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Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang

bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com

Ben Wolfgang is a National Security Correspondent for The Washington Times. His reporting is regularly featured in the daily Threat Status newsletter.
Previously, he covered energy and the environment, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016, and also spent two years as a White House correspondent during the Obama administration.
Before coming to The Times in 2011, Ben worked as political reporter at The Republican-Herald in Pottsville, Pa.
He can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Ben Wolfgang

President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks about the new health care law, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013, in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. The president said his signature health care law "is working and will work into the future." Obama said the benefits of the law have "gotten lost" in recent months as attention focused on the widespread problems that crippled the website where people can sign up for health insurance. On stage with the president are Americans the White House says have gained as a result of the Affordable Care Act. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Obama: ‘We’re not going back’ on Obamacare

He stopped short of declaring "mission accomplished," but President Obama on Tuesday offered another full-throated defense of his landmark health-care reform law, sidestepping the lingering problems and stating flatly that Obamacare has been and will continue to be a success for the American people.

December 3, 2013
** FILE ** In this Oct. 30, 2013, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks at Boston's historic Faneuil Hall about the federal health care law. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)

Obama to take second swing at health care reform pitch

President Obama has embraced his role as the nation's most famous salesman, pitching his namesake health care reform law to uninsured Americas and seeking to convince them that problems with Obamacare — chief among them a faulty website — will be fixed.

December 3, 2013
Education Secretary Arne Duncan has championed the Common Core system but apologized for saying the program's critics are driven by "white suburban moms" who fear their children's test scores will drop as a result of more rigorous standards. (Associated Press)

Common Core education supporters want Obama administration to shut up

The Obama administration's cheerleading for the Common Core State Standards Initiative is designed to calm critics and rally supporters for the ambitious overhaul of the nation's elementary and secondary school curriculums. But that effort may be backfiring.

December 2, 2013
White House press secretary Jay Carney answers a question during the daily press briefing, Monday, Dec. 2, 2013, in the White House briefing room in Washington. Carney answered questions on the ongoing rollout of the Healthcare.gov website. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Obama administration: Private sector runs better websites

Those visiting HealthCare.Gov still are experiencing delays, a fact that demonstrates how the private sector simply is better than the government when it comes to building a functional website, according to the White House.

December 2, 2013
"There are certain circumstances where it is not feasible to have independent journalists in the room," White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said. (Associated Press)

White House seen shaping image by limiting access

A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but the Obama administration's controls on photojournalists may say even more about how this White House sees the role of a free press in the digital age, analysts say.

December 1, 2013
President Barack Obama gestures while speaking in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013. The president said he supports the move by Senate Democrats to make it harder for Republicans to block his nominees. Obama spoke shortly after the Senate voted 52-48 to weaken the power of the filibuster. The rule change will make it harder for minority Republicans to block confirmation of the president's nominees for judges and other top posts.(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Obama touts successes, singles out ‘reckless’ tea party

President Obama on Saturday again tried to turn attention away from his troubled health-care reform law and to other issues, while also placing the blame for Washington dysfunction and gridlock squarely on the shoulders of "a reckless few" — a clear shot at tea party Republicans in the House.

November 23, 2013
** FILE ** Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, speaks to the media after the Democrat majority in the Senate pushed through a major rules change, one that curbs the power of the Republican minority to block President Barack Obama's nominations for high-level judgeships and cabinet and agency officials, on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

White House seeks more time from Hill for Iran deal

Negotiations with Iran over that nation's nuclear program continue to plod along, but Senate leaders have put a clock on those talks by announcing plans to enact further sanctions against Iran as soon as next month.

November 22, 2013
President Obama speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013. Mr. Obama was commenting on the Senate's move to make it harder for Republicans to block his nominees. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

‘Enough is enough’: Obama backs new Senate rules

President Obama on Thursday expressed strong support for Senate Democrats' move to enact the so-called "nuclear option" and alter congressional rules to clear the way for judicial and other executive nominees.

November 21, 2013
President Barack Obama speaks about his signature health care law, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013, in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. Bowing to pressure, President Barack Obama intends to permit continued sale of individual insurance plans that have been canceled because they failed to meet coverage standards under the health care law, officials said Thursday. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

White House press corps revolts over lack of Obama access

Tensions between the Obama administration and the White House Press Corps boiled over Thursday amid a lack of access to the president and the use of government photographers as substitutes for independent journalists.

November 21, 2013
President Barack Obama awards former President Bill Clinton the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Obama, Clinton hide tension behind smiles at medal ceremony

Whatever tension exists between President Obama and former President Bill Clinton — and by all accounts, there’s plenty — it wasn’t on full display Wednesday when the two men came together for a White House ceremony and a tribute to the late President John F. Kennedy.

November 20, 2013
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, speaks to members of the media outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013, following a meeting with President Barack Obama. The President met with chairmen, ranking members, as well as other members of the Senate Banking Committee, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senate Armed Services Committees, and Senate Select Committee on Intelligence regarding Iran. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Some senators ‘unsatisfied’ with White House approach on Iran

A key senator emerged from Tuesday's meeting with President Obama saying some lawmakers are "unsatisfied" with the administration's proposal to begin easing sanctions on Iran in exchange for that nation halting parts of its nuclear program.

November 19, 2013