Tom Howell Jr.

Republicans plan challenge to Biden’s COVID vaccine mandate for businesses

Republican lawmakers on Wednesday announced plans to formally challenge President Biden's vaccine mandate for private businesses by invoking Congress's right to review such executive orders just weeks before the mandate is scheduled to go into effect.

November 17, 2021

Heritage Action for America slams ‘SALT’ provision in Biden’s social welfare bill in $1M ad buy

The political campaign arm of the Heritage Foundation said Wednesday it will spend $1 million on ads slamming vulnerable Democrats for supporting a provision that raises the cap on state and local tax deductions in President Biden's social welfare bill.

November 17, 2021

FDA race to approve COVID-19 booster this week would skip input from advisory panel

Federal agencies could authorize COVID-19 booster shots for all adults before the weekend, a fast turnaround that bypasses a key advisory committee.

November 17, 2021

‘Breakthrough’ infections surge, disrupting workforce and complicating COVID-19 response

COVID-19 breakthrough infections are increasing as vaccine effectiveness rates drop below 50% and the winter virus season fast approaches, threatening the vulnerable and promising more workforce disruption amid a nationwide labor shortage.

November 16, 2021

GasBuddy survey: Only 32% plan to drive on Thanksgiving, citing fuel costs

Fewer Americans plan to drive somewhere for Thanksgiving this year than last year at the height of COVID-19 shutdowns and closures, according to price-tracking website GasBuddy.com.

November 16, 2021

Pfizer inks licensing deal to extend the reach of COVID-19 pill

Pfizer said Tuesday it signed an agreement to license its experimental pill for COVID-19 to qualified generic makers, potentially expanding its reach to countries that account for more than half of the global population.

November 16, 2021

D.C. school postpones Dave Chappelle theater renaming

The Duke Ellington School of the Arts in the District is postponing plans to rename its theater for comedian Dave Chapelle -- a noted alumnus -- after students voiced opposition amid the dustup over the comedian's last Netflix special.

November 15, 2021

FBI: Hackers compromised email system, sent fake messages

Hackers targeted the FBI's email system over the weekend and spewed out tens of thousands of official-looking emails that warned of a cyberattack, according to the bureau.

November 15, 2021

American journalist Danny Fenster is freed in Myanmar, allowed to return to the U.S.

American journalist Danny Fenster has been released from a Myanmar prison and will travel home to the U.S., former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson announced Monday after a humanitarian visit to negotiate on the editor's behalf.

November 15, 2021

Emhoff defends his wife, VP Harris, amid her low polls and French gaffe

Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff came to the defense of his oft-maligned wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, during an event in Paris on Thursday, saying her role as a trailblazer is "hard."

November 11, 2021

Biden to veterans: ‘You are the very spine of America’

President Biden hailed America's war fighters Thursday as the "spine" of the country in the first Veterans Day speech of his presidency.

November 11, 2021

Majority of Americans OK with vaccine, mask rules: Poll

A majority of Americans support vaccine mandates for health workers, teachers and people who work in an office setting and six in 10 parents support school mask mandates, according to a poll released Thursday.

November 11, 2021

U.S. faces uneasy crossroads on COVID-19 before holidays

The U.S. recovery from the crushing delta wave of the coronavirus is beginning to stall out, with case counts stuck around 70,000 per day for two weeks after a precipitous decline from the peak of the Sun Belt surge in September.

November 11, 2021

‘Cringe’: Harris takes heat for awkward French accent in lab tour

Political watchers were scratching their heads after Vice President Kamala Harris seemed to deploy a Gallic tint to certain words during a tour of the Pasteur Institute.

November 11, 2021

Former N.J. Gov. Christie needles Trump over 2020 loss

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie boasted in an interview posted Thursday that he won his state reelection by a wide margin while former President Donald Trump lost to President Biden, signaling he won't back down after Mr. Trump attacked him for saying the GOP must focus on the future instead of relitigating the 2020 contest.

November 11, 2021

Harris: France wants to join the Artemis Accords, a major space-exploration pact

Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday said French President Emmanuel Macron is interested in joining the Artemis Accords, a 2020 agreement that promoted responsible space exploration and set the table for a return to the Moon.

November 11, 2021

White House boasts that 900,000 kids ages 5 to 11 got COVID-19 shots

The White House estimated Wednesday that 900,000 children ages 5 to 11 will have received their first COVID-19 shot by the end of the day as President Biden looks for ways to immunize as many Americans as possible.

November 10, 2021

Pfizer’s booster request sets up a pivotal decision for FDA

The Food and Drug Administration pumped the brakes on Pfizer's push to provide COVID-19 boosters-for-all two months ago, but the drugmaker has the wind at its back as it tries again.

November 10, 2021

Germany recommends Pfizer over Moderna for those younger than 30

German authorities said Wednesday they will recommend the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine instead of Moderna's for persons younger than 30 due to the small risk of inflammation of the heart muscle, or myocarditis.

November 10, 2021

76% of Americans think Facebook making society worse, CNN poll says

Three-quarters of Americans think Facebook is making U.S. society worse and nearly half say they know someone who was led to believe a conspiracy theory due to content on the social media platform, a CNN poll conducted by SSRS said Wednesday.

November 10, 2021