Ben Wolfgang

White House insists terrorists in Bowe Bergdahl swap pose no threat

The Obama administration insisted Friday that the Taliban terrorists swapped for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl do not pose a threat to the U.S.

White House: GOP hopefuls should listen to Romney on middle class, poverty

Before Mitt Romney announced Friday he wouldn't run for president in 2016, he had indicated fighting poverty would be a centerpiece of his would-be campaign — and the White House wants other Republicans to follow the former Massachusetts governor's lead.

Obama budget to include $215M investment for medical innovations

Pledging that the U.S. will lead the next revolution in medicine, President Obama on Friday laid out a key component of his fiscal year 2016 budget — a $215 million government investment into "precision medicine."

Obama won’t meet Raul Castro’s demands, but doesn’t regret Cuba move

The Obama administration has no intention of meeting Cuban President Raul Castro's various preconditions for normalizing diplomatic relations with the U.S., officials said Thursday.

Obama’s budget will call for end of sequestration, tax hikes

Kicking off the next big budget battle with a bang, President Obama on Thursday will propose rolling back the roughly $1 trillion in automatic sequestration cuts that began in 2013 and will call for a dramatic boost in domestic spending paid for in part with tax hikes.

Drone makers say they can regulate skies better than government

President Obama is calling for more regulations on the growing number of drones in U.S. skies, but industry leaders say it's doubtful more rules would've prevented a small unmanned craft from crashing onto the White House lawn earlier this week.

White House: ‘529’ tax plan good policy, but we’re abandoning it anyway

The Obama administration says it still supports a plan to tax the popular "529" college savings plans but is giving up on the idea because it has become a distraction from other priorities.

White House, Democrats invoke Bill O’Reilly in pushing AG nominee

Michelle Obama’s attire in Saudi Arabia acceptable, White House says

White House officials on Wednesday defended first lady Michelle Obama's decision not to wear a head scarf in Saudi Arabia this week, saying her attire is consistent with what other American women have worn while in the kingdom.

Obama defends decision not to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu

President Obama blamed the upcoming Israeli elections for why he's choosing not to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in March, saying such a meeting could create the appearance that the U.S. is interfering in Israeli political contests.

Obama pushes gender equality in India, silent in Saudi Arabia

President Obama's method of handling nations with poor human rights records shifted dramatically in a matter of hours Tuesday, morphing from declarations about the need for sex equality while in India to public silence when he arrived in Saudi Arabia later in the day.

Obama honors Holocaust victims and survivors, says world must fight ‘rising anti-Semitism’

President Obama on Tuesday said the world must rise up and confront "rising anti-Semitism" and hatred and bigotry of all kinds.

Obama: Despite human rights troubles, we must work with Saudi Arabia

While President Obama has spoken out repeatedly for greater human rights protections in countries all around the world, on Tuesday he found himself defending the close U.S. relationship with a nation that doesn't even allow women to drive.

Obama to India: On energy, do as we say, not as we did

President Obama on Tuesday urged the world's third-largest carbon polluter to embrace clean energy, saying the broader international fight against climate change hinges on how developing countries address the problem.

In India, Obama fires back at claims he’s Muslim

President Obama on Tuesday made a forceful case for gender and religious equality in India and used examples from his own life — including claims that he's secretly a Muslim — to make his point.

Obama’s Alaska plans spark Republican ire

President Obama's plan to lock up Alaska's vast energy supply has sparked a furious backlash on Capitol Hill and prompted allegations that the White House has declared "war" on the state, but lawmakers have few options to fight back and even a Republican president in 2017 could struggle to undo the administration's latest environmental offensive.

Hillary Clinton, Bernard Sanders, Elizabeth Warren cheer Obama’s State of the Union

Democrats eyeing the White House in 2016 lined up behind the liberal rallying cry President Obama issued in his State of the Union address — with the exception of former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, who took shots at the president's foreign policy and said the country shouldn't be divided into rich, middle and poor classes.

Keystone update: Heartened by SOTU speech, environmentalists now expect Obama to reject pipeline

President Obama didn't even mention the Keystone XL oil pipeline by name in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, but leading environmentalists are reading between the lines and believe they heard clear indications the White House is prepared to kill the project.

Obama pressured by liberals to shift agenda further to left

President Obama has proposed two years of free community college for all Americans, pledged to defend Social Security and is looking to hike taxes on wealthy Americans, but liberal leaders are putting unprecedented pressure on the White House to go even further and fully embrace a more populist, progressive agenda.

Republican senators vow more Iran sanctions despite Obama warnings

Republican senators vowed Sunday to pursue additional sanctions against Iran, brushing off unusually blunt and dire warnings from President Obama that any more penalties for Tehran would threaten to scuttle nuclear talks and possibly lead to war.