Does FEMA have enough money to make it through the year?
FEMA has declared 45 major disasters this year and is assisting recovery for past disasters, including some of the 81 declared in 2010. This year, the agency also declared seven emergencies and awarded dozens of fire management assistance grants, including 33 in Texas. The pace has raised worries that the agency will run out of relief money. | 06/24/11 12:00:30 By - Alex Branch
FDA unveils new cigarette warning labels with graphic images
The nine images chosen by the FDA — the first update to cigarette-package warnings in a quarter century — are stark and often disturbing, and each is accompanied by simple text informing cigarette buyers of the known consequences of their habit. | 06/22/11 07:18:53 By - Melissa Healy
Supreme Court rules for Wal-Mart in sex bias lawsuit
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled a massive class action lawsuit against Wal-Mart goes too far, handing business a major legal victory. The ruling will constrain future class-action suits as well. | 06/20/11 10:46:09 By - Michael Doyle
Supreme Court rules against N.C. in juvenile Miranda rights
The Supreme Court ruled against North Carolina today in the case of a juvenile questioned in a Chapel Hill school conference room without being read his Miranda rights. | 06/16/11 11:29:06 By - Barbara Barrett
Weiner’s resignation suggests social media, politics a risky mix
Rep. Anthony Weiner resigned from Congress Thursday in the wake of a sexting scandal, abruptly halting a once-promising political career and serving as a somber warning to lawmakers about how to handle such incidents — tell the truth from the start. | 06/16/11 10:46:15 By - David Lightman and William Douglas
Austan Goolsbee to leave Obama's economic team
For the second time in less than a year, the White House is looking for a new head of the Council of Economic Advisers after Austan Goolsbee said late Monday that he's leaving the post to return to academia. His departure was announced just days after a dismal government jobs report and other indications that the recovery is faltering. | 06/06/11 21:50:16 By - Kevin G. Hall
Romney takes 2012 plunge with hard pitch to the right
Mitt Romney, declaring "Barack Obama has failed America," announced his candidacy for president Thursday by painting himself as a staunch conservative deeply committed to creating private-sector jobs and slashing the size of government. | 06/02/11 14:28:12 By - David Lightman
Supreme Court rules Ashcroft can't be sued in al Kidd case
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday that former Attorney General John Ashcroft couldn't be sued for his role in jailing a supposed anti-terrorism witness. In a case that united the Bush and Obama administrations, the court concluded that Ashcroft deserved immunity because he hadn't clearly violated any laws in the jailing of U.S. citizen Abdullah al Kidd. | 05/31/11 10:34:56 By - Michael Doyle
VA Secretary Shinseki learns of Alaska veterans' challenges
The nation's top official for veterans affairs told reporters in Anchorage on Memorial Day that his agency can and must do a better job of reaching military veterans. | 05/31/11 06:44:27 By - Lisa Demer
Obama names Dempsey as chairman of Joint Chiefs
President Barack Obama on Monday announced that a four-star Army general who commanded troops in Iraq through much of the war, Gen. Martin Dempsey, is his choice to be the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the president’s top military adviser. Obama also named Adm. James Winnefield as vice chairman and said Army Gen. Ray Odierno would replace Dempsey as chief of staff of the Army. | 05/30/11 13:27:53 By - Renee Schoof
Legal battle still hangs over Armenian Genocide museum
An Armenian Genocide Museum and Memorial may someday arise from the ashes of an excruciating legal fight that's estranged one-time allies and shows no sign of abating. But for now the unrealized potential lingers, like a ghost, inside a glorious wreck of a building near the White House. | 05/27/11 16:55:14 By - Michael Doyle
Supreme Court upholds Arizona law punishing hiring of illegal immigrants
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an Arizona law that severely penalizes businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants. In a ruling that's likely to embolden Congress and other states, the court declared that Arizona's law fits comfortably within the state's powers. | 05/26/11 10:57:55 By - Michael Doyle
Senators tell VA to reduce veteran suicides
With veterans now accounting for one of every five suicides in the nation, the Department of Veterans Affairs is under pressure from the courts and Congress to fix its mental health services in an attempt to curb the death toll. | 05/25/11 17:15:13 By - Rob Hotakainen
Gates: Spending cuts will force tough choices for military
The outgoing defense secretary, Robert Gates, said Tuesday that the U.S. military would become smaller and service members' pay and benefits could be reduced as the Pentagon struggles to meet President Barack Obama's stringent cost-cutting targets. Americans would face tough choices over whether to eliminate some weapons programs, shrink the size of fighting units, and overhaul health care and retirement packages. | 05/24/11 19:12:23 By - Shashank Bengali
Supreme Court declines to hear case involving Army crime lab
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to scrutinize how a discredited military lab analyst helped convict men like former Navy hospital corpsman Ivor Luke. The court's decision leaves intact Luke's 1999 court martial conviction, secured with the help of U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory analyst Phillip Mills. Mills' own career subsequently collapsed amid revelations that he had falsified a report. | 05/23/11 15:02:11 By - Michael Doyle
Supreme Court: California must reduce prison population
A closely divided Supreme Court on Monday cited "serious constitutional violations" in California's overcrowded prisons and ordered the state to abide by aggressive plans to fix the problem. In a decision closely watched by other states, the court concluded by 5-4 that the prison overcrowding violated constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment. | 05/23/11 10:36:24 By - Michael Doyle
Netanyahu rebukes Obama's idea on Israel's '67 borders
In a public rebuke, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a White House appearance with President Barack Obama on Friday to flatly reject any suggestion that Israel might even consider withdrawing from territories it seized in the 1967 Six-Day War. | 05/20/11 14:49:17 By - Steven Thomma and William Douglas
Justice Department is pushed to release phone records memo
The Justice Department should publicly release its legal opinion that allows the FBI to obtain telephone records of international calls made from the U.S. without any formal legal process, a watchdog group asserts. The nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation alleges DOJ violated federal open-records laws. | 05/19/11 19:23:14 By - Marisa Taylor
Senate panel blasts Pentagon, Lockheed Martin over F-35
The Pentagon's signature aircraft for all military services, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, came under blistering criticism Thursday at a Senate hearing for cost overruns that have nearly doubled the cost of each plane, ongoing technical problems and schedule delays that have kept contractor Lockheed Martin from increasing production. | 05/19/11 19:07:34 By - Maria Recio
Obama will call for billions in aid to Egypt and Tunisia
President Barack Obama will use his speech to the Arab world Thursday to call for billions of dollars in financial assistance to Egypt and Tunisia as part of a comprehensive approach to the "Arab Spring" movement that he hopes will boost democratic reforms and America's reputation in the region. | 05/18/11 21:00:59 By - Margaret Talev
Homeland Security extends protected status for Haitians
In a move that affects thousands of lives across two nations, the Department of Homeland Security will extend and expand Temporary Protected Status for Haitians living in the United States. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano on Tuesday announced an 18-month extension of the protected status allowing 48,000 Haitian nationals to remain in the U.S. until Jan. 22, 2013. | 05/18/11 06:58:31 By - Melissa Sanchez
Surplus federal property for sale; call Obama if interested
The Obama administration recently asked Congress to set up a special commission that would make it easier to get rid of those surplus federal properties. The White House would like a nonpartisan panel resembling those that closed military bases, a move federal officials believe would cut red tape and other impediments to disposing of surplus property. | 05/13/11 14:26:30 By - Halimah Abdullah
Fla. Sen. Rubio calls for more sanctions on Syria
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio Wednesday called for the Obama administration to ratchet up the pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime has attacked anti-government protestors. | 05/12/11 07:08:39 By - Lesley Clark
Northeast, Midwest, California get more high-speed rail funds
The Obama administration parceled out $2 billion Monday for high-speed rail projects in the Northeast, Midwest and California, repurposing a pot of funds rejected in February by Florida's new Republican governor. | 05/09/11 19:20:32 By - Curtis Tate
Bin Laden down, 29 more to go on FBI most wanted list
Osama bin Laden may have been the most wanted man in the world until Monday, but the FBI still has a list of 29 other men it considers the "most wanted" terrorists in the world, including three facing charges in California. | 05/05/11 21:29:49 By - Sam Stanton
Across from the White House, a time-capsule moment
The Fourth of July came early on a cool spring night in the nation's capital on Sunday. There were people entrenched in front of the White House joyously waving the American flag; there were people across the street perched in trees and draped with Old Glory at Lafayette Park in a scene of immense pride. One guy shouted, "We killed the (blankety-blank)." That "blankety-blank" was Osama bin Laden. | 05/02/11 03:20:13 By - Gregory Clay
Was FBI too quick to judge anthrax suspect the killer?
Scouring the anthrax-laced mail that took five lives and terrorized the East Coast in 2001, laboratory scientists discovered a unique contaminant — a tiny scientific fingerprint that they hoped would help unmask the killer. Yet once FBI agents concluded that the likely culprit was Bruce Ivins, they stopped looking for the contaminant. That decision could reignite the debate over whether its agents found the real killer. | 04/20/11 17:25:07 By - Greg Gordon
Drug czar unveils plan to attack prescription drug abuse
The Obama administration on Tuesday unveiled a plan to fight prescription drug abuse, noting that accidental overdose deaths now exceed those of the crack epidemic of the 1980s and black tar heroin in the 1970s combined. | 04/19/11 20:18:59 By - Halimah Abdullah and Lesley Clark
Why S&P's warning on U.S. debt matters
A surprise warning about U.S. debt by credit rating agency Standard & Poor's sent stocks plunging on Monday and crystallized the threat that mounting federal budget deficits and national debt pose to the U.S. financial system and the American way of life. | 04/18/11 17:58:29 By - Kevin G. Hall
Navy chief Ray Mabus' next job: Defense Secretary?
