Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said he was told by the office of Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia that Speaker John Boehner of Ohio had decided to abandon a vote this session.

Cantor, who sets the House schedule, did not immediately comment. House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland told reporters that just before Tuesday evening's vote on "fiscal cliff" legislation, Cantor told him that he was "99.9 percent confident that this bill would be on the floor, and that's what he wanted."

A spokesman for Boehner, Michael Steel said, "The speaker is committed to getting this bill passed this month."

In remarks on the House floor, King called the decision "absolutely inexcusable, absolutely indefensible. We cannot just walk away from our responsibilities."

The Senate approved a $60.4 billion measure Friday to help with recovery from the October storm that devastated parts of New York, New Jersey and nearby states. The House Appropriations Committee has drafted a smaller, $27 billion measure, and a vote had been expected before Congress' term ends Thursday at noon.

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The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee report said the White House was only responsible for a minor change. Some Republicans had questioned whether the presidential staff rewrote the talking points for political reasons.

The committee, headed by independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut and Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, also said the director of national intelligence has been stonewalling the panel in holding back a promised timeline of the talking point changes.

U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in the Sept. 11 attack. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said she used the talking points to say in television interviews on Sept. 16 that it may have been a protest that got out of hand.

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The committee ended the case after adopting the findings of its investigative panel, saying no discipline was necessary because of Berkley's cooperation. The conclusions said the Nevada Democrat made no attempt to enrich herself.

The seven-term lawmaker is retiring from the House, and narrowly lost a Senate race in November to incumbent Republican Dean Heller. The investigation was an issue in the Senate campaign, playing to voters' distrust of Washington. National Republicans and GOP-aligned groups spent millions of dollars questioning Berkley's character.

The committee said that in four instances from April 2008 through December 2010, her husband, Dr. Lawrence Lehrner, contacted Berkley's congressional office to complain about problems his medical practice had in collecting payments from the Veterans Administration, Medicare or Medicaid.

Lehrner referenced specific dollar amounts that he believed those agencies owed to his practice, Kidney Specialists of Southern Nevada.

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House Ethics Committee members said Friday at a hearing their investigation found no violation by Waters, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee.

However, the committee said Waters' chief of staff, Mikael Moore, did take actions in Congress in an attempt to help the bank and violated House standards of conduct. Moore likely will receive a letter admonishing him for his conduct but will not face more severe punishment, such as a reprimand, by the full House.

Virginia Republican Rep. Bob Goodlatte, acting chairman of the panel, announced the tentative findings at the hearing but noted the committee had not issued a final report.

Goodlatte said the committee was convinced that when Waters asked for a meeting at the Treasury Department to discuss financial help for minority banks, she believed she did so on behalf of all minority banks — not just OneUnited, where her husband owns stock. Goodlatte said the committee agreed with Waters' assertion.

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The committee is conducting a hearing Friday and could issue its final report after the proceeding concludes.

The case could have political implications for Democrats because the California lawmaker would be the senior party member next year on the committee that oversees the financial industry. Waters, who routinely wins her Los Angeles district overwhelmingly, could become chairman if Democrats win control of the House.

Her position on the committee also would be important to the Congressional Black Caucus because Waters is a senior member of the group. The caucus has been deeply concerned with how the mortgage foreclosure crisis affects minorities.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the committee of five Republicans and five Democrats has the option of issuing its final report and wrapping up the case. Waters denies any violations of standards of conduct.

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Commissioner Douglas Shulman on Thursday defended the IRS rule that applies the tax credits to federal insurance exchanges, which are the bodies that will be developed to allow those without health insurance to buy it. He testified at a House hearing.

The issue is a new controversy over President Barack Obama's health care law. Several states already have decided not to establish their own insurance exchanges. In those states, federal exchanges would be created.

The credits would help consumers pay for private insurance beginning in 2014.

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Romney’s latest financial disclosure report, showing a fortune of nearly $250 million, hardly compares to Whitman’s $1.4 billion — a figure compiled by Forbes in its list of the richest 400 Americans.

Some of the potential Republican vice presidential nominees are grappling with the same financial issues as many of their countrymen.

—In 2010, Deutsche Bank began foreclosure proceedings against Marco Rubio of Florida while he was successfully running for the Senate. Rubio, who had been the state House speaker, co-owned a Tallahassee home with another state lawmaker and the two failed to pay the full mortgage for five months. Rubio said the missed payments resulted from a dispute over the mortgage terms, and the matter was resolved with a payment of more than $9,500.

