... (more)

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) suggested Friday that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner opposes an audit of the Federal Reserve bank because he would be personally damaged by a probe. Grayson -- who co-sponsored an amendment to the House's financial reform bill to force a full audit of the central bank -- said that Geithner may have something to hide from his time as chairman of the New York Fed. (more)