Is Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus moving up? Mabus, given high grades for the job, is believed to be on the short list of candidates to replace Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who has said he is leaving. | 04/13/11 15:07:25 By - Maria Recio
National campaign aims to give military families a hand
The Obama administration on Tuesday launched a national campaign for U.S. military families that calls on companies, individuals, civic and religious groups and schools to find ways help veterans, reservists and their families navigate work, school, psychological stress and day-to-day life. | 04/12/11 18:57:12 By - Margaret Talev and Erika Bolstad
Warren: Consumer protection bureau will work with states
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau architect Elizabeth Warren Monday announced an agreement that promotes cooperation between the federal agency and state attorneys general in enforcing financial laws. | 04/11/11 17:03:49 By - Rick Rothacker
If the government shuts down, here's how it would work
There are some of the services that would continue even if the federal government runs out of money at 12:01 a.m. Saturday with no agreement between Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the White House to extend the budget. But much of the government would shut down. | 04/06/11 12:31:14 By - Steven Thomma
White House announces trade deal with Colombia
The White House on Wednesday is announcing a deal to ratify the long-stalled free trade agreement with Colombia — a move that backers say will boost the U.S. economy and improve the U.S. standing in Latin America. | 04/06/11 11:51:06 By - Lesley Clark
N.C. U.S. Rep. Price: Boehner listened too closely to 'tea party types' on budget
Although tea party influence has waned in recent negotiations to prevent a government shutdown, GOP leaders still want the support of most of the House freshmen Republicans that the movement supported. | 04/05/11 07:32:32 By - Barbara Barrett
How Jack Valenti got buried at Arlington, but others didn't
Jack Valenti won his final and most heartfelt lobbying victory when he was lowered into the ground at Arlington National Cemetery. | 04/01/11 15:33:04 By - Michael Doyle
Strong corporate profits amid weak economy - What's up with that?
U.S. corporations continue to post strong profits quarter after quarter, even as the unemployment rate remains high and the U.S. economic recovery plods along in fits and starts. What gives? | 03/27/11 18:36:49 By - Kevin G. Hall
FBI's anthrax suspect is likely killer, panel concludes
The late Army microbiologist Bruce Ivins engaged in a decades-long pattern of "concealment and deceit," pretending to be a comical juggler who played the organ in church on Sundays, while his dark side drove him to mail anthrax-laced letters that killed five people, according to an analysis of his psychiatric records. | 03/23/11 20:07:29 By - Greg Gordon
Libya assault sets up battle between Obama, Congress
Sparked by the U.S. military assault on Libya, the historic struggle between the president and Congress over whether and how America should enter war is raging again. | 03/23/11 19:24:38 By - David Lightman and William Douglas
Earthquake science advances - does nuclear safety keep up?
The 104 nuclear reactors providing 20 percent of America's electric power were designed and built in the 1960s and '70s, an era when seismologists knew much less about earthquakes than they do today. | 03/23/11 19:22:23 By - Renee Schoof and Greg Gordon
Justices weigh Miranda warnings for juvenile suspects
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on whether police officers ought to consider a young suspect's age before deciding to tell him or her about the right to remain silent and to have an attorney. | 03/23/11 19:22:06 By - Barbara Barrett
Panel supports FBI's findings in anthrax letters case
An expert panel’s posthumous review of Army microbiologist Bruce Ivins’ psychiatric records lent new support Wednesday to the FBI’s controversial finding that Ivins mailed the anthrax-laced letters in 2001 that killed five people, sickened 17 others and paralyzed Congress. | 03/23/11 15:01:43 By - Greg Gordon
Obama: Gadhafi must restore water, phones or face assault
Prsident Barack Obama said Friday that the United States will assist if international force is needed to stop Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi from killing his people, but will not send American ground troops to Libya or take over the effort. Any ceasefire must include an end to pro-Gadhafi troops marching on rebel-held cities. | 03/18/11 15:27:05 By - Margaret Talev
Obama chooses S.C. attorney for federal bench
President Barack Obama’s nomination of a prominent Columbia lawyer to be a U.S. district judge was the South Carolinian he’s chosen for the federal bench. Obama said Mary Geiger Lewis, 52, “will serve the American people with integrity and an unwavering commitment to justice.” | 03/18/11 11:05:29 By - James Rosen
Pentagon is dividing up Guantanamo detainees for trials
The Obama administration is still deciding where to stage the 9/11 mass murder trials of five alleged co-conspirators now held at Guantánamo, the Defense Department’s top lawyer told Congress on Thursday. | 03/18/11 07:10:47 By - Carol Rosenberg
State Dept. official's comments about WikiLeaks suspect touch off furor
Public criticism by a State Department spokesman about the treatment of an Army private accused of giving classified U.S. material to WikiLeaks has sparked speculation of a rift within the U.S. government over the handling of the prisoner. | 03/11/11 21:02:10 By - James Oliphant
Rare color photos show 1906 San Francisco quake damage
The Smithsonian has recently discovered three-dimensional color photographs of the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake that devastated San Francisco. When the magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck at 5:12 a.m. on April 18, shaking violently for 40 seconds, damage was widespread: 3,000 people were killed and 225,000 left homeless. | 03/11/11 15:01:27 By - Bill Lindelof
Former Obama 'pay czar' Feinberg discusses limited role
Ken Feinberg, who once headed the Obama administration's mission to rein in the pay of executives at bailed-out firms, said Thursday that he has always thought the government's role in private-sector compensation should be limited. | 03/11/11 07:34:57 By - Christina Rexrode
Sen. McCaskill repays $89,000 for chartered flights
Sen. Claire McCaskill sent the U.S. Treasury a personal check Wednesday for nearly $89,000 to cover the costs of chartered flights on a plane that she co-owns and has used for Senate business. | 03/10/11 07:19:22 By - David Goldstein
NPR in hot water again over Ron Schiller's tea party remarks
NPR is distancing itself from remarks made by a fundraising executive who said the American "tea party" movement is a composed of "white, middle-America gun-toting" and "seriously racist, racist" people. The comments, apparently made by Ron Schiller, NPR's exiting vice president for development, were recorded in a "sting" set up by conservative activist James O'Keefe, best known for mounting a similar prank on ACORN. | 03/08/11 20:56:21 By - James Oliphant
Boeing beats out EADS to win air tanker contract
Boeing won a $35 billion aerial tanker contract from the U.S. Air Force, defeating its European rival EADS, the parent company of Airbus. The nearly decade-long tanker competition has been marked by a major Pentagon procurement scandal and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill. | 02/25/11 21:52:24 By - Rob Hotakainen
Obama to stop defending federal gay marriage ban
In a significant change of course, President Barack Obama has decided that a federal law against gay marriage is unconstitutional and will no longer defend it in court, the White House announced Wednesday. | 02/23/11 21:10:55 By - Steven Thomma
Is Obama failing to lead, or leading in a new, crafty way?
President Barack Obama's proposed budget this week raised a key question about how he governs: Can he lead without getting out in front? | 02/18/11 15:19:04 By - Steven Thomma
California hopes to cash in on high-speed rail funds Florida rejected
Florida on Wednesday spurned $2.4 billion in federal high-speed rail funds, giving California a chance to scoop up more for itself. | 02/16/11 16:59:43 By - Michael Doyle
Obama says he'd stop adding to debt, but that's not true
President Barack Obama's claim Tuesday that his proposed budget would stop adding to the national debt is wrong — and is proved wrong in his own budget. | 02/16/11 13:29:01 By - Steven Thomma
'Financial Crisis Inquiry Report' book is a best-seller
"The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report" – the book version of the study produced by the federal commission led by Sacramento politician and developer Phil Angelides – has become a modest if unlikely best-seller. However, the Angelides book isn't likely to overtake the all-time best-seller among government-inquiry books. "The 9/11 Commission Report," released in 2004, sold more than 1 million copies. | 02/16/11 06:53:43 By - Dale Kasler
Obama's budget would add $13 trillion to national debt
President Barack Obama proposed a $3.73 trillion budget Monday for fiscal 2012 that he said will start reining in runaway budget deficits, but his plan envisions the gross national debt swelling by almost $13 trillion over a decade. | 02/15/11 11:03:01 By - Steven Thomma and David Lightman
FBI files offer glimpse of Alaska's long-time Sen. Ted Stevens
The FBI released thousands of pages of its files Friday on U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, some six months after his death in a plane crash in Alaska. But anyone hoping for new insights into the Justice Department's corruption investigation that netted Stevens and almost a dozen other Alaska political and business figures will be disappointed. | 02/14/11 20:35:42 By - Erika Bolstad and Richard Mauer
Obama's budget will add $7 trillion to national debt
President Barack Obama will propose a federal budget for fiscal 2012 that would pare back record budget deficits, but still add nearly $7 trillion to the nation's debt over the next decade, White House officials said Sunday. That falls far short of the recommendations from his own bipartisan budget deficit commission, which in November urged cutting deficits over the coming decade by $4 trillion. | 02/14/11 06:00:00 By - Steven Thomma
U.S. gave firm low rating for Afghan work — and more business
A U.S. contractor who's continued to receive government contracts despite criticism of its work in Afghanistan got low ratings for its performance on two more high-profile projects in the war-torn country than had been disclosed previously. McClatchy has learned that the U.S. government criticized Black & Veatch for poor oversight and delays on a Kabul power plant project and for a study of the viability of developing a natural gas field in the Sheberghan region in northern Afghanistan. | 02/14/11 09:30:00 By - Marisa Taylor
Obama assertion: FBI can get phone records without oversight
The Obama administration's Justice Department has asserted that the FBI can obtain telephone records of international calls made from the U.S. without any formal legal process or court oversight, according to a document obtained by McClatchy. | 02/11/11 17:08:55 By - Marisa Taylor
Pentagon budget largest ever as security threat list grows
Despite calls on Capitol Hill for major defense budget cuts, the Pentagon next week will unveil the largest budget in its history — driven by an expanding list of what defines national security. | 02/10/11 16:45:58 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Al Qaida affiliates still at fore of threats to U.S.: Clapper
Terrorism, the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and espionage, especially cyber attacks and the theft of U.S. technology, are the leading U.S. national security threats, the top U.S. intelligence official said Thursday. | 02/10/11 11:33:35 By - Jonathan S. Landay
Guantanamo detainee gets 2-year sentence in Pentagon deal
A former al Qaeda cook who pleaded guilty to war crimes at Guantánamo could go home to Sudan in the summer of 2012, under a secret deal just approved by a senior Pentagon official and made public Wednesday by the Defense Department. Ibrahim al Qosi, 50, is the first Guantánamo captive to reach a war court settlement during the Obama administration. | 02/09/11 21:28:47 By - Carol Rosenberg
Poll: Obama has public's support on his handling of Egypt
