Freedmen vs Cherokee Nation

Hiring family members to work in a congressional office may sound like something a lawmaker would be apt to avoid, but some have done it for years. At the moment, the chief of staff and press secretary to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is Mikael Moore, her grandson. Call it nepotism if you will, but according to House rules, while members are forbidden from hiring their children, there is no rule against grandchildren. As for spouses, they cannot be hired unless they were working in the office prior to marriage. This was the case in the office of Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), whose wife, Arlene Willis, was his longtime chief of staff before she married him. Nepotism rules are strict. A lawmaker may not hire the following relatives, as outlined on the House Administration Committee website: for the rest of the story: http://thehill.com/in-the-know/nepotism-does-not-officially-exist-in-rep.-waterss-office-2008-01-15.html

By The Hill Staff Posted: 01/23/08 12:01 AM [ET] Cherokees vs. CBC (Congressional Black Caucus) http://thehill.com/business--lobby/k-street-in-brief-2008-01-23.html A dispute between the Cherokee Nation and members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) looks likely to continue despite a lobbying push that the tribe had hoped would resolve the issue. In response to that change, Rep. Diane Watson (D-Calif.) introduced a bill that would cut off the federal money that Cherokees get to help pay for housing and health care services. Meanwhile, CBC lawmakers, who have joined Watson in protesting the Cherokees’ decision, plan to meet with the Department of the Interior’s assistant secretary of Indian Affairs, Carl Artman , to discuss the Freedmen in the coming weeks, according to a Watson aide. *********** (she should be fighting to increase the amount of health care and housing funding for tribal members but alas she prefers to *punish* once again a people that have already been suppresse...