by Sophia Bollag | Feb 7, 2014 | Environment, Health & Science
WASHINGTON – A proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule limiting power plants’ carbon emissions got a big thumbs-up from environmentalist Rep. Henry Waxman Thursday at a rally outside the EPA building. The California lawmaker and top Democrat on the House...
by Ryan McCrimmon | Feb 6, 2014 | Politics
[View the story “D.C., Internet celebrate Reagan’s birthday” on Storify]
by Sylvan Lane | Feb 6, 2014 | Business, Politics
WASHINGTON — The Senate was one vote short of allowing debate on the unemployment insurance extension bill Thursday afternoon, effectively killing the bill and leaving Democrats furious at their Republican counterparts. The final vote – to end debate, and cut...
by Preetisha Sen | Feb 6, 2014 | Business
WASHINGTON — The Volcker rule was designed to prevent another financial crisis similar to 2009, but critics say it will affect average bankers across the country instead of targeting Wall Street financial institutions. The House Financial Services Committee examined...
by Jonathan Palmer | Feb 6, 2014 | Education
WASHINGTON- A Senate leader said Thursday his committee plans action on an early childhood bill before the Memorial Day recess. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is examining early education programs in what Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, described...
by Christophe Haubursin | Feb 6, 2014 | National Security
WASHINGTON – Pushing for support on her bill to move prosecution of military sexual assaults out of the chain of command, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand spoke Thursday alongside veterans who were sexually assaulted while on active duty. The Senate is expected to take up the...
by Sylvan Lane | Feb 6, 2014 | Politics
WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Montana Senator Max Baucus’s appointment as ambassador of China on Thursday on a 96-0 vote. Baucus “is an extremely smart person, and certainly versed in what goes on here in the Congress of the United States,” said Senate...
by Cat Zakrzewski | Feb 6, 2014 | National Security
WASHINGTON — As the White House negotiates a U.S. presence in Afghanistan after the last combat troops withdraw this year, a group of bipartisan senators pushed Thursday for congressional approval for any military action in the war-torn nation after 2014. Sens. Jeff...
by Vesko Cholakov | Feb 6, 2014 | Health & Science, National Security
WASHINGTON — Financial regulators are struggling in the face of a changing environment – sophisticated cyber threats and inadequate safeguards prescribed by the Dodd-Frank Act, witnesses said at a Senate hearing Thursday. “The banking industry has existing...
by Ryan McCrimmon | Feb 6, 2014 | National Security
WASHINGTON – With Afghanistan farmers cultivating opium at a record pace, U.S. officials expressed concern that the country’s drug trade will continue to grow unchecked as the U.S. scales back troop presence in the country. Counternarcotics experts from the State,...
