Where have you gone, Louie Gohmert? Way back, you said that "Washington, D.C. is also the only city in the entire country that every senator and every member of Congress has a vested interest in seeing that it works properly, that water works, sewer works, and no other city in America has that." The only reason we ask is to see if you could kinda tap on Sen. Tom Coburn's office door and sorta ask......

Good morning, Washington. Well, this is it: the holidays are finally, tragically over. You're once again sitting at your desk. And now we begin the slow, terrible death march toward spring, with only brief, inadequate celebrations of Presidents' and MLK Day to sustain us. Stay strong, D.C. — we'll get through this. Can You Hear Me Now? Hello? Hello?: The ball dropped, the phones came out and... nothing. "Y2K8 Bug" doesn't sound very catchy,......

When in the closing days of 2006 we looked back on the year in D.C. voting rights, we optimistically hoped that 2007 would finally be the year that saw some movement on enfranchising the District's residents. Movement, yes; resolution, not so much. So as we wind down 2007, we're again left hoping that maybe the coming year will be the one. The primary mover in the D.C. voting rights movement in 2007 was legislation......

Welcome back, Washington. We hope those of you who celebrate Christmas had a holly and/or jolly one, and that your stock of material possessions has been satisfactorily increased. As you might expect, not too terribly much happened while you've been away. Davis Mulls Eighth Term: Sure, it was published yesterday, but we imagine many of you may have missed the Post's analysis of whether Tom Davis will seek another term as congressman for Northern......

The Associated Press is reporting that former Va. Gov. Jim Gilmore has officially announced he is a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. John Warner. Gilmore announced his candidacy by posting a video to YouTube. The formal announcement sets up Gilmore as the presumed Republican nominee for the seat, as the other leading candidate, Rep. Tom Davis (Va.-R), announced last month that he would not seek the seat. Gilmore will......

Good morning, Washington. Make it to the polls yesterday? If so, we hope you did so before the sun went down — it got cold in a hurry last night, as the area rapidly moved from warmer-than-usual temps to colder-than-usual ones. CapitalWeather is saying that the weekend should be warmer, at least. Election 2007: The results are in, and it looks like it was a good night for Virginia's Democrats. The Dems picked up......

Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) has decided not to seek the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) next year. The Post is reporting that Davis will announce formally on Thursday what his plans are, but sources have indicated that he won't look to take on a number of potential Republican contenders or former Governor Mark Warner for the seat. Davis reportedly doesn't want his run to overshadow a tough re-election contest faced by......

And so it was -- the U.S. Senate voted today 57-42 in favor of closing debate on legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, three short of what was needed to prevent a Republican-led filibuster. The measure, which passed the House in April, is now likely dead, and another attempt to correct a 200-year injustice has been thwarted. Of course, the legislation could be re-introduced, but it won't......

Popular former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner formally announced today that he is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. John Warner. The announcement immediately give the Democrats a strong frontrunner in a race that would help solidify a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate, and makes the possibility of two Democrats representing the Commonwealth of Virginia for the first time since 1970 highly likely. No other serious Democrat is likely to......

Bloggers across this fair nation thought they couldn't get a bigger gift from a Virginia senate race than they did last year, after the epic and appalling Macacaness of Sen. George Allen's eventual defeat to Sen. Jim Webb. But via Wonkette, it would seem we could all have been wrong. Rumors are flying that Pat "Homosexuality is Not Only Immoral, but Filthy" Buchanan is considering a run at the seat being vacated by Sen. John......

After letting us all enjoy a good summer break, next week the U.S. Senate will start debating legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives. And in preparing for what is sure to be a spirited battle, big-name voting rights activists have recently stepped up the pressure with two back-to-back op-eds in Washington papers. Yesterday Maryland's former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele and former Oklahoma Republican Rep. J.C. Watts penned......

Good morning, Washington. Does your commute include the Wilson Bridge? If so, enjoy this morning's trip — it's the last speedy one you're likely to have this week. As Fox 5 details, some of the traffic around the bridge will be redirected beginning at 10 a.m. this morning. But the worst will be saved for overnight on Friday, when traffic will be reduced to a single lane. Hateful Vandalism Galore: What the hell is going......

Even though the U.S. Senate is known as the best retirement home in America -- great healthcare, plenty of daily activities, and people continue to pay attention to you for some reason -- Virginia Sen. John Warner announced today that come next year, he's out. And while his announcement is big news, even bigger is the fight that's about to come to replace him. Consider the circumstances. The commonwealth is a political toss-up these days.......

Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) made national news last week when he asked President Bush to start bringing the troops home in time for Christmas. But of more importance locally has been the continued speculation as to whether Warner would run for another term in 2008, and if not, who would replace him. By way of FreeRide, we find out today that yesterday the Post's Sunday Fix briefly noted that Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) has been......

Happy Thursday, and welcome back to another post full of the best in transit news. This week, we consider whether Virginians would rather obey traffic laws or pay more taxes. It's a real Sophie's Choice, we know. Also, a few words on the latest Metro fare hike proposal from Metro. We also have Metro's schedule of weekend track work and maintenance, which will cause delays on some lines. Photo by christaki......

