Stories by Steven T. Dennis:
May 17, 2013
The current draft of the Senate’s immigration overhaul appears to give some employers a $3,000-a-year incentive to hire a newly legalized immigrant rather than an American citizen in order to avoid the new employer mandates in the health care law.
May 16, 2013
President Barack Obama defended his administration’s effort to stamp out national security leaks amid the controversy over the seizure of Associated Press phone records by the Justice Department.
May 13, 2013
President Barack Obama said it would be “outrageous” if the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups and that he would hold the agency accountable, while angrily dismissing the new reports last week over the editing of Benghazi talking points by his administration as a “sideshow” trumped up by his political opponents.
May 2, 2013
President Barack Obama Thursday tapped longtime Democratic fundraiser and billionaire businesswoman Penny Pritzker to lead the Commerce Department and economic adviser Michael Froman as the U.S. Trade Representative in a Rose Garden ceremony Thursday morning.
April 30, 2013
President Barack Obama chided Congress Tuesday for failing first to prevent, and now to stop, the sequester and defended his decision to sign a legislative fix carved for the Federal Aviation Administration to prevent air traffic delays.
April 19, 2013
President Barack Obama praised the capture of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Friday night, even as he mourned those who lost their lives. He also vowed to pursue answers for the victims about what happened and whether anyone provided assistance.
April 19, 2013
Several Republican senators say President Barack Obama should keep up his charm offensive despite seeing his gun agenda shredded April 17 by a minority of the Senate.
April 18, 2013
Sen. Roger Wicker told reporters Thursday that, about a decade ago, he met the man who was arrested on charges of sending him a ricin-laced letter.
April 16, 2013
Guess who’s going out to dinner again? Another dozen senators will dine with President Barack Obama Wednesday night at the Jefferson Hotel, but this time they will be Democrats.
April 15, 2013
As the tragic scene continued to unfold near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, officials in Washington, D.C., enhanced visible security and lawmakers sent prayers to those affected by the explosions.
April 15, 2013
President Barack Obama signed a partial repeal of the STOCK Act on Monday, with the White House citing national security concerns in canceling a planned online database of investment information of top congressional staffers and administration employees.
April 8, 2013
An angry President Barack Obama made an emotional plea in Hartford, Conn., for the American people to pressure Congress to pass his gun control agenda.
April 8, 2013
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Monday slammed Senate Republicans for threatening to block debate on legislation designed to address gun violence.
April 5, 2013
President Barack Obama will keep ramping up the public pressure on his gun control agenda next week, as the issue gathers steam in the Senate for debate this month. And the president, the vice president and the first lady are all slated to take part.
April 4, 2013
Fewer than 75 days into his second term, President Barack Obama already seems resigned to the reality that big chunks of his second-term agenda will die without Nancy Pelosi holding the speaker’s gavel.
April 3, 2013
President Barack Obama will give up 5 percent of his salary in solidarity with federal employees facing furloughs, joining Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and a few members of Congress, according to a senior administration official.
April 2, 2013
President Barack Obama announced Tuesday morning he will seek $100 million for brain research in the budget he presents next week, aside from his efforts to end the sequester’s hit on science.
April 2, 2013
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday that the White House didn’t mislead the public about the dangers of the sequester as he was questioned on the issue by Ed Henry of Fox News.
April 1, 2013
The sequester doesn’t appear to have hit the West Wing of the White House particularly hard.
April 1, 2013
A web-anointed “Kid President” took over briefly at the White House today, at least on YouTube.
March 30, 2013
Labor and business groups have agreed on the details of a new guest-worker program, likely removing a major hurdle to an immigration deal in the Senate, according to two sources familiar with the negotiations.
March 28, 2013
A federal judge has refused to dismiss a suit in which former Sen. Larry E. Craig is accused of improperly using campaign funds in a quest to vacate his guilty plea in a Minnesota airport bathroom sting.
March 28, 2013
President Barack Obama rejected pessimism in the Capitol over his gun control agenda Thursday, telling Congress “don’t get squishy” and vowing not to forget the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn.
March 27, 2013
In the second day of arguments about gay marriage, the Supreme Court wrestled with the Defense of Marriage Act. The central question is whether the federal government has the authority to define marriage separately from states for the purpose of federal benefits and, if so, whether defining it to the exclusion of gay couples violates the Constitution’s requirement of equal protection under law. Many court watchers opined that most justices seemed inclined to rule in favor of gay rights.
March 26, 2013
Supreme Court justices jousted with lawyers over California’s Proposition 8 banning gay marriage, weighing whether marriage should be a national fundamental right, left up to the states or somewhere in between. Of the 80 minutes of legal questioning, here are the 12 best moments.
