Democrats

Minnesota Republicans say they have the best chance in years of defeating 12-term incumbent Collin Peterson, the Democrat leader on the House Agriculture Committee.

Second-term Rep Scott DesJarlais, a House Agriculture Committee member, had a 33-vote lead with all precincts reporting in his Tennessee congressional district, a razor-thin margin in a race that may not be decided until the month, said the Associated Press.

Thirteen Democratic senators asked the administration to quell concerns in farm country about what is covered by the so-called Waters of the United States rule.

With the August recess on the horizon, lawmakers seem certain to defer action on the annual spending bills for federal departments until this fall, says Roll Call. It sees "a dim prospect for any substantive appropriations work - aside from the child migrant supplemental - until after the November elections, or perhaps later. Many senior appropriators say they now see a 12-bill continuing resolution as a near inevitability."

Rep Luis Gutierrez, long active on immigration reform legislation in the House, "declared the prospects for reform dead this year and said the only option left is for President Barack Obama to take unilateral action to stem deportations," says Politico.

Only 7 percent of Americans believe the U.S. immigration system is "generally working," says a survey by the Brookings Institution and the Public Religion Research Institute.

By Tuesday night, former Rep Ronnie Childers "could suddenly become one of the party’s vitally important Senate candidates for 2014 – and a rare Democratic nominee who clashes sharply with his national...

House Speaker Boehner told fellow Republicans there was no "conspiracy" to move an immigration reform bill this summer, says Roll Call.

House Democrats say they will distribute memos in 30 congressional districts to encourage Republican lawmakers to sign the discharge petition petition and force a floor vote on comprehensive immigration reform, says Roll Call.

That's the question, and headline, at FiveThirtyEight for a look at bias in polling in Senate campaigns. Based on 147 publicly released polls since 2002, analyst Harry Enten says polls conducted by a partisan group...

Four House Agriculture Committee leaders filed a bill to reauthorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. A mark up is scheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET. The meeting will be Webcast.

States are following the law in averting cuts in food stamp benefits tied to utility costs, said Rep Jim McGovern of Massachusetts during a lively moment in a House Agriculture Committee hearing.