PAST ATTEMPTS by the Obama administration to start peace talks with the Afghan Taliban foundered in part because the process was not, as U.S. officials frequently claimed, “Afghan-owned and Afghan-led.” In fact, the Taliban refused to negotiate with...
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The House approved legislation Tuesday that would ban abortions starting at 20 weeks of pregnancy, the most sweeping abortion restriction to pass any chamber of Congress in a decade. The vote was 228 to 196. Read full article >> ...
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A bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy passed in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, with 228 members voting for it and 196 members voting against it. The bill will now go to the Senate, where it is not expected to pass. Read...
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Federal employees have pushed as hard as anyone to get the Defense of Marriage Act overturned. The Supreme Court will rule on it within days. But even if the court banishes DOMA to a discredited corner of history, it doesn’t necessarily mean federal...
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After more than four years of sometimes rancorous debate, food trucks on Tuesday made a major advance toward becoming a government-sanctioned, street-legal fixture of the District's culinary scene. The D.C. Council voted unanimously Tuesday to complete...
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Welfare reform is pretty popular. A Rasmussen poll last July found that 83 percent of American adults favor the work requirement placed on welfare by the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, commonly known as the welfare reform law....
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The first six months of 2013 have made two things very clear: 1) Rand Paul is running for president and 2) Rand Paul is the most interesting politician in the country at the moment. From his filibuster over drones to his positioning on the immigration...
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After the 2012 election, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal made a name for himself as the most eager and aggressive of the GOP’s self-flagellators. Republicans have to “stop being the stupid party,” he raged. They have to compete for “the 47 … Continue...
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Of late, Forbes blogger and Manhattan Institute fellow Avik Roy has emerged as one of Obamacare's most persistent and popular conservative critics. We've gone back-and-forth a bit over the blogs (see here and here, for starters). But as you may have...
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Heather Myers was fired from her job at a Wal-Mart store in Salina, Kan., for keeping a water bottle nearby -- even though she was pregnant and simply following doctor's orders to drink plenty of liquids. Read full article >> ...
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For most of the public, the word “drone” calls up the sleek, automated killing machines that the Obama administration routinely deploys against suspected terrorists and that Rand Paul (R-Ky.) filibustered on the floor of the Senate. But those aren’t...
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It’s one of the hottest debates in health care: Is the historically slow growth in health spending in recent years due to the lingering effects of the recession, or is it a fundamental change that augurs well for the future? … Continue reading → ...
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Welcome to Wonkbook, Ezra Klein and Evan Soltas’s morning policy news primer. To subscribe by e-mail, click here. Send comments, criticism, or ideas to Wonkbook at Gmail dot com. To read more by Ezra and his team, go to Wonkblog. On immigration...
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KABUL – The U.S.-led international coalition and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai announced Tuesday that Afghan troops are now taking the lead on security in every province of the country, a milestone that was quickly marred by a new fatal attack...
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Just when you thought the real estate market couldn't get any weirder, CNBC reported last week that there is a "mansion shortage" in this country. The inventory of $1 million-plus homes is plummeting, Robert Frank wrote. But before you collapse in tears,...
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency this month denied an appeal for millions of dollars in additional aid to help West, Tex., recover from an April 17 fertilizer-plant explosion that killed 15 people and decimated some 37 blocks of homes, schools...
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THE INTERNATIONAL Energy Agency (IEA) last week warned that global carbon dioxide emissions in 2012 were the highest ever. Yet international climate negotiations have floundered. Many Americans and their representatives in Congress still doubt climate...
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The scandal at the Baltimore City Detention Center, where 13 female guards were indicted in April for essentially handing over control of the jail to gang members, may be partly the legacy of a short-lived state experiment of hiring corrections officers...
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Jack Lew was the senior budget adviser to President Obama and President Bill Clinton. He was Obama’s chief of staff. Now he is Treasury secretary. But his most remarked-upon trait was his unusual signature, a series of eight connected loops that looked...
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Nearly four years after the Fort Hood shooting rampage, the Army psychiatrist charged in the case will go on trial after a judge on Tuesday refused his request for a three-month delay. Jury selection in Maj. Nidal Hasan’s trial is set for July 9. The...
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THE UNITED States and the European Union continue moving toward a free-trade pact known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Last week, E.U. trade ministers agreed on a common opening position for negotiations, enabling President...
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MUCH OF the excellence in American medicine dates to a groundbreaking 1910 study that stimulated medical schools to reshape how doctors were trained. Teacher preparation today needs a similar push; the weakness of education schools is one of the reasons...
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It turned into a wet, rainy day, but we are on the brink of a fabulous stretch of weather, set to start tomorrow. ...
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The Congressional Budget Office is out with its estimate on the cost of the Senate immigration bill, and advocates for the bill quickly hailed the results. From Lori Montgomery's story: The bipartisan immigration bill under consideration in the Senate...
