President Barack Obama urged Congress to reopen government and raise the debt limit immediately, while visiting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Monday
President Barack Obama blamed House Speaker John Boehner for the government shutdown, which did not show any let up in its third day, The Associated Press reported. In addition to the House Speaker, Obama also blamed a small group of conservative Republicans who want "to extract concessions in exchange for passing a short term spending bill that would restart the partially stuttered government."
A key component of U.S. President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare bill began on Tuesday, despite the shutdown of the federal government, which was sparked by conservative Republicans trying to derail law designed to extend insurance coverage to millions of America.
Lois Lerner, the IRS official who in May acknowledged that the agency wrongly targeted tea party groups that were applying for a tax exemption status, retired from the agency effective Monday, Politico reported. When the IRS scandal hit, Lerner was placed on administrative leave.
A budget bill was passed by the Republican-led House of of Representatives on Friday to fund the government, but also to de-fund the president's healthcare program, CBS News reported. The bill passed in a 230-189 vote, largely split along party lines.
Tom Delay, the former U.S. House Majority Leader, won an appeal in a Texas court to overturn his money laundering conviction citing a lack of sufficient evidence, and has been acquitted him of all charges
Tea Party Republicans are bringing forward a bill that would make funding the government conditional on defunding President Obama's 2010 healthcare law, Fox News reported. This move is seen as a major victory for the Heritage Action PAC, and its group's leader Senator Jim DeMint. The animosity in Washington is so bad, a government shutdown may be pending as a result of this action.
California's legislature approved a bill that will boost the state's minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2016. Governor Jerry Brown said he would sign the measure, which is expected to raise the current $8 minimum wage to $9 an hour next July and $10 by January 1, 2016.
Two Colorado Democratic lawmakers John Morse and Senator Angela Giron who had voted for stricter gun laws including the size of ammunition magazines and requiring universal background checks, have faced a strong backlash on Tuesday. Colorado's first legislative recall elections have indicated severe blowbackz
Nine former administrators of the Drug Enforcement Administration blasted Department of Justice Attorney General's decision to soften its stance on marijuana legalization in Colorado and Washington. Those two states had allowed legalization of marijuana after voter-approved ballot measures. Over two dozen other states, as well as D.C. allow medicinal marijuana.
The state of North Carolina became the third state to forbid law enforcement from destroying unclaimed firearms and weapons. The legislation was termed "save the guns" by advocates of the legislation
The United States Justice Department will not challenge laws in the two states, Colorado and Washington, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana.
The White House announced it would close two gun sale loopholes through executive authority by subjecting gun purchases by corporations and trusts to background checks, banning almost all re-imports of military surplus firearms to private entities.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will resign from her post and gave a farewell speech at the National Press Club. She said that numerous threats in the past 4 years, including the Boston Marathon bombings, natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy and the Gulf oil spill, have all been learning experiences for the administration.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has announced that the Justice Department will avoid charging certain low-level and nonviolent drug offenders with crimes that carry mandatory minimums. The policy shift will enable certain defendants who do have ties to large scale gangs or cartels, to avoid "draconian mandatory minimum sentences."
In an effort to launch criminal investigations of Americans, a secretive U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is funneling information information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a large database to authorities.
President Barack Obama shared new insights about his health care law on Thursday, educating Americans about what rebates they should expect as the law takes effect.
Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden submitted a request for temporary asylum in Russia on Tuesday, his lawyer said, claiming he faces persecution from the U.S. government and could face torture or death.
The Obama administration has quietly notified healthcare insurers, who happen to be smokers that they may get a delay from tobacco-use penalties that could have made their premiums unaffordable. A computer glitch is the cause of the postponement delay, and a fix will take at least a year to put in place.
