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Seth McLaughlin

Seth McLaughlin, a reporter on the Politics Desk, can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com. Follow him on Twitter: @SethMcLaughlin1

Articles by Seth McLaughlin

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is followed by reporters as he walks on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Washington. Sen. McConnell and his Democratic counterpart, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., are optimistic about forging an eleventh-hour bipartisan deal preventing a possible federal default and ending the partial government shutdown after Republican divisions forced GOP leaders to drop efforts to ram their own version through the House.(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Senate passes budget deal; bill heads to House

Congress was racing Wednesday night to approve legislation ending the 16-day-old government shutdown and avert the potential for the first major debt default in U.S. history in a deal that gave President Obama most of what he sought — an open government and more borrowing authority without denting Obamacare. Published October 16, 2013

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, gestures as he talks with reporters on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2013, in Washington. Leaders reached a last-minute agreement to avert a threatened Treasury default and reopen the government after a partial, 16-day shutdown. Cruz said he would not try to block the agreement. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Senate leaders announce agreement to end shutdown, raise debt

Top senators struck a deal Wednesday to reopen the government and extend the federal government's borrowing authority into next year and both sides of the Capitol are hoping for quick action to reassure nervous financial markets eyeing a Thursday deadline set by the Treasury Department. Published October 16, 2013

Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, speaks during a news conference on the ongoing budget battle outside his office on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013 in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

House conservatives sabotage Boehner plan to end shutdown

Conservatives in the House sabotaged Speaker John A. Boehner's plan Tuesday to dent Obamacare while reopening the government and raising the debt ceiling, leaving senators scrambling to kick-start their own deal before Thursday's deadline for a potential default. Published October 15, 2013

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, walks away from the microphone during a news conference after a House GOP meeting on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2013, in Washington. House GOP leaders Tuesday floated a plan to fellow Republicans to counter an emerging Senate deal to reopen the government and forestall an economy-rattling default on U.S. obligations. But the plan got mixed reviews from the rank and file, and it was not clear whether it could pass the chamber. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

House GOP unity breaks down over latest shutdown offer

House Republican leaders were searching for votes Tuesday to pass a debt increase and stopgap spending bill, facing a rebellion within their own ranks from lawmakers who felt their latest proposal to make two small dents in Obamacare wasn't enough of a victory. Published October 15, 2013

Newark Mayor Cory Booker (center, at microphones), stands in front of fire-damaged 433 Hawthorne Ave., next to the place he calls home (left), as he talks about rescuing a neighbor. A report on a conservative website that he doesn't actually live there has his Republican challenger for the U.S. Senate asking him to come clean on where he lives. The special election is Wednesday. (Associated Press photographs)

GOP rival for Senate in N.J. challenges Booker’s residency

Republican Steven Lonegan said Monday that Newark Mayor Cory Booker, his rival in the New Jersey Senate race, should come clean about where he lives following a news report that raised questions about where the Democrat calls home. Published October 14, 2013

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, reported some progress Monday toward a deal to avoid a threatened default and end a two-week partial government shutdown. "Everyone just needs to be patient. Perhaps tomorrow will be a bright day. We're not there yet," he said. (Associated Press photographs)

Senate works to end shutdown, raise debt limit

Senate leaders explored the outlines of a deal Monday that would end the two-week-old government shutdown and give the Treasury Department enough borrowing room to stave off a potential default this month, but all sides cautioned that the specifics are all still up for negotiation. Published October 14, 2013

Sen. Ted Cruz R-Texas addresses the Values Voter Summit, held by the Family Research Council Action, Friday, Oct. 11, 2013, in Washington. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Cruz crushes field in presidential straw poll at Values Voters Summit

Sen. Ted Cruz trounced the competition in the presidential straw poll at the 2013 Values Voters Summit, with Dr. Ben Carson and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum coming in a distant second and third places — highlighting how Mr. Cruz has become a rock star with grassroots conservatives. Published October 12, 2013

Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, speaks at the Family Foundation of Virginia's annual gala at the Greater Richmond Convention Center on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013, in Richmond. (AP Photo/Richmond Times-Dispatch, Daniel Sangjib Min)

Ted Cruz hits back at hecklers during his Value Voters Summit speech

Illegal immigrant advocates interrupted Sen. Ted Cruz's speech to the Values Voters Summit on Friday more than a half-dozen times, calling on the Texas Republican and potential presidential candidate to support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Published October 11, 2013