As the full Senate readies to debate and vote on legislation that would grant the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, voting rights activists are focusing on two key senators -- Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.). According to people close to the lobbying effort, the legislation has garnered enough votes for a simple majority, but is still short of the votes needed to prevent a filibuster. And while......

This morning the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs approved legislation granting the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives, sending the measure to the full Senate for cosideration. The vote was 9-1, with Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) casting the lone dissenting vote (seriously, can't Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) have a talk with this guy?). Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Senator George Voinovich (R-Ohio), all considered key......

It's Thursday, and while were out of commission last week, we're back this week with your weekly transit news, all packaged up and ready for delivery. After the jump, we're feeling the Metro love from Maryland's senators even while another tunnel debate is brewing in their state. Also, Fairfax roadways are beginning to look like tallgrass prairie. Photo by tony_fiorini......

If you work on the Hill you might still have time to run over to the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rm. 342 for the hearing Equal Representation in Congress: Providing Voting Rights to the District of Columbia before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The hearing, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m., will include testimony split into two panels, the first with Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), Mayor......

After a rocky road through the U.S. House of Representatives, legislation granting the District a voting seat in the lower chamber will get its first hearing before a Senate committee tomorrow -- and pretty much everyone and their mother is set to testify. In a hearing scheduled to start at 10 a.m. before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, eight witnesses will discuss the legislation that was passed in the House on......

Last night Fairfax's Rep. Tom Davis (R) sat down with Stephen Colbert to better know Virginia's "Fighting" 11th District. While it was great to see another local politician step up to the plate, Davis seemed a little befuddled by Colbert's style. For example he likes the Doobie Brothers, but has no idea what a "doobie" is, and probably won't be participating in any program to tag and track Republicans. Whew! Maybe Davis's performance just......

There's nothing like a little good old waste, fraud, and abuse, to get Washington all riled up! The world of transit in the nation's Capital was rocked by two reports this week, which point to several examples of all three. Let the fallout begin! Also this week: Metro parking goes high-tech and low-frustration. Finally, brace yourself, Washington... The much ballyhooed Metro performers - songsters, dancers, and jugglers galore - are coming to a station......

Of course we'd be remiss if we didn't spend a little quality time with that polling data on voting rights the Washington Post was kind enough to dig up for all of us, along with the story Mary Beth Sheridan and Jon Cohen put together to go along with it. You've probably read it by now, but just in case you didn't: A sizable majority of Americans think the District should have a full voting......

This time of year, everyone is thinking about money. Companies, organizations, and Congress are budgeting for the next fiscal year. Your taxes are filed (at least they should be!), and hopefully for most of you, more money is coming in than going out! Metro is no exception, but right now, things don't look so rosy for our transit system. Also in the news, a Metrobus driver gets a bit too friendly and Metro is......

Last time we live blogged the House debate on District voting rights, things didn't go too well. We're hoping for a bit of an improvement today. From what we've heard on the Hill, debate kicks off at 10:30 a.m., and the legislation has been split up into two separate parts -- one covering the actual voting seats both D.C. and Utah would receive and the other dealing with the minor increase in annual spending the......

As we mentioned yesterday, next Monday, April 16 is the long-awaited Voting Rights March. Activists, residents and supporters will take an afternoon to demand that Congress finally do something to remedy the 200-year-old disenfranchisement of the District's residents. We'd like to see as many people out there as possible, but we recognize that it's hard to take an entire afternoon off, regardless of how good the cause is. Fear not, though -- you may only......

Well, folks, it's happened. Everyone who lives in, commutes to, travels through, or even gets near Virginia in a car, bus, or train can breathe a little easier. Yesterday, as expected, the Virginia legislature approved Governor Tim Kaine's changes to the transportation bill, which we detailed last week. The expected revenue certainly won't dig Virginia out of the hole it's in with respect to transportation. But hopefully, it can keep the hole from getting any......

Nothing gets us going here at Transit on Thursday quite like fun, new toys for District residents to ride, use, and enjoy. Streetcars and Circulators, bike trails and lanes, new Metro cars with drop-down handles -- we love 'em all and we want more, more, more! After the jump we have news on the shiny new Bicycle Transit Center proposed for Union Station. Additionally, it's all about oversight this week -- for Metro, some......

OK, we're going to try live blogging debate on the House floor as much as we can. Acting speaker right now is Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher (D- CA). Floor manager Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), Judiciary Chairman, has just finished introducing the legislation and expressing his belief that the District Clause allows the Congress to make any laws for D.C. it sees fit. 12:27 p.m.: Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is currently making the case on behalf......

When legislation granting the District a voting seat in the House of Representatives came before the House Judiciary Committee last Thursday, all but two Republicans voted against it. One, Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Ut.), would see his state gain an additional seat, so his support was a given. The second, Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), was the surprise. Pence has always been a conservative's conservative, a former leader of the Republican Study Committee (a conservative caucus within......