President Obama challenged Congress on Wednesday to start working with him on a deficit-reduction deal that could be tied to a vote to raise the debt ceiling, which must happen by Aug. 2, according to the Treasury Department. …
White House
A Closer Look at Obama’s Big Legal Win on Health Reform
The majority opinion by a 6th circuit panel Wednesday upholding Obama’s health care reform law is a victory for the administration on its face. But to understand just how big a victory it is, you have to read the concurring opinion by Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton. Sutton, a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and a …
Harold Koh, ‘Hypocrite’?
Shortly after Yale Law professor Harold Koh was named the State Department’s top lawyer, a source sent me a snickering note noting that Koh had deemed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq illegal, and that therefore by Koh’s definition his new boss, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, had potentially supported a massive war crime. Koh had also …
The White House Wouldn’t Answer Republicans’ Questions, So I’ll Try
FREMONT, Calif.—House Republicans tried to hold a hearing today on what the New York Times called “the Energy Department’s embattled loan guarantee program.” They wanted to shine a spotlight on the program’s most embattled beneficiary, the solar manufacturer Solyndra. But they only called one White House official to testify, …
Debt-Ceiling Kabuki
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and No. 2 Senate Republican Jon Kyl want you to know they are taking a principled stand. They are against raising taxes. They will not recommend to their conferences that taxes be raised. They …
The Libya Conundrum
The House of Representatives on Friday is expected to hold two votes on U.S. action in Libya. One will fail and one will pass. House GOP leaders are hoping that the Democratic-controlled Senate will take up the one that passes. …
Republicans Ask: Where’s Obama? But, Where Are The GOP Leaders?
Updated 12:30pm
Republicans are demanding to know why President Obama isn’t at the table pin the deficit talks. Today, Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Senate Republican, and Majority Leader Eric Cantor abruptly withdrew from the talks saying they have gone as far as they can and now presidential leadership is needed – particularly on the …
McConnell: Obama Has ‘Made It Worse’
Last month, for this story in the dead-tree edition, I asked Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell if defeating President Obama is still his No. 1 priority. “Yeah, sure. I think every Republican in the country would like to elect a Republican president,” McConnell told me. “But that’s next year. The question this year is: what …
Could Congress Cut Off Funding to Libyan Conflict?
Don’t hold your breath, our colleague Mark Benjamin writes at TIME’s Battleland blog. The House appears poised to vote on an amendment to a defense appropriations bill that would cut off funding to the war non-hostile armed conflict in North Africa. While the measure could find support among the bipartisan cadre of members irked by the …
White House: Libya Campaign Isn’t War – UPDATED
The United States is not engaged in a war with Libya and the War Powers Resolution does not apply to U.S. military action there, according to two White House officials who briefed reporters on Wednesday. “We’re now in a …
What Would Anthony Weiner Tweet About This Worthy Effort to Reduce Waste?
It’s a trivial matter, with no connection whatsoever to the obscene congressional tweets that demand our attention in these troubled times, but President Obama’s widely ridiculed stimulus bill has brought unprecedented transparency and accountability to federal spending, which is why it’s been virtually fraud-free. So now the …
Hillary Clinton to the World Bank?
Reuters reports: “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been in discussions with the White House about leaving her job next year to become head of the World Bank, sources familiar with the discussions said Thursday.”
Clinton’s longtime communications aide, Philippe Reines, is denying the story and a senior administration official …
As the Economy Sputters, D.C. Loses Its Will to Act
The grim news last week was not new: The American economy is stuck in a rut, with the manufacturing sector sputtering, housing prices falling and job growth too small to keep up with the growing population. We have been reading …