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May 19, 2013

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News from Washington

Tea party looks to take advantage of moment

8 hours, 47 minutes ago

(AP) Is the tea party getting its groove back? Shouts of vindication from around the country suggest the movement's leaders certainly think so.They say the IRS acknowledgement that it had targeted their groups for extra scrutiny _ a claim that tea ...

Obama to speak on legality of drone program

10 hours, 25 minutes ago

(AP) President Barack Obama will address the legality of his administration's controversial drone program during a speech this week.A White House official says Obama will also address other counterterrorism policies, including stalled efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center.Obama pledged ...

Obama urged to make economy a bigger, bolder topic

11 hours, 57 minutes ago

(AP) 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.The former ...

Tea party looks to take advantage of moment

12 hours, 36 minutes ago

(AP) Is the tea party getting its groove back? Shouts of vindication from around the country suggest the movement's leaders certainly think so.They say the IRS acknowledgement that it had targeted their groups for extra scrutiny _ a claim that tea ...

A look at why the Benghazi issue keeps coming back

13 hours, 40 minutes ago

(AP) The night of smoke, chaos, gunfire and grenades that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, is well-documented. Eight months later, it is the decisions made back in Washington that remain murky and in perpetual dispute.Why were a diplomatic outpost and ...

Senate committee approves 3 judicial nominees

18 hours, 27 minutes ago

(AP) The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved three of President Barack Obama's judicial nominees for a full Senate vote -- including one for the influential D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.The committee voted 18-0 on Thursday to move forward the nomination of ...

EPA nominee advances without GOP support

18 hours, 27 minutes ago

(AP) President Barack Obama's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency has moved one step closer to getting the job, but it came without Republican support.The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday voted 10-8, along party lines, to advance ...

Tenn. senator: Sale idea cost TVA $500 million

18 hours, 27 minutes ago

(AP) Sen. Lamar Alexander says President Barack Obama's plan to consider selling the Tennessee Valley Authority has already cost hundreds of millions of dollars _ even if the nation's largest public utility is never sold.The Tennessee Republican said TVA bonds lost ...

Ex-SC Gov. Sanford reclaims House seat in comeback

18 hours, 27 minutes ago

(AP) Republican Mark Sanford, the former South Carolina governor whose extramarital affair sank his political career in 2009, is returning to Congress to reclaim his old House seat as he forges a comeback.A week after beating Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch in ...

Senate confirms former nurse to run Medicare

18 hours, 27 minutes ago

(AP) The Senate has confirmed a former nurse to run Medicare and other government health insurance programs with a combined budget surpassing the Pentagon's.Marilyn Tavenner's confirmation Wednesday puts her in charge of Medicare, Medicaid, children's health insurance and the rollout of ...

Holder defends Perez's tenure at Justice Dept.

18 hours, 27 minutes ago

(AP) Attorney General Eric Holder is defending Thomas Perez's tenure as head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and says he would make a great secretary of Labor.Holder told leaders of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that Perez deserves ...

Senate Dem revives media shield law

18 hours, 27 minutes ago

(AP) A top Senate Democrat plans to revive legislation that would protect journalists and their employers from revealing their sources, days after it was revealed that the Justice Department secretly obtained Associated Press phone records.A congressional official said Sen. Chuck Schumer ...

Senate votes to extend federal water projects law

18 hours, 27 minutes ago

(AP) The Senate has put aside its partisan differences to extend the federal government's main water resources law, which promotes investment in port improvements, flood protection, dam and levee projects and environmental restoration.The smooth passage of the Water Resources Development Act ...

Heads of Benghazi review board say they'll testify

18 hours, 27 minutes ago

(AP) The leaders of the panel that independently reviewed the attack last year in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans have agreed to testify publicly before Congress to counter what they consider unfounded criticism of their work.In a letter to the ...

Glance: Senate and House farm bills

18 hours, 27 minutes ago

(AP) The House and Senate this week are considering legislation that would cut federal farm and food subsidies. A look at the bills:OVERALL COST: Both five-year bills would cost about $100 billion annually, with almost $80 billion of that annual total ...

Farm bill: Still a little something for everyone

18 hours, 27 minutes ago

(AP) There's still a little something for everyone in massive farm bills that Congress is considering this week, even though the legislation would cut billions of dollars from federal farm and food subsidies.The Senate version of the bill being considered Tuesday ...

US wants Bangladesh progress on labor standards

18 hours, 28 minutes ago

(AP) Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.S. wants to see Bangladesh move forward on improving labor standards after a building collapse that killed hundreds of garment workers.Kerry met Friday with Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and expressed deep sadness over ...

Hagel names general to lead US troops in SKorea

18 hours, 28 minutes ago

(AP) An Army general who served as a top official on U.S. joint military staffs in Afghanistan and at the Pentagon is the choice to command U.S. troops in South Korea.Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced the promotion of Lt. Gen. Curtis ...

APNewsBreak: Energy Dept. backs Texas LNG plan

18 hours, 28 minutes ago

(AP) The Energy Department has given conditional approval to a Texas company that wants to export liquefied natural gas, the second LNG export project the Obama administration has approved as it faces a wave of export requests.The permit would allow Freeport ...

Military sexual assaults by the numbers

18 hours, 28 minutes ago

(AP) As senior military leaders and government officials grapple with how to reduce sexual assaults in the military, a Pentagon report provides details of the problem. The numbers may not add up in all cases due to rounding or smaller categories ...

Justice Dept. faulted over terrorist identities

18 hours, 28 minutes ago

(AP) The government has allowed terrorists into America's witness protection program and has failed to provide the names of some of them for the watch list that's used to keep dangerous people off airline flights, the Justice Department's inspector general says.As ...

US sanctions on 4 Syrian ministers, rebel leader

18 hours, 28 minutes ago

(AP) The Obama administration has added four Syrian government ministers to a U.S. terror blacklist as well as the leader of an al-Qaida-linked organization fighting President Bashar Assad's (bah-SHAR' AH'-sahd) regime.Thursday's actions highlight America's twin goals in Syria: It wants the ...

Justice Dept. faulted over terrorist identities

18 hours, 28 minutes ago

(AP) The Justice Department's inspector general says the department failed to provide the names of some terrorists in the witness protection program to the government's Terrorist Screening Center.The center maintains the watch list that's used to keep dangerous people off airline ...

Pentagon: US still in armed conflict with al-Qaida

18 hours, 28 minutes ago

(AP) Senior Pentagon officials are defending a 2001 military force law, saying the U.S. remains in armed conflict with al-Qaida and its associate forces.President Barack Obama has used the law to target terrorists with fatal drone strikes, including on Americans overseas.The ...

Tea party groups call IRS process a 'nightmare'

18 hours, 28 minutes ago

(AP) Anger over President Barack Obama's policies drove businessman Tom Zawistowski to file paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service nearly three years ago to create the Ohio Liberty Coalition.His nonprofit organization largely attracted conservatives who were new to politics. It eventually ...

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