Skip to content
TRENDING:
Donald Trump
Advertisement

Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang is a National Security Correspondent for The Washington Times. His reporting is regularly featured in the daily Threat Status newsletter.

Previously, he covered energy and the environment, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016, and also spent two years as a White House correspondent during the Obama administration.

Before coming to The Times in 2011, Ben worked as political reporter at The Republican-Herald in Pottsville, Pa.

He can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Ben Wolfgang

"My understanding is that the waivers [for No Child Left Behind] become obsolete" if new federal education reforms go into effect, Education Secretary Arne Duncan told a Senate panel Thursday. (Associated Press)

Education reform will trump waivers

Obama administration waivers granted to 34 states and the District of Columbia, which freed them from the constraints and mandates of the No Child Left Behind law, would be nullified if lawmakers move a major new education reform package this year, Education Secretary Arne Duncan told lawmakers Thursday. Published February 7, 2013

** FILE ** Work has begun on the Keystone XL pipeline near Winona, Texas, but whether it will ever carry oil sands from central Canada to Gulf Coast refineries awaits a decision by President Obama. (Tyler [Texas] Morning Telegraph via Associated Press)

Nurses union joins Keystone XL pipeline fray

The pressure on President Obama and newly minted Secretary of State John F. Kerry to reject the Keystone XL pipeline grows stronger each day, and this week saw the nation's leading nurses union jump into the debate. Published February 6, 2013

President Obama watches as his Interior Secretary nominee Sally Jewell, a former CEO of REI Inc., gets a kiss from outgoing Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar on Wednesday. The announcement was made in the White House State Dining Room. (Associated Press)

Obama picks REI executive for Interior post

President Obama's pick of Sally Jewell as his new interior secretary immediately drew praise from the environmental community and even some in the oil and gas sector. Published February 6, 2013

Garfield High School social studies teacher Jesse Hagopian (with his hand raised) and other Seattle teachers are refusing to administer to their students a standardized test they say is flawed. (Seattle Times via Associated Press)

More teachers won’t administer standardized tests

The standardized-testing boycott that began with teachers in Chicago last year and reached new heights recently in Seattle may be exploding into a full-blown national movement. Published February 4, 2013

** FILE ** Former D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee (The Washington Times)

Rhee wary of stressing on testing

As organized opposition to standardized testing grows, one of the nation's most outspoken and controversial education activists said Sunday that such assessments have a place in public schools but cautioned against an "overemphasis" on them. Published February 3, 2013

Kerry

Greens bank on Kerry to quash Keystone pipeline

As the incoming secretary of state, John F. Kerry, a longtime vocal crusader against climate change in the Senate, is in a position to deliver one of the movement’s biggest victories in decades: drive a stake through the heart of the massive Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline project. Published January 30, 2013

** FILE ** In this Jan. 25, 2013, file image taken from video and provided by CBS, President Barack Obama, center, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speak with ”60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Kroft, left, in the Blue Room of the White House in Washington. The interview aired Sunday, Jan. 27, during the “60 Minutes” telecast on CBS. (AP Photo/CBS, File)

Obama, Clinton laud one another in interview

As she exits the political world, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sat down for an interview with President Obama, the man who bested her in the 2008 Democratic primary election en route to the White House. Published January 27, 2013

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (Associated Press)

Durbin: Benghazi hearings one of Clinton’s ‘finer moments’

A top Senate Democrat believes Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's duel appearances last week on Capitol Hill, in which she clashed with Republicans over the Obama administration's handling of the Sept. 11 Benghazi terrorist attacks, will go down in history as one of the secretary of state's "finer moments." Published January 27, 2013

Education Secretary Arne Duncan (Associated Press)

White House requires school athletics for disabled

In a sweeping move that will affect all American schools, the Obama administration has told districts they must offer students with disabilities the same sports opportunities as other children. Published January 25, 2013

Piping is removed from a drill used in the "fracking" process to recover natural gas from the massive Marcellus Shale in Washington, Pa. The technology is changing Pennsylvania's economy. (Andrew S. Geraci/The Washington Times)

Fracking’s rise in U.S. inspires the world

The U.S. energy industry clearly still leads the way on fracking, which has upended global energy markets, but the rest of the world is beginning to catch up as nations seek to replicate American success in oil and natural gas development. Published January 24, 2013

**FILE** An irrigation pivot remains along a highway several miles near the proposed new route for the Keystone XL pipeline in Neligh, Neb. (Associated Press)

Obama faces new pressure on Keystone pipeline

President Obama's Inauguration Day vow to fight climate change is facing an unexpectedly early test as a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline now rests solely with his administration. Published January 22, 2013

The departure of Interior Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar and other Cabinet members gives oil and gas leaders optimism that President Obama's energy and environmental policies will be friendlier to the industry during his second term. (Associated Press)

Interior’s Salazar helps empty Obama’s Cabinet

Interior Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar's resignation doesn't just leave another open spot in President Obama's Cabinet. The departure of the former senator from Colorado could have far-reaching effects on the administration's energy and environmental policies in a second term — particularly oil and gas drilling on federal lands. Published January 16, 2013

In “Promised Land,” Matt Damon plays a gas company salesman trying to persuade residents of a town to allow fracking on their land. (Associated Press)

Frack attacks and filmmakers who fight back

The intense debate over fracking continues to play out on movie screens and television sets nationwide — and this time the industry's defenders are fighting back. Published January 15, 2013

** FILE ** A freshman Republican state lawmaker from North Dakota plans to introduce a bill that would limit use of drones for law enforcement after the highly publicized case of a Lakota farmer who was arrested after a 16-hour standoff with police on Jan. 6, 2013. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection via Associated Press)

Laws urged to curb snooping by drones

Big Brother and Big Business may soon be able to easily spy on American citizens using surveillance drones, security and civil liberties specialists warned Tuesday. Published January 15, 2013

** FILE ** Vice President Joseph R. Biden salutes after arriving to speak before the 2012 National Educational Association's annual meeting on Tuesday, July 3, 2012, in Washington. (Associated Press)

Teachers don’t want to carry guns in the classroom, poll says

As Vice President Joseph Biden's gun violence task force readies its recommendations, a new poll Tuesday shows the nation's teachers aren't interested in carrying guns into the classroom to protect themselves and their students. Published January 15, 2013