Tom Howell Jr.
Articles by Tom Howell Jr.
Administration uses employer mandate delay to swat at court challenges
The Obama administration is using last week's delay of the health care law's employer mandate to try to get some of the legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act thrown out of court, arguing that with the changes, it's no longer clear what the final policy will look like so businesses shouldn't sue yet. Published July 8, 2013
Liberty U.: Obamacare delay doesn’t make broad lawsuit ‘moot’
A fight over twin mandates in the new health-care law is brewing between Liberty University and the Obama administration at a federal appeals court in Richmond. Published July 8, 2013
Lautenberg family won’t back Booker in N.J. Senate fight
The family of late Sen. Frank Lautenberg has endorsed Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone to fill the seat left vacant by the former New Jersey lawmaker's death last month. Published July 8, 2013
Critics raise questions over abrupt delay of ‘Obamacare’ mandate
The Obama administration's decision to delay the new health care law's "employer mandate" after business owners complained about its complexity has critics asking why, a few days prior, the White House would green-light a rule it sees as a burden on religious employers who do provide health insurance. Published July 7, 2013
Tweaks, twists and turns of Obama’s health law; mandate delay just the latest
President Obama's decision this week to delay the employer mandate to provide health insurance is the latest tweak to his health law, and it underscores just how much of the bill remains in flux more than three years after he signed it into law. Published July 4, 2013
GOP questions legality of Obamacare delay
Conservative lawmakers Wednesday questioned both the motives and the legality of President Obama's decision to halt the employer mandate, a key part of his new health insurance law, until after the 2014 elections. Published July 3, 2013
Obamacare’s employer mandate delayed to 2015
The Obama administration is delaying a key part of the new health care law for an additional year, to 2015 — a stunning move that officials said gives them a chance to work out kinks over how to administer the so-called employer mandate. Published July 2, 2013
Religious coalition rejects Obama contraceptive compromise
A diverse group of religious leaders is pressing the Obama administration to exempt any American who objects to the contraception mandate in the federal health care law. Published July 2, 2013
Feds move quickly on benefits after Supreme Court’s gay-marriage ruling
The Obama administration is moving quickly to implement changes from the Supreme Court decision last week to extend benefits to married same-sex couples, a ruling that offered a tangible boost to gays in more than a dozen states even as its impact on the nation's fiscal house remains a puzzle. Published July 1, 2013
Obama stands firm on birth control mandate for religious groups
The Obama administration dug in its heels Friday by refusing to relax its approach toward religious nonprofits and corporations that object to the contraception insurance mandate in the new federal health care law. Published June 28, 2013
Student loan rates set to double
Senators left town Thursday without reaching a deal on student loans, meaning rates will double Monday as Democrats continued to balk at the solution proposed by President Obama and Republicans. Published June 27, 2013
NIH to slash number of chimps in research
The federal government said Wednesday it will send 310 chimpanzees into early retirement because of new opinions on whether it's moral to use the prized primates for biomedical research. Published June 26, 2013
Senate Democrats under pressure in student loans battle
Even as the Senate grapples with high-profile immigration reform, lawmakers are under pressure to strike a deal on the cost of college student loans before rates double Monday — a fight that sees Mr. Obama aligned closer to the GOP than his own party. Published June 25, 2013
White House launches website, enlists NFL as part of Obamacare blitz
The Obama administration launched its promotion of the new health care law in earnest Monday, revealing that it has asked the National Football League to advertise insurance options as it rolls out a glossy new website and a 24-hour call center to clear up confusion about the law. Published June 24, 2013
NSA leaker Edward Snowden, helped by WikiLeaks, heads to Ecuador via Russia
The computer technician who faces criminal charges for leaking details of U.S. spying programs left Hong Kong on Sunday to seek asylum in Ecuador, reigniting debate over his conflicted status as either a champion for personal privacy or a traitor who might curry favor with hostile nations. Published June 23, 2013
NSA chief tries to assuage public over spying programs
The head of the National Security Agency said Sunday that the former analyst who leaked information about American spying programs cause "irreversible damage" to the country and is not acting, "in my opinion, with noble intent." Published June 23, 2013
GOP senators, divided on immigration, find common ground on NSA leaker
Republican senators who don't always see eye to eye agreed Sunday that the former National Security Agency analyst who leaked details of top-secret U.S. spying programs and reportedly is on his way from Hong Kong to the likes of Cuba or Venezuela is a "felon" whose travels plans are misguided. Published June 23, 2013
Plan B drug maker: FDA approved pill without restrictions
The drug maker at the heart of a legal fight over access to emergency contraception said Friday it got the green light to offer its one-pill product to customers of all ages, who will not need a prescription or identification to purchase it. Published June 21, 2013
Catholics, Southern Baptists unite against Obamacare contraception mandate
America's Catholic bishops and the Southern Baptist Convention joined forces on Friday, calling on Congress to pass bills that would exempt companies and nonprofits from the contraception insurance coverage mandate in President Obama's health care law. Published June 21, 2013
House rejection of farm bill sows bad seeds for Boehner
The House rejected the massive farm bill Thursday after conservative Republicans banded with Democrats, dealing a major defeat to House Speaker John A. Boehner and the GOP leadership and raising questions about the chamber's ability to pass any ambitious legislation this year. Published June 20, 2013
