Politics

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President Obama (left) speaks as Richard Cordray, the newly confirmed director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, looks on in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on Wednesday, July 17, 2013. The Senate voted on Tuesday to end a two-year Republican blockade that was preventing Mr. Cordray from winning confirmation. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

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Robert Dillman (bottom) of Blair Mills, Pa., works on a vehicle with Don Sites of Towngap, Pa. Mr. Dillman has been a government employee for 12 years, and Mr. Sites has worked at the Letterkenny Army Depot for four years, but their futures are uncertain. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Military Humvee vehicles sit idle at Letterkenny Army Depot. Military chiefs have delayed maintenance for equipment returning from Afghanistan because of budget cuts. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times) ** FILE **

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A worker walks past military vehicles as they are reassembled and repaired at Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg, Pa., Thursday, April 4, 2013. The depot is anticipating layoffs and furloughs related to the federal budget cuts known as the sequester. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Keeping them humming: Workers reassemble and repair military vehicles at Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg, Pa. What they can’t fix are the anticipated furloughs related to federal budget cuts that took effect March 1. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, flanked by Sen. Jeff Merkley (right) and Sen. Tom Udall, hails a Democratic victory after averting a political meltdown, clearing the way for confirmation of presidential nominees. (Associated Press)

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Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, asked the state's Supreme Court for an advisory opinion on the right-to-work law, but the justices declined to weigh in. Supporters say the reluctance is not an indication of how the court will eventually rule. (Associated Press)