WASHINGTON – A pair of last-ditch meetings between the Obama administration and House Republicans failed to avert a scheduled contempt vote for Attorney General Eric Holder over the 'Fast and Furious' documents dispute.

A source familiar with the talks told Fox News that the Republicans met with administration officials twice Tuesday -- at the Justice Department and at the White House. The Justice Department showed GOP staff 14 documents on the failed anti-gunrunning operation, totaling about 30 pages.

House Oversight Committee Chairman and Republican Rep. Darrell Issa wants internal communications from February 2011, when the administration denied knowledge of gun-walking, to the end of that year, when officials acknowledged the denial was erroneous. Those documents covered a period after Fast and Furious had been shut down...

Rep. Darrell Issa pressed ahead with a committee vote Wednesday to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, despite an 11th-hour move by President Obama to exert executive privilege over the Fast and Furious documents at the heart of the dispute.

The announcement touched off a caustic debate on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that lasted into the afternoon, as Democrats accused Issa of prosecuting a "political witch hunt" and Republicans stepped up their criticism of Holder's "stonewalling" over the Fast and Furious probe. Even for Washington, the tone at the hearing was decidedly bitter and accusatory.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee was first informed of the president's decision to exert executive privilege in a letter Wednesday morning, shortly before the contempt vote was scheduled...

The WikiLeaks debacle, corruption in Afghanistan and Obama administration regulation are all on the agenda as Rep. Darrell Issa prepares to take the helm of the top House committee tasked with watch-dogging Washington.

Fox News has obtained a tentative outline of the hearings Issa plans to hold when he takes over the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The California Republican's game plan is being closely watched as Democrats worry about the lengths to which he'll go to pull back the curtain on the alleged missteps of the past two years.

Issa has tried to tamp down concerns about his agenda, but does not deny he'll be in a state of "constant battle" with the White House. He said in an interview Sunday that he views the administration as one of the "most corrupt" in modern times...

The top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is calling on the White House to make public all taxpayer-funded travel by administration officials on behalf of Democratic candidates and fully disclose any possible efforts to manipulate elections.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., fired off a letter Thursday to 21 Cabinet secretaries and department heads -- including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- requesting the political office disclose travel costs for campaign-related trips by White House officials.

In his letter, Issa cited a 2008 report by House oversight committee chairman Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on the Bush administration's aggressive use of the political office for campaign travel...

Some Republicans believe the Obama administration may have broken the law in offering Democrat Joe Sestak a job in exchange for bowing out of his bid for Senate against White House-supported Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter.

The White House revealed on Friday that Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel actually had former President Bill Clinton ask Sestak last February to drop out of his race for the Democratic Senate nomination -- a race the challenger eventually won. In response, Sestak told reporters that during that telephone conversation with Clinton he declined the administration's offer for a non-paying presidential advisory position.

Following the lead of Representative Darrell Issa (R-California), Congressman Todd Tiahrt (R-Kansas) says there could be inappropriate actions that need further investigation...

Rep. Joe Sestak's allegation that the White House offered him a job to drop out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary race against Arlen Specter is a crime that could lead to the impeachment of President Obama, Rep. Darrell Issa said.

But the decision by the Pennsylvania congressman not to elaborate on a so-called deal also could become a political problem as Sestak tries for the U.S. Senate seat.

The White House reportedly is going to formally address the allegation in the next few days. In the meantime, Issa, R-Calif., is one of many inside and outside Washington who want the Democratic Senate primary candidate to explain in detail what offer the White House made...

(CNSNews.com) – Fresh off a win over incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, Rep. Joe Sestak is still obligated to answer questions about a job he says the White House offered him as an inducement not to run against Specter, a leading House Republican said.

“Could the reason why Congressman Joe Sestak refuses to name names is because the very people who tried to bribe him are now his benefactors?” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a statement Wednesday.

“For months, Sestak has repeatedly said without equivocation that the White House illegally offered him a federal job in exchange for dropping out of the race,” Issa said...

(CNSNews.com) – Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate primary is less than a month away, but Democrats choosing a nominee should not deter a probe into possible crimes related to that primary committed by White House officials, said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

The possible crime involves the claim – made by Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) – that a White House official offered him a high-level administration job in exchange for Sestak dropping out of the primary race against Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.). Sestak said such an offer was made to him, and members of Congress and legal experts have said if that's true, it would be a crime.

“I think a felony is something you don’t let go of just because an election has occurred,” Issa told CNSNews.com...

A Republican lawmaker released a report Thursday that he says proves the controversial community activist organization ACORN is alive and well, contrary to its announcement that it is disbanding.

The report from California Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, includes details of a recent business transaction between ACORN and a California affiliate that broke away this year and changed its name in a bid to start anew.

The transaction details how membership lists, computer equipment, employees and other assets will be transferred from ACORN to the new organization...

(CNSNews.com) – In September, President Barack Obama told a joint session of Congress that his administration would look into tort reform as a means of lowering health care costs, but the administration’s Department of Health and Human Services stated in congressional staff report that medical malpractice reform is “not a priority.”

As congressional Republicans prepare for a Feb. 25 meeting with Obama, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) wonders if Obama was lying.

Issa is the ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which released a study last week showing that tort reform – such as capping non-economic damages – could save as much as $210 billion per year in medical costs. The report showed the impact lawsuits are having on doctors – particularly OBGYNs – and also how capping rewards have reduced medical costs in California, Texas and Georgia...