The poll by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press found that 57 percent of the respondents said the Obama administration is handling the situation in Egypt about right. | 02/08/11 17:11:40 By - Michael Muskal
Toyota electronics cleared in sudden acceleration incidents
A NASA report on Toyota's sudden acceleration found "no electronic flaws" could create the kind of high-speed, unintended acceleration incidents that captured America's attention a year ago. The report hat mechanical safety defects including sticky accelerator pedals and pedals trapped by floor mats remain the only known cause for the incidents. | 02/08/11 17:06:40 By - Jim Puzzanghera
Bush trip to Switzerland axed over torture protest fears
The United Israel Appeal scrapped a plan to showcase President George W. Bush at a Feb. 12 gala in Geneva amid reports that human rights groups were poised to protest and file a torture complaint. Protest organizers had told participants to bring an extra shoe, prompting fears that someone might re-enact an Iraqi journalist's 2008 assault on President Bush in Baghdad. | 02/05/11 19:17:58 By - Carol Rosenberg
Geomagic CEO is becoming Obama's small business initiatives resource
Ping Fu continues to reinforce her role as the local entrepreneur who has become a small business resource for the Obama administration. The CEO and founder of Geomagic, a 3-D software company in Research Triangle Park, was among the speakers Monday in Washington who helped kick off Obama's campaign to increase investment in start-up companies. The appearance follows several visits to Washington last year, including as Michelle Obama's guest at the State of the Union. | 02/01/11 07:40:53 By - Alan Wolf
Obama sends veteran diplomat to meet with Mubarak regime
The Obama administration Monday dispatched a retired top U.S. diplomat to Egypt to deliver a U.S. call for the embattled government to open talks with the political opposition on holding "free and fair" elections. | 01/31/11 20:04:38 By - Jonathan S. Landay
F-35 joint strike fighter started with recipe for trouble
There are numerous reasons for the F-35 debacle, say longtime defense observers, and most of them were predictable: Pentagon officials and military officers cobble together unrealistic goals, timetables and budgets, and defense contractors sign on knowing that once a big program is launched, it's seldom canceled and the money keeps flowing. | 01/30/11 12:02:12 By -
FBI serves 40 warrants in search of WikiLeaks 'hacktivists'
The FBI statement announcing the search warrants was the first indication that the U.S. intends to prosecute the so-called "hacktivists" for a series of computer attacks on websites of businesses that stopped providing services to WikiLeaks last month. Such distributed denial of service attacks are punishable by 10 years in prison. | 01/28/11 23:39:33 By - Mark Seibel
Phil Angelides: Financial crisis 'didn't need to happen'
Sacramento, California's Phil Angelides, appointed by Congress to investigate the financial crisis of 2008, declared Thursday that the entire mess could have been avoided. In a blistering report that followed 18 months of testimony and fact-gathering, Angelides and his Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission blamed a wide cast of characters for the epic meltdown. The report said human error created the crisis. | 01/28/11 06:53:42 By - Dale Kasler
WikiLeaks probe: Army commanders were told not to send Manning to Iraq
Investigators have concluded that Army commanders ignored advice not to send to Iraq an Army private who's now accused of downloading hundreds of thousands of sensitive reports and diplomatic cables that ended up on the WikiLeaks website in the largest single security breach in American history, McClatchy has learned | 01/27/11 16:31:27 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Obama nominates S.C. federal judge to appellate court
President Obama has nominated U.S. District Judge Henry F. Floyd to serve on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in a rare promotion of a Republican-appointed federal judge by a Democratic president. | 01/27/11 11:06:34 By - James Rosen
Michelle Obama brings 'Let's Move!' campaign to Fort Jackson
Traffic around Fort Jackson — always heavy on basic training graduation days — will be even more challenging today as first lady Michelle Obama attends the ceremony. Obama also will meet at the fort with Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin, who said the city is prepared to adopt the “Let’s Move!” program. | 01/27/11 07:36:19 By - Jeff Wilkinson
Ethics groups requests investigation documents on Alaska Rep. Young
Washington, D.C.,-based Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said Wednesday that it is asking the Justice Department to release its files in at least two closed corruption investigations of U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska. | 01/27/11 06:50:14 By - Richard Mauer
Boeing awarded $1.6 billion contract to build Navy aircraft
Boeing has received a $1.6 billion contract from the U.S. Navy for initial low-rate production of the P-8A Poseidon aircraft. The Navy plans to buy 117 of the aircraft, which is a derivative of Boeing's 737-800 single-aisle commercial aircraft. Initial operational capacity is planned for 2013. | 01/26/11 20:19:17 By - Molly McMillin
Report: Bush White House violated Hatch Act
Scott Jennings, a former political aide to George W. Bush with deep Kentucky ties, figures prominently in a new federal report that says the Bush White House violated a federal law that prohibits public money from being used to influence elections. | 01/26/11 07:12:50 By - Jack Brammer
Former Marine sues over Camp Lejeune water contamination
A man who served at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune for nearly two years in the 1950s has sued the federal government for $16 million, saying poisonous water at the base caused his cancer. | 01/25/11 23:13:42 By - Barbara Barrett
'Don't ask, don't tell' policy was costly, GAO concludes
The U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" ban on gays serving openly in the military cost the Pentagon more than $193 million over six years, the Government Accountability Office reported Thursday. | 01/21/11 19:30:51 By - Nancy A. Youssef
With health care 'repealed,' GOP turns to climate change
Now that the House of Representatives has voted to repeal the health care law, Republicans say they're likely to move soon to another target — a rewrite of the Clean Air Act so that it can't be used to fight climate change. | 01/21/11 14:50:09 By - Renee Schoof
Duvalier's return to Haiti worries Obama officials
The Obama administration expressed surprise and worry Monday at former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier's sudden reappearance in Haiti, the country he fled 25 years ago with help from the U.S. | 01/17/11 19:49:22 By - Lesley Clark
With Obama's Tucson speech, his presidency turns a corner
There are moments that define a presidency, and Barack Obama's speech Wednesday night to a memorial service for Arizona shooting victims may be one. | 01/13/11 20:08:23 By - Steven Thomma
EPA vetoes mountaintop coal mine in West Virginia
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday blocked what would have been one of the largest mountaintop coal mines in Appalachia. The decision reverses a previously granted permit for the Spruce No. 1 mine in the already heavily mined Coal River basin. | 01/13/11 17:22:54 By - Renee Schoof
Environmentalists fear Hastings will take care of business
Republican Rep. Doc Hastings says any criticism of his environmental record is off base for one reason: He's spent his entire career in Congress trying to clean up a massive nuclear dump in his central Washington state district. | 01/09/11 18:31:59 By - Rob Hotakainen
In WikiLeaks fight, U.S. journalists take a pass
Just three years after a major court confrontation that saw many of America's most important journalism organizations file briefs on WikiLeaks' behalf, much of the U.S. journalistic community has shunned founder Julian Assange — even as reporters write scores, if not hundreds, of stories based on WikiLeaks' trove of leaked State Department cables. | 01/09/11 15:12:18 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Obama's remarks on Arizona shooting
The White House released this transcript of President Obama's remarks on Saturday's shooting in Tucson, Ariz. | 01/08/11 19:46:35 By -
Graham, DeMint: Bring nuclear waste to South Carolina
Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint said Friday the nation should recycle its used nuclear fuel, a move that could bring jobs to the state's Savannah River Site. Recycling is one option for handling the nation's waste now that the Obama administration has decided not to dispose of the waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. | 01/07/11 21:47:48 By - Sammy Fretwell
Health care spending increase is smallest in 50 years
U.S. health care spending in 2009 grew at the slowest rate in 50 years, as the recession and high unemployment caused outlays for nearly all medical goods and services to slow or decline, according to a new government report released Wednesday. | 01/06/11 15:55:38 By - Tony Pugh
F-35 orders likely cut in Gates' Pentagon spending plan
Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to cut orders for the F-35 joint strike fighter over the next three to five years as part of broader plan to reduce Pentagon spending by $100 billion, analysts say. Gates will brief Congress today on a five-year spending plan for the Defense Department, including yet another restructuring of the F-35 program to compensate for repeated delays in development and testing. | 01/06/11 07:29:32 By - Bob Cox
Gibbs' departure begins retooling of Obama's staff
President Barack Obama's departing chief spokesman said Wednesday that a "pretty major retooling" of White House staff will unfold over the next several weeks, giving Obama needed "different and fresh perspectives" as he enters the second half of his four-year term. | 01/05/11 19:48:25 By - Margaret Talev
Military bans 2 U.S. firms from Afghan contracting
Nearly a year after two American construction companies abruptly shuttered their operations in Afghanistan and left the country allegedly owing their Afghan partners more than $2 million, the U.S. military announced Wednesday that it's temporarily blacklisting the firms. | 01/05/11 16:51:36 By - Dion Nissenbaum
Boehner pleads for civility, but it doesn't last long
Even as the House of Representatives' newly elected leaders, including Speaker John Boehner, made lofty calls for civility and bipartisanship on Wednesday, the rank and file members engaged in sharp political warfare over the federal budget and health care. | 01/05/11 10:01:34 By - David Lightman
Mystery continues over death of ex Pentagon official
A witness came forward, saying John Parsons Wheeler III had been spotted alive in downtown Wilmington, Del., on Thursday afternoon, less than 24 hours before his body was found in a Newark, Del., landfill. But what happened then to the former Air Force official who was working on cyber security issues for a defense contractor remains a mystery. | 01/05/11 09:42:31 By - John Shiffman and Kathleen Brady Shea
House ethics panel drops Joe Wilson probe
The House ethics committee has ended its investigation of Rep. Joe Wilson after its staff found insufficient evidence that he’d misused taxpayer-funded expense money during official travel abroad. | 01/03/11 19:46:52 By - James Rosen
California to cut its D.C. lobbying crew from six to two
The downsizing comes as Governor-elect Jerry Brown seeks quick budget savings in an effort to shrink the state's looming deficit. | 12/23/10 17:00:23 By - Mike Doyle
Burr, Hagan moved against defense bill over Lejeune water
U.S. Sen. Richard Burr this week quietly blocked a massive defense authorization bill after he discovered that someone had inserted 38 words into a bill that Burr feared would hurt victims of water contamination at Marines Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. | 12/22/10 19:54:53 By - Barbara Barrett
Raucous crowd cheers as Obama ends 'don't ask, don't tell'
President Barack Obama signed the repeal of the military's prohibition against gays serving openly in the armed force on Wednesday at a ceremony that was packed with 500 advocates, lawmakers, members of the military and former soldiers who'd been discharged for their sexual orientation. The crowd was jovial and a little rowdy, chanting "Yes, we did!" and "U-S-A, U-S-A." Many shouted out, "Enlist us now." | 12/22/10 13:46:01 By - Margaret Talev
