Obama signs bill for Sandy flood insurance claims
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Obama has signed into law a $9.7 billion bill to pay flood insurance claims from Superstorm Sandy.The law increases the borrowing authority of the Federal Emergency...
View ArticleGOP still skeptical as Obama seems set on Hagel
Amid news reports that the Obama administration has settled on Chuck Hagel to head the Defense Department, Republicans on Sunday made it clear the former Nebraska senator will face tough...
View ArticleFilibuster fight on hiatus with Senate
With the "fiscal cliff" averted for now, and the Senate on recess the next two weeks, the chamber's leaders have some breathing room to negotiate a possible compromise on another toxic topic —...
View ArticleDormant liberties agency awakens to tasks
A presidentially appointed panel charged with ensuring federal laws don't impede Americans' civil liberties has nothing to show for itself in recent years, failing to meet even once during a five-year...
View ArticleInside the Beltway: Gun Appreciation Day
OK, mark the date, for it will surely spark an outcry in the gun-control community. A coalition of gun rights and conservative groups have declared Jan. 19 to be "Gun Appreciation Day" and are urging...
View ArticleBipartisan blows stand between Brennan and post at helm of CIA
Republicans are suspicious of John O. Brennan's refusal to link the words "Islamic" and "terrorism" in the same breath as President Obama's chief counterterrorism adviser.Democrats complain that he...
View ArticleA curtain-raiser: 10 stars to watch in new season of Congress Theater
It takes ability, appetite and the occasional lucky break to rise above the din of discord on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers must have finesse, fire in the belly and persistence to distinguish themselves from...
View ArticleOnce again, fights on spending, taxes and debt dominate the debate
After Republicans won control of the House in the 2010 elections, they triumphed in the first showdown with the White House on spending. Six months later, they and President Obama dueled to a draw on...
View ArticleDebt, funding fights show no signs of easing for new Congress
The bitter partisan fights on taxes and spending that dominated the past Congress — highlighted by the "fiscal cliff" battle — likely will continue to boil this year.Several big money issues left by...
View Article113th Congress mirrors increasingly diverse U.S.
The changing face of Congress can be seen in the changing faces of Congress.While demographers now project that the United States will become a "majority-minority" nation by 2043, the lineup of the...
View ArticleQuestions abound as Obama restocks his Cabinet
President Obama will begin his second term with a much different leadership team than his first four years, with several of the key chairs in his Cabinet room yet to be filled.Leaving are some of the...
View ArticleObama's promised push on immigration sets up early test
Despite the hopes of immigrant-rights advocates, it appears the election did not close the partisan divide on immigration.That was highlighted on Thursday, the very first day of the new session, when...
View ArticleSequestration could idle civilian defense workers by thousands
The 113th Congress' most pressing defense-related concern will be the military's budget, despite the previous Congress having averted the so-called "fiscal cliff."Come March 1, automatic spending cuts...
View ArticleA Top 10 list for the new Congress
A new term for President Obama. A new Congress. And a host of new and returning problems and conflicts for the two sides to hash out. Washington Times chief political correspondent Ralph Z. Hallow...
View ArticleLawmakers seek leverage on Obama energy push
America's energy outlook this year will be, more than ever before, tied to how the federal government approaches the issue of climate change — and how much leverage the new Congress will have to help...
View ArticleObama will take the lead protecting cybernetworks
Having failed to pass cybersecurity legislation for the third consecutive year, Congress this year will take a back seat to the Obama administration in trying to secure critical networks such as...
View ArticleClinton returns to work after hospitalization for blood clot
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton returned to work Monday after a month-long absence caused first by a stomach virus, then a fall and a concussion, and finally a brief...
View ArticleImmigration enforcement funding tops FBI's, ATF's
After decades of steady growth, immigration-enforcement spending has dropped slightly under President Obama — though the amount is still more than the budgets of the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol,...
View ArticleNominations pick fight with GOP
Chuck Hagel faces a tough confirmation fight, but rejecting President Obama's pick to head the Pentagon would be an almost unprecedented act for the Senate, which has rarely rejected a Cabinet nominee...
View ArticleSon of Sen. Rand Paul arrested at N.C. airport
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Police say Sen. Rand Paul's son was arrested after a flight from Kentucky to North Carolina.The Charlotte Observer reports that 19-year-old William Hilton Paul was arrested...
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