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At House hearing on IRS screening of tea party groups, star witness plans to stay mum
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- A House committee taking Congress' latest look at the Internal Revenue Service's mistreatment of tea party groups will apparently have to do so without input from the star witness.
• IRS official Lois Lerner will invoke her constitutional right to not answer questions on Wednesday at a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing, her lawyer told the panel in a letter.
• Lerner triggered the recent IRS uproar at a legal conference nearly two weeks ago, when she revealed that the agency had subjected tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status to extra scrutiny during parts of the 2010 and 2012 election seasons. She also apologized for the actions.
• Lerner, 62, an attorney who joined the IRS in 2001, heads the unit that decides whether groups qualify for the status. She has come under fire from members of both parties, including Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, who said in an interview Tuesday that she should lose her job.
• In Lerner's absence, Wednesday's spotlight will be on another witness: Neal Wolin, the Treasury Department's deputy secretary.
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Immigration bill with path to citizenship for millions here illegally heads to Senate
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- A far-reaching bill to remake the nation's immigration system is headed to the full Senate, where tough battles are brewing on gay marriage, border security and other contentious issues, with the outcome impossible to predict.
• The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the measure 13-5 Tuesday night, setting up an epic showdown on the Senate floor after Congress' Memorial Day recess. The legislation is one of President Barack Obama's top domestic priorities -- yet it also gives the Republican Party a chance to recast itself as more appealing to minorities.
• Many involved still vividly recall the last time the Senate took up a major immigration bill, in 2007, beginning with high hopes only to see their efforts collapse on the Senate floor amid a public backlash and interest group defections.
• Some expressed optimism for a better outcome this time around as the Judiciary (Continued on page 30)
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