President Obama's nominee to head the embattled Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives remains the focus of a federal investigation and a senior Republican is asking why his confirmation hearings last week weren't postponed until the case has been resolved.
U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones, President Obama's choice to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told a Senate committee on Tuesday the arrest of "straw buyers" — those who falsely buy guns for others, mostly criminals — was a top Justice Department priority but the department rarely prosecutes the cases "due to limited resources."
Lawmakers of both parties blasted President Obama on Tuesday for failing to live up to his promise of open government, after a report found that nearly two-thirds of his administration's agencies are failing to comply with a five-year-old law requiring bureaucrats to be more responsive to public requests for information.
The White House stood by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius after federal investigators reported Wednesday that she unlawfully stumped for President Obama while delivering a speech earlier this year.
A Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agent who blew the whistle on the botched Fast and Furious gunrunning investigation and, according to lawmakers, was threatened with losing his job has successfully resolved a retaliation claim.
Mitt Romney is set to raise about $10 million during a fundraising swing through New York and Connecticut.
Federal investigators have concluded that Air Force officials at the military mortuary in Dover, Del., illegally punished four civilian workers for blowing the whistle on the mishandling of war remains.
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta on Thursday ordered new reviews into mismanagement at the military's national mortuary. He said he wants the Air Force to determine if there were reprisals against whistle-blowers and if those who oversaw remains of fallen heroes were disciplined adequately.
The Pentagon is launching a drive to reassure members of the military and their families that flaws in the handling of human remains at the Dover military mortuary — including two instances of lost body parts — have been fixed.
