Rep. John Murtha, "the powerful Pennsylvania Democrat who heads the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee," is in the intensive care unit of an Arlington, Va., hospital "after complications related to gall bladder surgery last week," the Associated Press reports.

The 77-year-old lawmaker "underwent a scheduled laparoscopic surgery to remove his gallbladder last week," his spokesman, Matthew Mazonkey, said in an e-mail to USA TODAY's On Politics blog. "Complications did arise from the surgery."

Murtha has been in the news in recent months because of questions that were raised about his connections to a lobbying firm. As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote last Dec. 19:

The Office of Congressional Ethics has closed its corruption inquiry into Pennsylvania's Rep. John Murtha and recommended that there be no sanctions against the Johnstown Democrat.

Mr. Murtha received a letter this month saying that the Ethics Office would not recommend further investigation by the House Ethics Committee, according to a congressional source with knowledge of the inquiry. It had focused on the relationship between Mr. Murtha and the PMA Group lobbying firm.