Obama wins: 67-28 Senate vote ensures START ratification
The Senate voted 67-28 to cut off debate on the pact, a majority strong enough to ensure that the New START treaty will get the two-thirds majority it needs for approval from the 100-member Senate. A final vote is expected Wednesday. Eleven Republicans voted with the Democrats. | 12/21/10 13:26:05 By - David Lightman and William Douglas
Black S.C. GOP congressman's unlikely foe: the Census
Rep.-elect Tim Scott hasn't even taken office, yet the North Charleston Republican knows that he's already a marked man. An expected new U.S. House seat for South Carolina as a result of the 2010 Census could come largely at Scott's expense. | 12/20/10 14:41:43 By - James Rosen
Latest Florida recount: State may gain 2 House seats
Florida may pick up as many as two more seats in the U.S. House -- further boosting the state's influence in Congress and making it an even bigger prize in the race for the White House. Though the actual increase in seats won't be known until the U.S. Census Bureau makes it official Tuesday, early projections suggest Florida is a lock for one seat, and in contention for a second. | 12/20/10 14:41:22 By - Lesley Clark
Congress repeals 'don't ask, don't tell' policy on gays in military
The Senate voted 65-31 Saturday to end the Pentagon’s “don’t ask don’t tell” policy on gays and lesbians in the military, as President Barack Obama declared “it is time to close this chapter in our history.” | 12/18/10 17:31:00 By - David Lightman
Gates statement hailing 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal
The Department of Defense issued the following statement from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell." | 12/18/10 16:19:41 By -
Why the Census may be bad news for Missouri Democrats
The Census will make clear on Tuesday what has been speculated about in Missouri political circles for a while: The state could lose a congressional seat effective the 2012 elections. Democrats could be most at risk. | 12/17/10 19:23:23 By - David Goldstein and Les Blumenthal
Air Force officials overturn Osprey crash findings
Senior Air Force generals overturned the findings of their own investigation team and ruled that the fatal crash of a CV-22 Osprey in Afghanistan in April was largely due to flight crew mistakes and not a mechanical problem. | 12/17/10 07:31:55 By - Bob Cox
South, West expected to pick up House seats after census
Sun Belt states and those in the West are expected to gain even more political clout when the Census Bureau announces on Tuesday which states will gain congressional seats and which will lose them | 12/16/10 18:55:10 By - Les Blumenthal
New try at 'don't ask don't tell' repeal passes House
The House of Representatives Wednesday approved new legislation repealing the law banning gays and lesbians from serving openly in the U.S. military — a move that gives to momentum to efforts to overturn the 17-year-old ban. | 12/15/10 20:14:14 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Senate approves tax cut plan by overwhelming 81-19 vote
The $858 billion tax-cut deal faces one more hurdle — passing the House of Representatives, where Democrats are angry about its estate tax and Republicans are upset about its mammoth deficit spending. A House vote could come as soon as Wednesday night, though Thursday is more likely. | 12/15/10 13:31:00 By - David Lightman and Kevin G. Hall
U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, known for Dayton Accords, dies
Richard C. Holbrooke, the hard-charging diplomat who brokered peace in the Balkans and then took on an even tougher task as the Obama administration’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, died Monday night at age 69. | 12/13/10 22:31:09 By - Warren P. Strobel
BP oil spill victims will get 3 options for compensation
Kenneth Feinberg, the head of the Gulf oil spill fund, said Monday that victims of the BP oil spill will have three options for final compensation from the Deepwater Horizon blowout, and all but one of them requires claimants to give up their right to sue. | 12/13/10 19:03:46 By - Maria Recio
Virginia federal judge rules health care law unconstitutional
A federal judge on Monday ruled unconstitutional a key provision of President Barack Obama's landmark health care overhaul law, moving its mandate that Americans buy health insurance coverage one step closer to a Supreme Court showdown. | 12/13/10 12:32:40 By - Margaret Talev and Michael Doyle
Murkowski wants to know why feds dropped Allen sex case
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she plans to continue her effort to hold top Justice Department officials accountable for dropping the teen sexual exploitation prosecution of former Veco Corp. chairman Bill Allen, a key prosecution witness in the failed case against the late Sen. Ted Stevens. One possible target of her questions: Attorney General Eric Holder. | 12/12/10 23:53:52 By - Richard Mauer
Obama decision to close Yucca nuclear dump back in court
The lawsuits had been on hold while the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals waited for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to decide whether DOE had the authority to withdraw its license application for Yucca Mountain. But the NRC hasn't made its decision, so on Friday the court said the lawsuits by the state of Washington and others can go forward. | 12/12/10 21:12:10 By - Annette Cary
Levin urges Obama to let GOP bear blame for tax increases
Democrats, led by President Barack Obama, should force a New Year's Eve showdown with Republicans over tax cuts, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said Sunday. The Bush-era income tax cuts expire Dec. 31. Levin said Obama should insist that tax cuts for the wealthy be allowed to expire and if the Republicans don't go along, then he should make sure the country understands that it's the Republicans who are to be blamed for the expiration of middle class tax cuts too. | 12/12/10 14:47:02 By - David Lightman
New rules would limit U.S. aid to new Cuban immigrants
A change in the way that some Cubans' applications for U.S. entry are handled could deny them a broad range of benefits when they arrive in the United States, according to Florida officials. The shift would deny those Cubans the right to health screenings and immunizations, Medicaid and Refugee Medical Assistance as well as employment services, English language and vocational training and help with child care. | 12/12/10 11:09:16 By - Juan O. Tamayo
Holder blasts attempt to block 9/11 domestic trials
The Obama administration Thursday urged Senate leaders to reject a legislative ban on the transfer of any Guantánamo prisoner to U.S. soil, a move meant to corner the White House into staging a Sept. 11 mass murder trial at the U.S. Navy base in southeast Cuba. The House included the clause in a catchall spending bill Wednesday that passed by a 212-206 vote. The Senate has yet to vote on it. | 12/10/10 19:53:37 By - Carol Rosenberg
FBI seeks delay in outside review of its anthrax probe
The FBI has asked the National Academy of Sciences to delay the release of its review of the bureau's highly controversial, seven-year investigation into the deadly 2001 anthrax mail attacks that killed five people and panicked the nation. A New Jersey congressman has called the request "disturbing" and asked the FBI for an explanation. | 12/09/10 21:21:21 By - Greg Gordon
California to get high-speed rail funds 2 states rejected
California's high-speed rail plan will receive up to $624 million in additional federal funds, Transportation Department officials announced Thursday. The new funding adds to the $715 million in federal funds previously awarded to California. It arrives courtesy of Ohio and Wisconsin, two states where recently elected Republican governors decided not to accept their own allotment of high-speed rail dollars. | 12/09/10 20:25:29 By - Michael Doyle
Obama's pick to lead Fannie, Freddie promises leadership
President Barack Obama's nominee to lead Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pledged to Congress Thursday to offer not just management, but leadership, if he becomes the new chief of the troubled housing agencies. | 12/09/10 16:00:35 By - Barbara Barrett
Alaska's Murkowski will vote to repeal 'don't ask, don't tell'
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she'll vote to repeal the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy that bars openly gay service members from the military. Democrats need her support and that of other Republicans to get the 60 votes they need to take up a defense re-authorization bill that will include the repeal. | 12/08/10 16:02:42 By - Erika Bolstad
Bank of America settles with states, feds in fraud probe
Bank of America has agreed to a sweeping $137 million settlement with state and federal authorities to resolve its role in an alleged bid-rigging scheme that has been under investigation since 2006. The settlement resolves allegations that the Charlotte bank defrauded state agencies, cities and towns, and non-profits that bought a type of investment called municipal bond derivatives. | 12/07/10 15:00:58 By - Rick Rothacker
11 votes for deficit report not enough to send it to Congress
A majority of President Barack Obama’s bipartisan federal debt commission members on Friday endorsed their leaders’ sweeping blueprint for slashing nearly $4 trillion from budget deficits over the next 10 years. But the 11 supporters of the 18-member National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform “Moment of Truth” plan were short of the 14 needed to send the package to Congress for votes. | 12/03/10 11:03:39 By - David Lightman
Oil spill commission examines Arctic drilling
The presidential commission that's looking at the Gulf of Mexico oil spill zeroed in Thursday on the future of oil and gas exploration in the Arctic, and specifically on how to address possible spills. | 12/03/10 06:47:20 By - Erika Bolstad
Food safety bill stumbles over small-farm exemption
The future of a big food safety bill fell into doubt one day after the Senate approved it, as farm organizations began withdrawing their support and new technical hurdles arose. | 12/01/10 17:03:26 By - Michael Doyle and Les Blumenthal
Gulf of Mexico shrimp on White House menu
White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford weighed in on yummy Gulf seafood on her blog today as the country celebrates Gulf shrimp, oysters, crawfish and other seafood in a national restaurant promotion “America’s Night Out for Gulf Seafood” – which apparently extends to the nation’s premier house. | 12/01/10 13:35:08 By - Maria Recio
Officials may be overstating the danger from WikiLeaks
American officials in recent days have warned repeatedly that the release of documents by WikiLeaks could put people's lives in danger. But despite similar warnings ahead of the previous two massive releases of classified U.S. intelligence reports by the website, U.S. officials concede that they have no evidence to date that the documents led to anyone's death. | 11/28/10 21:03:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Meet Bruce Reed, Obama's point man on cutting deficit
It's going to require sacrifice, it might not be pretty, and people across the political spectrum will have to come together to get it done, warns Bruce Reed, an Idaho Democrat who's the executive director of the presidential commission that's finding ways to stem the red ink of the nation's deficit. | 11/28/10 19:53:06 By - Erika Bolstad
WikiLeaks release reveals embarrassing diplomatic details
The initial leak Sunday of hundreds of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables by the WikiLeaks website contained no explosive revelations, but their blunt language and unvarnished statements of U.S. positions on a wide range of issues could prove highly embarrassing, hurt ties with allies and other countries and diminish trust in Washington's ability to safeguard secrets. | 11/28/10 19:35:40 By - Jonathan S. Landay
U.S. officials: New WikiLeaks release will do most harm yet
U.S. diplomats and officials said they're bracing Sunday for at least three newspapers and WikiLeaks to publish hundreds of thousands classified State Department cables that could drastically alter U.S. relations with top allies and reveal embarrassing secrets about U.S. foreign policy. | 11/27/10 20:12:35 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Did prison change Levy trial's star witness for the better?
