TheRepublic.com - District of Columbia News

Former IRS commissioner heads to Hill amid scandal

Tue, 21 May 2013 03:41:34 -0400

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers are getting their first chance to question the former head of the Internal Revenue Service, the man who ran the agency when agents were improperly targeting tea party groups.

Senate to debate crop insurance in farm bill

Tue, 21 May 2013 03:02:48 -0400

WASHINGTON - The Senate is debating cuts to the federally subsidized crop insurance program as it considers a massive farm bill this week.

Committee nears final big immigration decisions

Tue, 21 May 2013 03:02:15 -0400

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee hopes to nail down an elusive compromise on high-tech visas and may punt a controversy over gay marriage to the full Senate as it makes final drafting decisions on immigration legislation that grants a shot at citizenship to millions living in the country illegally.

China's Xi will meet Obama earlier than expected

Tue, 21 May 2013 00:43:33 -0400

BEIJING - China's new leader Xi Jinping will confer with President Barack Obama next month in California, months earlier than their expected first meeting, as both sides seek to stem a drift in relations, troubled by issues from cyberspying to North Korea.

AP source: Treasury told WH of IRS disclosure plan

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:42:05 -0400

WASHINGTON - A Treasury official says the department told the White House twice that the IRS was preparing to make public its targeting of conservative political groups.

GW says new gym floor will feature DC landmarks

Mon, 20 May 2013 21:04:48 -0400

WASHINGTON - George Washington University is adding images of District of Columbia landmarks to the floor of the gym where the school's volleyball and basketball teams play.

Military Bowl moving from DC to Annapolis

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:31:27 -0400

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland - Military Bowl organizers announced Monday that the game will move this year from Washington's RFK Stadium to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, placing the sixth annual game in a setting designed to honor service members about 30 miles from the nation's capital.

Gov't presses ahead on another leak case

Mon, 20 May 2013 20:01:02 -0400

WASHINGTON - In another case of the Obama administration investigating classified information improperly disclosed to reporters, the government is prosecuting a State Department expert on North Korea in a probe that appears to step into uncharted territory - by declaring that a journalist is committing a crime in disclosing leaked information.

White House says more farm subsidy cuts needed

Mon, 20 May 2013 18:16:34 -0400

WASHINGTON - The Obama administration said Monday it wants to see more cuts to agriculture subsidies in a massive farm bill moving through the Senate this week.

Education Department gives 3 more states waivers

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:14:50 -0400

WASHINGTON - Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced on Monday that three more states would join the ranks of those given permission to ignore parts of the federal No Child Left Behind law in favor of their own school improvement plans.

Carney: Senior White House staff knew of IRS probe

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:53:07 -0400

WASHINGTON - The White House says White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler was first informed about an audit of the IRS' inappropriate targeting of conservative groups on April 24 and that she notified senior staff, including Denis McDonough, the chief of staff to President Barack Obama. White House press secretary Jay Carney says Ruemmler "appropriately" decided not to tell Obama at the time because the audit was ongoing.

GOP ponders how to capitalize on Obama's woes

Mon, 20 May 2013 03:31:28 -0400

WASHINGTON - The scandals dogging President Barack Obama are a political gift to Republicans, who could use some good luck after recent election losses. It's not clear, however, how Republicans can best capitalize on Democrats' woes, legislatively or politically.

AP CEO calls records seizure unconstitutional

Sun, 19 May 2013 19:04:46 -0400

WASHINGTON - The president and chief executive officer of The Associated Press on Sunday called the government's secret seizure of two months of reporters' phone records "unconstitutional" and said the news cooperative had not ruled out legal action against the Justice Department.

Crapo's campaign suffered from poor controls

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:34:57 -0400

BOISE, Idaho - As William Corbett was preparing a final federal elections disclosure for his boss, U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, in October 2008, he said there was something important he wasn't told.

Nikiski student gets national honor

Sun, 19 May 2013 11:07:30 -0400

KENAI, Alaska - A Nikiski Middle-High School student has been recognized as one of the nation's top scholars and will be honored with a medallion for her accomplishments in Washington, D.C, in June.

Obama urged to make economy a bigger, bolder topic

Sun, 19 May 2013 10:17:07 -0400

WASHINGTON - Five months into President Barack Obama's second term, allies and former top aides worry that his overarching goal of economic opportunity has been diminished, partly drowned out by controversies seized upon by Republicans in an effort to weaken him.

Washington scandals intrude on Mass. Senate race

Sun, 19 May 2013 09:38:41 -0400

BOSTON - The controversies swirling around the Obama administration - from the IRS targeting of conservative groups to lingering questions about last year's terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya - are threatening to engulf Massachusetts' special U.S. Senate election.

Obama agenda marches on despite controversies

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:49:43 -0400

WASHINGTON - Despite Democratic fears, predictions of the demise of President Barack Obama's agenda appear exaggerated after a week of cascading controversies, political triage by the administration and party leaders in Congress and lack of evidence to date of wrongdoing close to the Oval Office.

OAS drug study eyes marijuana legalization

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:58:25 -0400

LIMA, Peru - An Organization of American States study released Friday is calling for a serious discussion on legalizing marijuana.

Hagel orders review of sex-abuse prevention

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:46:56 -0400

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday ordered the military to recertify all 25,000 people involved in programs designed to prevent and respond to sexual assault, an acknowledgement that assaults have escalated beyond the Pentagon's control.

Second court invalidates Obama recess appointment

Thu, 16 May 2013 17:29:26 -0400

WASHINGTON - A second federal appeals court has found that President Barack Obama exceeded his power when he bypassed the Senate to install a member to the National Labor Relations Board.

Congress rethinks 9/11 law on military force

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:22:24 -0400

WASHINGTON - Congress is rethinking the broad authority it gave the president to wage a war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in light of how President Barack Obama has used the power to target suspected terrorists with lethal drone strikes.

Senate committee approves 3 judicial nominees

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:58:02 -0400

WASHINGTON - The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved three of President Barack Obama's judicial nominees, including one for an influential appeals court, for a full Senate vote.

Turkish PM talks Syria with Obama at White House

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:33:17 -0400

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama said Thursday that the U.S. and Turkey will keep ramping up pressure to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad from power, but there's "no magic formula" to stop his violence.

Obama walking a familiar path on IRS allegations

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:30:29 -0400

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service controversy dogging President Barack Obama is hardly the first time a White House and the tax agency have been accused of political meddling and bias. Nor is it the first time that political and social advocacy groups have searched for and exploited loopholes and fine points in the federal tax code.