McClatchy DC

Obama speech suggests possible expansion of drone killings

A mechanic works on one of the Marine Corps' two K-MAX unmanned helicopter sat Camp Bastion in Afghanistan. The two drones are used for supply missions and are proving drones can be used for more than spying and missile strikes.

President Barack Obama on Thursday defended his administration’s use of drone strikes to kill terrorists as effective, lawful and “heavily constrained,” but he also appeared to be laying groundwork for an expansion of the controversial targeted ... 2 hours ago

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MCCLATCHY DC

Obama administration targets reporters in crackdown on leaks

First, there was the news that the Justice Department had secretly seized telephone records of reporters at the Associated Press. A week later, reports that the department had investigated a Fox News reporter as a potential criminal for doing his job.
MCCLATCHY DC

Alaska Rep. Don Young, gone hunting in Africa, misses subcommittee oil hearing

When a key House of Representatives panel took up a bill this week that would require annual lease sales and streamline permitting in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, home state Rep. Don Young missed the session.
MCCLATCHY DC

Scandal draws questions about IRS role in enforcing Obamacare

The blossoming IRS scandal over the targeting of conservative groups is provoking new scrutiny and terse questions about the agency’s role in shaping and implementing the controversial new national health care law, with the biggest changes set to begin next year.
MCCLATCHY DC

IRS officials aren’t cooperating in probes at top or bottom

Internal Revenue Service officials are not fully cooperating with efforts to learn who is responsible for targeting conservative groups, lawmakers learned Wednesday during the third and most tense, dramatic hearing on the scandal.
MCCLATCHY DC

Did the Pentagon cry wolf over sequestration?

A funny thing happened on the way to a predicted disaster: The Pentagon is learning to live with the automatic budget cuts its leaders had warned would threaten national security if they took effect.
MCCLATCHY DC

Medical company declines to answer Senate questions on Medicare billing

The president and chief executive officer of a medical equipment company invoked the Fifth Amendment at Senate hearing Wednesday, declining to answer questions about aggressive marketing tactics used to sell scooters, sleep apnea machines and other home medical supplies to Medicare recipients who...
MCCLATCHY DC

Anthony Foxx coasts through hearing to take wheel at Transportation

Anthony Foxx avoided the controversy of other Capitol Hill hearings Wednesday, receiving a mostly warm reception from senators who considered his nomination to become transportation secretary.
MCCLATCHY DC

As farm bill debate looms, Tarheel lawmakers gird for fight over tobacco

The U.S. Senate this week has started to fine-tune the huge, new five-year farm bill, working through votes on a series of amendments that will include a proposal to eliminate federal subsidies for tobacco insurance.
MCCLATCHY DC

With Obama in the dark, administration planned how to stage-manage news of IRS scandal

The Obama administration’s timeline for who knew what and when about the Internal Revenue Service scandal changed again Tuesday with revelations that the Treasury Department and White House officials had discussed how to stage-manage the release of the explosive information. The latest revelation...
MCCLATCHY DC

White House admits top Obama aides knew a month ago about IRS probe

The White House acknowledged Monday that senior aides to President Barack Obama knew a month ago that the Internal Revenue Service had targeted conservative groups, expanding on previous administration statements about who in the White House knew about the inquiry and when they knew about it.