Armando Morales is a man in transit, destination unknown. The 49-year-old Fresno native provided the key testimony that helped convict Ingmar Guandique of killing Chandra Levy. Implicitly, jurors also believed Morales when he testified he was turning his life around. He'd left the gang life, he said. | 11/27/10 16:50:46 By - Michael Doyle
Earmarks are still in demand despite ban
House Republicans are spurning earmarks. Their Republican counterparts in the Senate, including a yet-to-be-sworn-in Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, also are swearing off pet projects. But the voluntary bans may do little to discourage those seeking federal dollars. | 11/26/10 14:54:34 By - Lesley Clark
Chandra Levy's mom battles news media over evidence
Chandra Levy's mother is now hoping to lock up some of the trial evidence used to convict killer Ingmar Guandique. Specifically, Mrs. Levy objects to the release of photographs that contain Chandra Levy's skeletal remains and trial exhibit photographs of Chandra Levy's clothes and shoes." | 11/24/10 19:51:59 By - Michael Doyle
DEA takes steps to curb synthetic marijuana
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Wednesday took steps to effectively ban synthetic marijuana products. So far, 15 states ban products such as "spice" or "K2" and marketed under a variety of names, which is a collection of herbs treated with a compound that produces effects similar to smoking marijuana. | 11/24/10 19:48:35 By - Beth Burger
Debt panel's Social Security fix: Raise taxes, cut benefits
Social Security taxes would rise and benefits would fall under proposals from the co-chairmen of the special deficit-reduction panel that's due to report to Congress by Dec. 1. | 11/23/10 18:53:19 By - Kevin G. Hall
Alaska faces tough road if Congress really cuts earmarks
Long the reigning champion of earmarks and never a state to turn down federal money, Alaska may have to change its ways as Congress reconsiders a practice that's come to symbolize runaway government spending. Still, its three representatives in Congress are looking for ways around the Republican pledges to end the practice. | 11/22/10 00:01:00 By - Erika Bolstad
TSA could have chosen a less intrusive screening machine
After 23-year-old Nigerian terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded a flight from the Netherlands to Detroit last Christmas with enough explosives to bring down the plane, officials at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport decided to build a better mousetrap. In the 11 months since, Schiphol largely has avoided the privacy uproar that's roiling U.S. airports. | 11/18/10 16:45:44 By - Tony Pugh
Senator blasts VA over handling of Lejeune veterans' claims
The top Republican on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee blasted the Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday for not communicating about how it's handling medical claims from Marines who were once stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. | 11/18/10 16:20:45 By - Barbara Barrett
Former aide to Alaska Rep. Young tipped off FBI in probe
Federal prosecutors in Washington revealed this week that a former aide to Rep. Don Young provided substantial help to the FBI in criminal investigations of two congressmen, including one in which he secretly recorded a conversation at the request of agents. | 11/18/10 15:19:24 By - Richard Mauer
Congressman didn't tell fellow Dems of his Guantanamo role
It's one of the Pentagon's most sensitive and carefully guarded secrets: Who interrogated the prisoners at Guantánamo? So it came as a surprise last month when a Pennsylvania congressman seeking reelection campaigned as the only member of the U.S. Congress to have interrogated a Guantánamo detainee. | 11/18/10 07:04:53 By - Carol Rosenberg
Debt experts: Let's make Medicare beneficiaries pay more
Offering the latest tough-love strategy to reduce the nation's debt, a panel of high-profile Republicans and Democrats is scheduled on Wednesday to recommend that Medicare beneficiaries pick up far more of their health care costs and that the government substantially curb the amount both Medicare and Medicaid programs can grow in future years. | 11/16/10 20:26:36 By - Phil Galewitz and Jordan Rau, Kaiser Health News
Levy trial prosecutors, defense attorneys make final arguments
Prosecutors and defense attorneys on Tuesday pressed their closing arguments in the trial of the man accused of killing Chandra Levy, casting the pros and cons in starkly different terms. | 11/16/10 18:39:41 By - Michael Doyle
Testimony ends in Chandra Levy murder trial
Prosecutors and defense attorneys on Monday concluded 10 days of pro-and-con testimony about the man accused of killing former Washington intern Chandra Levy. | 11/16/10 14:43:45 By - Michael Doyle
House panel finds Rangel guilty on 11 ethics charges
A congressional ethics panel Tuesday found Rep. Charles Rangel, former chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, guilty on 11 violations of House of Representatives’ rules. | 11/16/10 13:46:00 By - William Douglas
Missouri Sen. McCaskill could face tough re-election fight in 2012
As the political spotlight shifts to 2012, the glare will be bright in Missouri, where first-term Democratic U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill will face re-election. Though this year’s Senate contest in Missouri was a runaway for Republicans, the state is usually a battleground. But Republicans think McCaskill’s grip on her seat could be perilous. | 11/15/10 07:16:21 By - David Goldstein
New study finds VA's care just as good as everyone else's
The Department of Veterans Affairs, which for years has touted the achievements of its health care system, is now highlighting a new study that shows its health outcomes are — about like everybody else's. | 11/13/10 18:27:40 By - Chris Adams
Agency's task: Make economic stats more meaningful
The Great Recession officially ended in June 2009, but despite five consecutive quarters of economic growth since then, many Americans simply don't see or feel it. That's why the Bureau of Economic Analysis, a division of the U.S. Commerce Department that compiles official economic growth figures, is seeking to make them more meaningful. | 11/13/10 14:19:15 By - Kevin G. Hall
Condit book will 'leave readers startled,' co-author says
Former California congressman Gary Condit has penned an "explosive" book that will "leave readers startled," his co-author said in an interview Friday. | 11/12/10 19:04:30 By - Michael Doyle
Obama taps bank regulator for troubled Fannie, Freddie
President Barack Obama on Friday tapped North Carolina's top bank regulator to take over the troubled mortgage-lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, potentially putting him at the center of one of the major economic debates facing Congress next year. | 11/12/10 18:55:55 By - Barbara Barrett and Christina Rexrode
North Carolinian nominated to oversee Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
President Barack Obama on Friday nominated North Carolina’s top banking official to oversee Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Obama tapped Joseph A. Smith Jr., the North Carolina commissioner of banks, for the role of overseeing the quasi-governmental agencies just as they are about to undergo a restructuring by Congress. | 11/12/10 12:21:16 By - Barbara Barrett and Christina Rexrode
Fiery Florida talk-radio host coming to work on Capitol Hill
Following a combative campaign, Rep.-elect Allen West has hired as his chief of staff a conservative radio talk show host from South Florida who's railed against illegal immigration, touted the tea party and pummeled President Barack Obama for speaking to schoolchildren. | 11/10/10 14:44:27 By - Lesley Clark
Testimony: Poor cementing at BP well symptom of wider problem
Drilling engineers and government officials are almost lackadaisical in their approach to the critical steps of closing down an offshore oil drilling rig and sealing it, two days of testimony before a presidential commission investigating last spring's explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig indicate. | 11/09/10 19:37:24 By - Mark Seibel
Biden rolls out home energy efficiency program
Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled a new federal program to make it easier for Americans to make their homes more energy efficient, saying it will help people save money and create new jobs for contractors. | 11/09/10 06:01:00 By - Steven Thomma
A top GOP earmarker in line to lead House appropriations panel
U.S. Rep. Harold "Hal" Rogers — whose penchant for steering federal money toward pet projects earned the Kentucky Republican the nickname the "prince of pork" — knows he has to change his ways if becomes the next chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. | 11/07/10 20:35:23 By - Halimah Abdullah
Texas Rep. Barton goes all out to win House energy panel chairmanship
Texas Rep. Joe Barton has taken a scorched earth approach to getting a waiver to become chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in the next Congress. Barton, term-limited by GOP rules to six years as the top Republican on a committee, Thursday sent out letters to the incoming 60-and-counting Republican freshmen asking them for support. | 11/05/10 07:40:15 By - Maria Recio
McChrystal to lead fundraising bike ride for injured soldiers
Even at West Point in the 1970s, Stanley McChrystal was known for his fitness regimen. No who knows the former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan is surprised that he's agreed to take part in a local fundraising bike ride Saturday — volunteering to lead one that goes for 66 miles. | 11/04/10 18:07:36 By - David Pearlmutt
Tuesday's election was bad news for Blue Dogs
Rep. Jim Marshall, a fiscally conservative Democrat from Macon, Ga., voted against his party's massive health care overhaul, vowed to help repeal it and refused to endorse President Barack Obama during the 2008 elections. But Tuesday, like half his fellow Blue Dog Democrats in the House, he lost. | 11/04/10 17:10:46 By - Halimah Abdullah
Fed to take an unusual stab at boosting the economy
The Federal Reserve begins a two-day meeting Tuesday that's expected to conclude with announcement of an unorthodox plan to spark life into the moribund U.S. economy. | 11/01/10 18:05:36 By - Kevin G. Hall
GOP victory Tuesday would likely end Congress' efforts on easing Cuba sanctions
Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is poised to chair the House Foreign Affairs Committee if Republicans take control of the House in November, effectively quashing congressional efforts to ease restrictions on Cuba. | 10/28/10 06:59:30 By - Lesley Clark
White House seeks fuel efficiency standards for trucks, buses
The Obama administration on Monday proposed the first fuel-efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction standards for trucks and buses and said the new program would reduce the nation's use of oil, cut emissions of heat-trapping gases and save money. | 10/25/10 20:04:33 By - Renee Schoof
Jury seated in trial of man accused of killing Chandra Levy
Attorneys on Friday finished selecting a multiracial, larger-than-usual jury panel for the trial of the man accused of killing former Modesto resident Chandra Levy. | 10/22/10 20:26:16 By - Michael Doyle
Appeals court temporarily reinstates military's gay ban
A federal appeals court in California temporarily reinstated "don't ask, don't tell" while it considers an Obama administration appeal of a lower court judge's ruling that the military's ban on openly gay service members is unconstitutional. | 10/20/10 21:02:23 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Pentagon halts enforcement of gay ban amid legal challenge
The Pentagon Thursday halted enforcement of its "don't ask, don't tell" policy pending an appeal of a federal court order prohibiting the government from expelling gays and lesbian soldiers who disclose their sexual orientation. The Obama administration also on Thursday asked U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips to stay her order, issued Tuesday. It's unclear, however, whether Phillips will do so. | 10/14/10 20:46:19 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Sebelius: Enrollment rules must be the same for healthy, sick children
Some insurers want to allow healthy children to enroll year-round but only have a limited enrollment window for those with pre-existing conditions. Not so fast, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday in a letter to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. | 10/13/10 20:54:35 By - Mary Agnes Carey, Kaiser Health News
Jones to step down as National Security Adviser
President Barack Obama will announce today that retired Gen. James Jones will step down as the president's National Security Adviser and will be replaced by his deputy, Thomas Donilon, according to two officials with knowledge of the decision who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because it hadn't been made public. | 10/08/10 10:33:00 By - Steven Thomma
