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Tom Howell Jr.

Tom Howell Jr.

Tom Howell Jr. covers politics and the White House for The Washington Times. He can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn said Republican leaders will release a revised Obamacare repeal bill soon — one that will please the party's holdouts. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Obamacare repeal to get new try by GOP to please party’s holdouts

Senate Republicans felt the squeeze Monday as they returned to work after a weeklong break, with President Trump demanding an Obamacare repeal bill before their August vacation, and vocal activists urging holdouts to resist backroom deals. Published July 10, 2017

Sen. Bill Cassidy, Louisiana Republican, called repealing Obamacare and replacing it later a "non-starter," since people with pre-existing conditions won't know if they'll can secure coverage. "It think it betrays President Trump's campaign pledges," he said. (Associated Press)

Conservatives, moderates split over health care bill

Republican lawmakers will return to Washington on Monday deeply divided over health care, with leading conservatives eyeing a breakthrough or swift repeal vote even as moderates talk of starting over, but with Democrats at the table. Published July 9, 2017

Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, has proposed allowing customers choose to maintain robust plans or opt for less-elaborate plans that don't comply with Obamacare regulations. Analysts, however, say only the sickest customers will stay with the status quo, driving up costs. (Associated Press/File)

Obamacare markets stable with higher taxpayer subsidies

Far from failing, Obamacare's exchanges are stable, the Congressional Budget Office says -- but only because, as the markets struggle, taxpayers pay ever-higher subsidies to encourage enrollment. Published July 9, 2017

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, answers a question as he holds a town hall meeting Thursday, July 6, 2017, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) ** FILE **

Ted Cruz swipes back at Chuck Schumer’s ‘hoax’ comment

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas on Friday hit back at Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer for labeling his latest health proposal a "hoax," saying Democrats made a series of promises about their signature health program that have fallen flat. Published July 7, 2017

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y. accompanied by Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin of Ill., right, speaks to reporters after GOP leadership announce they are delaying a vote on the Republican health care bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Chuck Schumer blasts Ted Cruz health plan as ‘hoax’

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer blasted a health care proposal by conservative Sen. Ted Cruz as a "hoax" Thursday, hoping to blunt any momentum around the Texan's idea to rally votes for the GOP's faltering push to repeal and replace Obamacare. Published July 6, 2017

In this Aug. 5, 2010, file photo, a pharmacy tech poses for a picture with hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen tablets, the generic version of Vicodin in Edmond, Okla. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

CDC: Opioid prescribing in U.S. dipped after 2010 ‘peak’

Opioid prescribing in the U.S. reached its peak in 2010 and then started a slow decline, yet patients are still filling far more prescriptions than they were at the close of the 1990s, government scientists said Thursday in a study that underscores the deep roots of the painkiller and heroin epidemic. Published July 6, 2017

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel addresses Hispanic business owners and community members at the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce in Lansing, Mich., Friday, May 5, 2017. (AP Photo/Christopher Hermann) ** FILE **

GOP tries to shift health care pressure onto Dems

Republican operatives countered attacks on the Republican health care plans Wednesday with ads saying Democrats haven't brought anything to the table beyond a push for government-run, single-payer system. Published July 5, 2017

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer of N.Y., center, arrives to speak to a large group of protesters rally against the Senate Republican healthcare bill on the East Front of the Capitol Building in Washington, Wednesday, June 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Senate Democrats target freshmen Republicans

Democrats say the political pain from Republicans' troubled Obamacare repeal effort could be felt years into the future, and are already gearing up to attack GOP senators up for re-election in 2020. Published July 3, 2017

FILE - In these photo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. in a Feb. 22, 2017 file photo, and President Donald Trump, May 12, 2017. The relationship of Trump and McConnell is now at the center of the Washington crucible. As controversy swirls over Trump's abrupt firing of FBI Director James Comey, McConnell's moves will set the tone for how the rest of the Senate and Republican Party as a whole responds. (AP Photo)

Donald Trump courts Senate GOP on health care bill

The White House says President Trump wants to pass a single Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill, but he's courting Senate Republicans who want to rip off the Band-Aid and gut the 2010 law upfront, leaving Congress no choice but to replace it in a bout of legislative summer school this August. Published July 2, 2017