Rubio’s personal residence in Miami is under water, with his loan amount of $250,001-$500,000 greater than the home’s value, according to spokesman Alex Conant.

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House officials told The Associated Press on Monday that the inquiry is not yet extensive, and that committee leaders have not indicated whether they will order a more intensive staff investigation. The officials requested anonymity because the committee has yet to make a formal statement.

The New York Democrat could face an ethics investigation that could take many months, even longer if he mounts a full defense.

The committee leaders can decide to appoint a four-member subcommittee to investigate Weiner, including whether he used government resources to send lewd photos of himself online.

The ethics committee determines whether a House member violated standards of conduct.

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Ensign, a Nevada Republican, resigned his seat May 3 rather than face continued scrutiny and possible public hearings about his affair with the wife of one of his top Senate aides, a payment to the aide's family, and the aide's lobbying after leaving Senate employment.

The committee also asked the FEC to investigate possible campaign finance law violations.

"When Sen. Ensign resigned he said and I quote, 'I have not violated any law, rule or standard of conduct,'" committee Chairman Barbara Boxer told the Senate. "I want to go on record ... to say how strongly I disagree with that statement."

The committee has been investigating Ensign for 22 months. The Senate cannot punish a member no longer serving, but the referrals ensure that investigation of Ensign will go on for some time.

Ensign has acknowledged an affair with Cynthia Hampton, a former campaign treasurer. She's the wife of Douglas Hampton, who was Ensign's co-chief of staff.

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The GOP is promising to use the new Congress that convenes Wednesday to cut spending, roll back President Barack Obama's health care overhaul and prevent unelected bureaucrats from expanding the government's role in society through regulations that tell people what they must or can't do.

Passing their top priorities may be easier in the House, where Republicans hold a 241-194 majority. It will be harder in the Senate where Democrats still hold an edge, though smaller than the one Obama had during his first two years in the White House. But if the GOP agenda fails to change the lives of Americans, it could still prove to have a greater impact on next year's elections.

House Republicans also pledge to hold tough investigations and hearings on the president's programs and policies, ending the free pass that Democratic committee chairmen gave the Obama administration the past two years.

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He will argue that he's not one of them.

The 80-year-old Democrat from New York's Harlem neighborhood wants his punishment for ethics violations downgraded to a reprimand, according to congressional and nongovernment sources who are in touch with Rangel but are not authorized to be quoted by name.

Rangel will ask the House ethics committee chairman, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., for time to plead his case on the floor of the House, where he has served for 40 years, including a stint as chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

The ethics committee voted 9-1 on Nov. 18 that Rangel should be censured for committing 11 counts of fundraising and financial misdeeds that violated House rules.

There is precedent for Rangel's argument that censure -- the most severe punishment short of expulsion -- is too harsh in his case. It won't be easy because he'll have to overcome the overwhelming vote of a committee that has an equal number of Democrats and Republicans.

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The House will likely consider a censure motion after Thanksgiving. If it passes, Rangel would suffer the embarrassment of standing before his colleagues and receiving an oral rebuke by the speaker.

The five Democrats and five Republicans deliberated for several hours behind closed doors Thursday. The vote was 9-1. Earlier, at a sanctions hearing, Rangel apologized for his misconduct but said he was not a crooked politician out for personal gain.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

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The Harlem Democrat released a contrite statement Thursday, saying: "There can be no excuse for my acts of omission. I've failed in carrying out my responsibilities. I made numerous mistakes. But corruption and personal enrichment are certainly not part of my mistakes."

The panel will deliberate and likely recommend sanctions to the House.

Rangel was convicted by a jury of his congressional peers of 11 counts of violating House rules.

One possible form of punishment is a House vote to censure Rangel for his misconduct.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Convicted by his colleagues on 11 counts of ethical wrongdoing, Rep. Charles Rangel of New York is about to learn his likely punishment by the House as his lengthy ordeal nears a painful end.

The House ethics committee was to deliberate behind closed doors Thursday after a short public hearing, in which the 80-year-old Harlem Democrat can make his case for a light punishment.

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The full ethics committee will next conduct a hearing on the appropriate punishment for the former chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. The committee will then make a recommendation to the House.

Possible punishments include a House vote deploring Rangel's conduct, a fine and denial of privileges.