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2013, before the House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on the effects the government shutdown is having on benefits and services to veterans. About 3.8 million veterans will not receive disability compensation next month if the partial government shutdown continues into late October, Shinseki told lawmakers Wednesday. Some 315,000 veterans and 202,000 surviving spouses and dependents will see pension payments stopped. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

VA outlines scope of cuts to veterans

The Department of Veterans Affairs has been able to maintain most operations amid the government shutdown, but Secretary Eric K. Shinseki warned Congress on Wednesday that it will soon have to halt payments to more than 5 million beneficiaries. Published October 9, 2013

President Obama speaks about the the budget and the partial government shutdown, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013, in the Brady Press Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Debt-limit holiday, supercommittee proposed to end shutdown impasse

The government shutdown entered its second week Tuesday, and all sides said the pain is deepening — but that fight is being overshadowed quickly by the looming debt battle, which Democrats see as a last chance to try to break the tea party's influence on the GOP. Published October 8, 2013

** FILE ** House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, right, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Va., participate in a news conference after a House Republican conference meeting, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Obama stiff-arms GOP over shutdown, default talks

President Obama Tuesday again shot down the prospect of direct talks with congressional Republicans to end the standoff over the partial government shutdown and looming federal debt default, just minutes after GOP House Speaker John A. Boehner on Tuesday called on the president and Senate Democrats to sit down for negotiations as the only way the two sides can reach a deal. Published October 8, 2013

House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, speaking ABC's "This Week" on Sunday said that he will not allow a debt increase without winning some concessions on lowering spending. "We are not going down that path. It is time to deal with America's problems. How can you raise the debt limit and do nothing about the underlying problem?" (Associated Press)

Debt fight to escalate shutdown showdown; Boehner attaches Obamacare strings

Legislative activity has slowed to a crawl on Capitol Hill as both sides have become entrenched on the spending bills and now the looming debt fight, with House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, saying Sunday that he will insist on conditions being attached to any bill to raise the federal borrowing limit. Published October 6, 2013

llegal immigrant advocates interrupted Sen. Ted Cruz’s speech to the Values Voters Summit on Friday more than a dozen times on, calling on the Texas Republican and potential presidential candidate to support a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants. “How scared is the president?” Mr. Cruz said. “Oh, they don’t want the truth to be heard. They definitely don’t want the truth to be heard.” (Associated Press)

Love him or hate him, Sen. Ted Cruz stirs up political passion

For Democrats, it's simple: Sen. Ted Cruz is the face of the government shutdown and just about everything that is wrong with Washington. Republicans, though, aren't sure: The senator from Texas is either the best — or the worst — thing to happen to the party in years. Published October 6, 2013

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio walks to a Republican strategy session on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Oct. 4, 2013. Boehner is struggling between Democrats that control the Senate and GOP conservatives in his caucus who insist any funding legislation must also kill or delay the nation's new health care law. Added pressure came from President Barack Obama who pointedly blamed Boehner on Thursday for keeping federal agencies closed. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House approves retroactive pay for furloughed government workers

Seeking to dent President Obama's refusal to chip away at the government shutdown piece-by-piece, House Republicans passed a bill Saturday to guarantee all federal employees get paid after the government shutdown — including those who have been sent home and aren't on the job. Published October 5, 2013

This black vehicle was allegedly the car police were chasing when they cornered it at 1st Street and Constitution Ave. NE in front of the Hart Office Building near the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C., Thursday, October 3, 2013. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Police chase near White House, Capitol ends with crash, fatal shooting

A woman with a year-old child attempted to crash through the White House perimeter with her car, then led Secret Service and police on a harrowing chase down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the Capitol before she was fatally shot Thursday in an incident that rattled nerves and tested Washington's security during the government shutdown. Published October 3, 2013

Some Capitol Hill lawmakers vow to give up their salaries in order to head off public frustration with Congress. Sen. Mark R. Warner, Virginia Democrat, (top) is contributing his salary to the Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund, a nonprofit devoted to helping civilian federal and postal employees. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, Maryland Democrat, said, "My view is that we don't get paid if the federal employees don't get paid."

Some lawmakers rush to give up salaries to show solidarity

Seeking to show solidarity with furloughed workers and head off growing public frustration with Congress, some Capitol Hill lawmakers are vowing to give up their salaries until a deal is struck to reopen the government. Published October 2, 2013