Westboro's funeral protest clearly troubles Supreme Court
Supreme Court justices didn't clearly tip their hand during the hour-long oral argument in the case pitting Westboro Baptist Church against a grieving Pennsylvania father. Several justices did, however, hint that the 2006 funeral protest was lawful even if obnoxious. | 10/06/10 14:03:31 By - Michael Doyle
Snyder v. Phelps will be First Amendment test for Supreme Court
Today, the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices will hear Snyder v. Phelps. Under our First Amendment, there seem to be very few social lines that cannot be crossed in this country. Flags can be burned, Nazis can march, profanity can be displayed, according to the U.S. Supreme Court. Will waving signs that proclaim "God Hates America" and "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" outside a funeral for a fallen serviceman fit there too? | 10/06/10 07:21:02 By - Laura Bauer
Solar cells for electricity, hot water to top White House
The most famous house in America is going solar. The White House soon will have solar panels to supply the first family's hot water and some of its electricity, the Department of Energy announced Tuesday. | 10/05/10 18:19:09 By - Renee Schoof
On first day, Kagan fills chamber with queries, comments
Justice Elena Kagan threw herself into her new job Monday with an aggressive performance during the Supreme Court's inaugural oral argument of the 2010 term. If first impressions hold true, the former Harvard Law School dean will be one of the court's most active and engaged members. | 10/04/10 14:59:18 By - Michael Doyle
Thousands rally in DC in diverse counterpoint to Glenn Beck
Thousands of liberal and labor activists rallied in the nation's capital on Saturday and in other U.S. cities, calling for young or disillusioned Democrats to vote in the November elections. If conservative Fox commentator Glenn Beck's late August rally invigorated tea party enthusiasts to vote for Republicans, many of those who turned out for the "One Nation Working Together" event saw it as their chance to shout back. | 10/02/10 16:39:58 By - Margaret Talev
Kansas' Roberts unleashes on Sebelius over health care
Pat Roberts and Kathleen Sebelius have a long history. Their families have been close. He supported her Senate nomination to be Health and Human Services secretary. Wednesday, however, the former Kansas governor found herself on the receiving end of some pretty strong criticism from her old friend and fellow Kansan, over health care. | 09/29/10 19:08:59 By - David Goldstein
How Nixon-Kennedy debate changed politics
On a Saturday 50 years ago, NBC correspondent Sander Vanocur was told there was going to be a presidential debate on Monday. And he'd better start thinking up questions. The president of CBS, Frank Stanton, had just struck a deal between the camps of Vice President Richard Nixon and his Democratic challenger, John F. Kennedy, for a series of "radio-television discussions." | 09/27/10 07:10:30 By - Aaron Barnhart
Use of diabetes drug Avandia is restricted by FDA
European medical authorities have suspended Glaxo SmithKline's onetime blockbuster diabetes drug Avandia, while U.S. regulators said they will require stricter safety warnings for the controversial medicine. The parallel rulings Thursday mark the latest chapter in the decline of what was the world's best-selling diabetes medication after the drug was dogged by health concerns. | 09/24/10 07:31:40 By - John Murawski
Pentagon, Lockheed Martin reach terms for new F-35s
Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon have finally agreed to contract terms for the next batch of 30 F-35 fighter jets for the U.S. armed forces, a deal worth in excess of $5 billion that is supposed to make Lockheed accountable for at least part of any cost overruns. | 09/23/10 07:31:29 By - Bob Cox
Military won't even notice when gay ban ends, expert testifies
If Congress decides to let gay men and lesbians serve openly in the U.S. military, the reaction among the vast majority of soldiers is likely to be a big collective yawn, a leading historian said Thursday. Nathaniel Frank testified at the trial of a decorated flight nurse who was discharged for being a lesbian. | 09/17/10 19:13:15 By - Rob Carson
No word on easing Cuba travel restrictions from Obama administration
The Obama administration has remained mum on when — or if — it will unveil a long-expected expansion of U.S. travel to Cuba. News media outlets have reported the White House had decided to ease restrictions on educational and cultural travel to Cuba. Some reports predicted the changes would be unveiled during the recent congressional recess, but no announcement was made. | 09/17/10 07:10:36 By - Lesley Clark and Juan O. Tamayo
Jill Biden to host summit on community colleges
Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden and a community college instructor, will host the inaugural White House Summit on Community Colleges next month. The Oct. 5 summit aims to reduce stigmas about community colleges versus universities, to portray them as tools to keep the U.S. competitive globally and to highlight success stories of alumni with community college backgrounds. | 09/15/10 06:01:00 By - Margaret Talev
Obama praises TCU's champion all-female rifle team
The five members of Texas Christian University's national championship rifle team were already beside themselves to be on the South Lawn of the White House Monday evening at a celebration of all NCAA sports champions when President Barack Obama gave them the first shout-out. | 09/13/10 20:57:17 By - Maria Recio
Sacramento's mayor campaigning hard for D.C.'s Fenty
Some might think it odd that the mayor of Sacramento would spend time campaigning for the mayor of a city 2,700 miles away. Ah, but Kevin Johnson is in love, and that's why he's done so much trying to get Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty re-elected. Fenty is the boss of Michelle Rhee, the head of D.C.'s public schools and Johnson's fiancee. | 09/09/10 12:49:07 By - Ryan Lillis
Obama calls plans to burn Qurans 'bonanza' for al Qaida
Obama said the plans by a Florida pastor to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Saturday by burning the Muslim holy book could encourage violence in Muslim countries. Meanwhile, the State Department warned Americans overseas that anti-U.S. demonstrations are likely, and Iraq's prime minister urged the U.S. to stop the proposed burnings. | 09/09/10 12:38:16 By - Margaret Talev
U.S., Cuba will not swap 'Cuban Five' prisoners for Gross, State Dept. says
The U.S. State Department Thursday flatly denied reports that the Obama administration is considering swapping the "Cuban Five" spies in U.S. prisons for U.S. government subcontractor Alan Gross, held without charges since his arrest in Havana on Dec. 3. | 09/03/10 07:13:53 By - Juan O. Tamayo
Groups to press Obama to end Appalachian surface mining
Environmental and human rights activists say the Obama administration should not only tighten regulations on surface mining in Appalachia but abolish the practice. They're planning a conference at Georgetown University on Sept. 25 and 26 a march and acts of civil disobedience in Washington on a "day of action" Sept. 27. | 09/01/10 20:05:50 By - Dori Hjalmarson
Following tradition, Obama redecorates Oval Office
When President Barack Obama moved into the White House last year, he didn't rush into the presidential tradition of redecorating the Oval Office. | 08/31/10 22:32:46 By - Margaret Talev
Obama's Iraq speech will come from a redone Oval Office
The White House didn't release the tab for the renovation of the president's office, but called it "a comparable level of redesign" to what Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton spent to redo the office. The cost was paid through the White House Historical Association with funds from the Presidential Inaugural Committee. In other words, not by taxpayers. | 08/31/10 12:43:28 By - Margaret Talev
Gates warns Iraq commitment isn't over
As the Obama administration prepared to hail the formal end of combat operations in Iraq, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned Tuesday that despite the drawdown, the U.S. military effort in Iraq is not over. | 08/31/10 11:09:10 By - Nancy Youssef
Rival D.C. rallies underscore the nation's divisions
Standing on the hallowed ground of the nation's civil rights icons, the leading conservative luminaries of the tea party movement on Saturday called on tens of thousands of mostly white people to restore what they say is a deficit of honor in America. Four miles away, thousands of marchers, most of them black, seethed. | 08/28/10 19:35:28 By - Erika Bolstad and James Rosen
Huge throng crowds National Mall for Glenn Beck rally
No crowd estimates were available, but thousands lined both sides of the reflecting pool facing the Lincoln Monument. Hotels throughout the Washington, D.C., region were sold out, and Washington's subway system put out an advisory Saturday morning warning of crowded conditions on all lines. Early in the event, Beck invited people to text a $10 to his charity. | 08/28/10 11:01:25 By - Erika Bolstad
Obama administration eases stance on deportations
In a new and more lenient policy, the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has instructed the agency's legal office to stop the deportation proceedings of foreign nationals who may now be eligible for a green card. The decision primarily affects immigrants ordered deported who have a relative or spouse who is a U.S. citizen. | 08/27/10 06:41:50 By - Alfonso Chardy
McClatchy journalist Pentagon banned gets First Amendment Award
Carol Rosenberg, The Miami Herald reporter banned by the Pentagon earlier this year from covering military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has been awarded the Society of Professional Journalists' First Amendment Award for her efforts to cover the detention center there, despite "consistent hostility in covering her beat." | 08/26/10 14:01:20 By -
Task force: Military suicide prevention efforts inadequate
A Defense Department task force devoted to preventing suicide in the military presented a grim picture of the trend Tuesday, with suicides rising at a near steady pace even as commanders apply various balms to soothe a stressed, exhausted fighting force. | 08/24/10 19:28:34 By - Barbara Barrett
Obama names Aponte El Salvador ambassador in recess appointment
President Barack Obama on Thursday appointed as ambassador to El Salvador a lawyer whose nomination to the post had been blocked in the Senate because of questions about her links to Cuban diplomats. Obama used a congressional recess appointment to make Mari Carmen Aponte ambassador to the Central American nation. | 08/20/10 07:08:37 By - Juan O. Tamayo
Obama steps up deportations of illegal immigrants
The Obama administration has said it is on track to remove a record number of illegal immigrants this year, buoyed by an increased emphasis on finding and deporting aliens who pass through the nation's jail system after having been convicted or accused of crimes. Immigration and Customs Enforcement now lists its top deportation priority as those undocumented immigrants convicted of the most dangerous crimes - murder, rape, assault and major drug offenses. | 08/15/10 13:36:25 By - Barbara Barrett
Groups: Few deported illegal immigrants are serious criminals
A release of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tuesday documents is the latest salvo by immigrant rights advocates who believe ICE has become a rogue agency bent on undermining civil rights and President Obama's stated policy of focusing on dangerous foreign criminals first. | 08/11/10 18:42:33 By - Alfonso Chardy
Gates proposal would cut thousands of Defense jobs
In an effort to deter potential budget cuts by Congress and streamline a burgeoning Defense Department, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates Monday proposed to cut spending on contracting, to close a command stationed in Norfolk, Va., and to reduce the number of flag officers and civilian leaders. | 08/09/10 19:37:59 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Sebelius has task few envy: Leading health care overhaul
Implementing the health-care overhaul bill passed earlier this year makes her one of the most powerful bureaucrats in the country, with one of the toughest jobs. How important is her role? Forbes magazine last year ranked her the 57th-most powerful woman in the world. | 08/08/10 17:01:32 By - Diane Stafford
With well shut, next worry is health of cleanup workers
As BP moves to seal the Deepwater Horizon well permanently, more than 31,000 cleanup workers continue to rely on incomplete and at times misleading information about toxic exposure to the spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico. | 08/07/10 19:16:31 By - Marisa Taylor
Obama courts GOP's McConnell — a vision of life after November?
