The House plans to begin debate Wednesday on a bill that would ban abortions based on the sex of a child — and the measure may fail because of the way Republicans plan to bring the measure for a vote.

Rubio, whose parents immigrated from Cuba in 1956, is visiting the base to inspect U.S. terrorist detention operations as part of his membership on the Senate Intelligence Committee, according to spokesman Alex Conant.

U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan is slated to make his first public appearance Wednesday before lawmakers to discuss his agency’s response to a scandal that earned the storied institution embarrassing headlines around the world.

Most congressional observers agree that the level of discourse on Capitol Hill is coarser and more partisan than ever before. A new study suggests it’s also dumber.

Congress collectively speaks at almost a full grade-level lower than it did seven years ago, with Republican lawmakers ranking as the smartest and least-smart-sounding talkers, according to a new study by the Sunlight Foundation sure to earn the ire of at least some congressional offices.

Embattled Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko announced Monday he’s stepping down after three rocky years at the helm of the nation’s nuclear safety agency.

As colleague Steve Mufson and I write Monday, his resignation “signals that he had lost the support of his former boss, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), a fierce opponent of efforts to store nuclear waste at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain, a key concern of the nuclear agency.”

Ask House Democrats about the political future of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and they claim they don’t know whether she will stick around after the November elections or retire after 25 years in Congress. (Ask them whether they want her to stay, and they’re likely to dodge the question.)

Republican leaders doubled down Sunday on a renewed push to secure spending cuts as part of any deal to increase the national debt limit, drawing a sharper line in an emerging fight over the issue.

Using sharp rhetoric reminiscent of last summer’s fight over the issue, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said President Obama “needs to become the adult” in discussions with congressional leaders on spending and debt.