Tom Howell Jr.
Articles by Tom Howell Jr.
Birth control pill available to girls hits store shelves
A morning-after birth control pill that set off a bruising court battle and forged an unusual alliance between President Obama and social conservatives has hit store shelves and increasingly will become available without any restrictions. Published July 28, 2013
Israeli-Palestinian talks to start Monday
Israel and the Palestinian Authority will resume peace talks Monday in Washington after a three-year break, the result of months of lobbying and a personal invitation over the weekend by Secretary of State John F. Kerry. Published July 28, 2013
Treasury’s Jack Lew warns against brinkmanship over debt ceiling
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on Sunday called on Congress to "do its job" and avoid what could be a bruising budgetary standoff this fall, arguing Washington cannot afford a repeat of the type of "self-inflicted wounds" inflicted on the U.S. economy in the damaging showdown over the debt ceiling in 2011. Published July 28, 2013
Sen. Mike Lee: Go ahead and fund the government, but without Obamacare
Sen. Mike Lee on Sunday acknowledged Sunday that the federal government likely will avoid a shutdown after a high-stakes budget debate this September, but he wants to see the government continue its work without President Obama's health care law. Published July 28, 2013
Anthony Weiner under pressure to drop out as campaign manager quits
Embattled candidate Anthony D. Weiner faced mounting pressure Sunday to reconsider his mayoral ambitions in New York City after he confessed last week to swapping illicit messages and photos with women on s social media — a practice he now admits continued even after he resigned from Congress in 2011 because of similar acts. Published July 28, 2013
Contraception mandate’s split rulings move battle closer to the Supreme Court
A long-simmering fight over the contraception mandate tied to President Obama's health care law took a step closer to the Supreme Court on Friday, when a federal appeals court decided that "for-profit, secular corporations cannot engage in religious exercise." Published July 27, 2013
GOP resists new attempt to shutter Guantanamo
Congress sent strong signals this week that President Obama's 5-year-old vow to close Guantanamo Bay prison is far from coming to fruition, as partisan camps drew battle lines over whether the facility in Cuba bottles up terrorists or simply breeds more abroad. Published July 25, 2013
Republicans use budget bills in fight against Obamacare
Republicans are taking their last stand against Obamacare by threatening to block any spending measures that fund the health care law, a political maneuver that rides slumping support for the reforms but risks attracting blame for a government shutdown after years of budget gridlock on Capitol Hill. Published July 24, 2013
House panel looks at ways to help children of illegal immigrants
A House panel pushed forward Tuesday with the Republicans' step-by-step approach to immigration reform, taking up proposals that carve a pathway to citizenship for the children who were brought here illegally at a young age and cueing up debate on whether their parents should also be accommodated. Published July 23, 2013
Resolution on contraceptive coverage getting closer for religious employers
Religiously devout employers who object to insuring contraceptives for their employees under President Obama's new health care law are closer to resolving — either through compromise or through the courts — their long-standing fight with the Obama administration under the banner of religious freedom. Published July 22, 2013
Disillusionment of Obamacare shifts unions’ political alliances to GOP
Discord over President Obama's health care law is forging strange alliances, with top Republicans reaching out to union bosses who helped Democrats muscle the legislation through Congress three years ago but now say the reforms will "destroy the very health and well-being of our members." Published July 21, 2013
Obama’s health care law shifts big unions’ political alliances to GOP
Discord over President Obama's health care law is forging strange alliances, with top Republicans reaching out to union bosses who helped Democrats muscle the legislation through Congress three years ago but now say the reforms will "destroy the very health and well-being of our members." Published July 21, 2013
Republicans blast Obamacare delay as ‘equal justice’ failure in weekly address
In the Republicans' weekly address, House members who sponsored bills to delay key mandates in President Obama's health care law called on the White House and Democrat-controlled Senate to take up the measures and provide "equal justice under the law." Published July 20, 2013
GOP sees Democrats wavering on health insurance
The House's vote this week to delay both the employer and individual mandates exposed the cracks in Democrats' unity behind the health care law and provided Republicans a springboard to keep the pressure on both the Senate and President Obama ahead of next year's elections. Published July 18, 2013
House votes for delays on Obamacare; some Democrats give support to GOP move
The House voted Wednesday to delay mandates in the federal health care law requiring individuals and large employers to have coverage, with dozens of Democrats joining Republicans in poking a symbolic hole in the president's signature achievement. Published July 17, 2013
Health care votes will force House Democrats to choose
The House is set to vote Wednesday on bills that delay mandates in the new health care law requiring individuals and large employers to have health coverage plans, forcing Democrats to align themselves with their party leader, President Obama, or distance themselves from his contentious reforms. Published July 17, 2013
‘Evolving’ evidence led to health law delays: Treasury official
A Treasury Department official in charge of health policy said Wednesday the Obama administration's decision to delay the health care law's "employer mandate" was made "sometime in June" but had been considered for some time in coordination with the White House Published July 17, 2013
Looking to keep GOP out of health care decisions, Obama threatens to veto bill backing his own delay
President Obama has threatened to veto a House bill that would put into law a decision he made two weeks ago. In a statement, the White House said the Obama administration "strongly opposes" a pair of Republican-led bills to delay the employer mandate and individual mandate within the president's signature health care law. Published July 16, 2013
More security resources needed post-Benghazi: State Department
State Department officials said Tuesday they could use extra help to strengthen embassy security, but they said it's unclear whether measures being proposed by senators would have prevented last year's attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans. Published July 16, 2013
Some will need help with health law from ‘navigators’
President Obama's health care law will be available in Spanish and other languages, according to new rules the administration issued late last week that tell the "navigators," who are supposed to help Americans negotiate the labyrinthian law, to be prepared to help non-English speakers. Published July 15, 2013
