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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.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott speaks during a news conference at Wynwood Walls, Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) ** FILE **

Zika threat eliminated in ‘ground zero’ Florida neighborhood

Mosquitoes are no longer spreading Zika in the Miami neighborhood that had been "ground zero" for transmission in the continental U.S. this summer, officials said Monday, saying they conquered the disease with aggressive spraying and careful disease-tracking. Published September 19, 2016

Florida Gov. Rick Scott picks up fallen branches to put into the back of a truck Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2016 during a debris cleanup from Hurricane Hermine in Indian Head Acres in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Sears)

Rick Scott, Florida governor: Miami neighborhood now Zika-free

The first neighborhood to see mosquito-borne Zika cases in the continental U.S. is no longer an active area of transmission, Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Monday, even as federal officials expand the zone of risk in nearby Miami Beach. Published September 19, 2016

In this Oct. 24, 2013, file photo, Andy Slavitt, then-acting Medicare administrator, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)

House Dems: Obamacare still beats pre-2010 marketplace

The Obama administration and its Democratic allies defended the 2010 health law's struggles Wednesday as the natural growing pains of an ambitious program, saying it remains a net plus compared to the pre-Obamacare era. Published September 14, 2016

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington in this Dec. 17, 2014, file photo. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Census: Uninsured rate dropped to 9.1 percent in 2015

Four million more Americans held health insurance in 2015 than in 2014, according to Census report Tuesday that found 29 million people were still not covered and that Hispanics lagged behind other race or ethnic groups in getting covered, despite widespread gains attributed to Obamacare. Published September 13, 2016

Jason Herring, acting Assistant Director for Congressional Affairs at the FBI, is served a subpoena to provide the full investigative file during the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing on classifications and redactions in the FBI's investigative file of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private server. (Associated Press)

Hillary Clinton email server investigation leads to oversight subpoena of FBI

House GOP investigators probing Hillary Clinton's use of private email at the State Department accused the Obama administration Monday of operating like a "banana republic" by withholding or blacking out documents tied to the FBI's decision not to prosecute the Democratic presidential nominee. Published September 12, 2016

President Barack Obama listens as Secretary of Defense Ash Carter speaks during a memorial ceremony to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, at the Pentagon in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Obama thanks insurers for sticking with his health care law

President Obama on Monday thanked insurers who will offer coverage on Obamacare's insurance exchanges next year despite challenges that have caused companies like Aetna and UnitedHealth Group to largely withdraw from the program. Published September 12, 2016

Republicans say instability in the Obamacare marketplace has left them no choice but to prop up the 2010 Affordable Care Act before killing it so there isn't more chaos during the transfer to a replacement sytem. (Associated Press)

GAO: Obamacare exchanges still vulnerable to fraud

Obamacare's web exchanges are still "vulnerable to fraud," according to a watchdog report Monday that says government investigators were able to get taxpayer-subsidized coverage for fake enrollees despite a brand-new safeguard against chicanery on the law's insurance exchanges. Published September 12, 2016

In this July 21, 2016, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Obama marks 9/11 anniversary with plea for unity

As Americans commemorated the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President Obama said Sunday that the U.S. must resist extremists' efforts to divide the country. Published September 11, 2016

Vice President Joe Biden pauses pauses while speaking atthe Center for American Progress' meeting on middle-class economic security, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in Washington. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Joe Biden to GOP: Deal with Zika, guns and Judge Merrick Garland

Vice President Joseph R. Biden reprised his role as the consummate Capitol Hill dealmaker Thursday by urging his former GOP sparring partners to dispense with a series of election-year crises that are "bigger than partisan politics." Published September 8, 2016

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said "we need to have a (Zika funding) bill that is clean, that comes to the floor. And by clean, I mean no poison pill."

Congress seeks to break impasse over Zika funding

Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday reached for a way out of a months-long impasse over funding to combat the Zika virus, as the election-year standoff gets snared in a broader fight over how to keep the government running beyond this month. Published September 7, 2016