Here is the blurb from Variety from Feb 2, 2009...
Producer Mark Gordon and scribe Michael Seitzman are now two-for-two this pilot season, scoring a greenlight from CBS for their Washington, D.C.-based drama “House Rules.” The pickup comes just days after ABC picked up another Mark Gordon Co. project penned by Seitzman (“North Country”), the Manhattan sudser “Empire State.” “House Rules” revolves around the freshman class of elected representatives in Washington.