Politics

The director of the U.S. Secret Service publicly apologized for the first time Wednesday for a prostitution scandal that has rocked his agency as lawmakers revealed fresh allegations of misconduct including reports of non-consensual sex and soliciting prostitutes.

“I am deeply disappointed, and I apologize for the misconduct of these employees and the distraction that it has caused,” Mark Sullivan told senators Wednesday. “The men and women of the U.S. Secret Service are committed to continuing to uphold the standards that the president, the Congress and the American people expect and deserve.”

Sullivan said the employees involved “did some really dumb things” and told lawmakers that their behavior “is not representative of these values or the high ethical standards we demand.”

U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan. (Brendan Hoffman - Bloomberg)

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.

Sullivan will appear at a hearing held by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee alongside Homeland Security Acting Inspector General Charles K. Edwards, who is poised to tell lawmakers that the agency is cooperating with a separate probe into its response to a scandal that unfolded ahead of a trip last month by President Obama to Colombia.

Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), who chairs the homeland security panel, said Tuesday that lawmakers are especially eager to hear from Sullivan, adding that the hearing “will be an important day for the agency and for him.”

Who says nothing can get done in an election year? Four senators — two from each party — are trying to buck the conventional wisdom with a carefully calibrated plan to encourage entrepreneurs and promote job creation.

(Left to right) Sens. Mark Warner, Jerry Moran, Marco Rubio and Chris Coons hold a news conference at the U.S. Capitol May 22, 2012 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla - Getty Images)

Their bill, dubbed START-UP 2.0, draws on ideas traditionally supported by Republicans and advanced by President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. At a news conference Tuesday, the four co-sponsors — Democrats Mark Warner (Va.) and Chris Coons (Del.) and Republicans Mark Rubio (Fla.) and Jerry Moran (Kan.) — appeared with AOL co-founder Steve Case, a Jobs Council member, to urge their colleagues to rally behind common-sense ideas and take action.

“This is a collection of really good ideas,” said Rubio, who said he conceived of the package in discussion with Coons during a late night on the Senate floor. “On the things we agree on, we should do them.”

The measure seeks to build on the success of the JOBS Act, which is intended to help businesses gain access to capital. The measure was approved by a deeply divided Congress and signed by Obama in April.

Members of both parties photographed on the Senate floor last July. (Associated Press)

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.

The study rightfully notes that what some might consider “the dumbing down” of congressional speeches could be interpreted as an attempt to more simply and effectively communicate with constituents. That effort could be in part because the study says that Congress generally speaks at a higher grade level than average Americans.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko, photographed in December, on Capitol Hill. (Andrew Harrer - Bloomberg)

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.”

Also of note: “Several congressional aides had said that Jaczko would resign only if Reid signaled that he could no longer give him political support. Aides reached Monday confirmed that diminishing support for Jaczko on Capitol Hill was a factor, but they also cited Jaczko’s desire to move on amid the allegations.”