WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats took great pains to avoid the word “tax” when they pushed through Congress a sweeping U.S. healthcare overhaul that would require most Americans to buy insurance and would fine them for failing to do so.

Instead they called it a “penalty” and the 2010 law itself used the same term. They wanted to avoid the highly unpopular and politically charged “T-word” that could have sunk the law’s prospects in Congress.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats took great pains to avoid the word “tax” when they pushed through Congress a sweeping U.S. healthcare overhaul that would require most Americans to buy insurance and would fine them for failing to do so.

Instead they called it a “penalty” and the 2010 law itself used the same term. They wanted to avoid the highly unpopular and politically charged “T-word” that could have sunk the law’s prospects in Congress.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder faces a contempt vote by the House of Representatives on Thursday in a dispute involving a botched gun-running probe, and the chamber’s top Democrat, Nancy Pelosi, said some in her party may line up with Republicans against him.

The Republican-led House is to vote on whether to charge the nation’s top law enforcement officer with contempt of Congress related to his withholding of documents in a gun-running sting operation on the U.S.-Mexico border code named “Fast and Furious.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A fight between the White House and House Republicans over documents from a botched U.S.-Mexico gun running sting intensified on Tuesday as the lawmaker heading the congressional probe accused the White House of obstructing the investigation.

In a heated seven-page letter to President Barack Obama made public on Tuesday, Representative Darrell Issa questioned the White House’s motives for claiming executive privilege last week to shield some documents from “Operation Fast and Furious” from congressional investigators.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The congressman heading an investigation into a botched gun-trafficking case said on Sunday he had no evidence the White House was involved in a cover-up about the operation or in providing misleading information to Congress.

However, Republican Representative Darrell Issa said documents the White House was shielding under an executive privilege claim would shed more light on how much high-level officials knew about a misleading February 4, 2011 letter to Congress denying that guns had been allowed to “walk” into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – In the classic Washington investigation at the highest levels of power, it is never the original offense that leads to trouble. It is who knew what and who said what that powers the probe and brings forth the cry of cover-up.

That script is being followed almost to the letter in the drama that continues this week as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives prepares for a possible vote on contempt of Congress charges against the highest law enforcement official in the country, Attorney General Eric Holder.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A congressional panel voted on Wednesday to charge Attorney General Eric Holder with contempt of Congress after the Obama administration invoked executive privilege for the first time since coming to office, withholding some documents related to a failed gun-running investigation.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives’ Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on a party-line vote, decided to cite the nation’s top law enforcement officer in connection with the operation, code-named “Fast and Furious.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. congressional panel voted on Wednesday to charge Attorney General Eric Holder with contempt of Congress after the Obama administration invoked executive privilege for the first time since coming to office, withholding some documents related to a failed gun-running investigation.

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives’ Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on a party-line vote, decided to cite the nation’s top law enforcement officer in connection with the operation, code-named “Fast and Furious.” The move set up a new confrontation between Democratic President Barack Obama and Congress.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration on Wednesday defied the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives, invoking a claim of executive privilege as it refused to turn over some documents related to a Mexican gun-running operation.

The move prompted the House Oversight and Government Operations Committee to go ahead with plans to vote on charging U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder with contempt of Congress.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa said on Tuesday that he would move forward with a contempt citation against Attorney General Eric Holder unless Holder turns over documents by Wednesday morning involving a botched operation to track guns smuggled to Mexico.

Holder said after meeting Issa late on Tuesday afternoon that he thought he had made a fair offer to provide documents and a briefing to the committee.