Murtha Alledgedly Violated House Rules

Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan is planning to introduce a resolution asking that Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) violated House rules and be reprimanded.

According to the draft resolution, Murtha shouted at and chastised Rogers on the House floor Thursday for offering a motion last week to challenge $23 million Murtha requested in an intelligence bill.

Murtha had requested the money to prevent the administration from shuttering the National Drug Intelligence Center in Johnstown, Pa., which is part of Murtha’s district.

“I hope you don’t have any earmarks in the defense appropriations bills because they are gone, and you will not get any earmarks now and forever,” Murtha told Rogers, according to the draft transcript given to The Politico.

“This is not the way we do things here – and is that supposed to make me afraid of you?” Rogers replied.

“That’s the way I do it,” Murtha said.

The showdown occurred on the Republican side of the aisle, in the so-called Ohio Corner, in front of numerous GOP lawmakers who witnessed the episode, one member present said.

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This shouting match follows a similar outburst Murtha directed at Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) last week.

Murtha yelled at Tiahrt on the House floor for voting in favor of Rogers’s motion, members and aides familiar with the incident said.

The overall controversy stems from a disagreement between Murtha and the Bush administration about closing the National Drug Intelligence Center, an intelligence gathering facility supervised by the Drug Enforcement Agency.

President Bush’s budget cut $23 million from the budget to force the agency to close the office, which has received repeated low marks from several federal review boards.

So Murtha's beef is because he doesn't like the way Republicans are voting on his bills. Does the term "thin-skinned" mean anything?