Our first stop is the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, better known to most of us as the "ethics" committee.

Last week, the top Democrat and Republican said the panel had "previously authorized a review of certain, specified allegations," related to the PMA group.

PMA was a now-defunct defense lobbying firm that won earmarks for its clients, but came under scrutiny because of campaign contributions made to lawmakers who steered them earmark money.

Those lawmakers include Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and Rep. Peter Visclosky, an Indiana Democrat who was recently hit with FBI subpoenas for information linked to a PMA probe.

Last week, the Federal Election Commission ruled that Visclosky can use his campaign contributions to fund his legal expenses related to the PMA investigation.

The irony there is that some of that PMA money - in a comingled sense - will be funding his legal expenses in this investigation.

Another transaction of note involves Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), who checked himself back into rehab last week.

The Boston Herald reported over the weekend that his renewed troubles may be related to his father's battle with brain cancer, as Sen. Edward Kennedy fights for his own life.

As of now at least, the younger Kennedy does not seem to be in any election trouble, despite his very public battle with drugs and alcohol.

I have to say that I saw him speak on the House floor earlier this month, and I noted that he just seemed a bit off that day. It was a mental note that I remembered when I saw this latest story.

One other observation: Kennedy has already missed a sizeable chunk of votes in the House this year, as he hasn't recorded a vote 12.9% of the time already.

One last thing that I noted was from the White House, which for the second time this month postponed a summit on immigration reform.

The declaration of some key Democrats - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid included - that immigration reform would be on the agenda this year, always seemed a bit of a stretch to me, with so many other big issues seemingly ready for action.

And now with two false starts on a reform kickoff - to this reporter - that's a sign that maybe there are too many things on the radar screen right now.

Congress has two work weeks left until a break for July 4th. There is a lot of heavy lifting to do on a variety of fronts, which should translate into a lot more transactions in agate type in the back of the paper.