Reuters: Politics

Tech, labor brandish dueling studies in immigration fight

Sat, 18 May 2013 05:01:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The technology industry and organized labor are locked in a fight that threatens to complicate the U.S. Senate's immigration bill.

Obama seeks to cut Afghan war spending by 10 percent

Sat, 18 May 2013 02:03:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday trimmed his funding request for the war in Afghanistan and other overseas operations by 10 percent, reflecting his plans to wind down the U.S. presence in that country.

IRS chief declines to identify employees involved in scandal

Sat, 18 May 2013 00:54:36 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The outgoing head of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service angered Republican lawmakers on Friday by resisting their demands that he identify who at the tax-collection agency had inappropriately targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

IRS chief declines to identify employees involved in scandal

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:51:21 GMT

House bill to have more stringent immigrant controls: aides

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:22:05 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan plan brokered in the House of Representatives will be tougher on illegal immigrants living in the United States than a Senate counterpart, congressional aides said on Friday.

After tough week, Obama tries to change the subject to jobs

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:20:53 GMT

BALTIMORE (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday sought to turn the spotlight from controversies threatening to swamp his agenda back to his top priority - the economy - and announced he will try to cut in half the time it takes to get federal approval for large job-creating projects.

House panel demands deposition from Benghazi investigator

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:22:12 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican chairman of a congressional oversight committee on Friday ordered the leader of the investigation into the September 11, 2012, Benghazi attacks to sit for a private interview next week.

Treasury gears up to buy time under reimposed debt cap

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:05:15 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Friday notified Congress it was prepared to take a series of steps to free up about $260 billion so it can keep paying the nation's bills once a temporary suspension in the government's debt ceiling lapses this weekend.

Incoming IRS chief asked to conduct "thorough review" of agency

Fri, 17 May 2013 20:43:12 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Incoming acting Internal Revenue Service chief Daniel Werfel has been asked to spearhead a "thorough review" of the scandal-plagued agency and report back to President Barack Obama in 30 days, a Treasury Department official said on Friday.

FCC nominee Wheeler will divest holdings if confirmed

Fri, 17 May 2013 20:11:31 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tom Wheeler, nominated to become the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, pledged to divest stakes in AT&T Inc, Dish Network Corp, Google Inc and dozens of other tech and telecoms companies if he is confirmed.

Two states say 2014 Obamacare insurance costs on low side

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:57:26 GMT

(Reuters) - In a boost for President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, two states in the Northwest said on Friday that insurance companies submitted applications to sell policies on the states' health insurance exchanges at rates well below what some insurance executives had predicted.

House votes for more scrutiny of economic impact of SEC rules

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:44:13 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A divided House of Representatives on Friday passed a Republican-sponsored bill that would force federal securities regulators to conduct more economic analysis before adopting rules for Wall Street.

Senator seeks probe into impact of alleged EU oil price manipulation

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:06:17 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the Senate's energy committee asked the Justice Department on Friday to investigate whether alleged price manipulation by three oil companies in Europe has boosted fuel prices for U.S. consumers.

Virginia governor's race to test Tea Party Republicans' allure

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:48:43 GMT

RICHMOND, Virginia (Reuters) - The most nail-biting U.S. governor's race this year is centering on whether a Tea Party Republican can win Virginia, the southern state that has twice backed Democratic President Barack Obama.

Budget crisis, union ties weigh heavily in Los Angeles mayor race

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:05:03 GMT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Amid the mudslinging that has marked Los Angeles' mayoral race, the two candidates vying to lead America's second-largest city agree on this: its finances are terrible, and runaway wages and pensions paid to workers need to be reined in to avoid fiscal meltdown.

House lawmakers reach tentative deal to revamp immigration

Fri, 17 May 2013 06:04:38 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prospects for passage of a major immigration bill improved on Thursday when a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives declared they had reached a tentative deal, resolving disputes that had threatened to torpedo negotiations.

Lawmakers blast Air Force moves on cancelled Northrop drone

Fri, 17 May 2013 03:18:03 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. lawmakers urged Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to ensure that the Air Force complied with a law requiring the service to buy three high-altitude Global Hawk unmanned planes built by Northrop Grumman Corp that it had tried to cancel.

Amid damage control efforts, White House listens to outside advice

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:44:39 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior White House officials responsible for navigating the administration through a trio of scandals met on Thursday with outside Democratic strategists for advice on how to get past the controversies and back on track advancing the president's agenda.

Top U.S. general warns of sexual assault 'crisis,' meets Obama

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:35:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top general in the U.S. Armed Forces warned of a crisis of confidence in the growing ranks of women soldiers due to a rash of sexual assault cases that has prompted lawmakers to act.

U.S. House lawmakers in last-ditch bid to save immigration bill

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:25:56 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives trying to write an immigration bill met on Thursday in a last-ditch attempt to resolve their differences over a temporary worker program and healthcare benefits for illegal immigrants.

Obama picks temporary IRS head as Tea Party decries scandal

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:48:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday chose a White House budget official to lead the beleaguered Internal Revenue Service and vowed to ensure that the tax-collection agency will not single out any more groups based on their political beliefs.

Top U.S. general warns of sexual assault 'crisis,' meets Obama

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:20:55 GMT

U.S. House votes to repeal Obamacare in 37th symbolic act

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:03:33 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted to repeal President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law on Thursday in a symbolic move aimed as much at healing internal Republican rifts as demonstrating dogged party opposition to "Obamacare."

U.S. House lawmakers in last-ditch bid to save immigration bill

Thu, 16 May 2013 22:06:09 GMT

Republicans advance bill to tie student loan rates to markets

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:58:30 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in control of the House Education and the Workforce Committee voted on Thursday to advance legislation tying student loan interest rates to the financial markets, a plan they said would give borrowers a better sense of how much they must repay.