Tom Howell Jr.
Articles by Tom Howell Jr.
House Democrat: GOP has more detail on Zika request than we had on Iraq War
House Democrats on Wednesday accused Republican leaders of intentionally dragging out the debate over President Obama's $1.9 billion request to fight the Zika virus, saying the White House has already detailed everything there is to know about its plea for emergency funding. Published April 20, 2016
Steny Hoyer to conservatives: Stop blocking Ex-Im Bank nominee
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer pleaded with a key Senate Republican Tuesday to reconsider his "frustrating" decision to block a nominee to the Export-Import Bank, arguing his blockade is holding back an agency that enjoys majority support from Congress. Published April 19, 2016
UnitedHealth CEO: We’ll serve only a ‘handful’ of Obamacare exchanges in 2017
One of the nation's largest insurers said Tuesday that it will drastically cut its involvement in Obamacare's exchanges next year, while analysts expect other insurers to hike their rates to cover mounting losses from taking part in the health care law. Published April 19, 2016
Senate Dems to Mitch McConnell: Take up $2B Zika request now
Senate Democrats pleaded with Republican leaders Monday to take up President Obama's $1.9 billion request to combat the Zika virus "as soon as possible," saying the mosquito-borne illness poses a real threat to pregnant women. Published April 18, 2016
Obamacare premiums to spike for some if UnitedHealth withdraws, reducing competition: study
The nation's largest insurer could punch a hole through the middle of Obamacare if it pulls out of the health care exchanges, leaving more than 1 million Americans in an unhealthy marketplace with only a single option for insurance. Published April 18, 2016
Paul Ryan caught in middle of budget war over Flint, Puerto Rico, Zika crises
From the Zika virus to the contaminated water crisis in Flint to trying to rescue Puerto Rico from its debt crisis, Congress is once again faced with a series of thorny questions over just how much taxpayers will be asked to shell out. Published April 17, 2016
House GOP agrees: Puerto Rico bill isn’t a ‘bailout’
Congress' bill to rescue Puerto Rico from its debt crisis is not a bailout, House Republicans agreed Friday, but conservatives are still coming to grips with provisions that appear to rewrite the rules from under the island's creditors. Published April 15, 2016
Paul Ryan faces conservative rebellion over Puerto Rico ‘bailout,’ needs Democrats’ help
Congress' bid to rescue Puerto Rico from its debt crisis is turning into yet another test for House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, and the early signs are not good, with one conservative lawmaker accusing leaders of gagging rank-and-file Republicans to keep them from scuttling the relief package. Published April 13, 2016
Zika causes birth defects: CDC
The Zika virus definitely causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and suffer other brain defects, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday, hoping to erase any doubt about the mosquito-borne illness' threat to pregnant women and their newborns. Published April 13, 2016
GOP leaders scramble to rescue Puerto Rico from $72B debt
House Republican leaders scrambled Thursday to rally support for a bill that rescues Puerto Rico from $72 billion in bond debt by imposing an oversight board to audit the U.S. territory's finances and put it on a path toward fiscal responsibility. Published April 13, 2016
Obama rejects Supreme Court’s contraception trade-off
The administration shot down the Supreme Court's effort to forge a compromise on Obamacare's contraceptive mandate, saying Tuesday that the justices' alternative proposal would set up too many hurdles for the government and insurers. Published April 12, 2016
Mitch McConnell: Even without budget, spending process will begin next week
Unable to pass an actual budget for the coming year, the Senate will rely on funding levels the parties agreed to last fall when it kick-starts the annual spending process with an energy-and-water bill next week, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday. Published April 12, 2016
Goldman Sachs latest Wall Street giant to pony up, avoid prosecutions over mortgage crisis
Goldman Sachs agreed to a $5 billion settlement payment Monday, marking yet another Wall Street giant that's making up for its financial breaches through money -- but whose executives have yet to face criminal charges for helping send the country's economy into the Great Recession. Published April 11, 2016
Zika ‘a bit scarier’ than previously thought: Health officials
Zika is "a bit scarier" than the administration initially thought, officials acknowledged Monday, rattling off a list of alarming discoveries about the mosquito-borne virus that is linked to serious birth defects and debilitating syndromes. Published April 11, 2016
Genetically modified mosquitoes for Zika fight worry Floridians
To fight a mosquito, maybe you've got to be a mosquito -- at least that's the hope behind one of the proposals to try to combat the Zika virus. Published April 10, 2016
Kevin McCarthy says House will target opioid epidemic
House GOP leaders returning from Easter break say they have a strategy for tackling the prescription opioid and heroin epidemic that's ravaging the country, though a key senator is urging them to work fast, noting his chamber sent them a bill that's "ready to go." Published April 10, 2016
Large share of Americans know little about Zika: Poll
A large number of Americans have heard little or nothing about the Zika virus, according to a new poll Thursday that shows found most people in the U.S. are not terribly concerned about an outbreak here. Published April 7, 2016
Zika virus: FDA extends comment period for GMO mosquito trial in Florida
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said it will give the public an extra month to weigh in on a British company's request to release its genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys, a trial aimed at slashing the number of insects that carry Zika virus. Published April 7, 2016
Zika virus: White House transfers nearly $600M from Ebola fight
The White House will redirect nearly $600 million from the Ebola fight in West Africa and other accounts to combat Zika virus, the latest big health scare, tacitly caving to GOP demands Wednesday even as it said it still wants $1.9 billion from Congress to combat the new threat. Published April 6, 2016
Mitch McConnell: Senate will begin spending process without budget in place
The Senate will likely miss the deadline for approving a federal budget, forgoing the annual blueprint that is supposed to govern all spending, and instead will write bills based on a higher dollar total than the one John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, agreed to with President Obama last year before stepping down as House speaker. Published April 5, 2016
