By
Tim Starks
| June 17, 2013, 4 p.m.
Edward Snowden, the man who publicly exposed several controversial National Security Agency programs, said Monday that he was inspired to leak the secrets because of spy agency leaders’ “lies” to Congress, and because congressional leaders did nothing about it.
By
Frank Oliveri
| June 14, 2013, 4:28 p.m.
When the House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved an amendment directing the president to remove all combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, it was far more important in reflecting the nation’s current mood toward the Afghanistan war — and war generally — than in having any practical effect on administration policy.
By
David Harrison
| June 14, 2013, 4 p.m.
Republicans are preparing a border security amendment to the bipartisan Senate immigration bill and plan to release it as early as next week.
By
Steven T. Dennis
| June 13, 2013, 7:13 p.m.
President Barack Obama’s decision to bolster military support to the Syrian rebels following a determination that the Assad regime used chemical weapons brought cheers from hawks in Congress — as well as calls for consultation.
By
Rob Margetta, Jennifer Scholtes
| June 13, 2013, 5:20 p.m.
Top law enforcement and intelligence officials fiercely defended the Obama administration’s sweeping surveillance programs on Capitol Hill Thursday, emphasizing their legality, their record of success in thwarting terrorist attacks and the many opportunities lawmakers have had over the years to alter the programs that some are now criticizing as too intrusive.
Reps. Ander Crenshaw and Nita M. Lowey
| June 13, 2013, 3:32 p.m.
In a remote Ethiopian village, a front-line health worker dedicated to helping mothers deliver their babies uses the most sophisticated piece of medical equipment she can find: a flashlight. In the darkness of a single-room home, she clenches it between her teeth as she helps bring a newborn safely into this world.
By
Steven T. Dennis
| June 12, 2013, 5:03 p.m.
CIA Deputy Director Michael J. Morrell, who did the final, controversial editing of the much-discussed Benghazi talking points last year, is stepping down to spend more time with his family.
By
Frank Oliveri
| June 11, 2013, 2:49 p.m.
Beginning in 2000, the military services began a process that has led to a proliferation of different camouflage uniforms.
By
Frank Oliveri
| June 11, 2013, 2:43 p.m.
When the full House and the Senate Armed Services Committee take up their fiscal 2014 defense policy bills this week, troops may literally lose the shirts off their backs.
By
Emma Dumain, Niels Lesniewski
| June 10, 2013, 7:13 p.m.
Edward Snowden, the 29-year-old defense contractor who leaked details on the National Security Agency’s phone and data surveillance programs, faces numerous calls from powerful members of Congress for his prosecution. But a few not-so-powerful members think he should go free — and more are calling for changes in the law.
By
Tim Starks
| June 10, 2013, 6:06 p.m.
Lawmakers’ wildly conflicting accounts of how much they knew about newly leaked surveillance programs has cast a new glare on the difficulties of congressional oversight of intelligence and the stratified rules about which members and staffers can be briefed on what.
By
Niels Lesniewski
| June 7, 2013, 1:24 p.m.
President Barack Obama is clearly pinning the onus for oversight of recently revealed intelligence-gathering programs on Capitol Hill.
Felice Gaer and Marra Guttenplan
| June 7, 2013, 5 a.m.
With the release of a new State Department report on religious freedom around the world, the U.S. government revealed the shocking fact that 116 members of the Baha’i faith are unjustly imprisoned in Iran solely for their beliefs. Among them, sadly, are seven prominent Baha’i leaders unfairly incarcerated since 2008.
Michael Shank and Kathy Zager
| June 6, 2013, 4:42 p.m.
The news that Russia is proceeding apace with arms shipments to the Syrian government, or that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the European Union are keen to arm the Syrian rebels, does not automatically kill the Syrian peace talks in Geneva this month, as some in Washington have suggested.
By
Steven T. Dennis
| June 5, 2013, 3:22 p.m.
President Barack Obama has announced Susan E. Rice as his new national security adviser and Samantha Power as the pick to replace her as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
By
Emily Cadei
| June 5, 2013, 5 a.m.
An Egyptian court’s conviction of more than 40 civil society workers Tuesday prompted sharp criticism from Capitol Hill, even from lawmakers who have urged patience with Cairo in the past.
By
Megan Scully
| June 4, 2013, 3:33 p.m.
Pressure is building on Capitol Hill to make sweeping policy changes to deal head-on with the military’s epidemic of sexual assaults, but Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin may prove to be a moderating force as his panel considers a range of proposals aimed at reversing the trend on these crimes.
Brian Finch
| June 4, 2013, 5 a.m.
Just when you thought it was safe to tread back into the cyber-waters, The Washington Post discloses that a large number of U.S. Department of Defense programs have been compromised by Chinese hackers. The list of “compromised” systems detailed by the Defense Science Board is somewhat breathtaking: missile defense systems, next-generation fighter planes, unmanned aerial vehicles and even conference attendee information. You can almost hear the “gulp” from inside the Pentagon.
By
Tim Starks
| May 31, 2013, 4 p.m.
Backers of a controversial cyber-threat information-sharing bill overcame a White House veto threat and vocal criticism from privacy and civil liberties groups to push it through the House last month by a resounding margin.
By
Emily Cadei
| May 24, 2013, 6 a.m.
A White House-proposed overhaul of the United States’ $1.4 billion food aid program is not going to happen, at least not in as ambitious a form as the administration requested in its fiscal 2014 budget.