Is President Barack Obama preparing for a new political balance in Washington if Democrats lose or significantly narrow their congressional majorities in November's elections and he'll need more Republicans to get anything done? | 08/06/10 16:51:25 By - Margaret Talev and David Lightman
Lobbyist charged with making illegal campaign donations
A federal grand jury on Thursday charged a once-powerful Washington lobbyist with evading federal limits on campaign donations by using straw donors to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to members of Congress, especially those with influence over military spending. | 08/05/10 21:13:52 By - Greg Gordon and Shashank Bengali
Pentagon may change rules for covering Guantanamo trials
Faced with protests from a number of news organizations, the Pentagon is considering revising the rules it invoked in May to ban four reporters from covering the trials of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. | 08/05/10 19:09:29 By - Lesley Clark
Gulf oil flow was 12 times more than feds' original estimate
As BP neared a fix that's expected to kill for good the runaway well that's wreaked economic and environmental catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, the government Monday said that 10 to 12 times the amount of oil had been flowing from the well than it originally thought. | 08/02/10 21:12:37 By - Erika Bolstad and Lesley Clark
Man accused in Chandra Levy murder case was avid correspondent
The man accused of killing one-time intern Chandra Levy is a prolific letter-writer whose words could come back to haunt him. | 08/02/10 17:17:29 By - Michael Doyle
Pentagon rethinking who can access secret information
A low-ranking Army soldier suspected of leaking thousands of classified documents had access to the documents because U.S. officials have pressed to make sure secret information is available to combat units. That idea is now being reconsidered in the wake of the Internet publication of thousands of documents by WikiLeaks, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday. | 07/30/10 00:41:08 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Army suicides: Poor leadership, not repeat deployments blamed
A new Army report has found that inattention to rising rates of drug abuse and criminal activity among soldiers and not repeat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan is responsible for the record-high levels of suicide among troops. The report urges commanders to get tougher on repeat drug offenders. | 07/29/10 20:37:41 By - Nancy A. Youssef
A trove of FDR's papers finally available to the public
The Grace Tully Archives, a collection of papers preserved by Franklin D. Roosevelt's longtime secretary, were unveiled on Wednesday, weeks after legislation took effect that moved them from private hands to the National Archives. | 07/28/10 19:14:34 By - Tish Wells
Sen. McCaskill wants answers to issues at Arlington National Cemetery
Thousands of deceased military veterans may rest in improperly marked graves at Arlington National Cemetery, Sen. Claire McCaskill warned Monday. An inspector general's report released in June detailed numerous problems at the cemetery, one of two national cemeteries run by the Department of the Army. In three sections of the cemetery, the report found, more than 200 graves appear to have been improperly marked. | 07/27/10 07:20:06 By - Dave Helling
U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants to demand deportations end
Every night before she falls asleep, Marlene de Leon worries whether she'll be jarred awake the next morning by immigration agents banging on the door to deport her mother who for years has lived in Miami without papers. On Wednesday, a contingent of U.S.-born children will gather in Washington, D.C., with their undocumented parents to march in front of the White House and demand an end to deportations. | 07/26/10 06:59:09 By - Alfonso Chardy
New federal rules take aim at college textbook costs
Advocates say a new set of federal provisions, aimed at driving down the cost of college textbooks, should help students this fall. The protections, included in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, are an attempt to lessen student debt. Among the rules: Publishers must give professors detailed information about textbook prices, revision histories and a list of alternate formats and colleges have to include in-course schedules with required textbooks for each class, including the book's price and International Standard Book Number, an identifying tool. | 07/22/10 07:39:13 By - Diane Smith
Rep. Myrick says U.S. intelligence missed N.C. jihadist
North Carolina's U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick has faulted the U.S. intelligence community for failing to see a connection between a terrorist group and a radical Charlotte blogger now believed to edit an al Qaida magazine in Yemen. Samir Khan, about 24, is a Saudi-born U.S. citizen whose family moved to New York City when he was 7 and to North Carolina in 2004. Khan is believed to be the top editor of "Inspire," an online magazine designed as a recruiting tool for the group al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. | 07/21/10 07:27:07 By - Jim Morrill
Thinking Thanksgiving at the White House at one Modesto farm
If you want a pardon from the president, you'd better be on your best behavior. Same goes for turkeys. | 07/16/10 14:55:29 By - John Holland
Congress wants more scrutiny of U.S. spending in Afghanistan
Members of a House subcommittee drilled three U.S. agencies Thursday for not tracking billions in U.S. money invested in the rebuilding of Afghanistan since 2002. | 07/15/10 18:22:40 By - Reid Davenport
Senate sends historic financial overhaul bill to Obama's desk
The Senate on Thursday voted 60-39 to approve the most sweeping overhaul of the nation's financial regulatory system since the Great Depression, clearing the historic legislation for President Barack Obama to sign into law. | 07/15/10 15:49:08 By - David Lightman
Obama taps ex-Clinton budget guru Lew to run his budget
President Barack Obama reached Tuesday for the nostalgia of long-gone Clinton-era budget surpluses to soothe debt-weary voters, choosing a Clinton budget veteran to run the White House budget office. | 07/14/10 18:46:20 By - Steven Thomma
Two U.S. spies for Cuba ask court to jail them near each other
A Washington D.C. couple who spent 30 years spying for Cuba are asking a federal judge to recommend that they be incarcerated near each other — but not in Florida, where they say the federal prisons "will likely have populations of Cuban-Americans who might react strongly to their offense.'' | 07/10/10 17:13:21 By - Lesley Clark
Gates: New media restrictions not meant to curtail coverage
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Thursday that a new policy requiring military commanders to get advance clearance from the Pentagon before talking to reporters, is aimed at stopping leaks, not preventing soldiers from talking to the news media. | 07/08/10 20:56:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef and Maggie Bridgeman
Marine who dismissed charges in Iraqi civilian deaths to lead Centcom
The Pentagon Thursday nominated Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis to head up the U.S. Central Command, the final personnel change in a shake-up brought about by the dismissal of former Afghanistan commander Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal. | 07/08/10 20:10:07 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Judges rule Obama can't close Yucca Mountain nuclear dump
Three administrative judges within the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled last week that Congress designated Yucca Mountain in 1987 to receive highly toxic waste and that only an act of Congress can close it. President Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu cannot withdraw the government's application to dump waste there. | 07/04/10 05:34:16 By - James Rosen
Obama calls for immigration overhaul, but prospects bleak
President Barack Obama on Thursday once again urged Congress to tackle comprehensive legislation to overhaul immigration law, citing the urgency of Arizona passing its own punitive statute in the absence of federal action. | 07/03/10 18:04:53 By - William Douglas
Mixed June jobs data point to a slow economic recovery
The phasing out of 225,000 temporary census workers left total U.S. payrolls down by 125,000 jobs in June, but the private sector expanded by 83,000 jobs and the nation’s unemployment rate dropped to 9.5 percent, the lowest level since last July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. | 07/03/10 18:04:23 By - Kevin G. Hall
November fears paralyzing House Democrats on key issues
It's become a familiar Tuesday ritual: Another member of Congress loses his bid for re-nomination, and incumbents in Washington shudder — and get more timid about taking politically risky votes on economic matters. That's making it hard for the increasingly fractured House of Representatives Democratic caucus, which has an overwhelming majority, to complete even the most routine matters. | 07/03/10 18:03:32 By - David Lightman
McChrystal tells Pentagon he'll retire
Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal told the Army Monday that he intends to retire, military officials said, less than a week after President Barack Obama fired him as the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. | 06/28/10 20:47:44 By - Nancy A. Youssef
With Sen. Byrd's death, the era of statesmen fades
The death of West Virginia Sen. Robert Carlyle Byrd, the Senate's longest serving member, is the latest in a recent series of vivid reminders that the Senate — and the ways it shapes major policies — is changing fast. Lawmakers who came to power before You Tube and the 24-hour news cycle are ever fewer. | 06/28/10 13:31:39 By - David Lightman and William Douglas
Sen. Leahy's prepared remarks opening Elena Kagan's confirmation hearing
These are the prepared remarks by Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senbate Judiciary Committee, for the opening of the confirmation hearing of Elena Kagan to the United States Supreme Court. The remarks were distributed by the committee. | 06/28/10 12:42:35 By -
Robert Byrd, Senate's longest serving member, is dead
Byrd died at 3 a.m. after a short hospitalization over the weekend. He was very much a man of his turbulent era and a man of West Virginia, able to dramatically influence and shape policy for more than half a century while bestowing billions on his beloved state. | 06/28/10 06:17:22 By - David Lightman
What Idaho's members of Congress think of finance bill
Sen. Mike Crapo, a Republican, and Rep. Walt Minnick, a Democrat, both had a hand in the sweeping financial regulatory bill set to come to the House and Senate for a vote this week. One will vote no, the other yes. | 06/27/10 15:50:09 By - Erika Bolstad
Children of migrants make plea, protest in Washington
It started out as a news conference by children to announce their participation in a planned demonstration in front of the White House next month to demand a halt to deportations of undocumented immigrants. | 06/25/10 15:07:20 By - Alfonso Chardy
McChrystal's dismissal isn't all bad news for his in-laws
Gen. Stanley McChrystal's dismissal by President Barack Obama wasn't entirely bad news for retired Col. Edward Corcoran and his wife, Marie, of Columbia, S.C. "I know combat," Corcoran said. "And now I don't have to worry about my son-in-law wandering around the streets of Kandahar getting shot at by the Taliban." | 06/24/10 18:08:44 By - Jeff Wilkinson
Supreme Court deals setback to gay rights foes in ballot case
Despite a near unanimous Supreme Court decision Thursday that Washington state can release the names of the roughly 138,000 people who signed ballot petitions to overturn a same-sex domestic partnership law, the court held open the possibility that the names could be withheld under certain circumstances, meaning the case is far from over. | 06/24/10 16:36:31 By - Les Blumenthal
Napolitano promises more security at Mexican border
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Wednesday she is considering new policies to strengthen the U.S. border with Mexico. Taking aim at politicians who use "bumper sticker" solutions and only "look tough," Napolitano praised the Obama administration for its efforts to increase security along the U.S.-Mexico line, but said the border can be further protected with a variety of approaches. | 06/23/10 21:29:49 By - Lauren French
Federal official fired by Obama won't get his job back