The eight-member ethics panel had sat as a jury to judge Rangel's conduct. The 80-year-old congressman from Harlem was charged with 13 counts of financial and fundraising wrongdoing.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An eight-member House ethics panel has resumed closed-door deliberations in the ethics trial of Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, accused in 13 counts of engaging in financial and fundraising misconduct.

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The former Ways and Means Committee chairman made an impassioned opening statement that said he had run out of money to pay his previous attorney after spending nearly $2 million. The silver-haired, 80-year-old congressman then left the proceedings and the eight panel members -- four Democrats and four Republicans -- went into a closed session to consider his request for a delay.

Rangel, a 20-term Democrat from New York's famed Harlem neighborhood, said he would not attend any further hearings without legal representation.

Rangel has been accused in 13 House counts of financial and fundraising misconduct that violated the chamber's rules.

The panel was sitting as a jury in a House committee room for a proceeding that was open to the public. It was only the second time this type of hearing was held under a revamped system of in-house ethics policing adopted by lawmakers two decades ago.

If the panel finds that Rangel broke the rules, the House ethics committee could recommend that the House vote to condemn Rangel's conduct.

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People familiar with the investigation, who were not authorized to be quoted about charges before they are made public, say the allegations could be announced next week. The House ethics committee declined Friday to make any public statement on the matter.

Waters, 71, has been under investigation for a possible conflict of interest involving a bank that was seeking federal aid. Her husband owned stock in the bank and had served on its board.

New York Democrat Rep. Charles Rangel also faces an ethics trial this fall on charges that include failure to disclose assets and income, nonpayment of taxes and doing legislative favors for donors to a college center named after him.

Both Waters and Rangel are prominent members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the trials would be an embarrassment for the group. Dual ethics trials would also be a major political liability for Democrats, forcing them to defend their party's ethical conduct while trying to hold on to their House majority.

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The allegations include failure to report rental income from vacation property in the Dominican Republic and hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional income and assets on his financial disclosure statements.

Other charges focused on Rangel's use of congressional staff and stationery to raise money for a college center in New York named after him; accepting favors and benefits from the donors that may have influenced his congressional actions; use of a subsidized New York apartment as a campaign office instead of a residence; and misuse of the congressional free mail privilege.

"Even though they are serious charges, I'm prepared to prove that the only thing I've ever had in my 50 years of public service is service," Rangel told reporters Thursday night. "That's what I've done and if I've been overzealous providing that service, I can't make an excuse for the serious violations."

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The passenger, who was traveling on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam, was not identified. He was being questioned Friday evening, according to one of the officials, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.

The motive of the Christmas Day attack was not immediately clear.

"He appears to have had some kind of incendiary device he tried to ignite," said one of the U.S. officials.

Authorities initially believed the passenger had set off firecrackers that caused some minor injuries.

Delta Air Lines spokeswoman Susan Elliott said the passenger was subdued immediately. She had no details on the injuries. Delta and Northwest have merged.

One passenger from the flight was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Justice said. She didn't know the person's condition, or whether the person was a man or woman. She referred all inquiries to the FBI.

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Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., identified the suspect as Abdul Mudallad, a Nigerian. King said the flight began in Nigeria and went through Amsterdam en route to Detroit.

One of the U.S. intelligence officials said the explosive device was a mix of powder and liquid. It failed when the passenger tried to detonate it.

The passenger was being questioned Friday evening.

Both of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing.

The motive of the Christmas Day attack was not immediately clear.

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After the Secret Service insisted that President Barack Obama was never endangered by a security breach that allowed a couple to crash his first state dinner, the White House has released a photo showing that not only did the pair get close to Obama, they actually shook hands and talked to him.

As the White House was disclosing that the Virginia couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, met Obama in the receiving line, a "deeply concerned and embarrassed" Secret Service on Friday acknowledged that its officers never checked whether the two were on the guest list before letting them onto the White House grounds.

The White House released a photo showing the Salahis in the receiving line in the Blue Room with Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in whose honor the dinner was held. Obama and reality TV hopeful Michaele Salahi are smiling as she grasps his right hand with both of hers and her husband looks on. Singh is standing to Obama's left.

The Secret Service earlier this week had said the president was not in danger because the couple -- like others at the dinner -- had gone through magnetometers. But in light of their close proximity to the president, no such claim was made Friday.

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