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After getting off to a sluggish start this year, the Senate is now approving judges at a rapid clip. The chamber approved two federal judges Monday night, Luis Felipe Restrepo in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Gonzales...
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FIRST ON THE FIX: Gessler poll shows trouble for Hickenlooper: A Magellan Strategies poll conducted for Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler (R) shows him running about even with Gov. John Hickenlooper (D), with the incumbent at 44 percent and the...
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The fate of the sprawling immigration reform proposal winding its way through Congress may now be in the hands of some of the most conservatives members of the Republican Party. House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said Tuesday that he will not advance...
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A sinkhole has opened up in a parking lot near the intersection of M Street and New York Avenue in Northwest D.C., said Tim Wilson, a D.C. fire department spokesman. There is a Honda partially in the hole, but it has not completely fallen in, as Erika...
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The immigration bill under consideration in the Senate would reduce federal deficits by nearly $200 billion over the next decade, and continue generating savings in the years beyond, even after millions of new citizens became eligible for health-care...
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Good news for immigration reformers: The Congressional Budget Office has scored the Senate immigration bill and concluded it will cut deficits by $200 billion in the first 10 years and $700 billion in the second 10 years. Read full article >> ...
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The U.S. government’s sweeping surveillance programs have disrupted more than 50 terrorist plots in the United States and abroad, including a plan to bomb the New York Stock Exchange, senior government officials testified Tuesday. Read full article...
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In testimony before Congress Tuesday, senior intelligence and law enforcement officials said recently revealed surveillance programs have disrupted more than 50 “potential terrorist events,” including at least 10 plots that were based inside the...
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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lied to Congress during a March hearing. "What I'm saying is that the Director of National Intelligence, in March, did directly lie to Congress, which is against...
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The G-8 summit in northern Ireland is over. And, while there was plenty of policy discussed -- and you should read all about it -- our lasting memory of the gathering will be the awkward body language between President Obama and Russian President Vladimir...
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Will John Boehner break the Hastert rule and bring an immigration reform bill to the floor even if a majority of House Republicans oppose it? “It’s not gonna happen,” he said Tuesday. My colleague Greg Sargent thinks he’s bluffing. And … Continue...
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The CBO’s score of the Gang of Eight immigration reform bill is out and it’s very positive. While the bill increases spending by $262 billion over 10 years, it increases revenue by $459 billion, for a deficit reduction of $197 … Continue reading...
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ISTANBUL — Turkey’s demonstrations took a twist on Tuesday, as plazas, malls and public spaces across the country filled with people trying a new form of protest: doing nothing. Protesters opposed to the 10-year rule of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip...
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Brazil is experiencing its largest protests in more than 20 years, as more than 200,000 demonstrators take to the streets of Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and four other major cities to rally on a range of social issues. Read full article >> ...
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Prince George’s County homeowners could pay up to $62 annually for a new fee to help fund a program to clean up the Chesapeake Bay. The fee, subject to approval by the County Council, would appear along with other utility fees on residents’ property...
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When the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority's board of directors meets on Wednesday, members are expected to get a briefing on construction of the Silver Line rail extension as well as a report on the latest air traffic statistics. Read full article...
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Daniel Snyder’s private equity firm has sold Johnny Rockets, its oldies-themed burger-and-milkshake chain, for an undisclosed amount after six years of ownership. An affiliate of Sun Capital Partners purchased the 300-unit chain this month from Snyder’s...
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At approximately 3:30 p.m., a tornado touched down in the vicinity of Denver International Airport (DIA). The weather station clocked a 97 mph gust as it passed by. ...
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Here are two examples of Earth, wind and fire - to the extreme. ...
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A state senator in Louisiana explains in a new video why he switched to the Republican Party, arguing that the GOP should be the new home for African-Americans like him. In the video, state Sen. Elbert Guillory says Democrats use social programs like...
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Looks like Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has been working on his penmanship. The Treasury Department on Tuesday tweeted an image of Lew’s signature as it will appear on U.S. currency beginning this fall. And it’s a vast improvement over his original,...
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Low's set at Sixth & I Synagogue on Monday night was, in my opinion, fantastic. The band's minimalist arrangements sounded especially haunting in the domed sanctuary, and the new material (particularly "Just Make it Stop" from 2013 s Jeff Tweedy-produced...
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Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it’s forced to give the government....
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Will John Boehner break the Hastert rule and bring an immigration reform bill to the floor even if a majority of House Republicans oppose it? "It's not gonna happen," he said Tuesday. My colleague Greg Sargent thinks he's bluffing. And perhaps he is....
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The House Oversight Committee's top Democrat on Tuesday released the full transcript of a congressional interview that he said "debunks conspiracy theories" about the IRS targeting controversy. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member of the committee,...
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