Gerald Walpin, the federal inspector general fired by President Obama last summer as he was pressing his probe of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, has lost his bid to win his job back. A federal judge in Washington, dismissed a lawsuit Walpin filed in July seeking reinstatement as inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees the AmeriCorps program. | 06/21/10 18:26:04 By - Sam Stanton
House panel: FEMA unready to help the disabled in a disaster
Almost five years after Hurricane Katrina, the federal government remains woefully unprepared to rescue at-risk groups of people in the path of a catastrophe, a congressional panel charged on Tuesday. | 06/15/10 16:29:36 By - Andrew Seidman
Senate defeats bid to limit EPA authority to regulate emissions
The Senate Thursday defeated 53-47 an effort to limit the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and President Barack Obama said the vote was a reminder of the need to pass more comprehensive climate change legislation. | 06/10/10 21:09:31 By - Erika Bolstad
Government doubles previous oil flow estimate for BP well
The Obama administration on Thursday doubled its minimum estimate of how much crude oil was gushing from the Deepwater Horizon oil well, saying a panel of scientists had concluded that 20,000 to 50,000 barrels, or as much as 2.1 million gallons, were pouring into the Gulf of Mexico every day before BP sheared the well's riser pipe on June 3. | 06/10/10 20:17:20 By - Mark Seibel and Renee Schoof
For Adm. Thad Allen, BP's oil leak is only the latest crisis
Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen is the face of the federal effort responding to the Gulf of Mexico disaster. But it's just the latest in a string of tough crises he's been assigned to deal with: Hurricane Katrina, tightening port security in the aftermath of 9/11, and commander in Miami when the Coast Guard began intercepting Cuban rafters at sea and sending them back to their homeland. | 06/09/10 19:38:22 By - Carol Rosenberg
Fed chief cautiously optimistic about economy
The U.S. economy is in a moderate recovery and should continue growing through next year, but the unemployment rate is expected to remain higher than usual, and it will take "a significant amount of time" to replace the jobs that have been lost in the recession, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday. | 06/09/10 11:43:53 By - Kevin G. Hall
Massey chief blames regulators for mine safety problems
Massey Energy chief Don Blankenship, embattled by safety questions after a West Virginia coal mine explosion killed 29 miners in April, went on the offensive this week. He sent four governors, including Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, a letter claiming that federal coal mine regulators mandated an unsafe ventilation plan at mines such as Upper Big Branch in Montcoal, W.Va. | 06/08/10 19:55:13 By - Dori Hjalmarson
Two F-35 fighter models make test flights
After months of intense scrutiny over delays and rising costs, Lockheed Martin seems to be making consistent progress on the F-35 joint strike fighter program as it reached two milestones in as many days. The first test version of the F-35C, designed for use aboard Navy aircraft carriers, made its initial, 57-minute flight Sunday. On Monday, the fourth short-takeoff-vertical-landing F-35B, designed for the Marine Corps, was flown to the Navy's Patuxent River, Md., test center. | 06/08/10 07:31:59 By - Bob Cox
With oil spill in patches, Coast Guard cuts use of dispersants
Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Monday that the Gulf oil spill has broken into "hundreds or thousands" of oil patches, forcing federal officials to adapt their plans to keep up. He also made clear that the amount of oil flowing from the Deepwater Horizon well is far greater than previously acknowledged. | 06/07/10 14:11:03 By - Steven Thomma
Obama orders firms to change drill plans that mimic BP's
The Obama administration ordered oil companies to resubmit dozens of exploration plans that were virtually identical to BP's and that also called major spills and environmental damage "unlikely." The action came after McClatchy informed the White House and Interior officials that it had reviewed 31 deepwater exploration and development plans approved for the Gulf under the Obama administration and found that all of them downplayed the threat of spills to marine life and fisheries. | 06/02/10 20:24:12 By - Shashank Bengali
Error sent stimulus funds to California police departments
The Clovis, Dinuba and West Sacramento police departments erroneously received hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire or retain police officers as part of a huge economic stimulus bill, auditors have concluded. | 06/02/10 17:45:47 By - Michael Doyle
Pentagon says F-35 fighter program's cost still exceeding estimates
The total cost of the F-35 joint strike fighter program will be far higher than estimated just a few months ago, the Pentagon confirmed Tuesday, but a report sent to Congress says the next-generation warplane must be continued because it is vital to national security. Pentagon analysts now estimate that the cost to the U.S. of developing the F-35 and buying 2,443 combat-ready jets could total $382 billion through 2036. | 06/02/10 07:42:21 By - Bob Cox
Texas to seek federal funds to fix congested rail junction
The effort to fix a dangerous and congested rail intersection near downtown Fort Worth known as Tower 55 may finally be on track. It will be the second time in a year that the federal funding has been pursued for Tower 55. Last year the state decided not to endorse specific projects, leaving it to local officials to apply for federal dollars. | 05/28/10 19:24:53 By - Gordon Dickson
NCAA champ Duke evens the score at White House
The Rose Garden ceremony honoring the 2010 NCAA men's basketball champions was Krzyzewski's fourth trip to the White House. It was his first chance to personally remind the current leader of the free world that Duke shouldn't be counted out of anyone's bracket, even the president's. | 05/27/10 17:49:50 By - Barbara Barrett
Bell Helicopter to pay $16.6 million for overcharging Defense Dept.
Bell Helicopter has agreed to pay the U.S. government $16.6 million to settle claims that it overcharged the Defense Department for work on military contracts. The Justice Department announced the settlement Wednesday, bringing an end to investigations that began in August 2004, when Bell attorneys first notified the Pentagon's inspector general that the company had overcharged the government for work done by Bell subsidiaries and affiliates. | 05/27/10 07:45:10 By - Bob Cox
Supreme Court to hear DNA testing case of Texas Death Row inmate
A Texas Death Row inmate who came within minutes of being executed for a triple murder in the Panhandle is now at the center of a potentially far-reaching Supreme Court case on DNA testing. Hank Skinner says a Texas prosecutor is violating his civil rights by not turning over DNA evidence that Skinner says will prove his innocence. In hearing Skinner's case, the nine justices could decide whether prisoners are empowered to file federal civil-right lawsuits to force DNA testing after their convictions. | 05/25/10 07:37:51 By - Dave Montgomery
Pressure mounts for federal takeover of oil spill response
The unprecedented scope of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and widening criticism of BP's response to it is forcing federal officials to rethink the government's role, the commandant of the Coast Guard said Monday. BP chief executive Tony Hayward Monday defended his company's use of a chemical agent to disperse the oil, despite an Environmental Protection Agency order for BP to stop using it. | 05/24/10 21:03:20 By - Steven Thomma and Joseph Goodman
Obama administration officials to prod China anew on currency
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this week face an unenviable task of trying to convince China to free up its currency's fixed rate against the dollar amid a gathering crisis in Europe that threatens to stall a global economic recovery. | 05/23/10 15:18:13 By - Kevin G. Hall
Obama to cadets: 'International order' over unilateral actions
President Barack Obama, addressing the U.S. Military Academy on Saturday, previewed the national security strategy his administration is to announce next week by saying the U.S. must "shape an international order" and make itself more competitive globally in terms of education and innovation. | 05/22/10 14:38:54 By - Margaret Talev
Obama's state dinner guest list includes bank executives
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan was on the guest list for Wednesday's state dinner, along with a smorgasbord of other financial heavy-hitters. American Express CEO Ken Chenault, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Sen. Chris Dodd, head of the Senate banking committee, were also on the guest list. | 05/19/10 21:57:55 By - Rick Rothacker and Christina Rexrode
Supreme Court: Juveniles can't serve life terms for lesser crimes
A divided Supreme Court said Monday that Florida and 36 other states that permitted it can't sentence juveniles to life in prison without parole for non-homicide crimes. | 05/18/10 14:50:25 By - Michael Doyle
Napolitano: Feds lack expertise to deal with deepwater spill
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano acknowledged Monday that the federal government doesn't have the resources or expertise to deal with an oil spill 5,000 feet below the sea, and must largely depend on oil companies to deal with an incident of such magnitude. | 05/17/10 20:03:29 By - Erika Bolstad
Oil spill: BP had wrong diagram to close blowout preventer
In the days after an oil well spun out of control in the Gulf of Mexico, BP engineers tried to activate a huge piece of underwater safety equipment but failed because the device had been so altered that diagrams BP got from the equipment's owner didn't match the supposedly failsafe device's configuration. That meant that when engineers thought they were activating the blowout preventer to crimp the well's pipe, they were actually activating a piece of test equipment. | 05/12/10 20:35:20 By - Maria Recio, Dave Montgomery and Mark Washburn
Obama administration to split agency that oversees offshore drilling
The troubled federal agency that oversees all aspects of offshore leasing will split in two in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil rig explosion, an Interior official confirmed Tuesday. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is expected to announce this afternoon that the Minerals Management Service will divide its regulatory and revenue collection functions. | 05/11/10 09:19:51 By - Erika Bolstad
BP, Transocean, Halliburton will blame one another for spill
In testimony at Senate hearings today into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, top executives from BP America, which owns the leaking well, Tansocean Ltd., which owned the sunken rig, and Halliburton, whose employees poured the cement around the well, will blame one another for the as-yet-undetermined cause of the explosion, according to their prepared testimony. | 05/10/10 23:51:06 By - Erika Bolstad
Obama names Elena Kagan as Supreme Court nominee
President Barack Obama on Monday nominated Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court to replace John Paul Stevens, who's retiring. Kagan, 50, would be the youngest justice on the nine-member court, her age likely a key factor because it could mean a long tenure and a long-lasting imprint on the court for Obama. | 05/10/10 10:31:20 By - Steven Thomma and Michael Doyle
Kagan no stranger to the travails of confirmation
The former Harvard Law School dean has studied confirmation, as a scholar. She has worked it, as a Senate staffer. She has endured its frustrations, as a stalled judicial nominee in the Clinton administration. And she prevailed in it, winning confirmation in January 2009 to be Obama's solicitor general. Now she'll undergo it again, with both conservatives and liberals unhappy at her stands. | 05/10/10 00:24:45 By - Michael Doyle
Since spill, feds have given 27 waivers to oil companies in gulf
Since the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig exploded on April 20, the Obama administration has granted oil and gas companies at least 27 exemptions from doing in-depth environmental studies of oil exploration and production in the Gulf of Mexico. The waivers were granted despite President Barack Obama’s vow that his administration would launch a “relentless response effort” to stop the leak and prevent more damage to the gulf. One of them was dated Friday — the day after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he was temporarily halting offshore drilling | 05/07/10 17:02:46 By - Marisa Taylor
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