Tom Howell Jr.
Articles by Tom Howell Jr.
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
Appeals court rejects Liberty University’s lawsuit against Obamacare
A federal appeals court has rejected a Virginia college's challenge to key mandates in President Obama's health care law. Published July 12, 2013
Senate GOP files bill to defund Obamacare
Rising stars in the Republican Party pushed Congress on Thursday to strip all funding from President Obama's health care law, even as Senate Democrats struck down piecemeal efforts to kill the law's most controversial mandates. Published July 11, 2013
Senate Democrats kill moves to defund Obamacare
Members of the Senate's spending committee on Thursday defeated a two-pronged attempt to strike and defund key mandates in President Obama's health care law. Published July 11, 2013
Democrats caught off guard on employer mandate delay, now blame GOP
President Obama's decision to delay part of his health care law left fellow Democrats flat-footed, but they have since regrouped and are now blaming Republicans for the situation, saying the GOP poisoned the law so badly that the administration had no choice. Published July 10, 2013
Sen. Rand Paul threatens to block nominee, again, over drones
Sen. Rand Paul is threatening to block James Comey's nomination to lead the FBI if he does not get answers on the use of drones within the U.S. borders, just four months after his 13-hour filibuster of President Obama's pick to lead the CIA. Published July 10, 2013
GOP: Health law delay shows Obama sided with business over people
House Republicans said Tuesday that President Obama sided with big business over average Americans when he gave large employers a one-year exemption to compliance with his health care overhaul, and staffers said the GOP is planning a series of votes that would force Democrats to align themselves with the embattled law. Published July 9, 2013
Biden calls Ariz. firefighters a ‘rare breed’ at memorial service
Vice President Joseph R. Biden on Tuesday said 19 elite firefighters who died battling an Arizona wildfire were heroes "long before we knew their names." Published July 9, 2013
House GOP leaders want to put Democrats on the spot via Obamacare
The House Republican leadership is mulling a pair of votes that would force Democrats to go on the record in supporting or rejecting delays — both real and potential — to aspects of President Obama's health care law. Published July 9, 2013
