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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

Sen. Richard Burr, North Carolina Republican, is locked in a tight re-election battle with Democrat Deborah K. Ross, a lawyer. (Associated Press)

Richard Burr distances Donald Trump in Senate race

Fighting for his political life, Sen. Richard Burr, North Carolina Republican, said he cannot defend Donald Trump's lewd remarks about women but feels the Democratic alternative, Hillary Clinton, is an unacceptable choice for president.

October 13, 2016
Sen. Kelly Ayotte

Donald Trump throws GOP senators off balance

Vulnerable Senate Republicans are deploying an array of tactics to stanch the down-ballot bleeding from Donald Trump's caught-on-tape remarks about women, from vocal condemnation to pleas to forgive the real estate mogul and focus on Hillary Clinton's weaknesses.

October 12, 2016
The presidential debate between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump on Sunday was broadcast live in South Korea. (Associated Press)

Donald Trump, campaign confound foreign press

American voters aren't the only ones scratching their heads over a topsy-turvy presidential race featuring two unpopular candidates. The foreign press appears to be stumped, too, critiquing Republican nominee Donald Trump's latest debate performance as "belligerent" and bemoaning the past few days as a "low point" in U.S. politics.

October 11, 2016
In this Sept. 21, 2016 file photo, EpiPens brought by Mylan CEO Heather Bresch are seen on Capitol Hill in Washington as she testified before the House Oversight Committee hearing on EpiPen price increases. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Mylan agrees to pay $465M in EpiPen settlement

Mylan Pharmaceuticals on Friday said it has agreed to pay $465 million to settle claims it short-changed taxpayers by classifying its popular EpiPen as a generic instead of a brand-name product -- a move that allowed it to pay smaller rebates to states under Medicaid.

October 7, 2016
Donald Trump, who said he'd be posting on his 12-million strong Twitter account throughout the debate, said he was ditching CNN and turning his television to Fox News, "where we get a fair shake." (Associated Press)

Donald Trump is no role mode, say 72 percent of voters in a poll

More than seven in 10 voters say Donald Trump is not a role model for children, according to a poll conducted in the days after Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire said she "absolutely" thought the mogul deserved the label, only to walk it back.

October 7, 2016
A report by Sens. Claire McCaskill (right) and Rob Portman suggested that Medicare's checks on opioid abuse haven't kept up with the ballooning use, meaning more people may be bilking the system and fueling the epidemic. (Associated Press)

Medicare’s lack of federal control feeds opioid crisis, senators say

Medicare spending on opioids is skyrocketing, but the agency's investigations into misuse have plummeted in the last couple of years, congressional investigators revealed Monday, suggesting that a lack of federal controls could inadvertently be feeding the prescription drug abuse epidemic.

October 4, 2016
FILE - In this June 26, 2013, file photo, a Bangkok Metropolitan Administration worker fogs a home with mosquito repellent in Bangkok, Thailand. Thai authorities have confirmed that two cases of babies with microcephaly — abnormally small heads — were caused by the Zika virus commonly transmitted by mosquitos, the first time the linkage has been made in Southeast Asia. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

HHS outlines plans for new Zika money

The Obama administration said Monday it can start developing better ways to detect the Zika virus and knock out mosquitos that carry the disease, while forging ahead with a vaccine trial that began in August, now that Congress has broken a months-long stalemate and posted $1.1 billion for the fight.

October 3, 2016
A Miami-Dade County mosquito control worker sprays around a home in the Wynwood area of Miami on Monday, Aug. 1, 2016. The CDC has issued a new advisory that says pregnant women should not travel to a Zika-stricken part of Miami, and pregnant women who live there should take steps to prevent mosquito bites and sexual spread of the virus. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz) ** FILE **

CDC: Couples exposed to Zika should wait six months to get pregnant

Men who've possibly been exposed to the Zika virus should wait at least six months before trying to conceive with their female partners, even if they haven't shown symptoms of the disease, the Obama administration said Friday in a major shift from its previous advice of eight weeks.

September 30, 2016
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas says President Obama is diluting American power and creating space for rogue actors by giving up control of the internet 'address book.' (Associated Press)

Obama administration to relinquish control of internet ‘address book’

The Obama administration will relinquish control of the internet's "address book" to a California-based nonprofit Friday, brushing aside last-ditch pleas and a lawsuit from Republicans who say the transfer could give rogue regimes a freer hand to interfere with web access.

September 29, 2016
Republicans say instability in the Obamacare marketplace has left them no choice but to prop up the 2010 Affordable Care Act before killing it so there isn't more chaos during the transfer to a replacement sytem. (Associated Press)

Insurer payments flouted plain text of Obamacare: Gov’t report

The Obama administration failed to follow its own health care law by directing funds to insurers instead of taxpayers, nonpartisan government investigators said Thursday, chalking up a win for GOP critics and denting the White House's ability to satisfy insurers who are losing money under the overhaul.

September 29, 2016
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., flanked by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., left, and Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, right, talks to reporters following a closed-door policy meeting at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ** FILE **

Mitch McConnell touts GOP progress, ignores Donald Trump

Barreling into a thorny election season, Republican leader Mitch McConnell said America's decision to entrust the Senate to his party in 2014 been a resounding success and should continue in the new year.

September 29, 2016
Republicans have given IRS Commissioner John Koskinen a deadline Tuesday to explain how the IRS plans to identify who will receive Obamacare letters and what the correspondence would look like. (Associated Press)

Obama administration wants to use IRS to hawk Obamacare

The administration wants to use the IRS to hawk Obamacare, drawing fire from Republicans, who fear President Obama is turning the tax agency into part of his political operation by enlisting it in the health care effort.

September 28, 2016
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., left, accompanied by Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., right, speaks at a news conference following a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Senate passes bill to avert government shutdown

The Senate cleared its pre-election agenda Wednesday by passing a bill to stave off a government shutdown and combat the Zika virus, after leaders from both parties broke a stalemate over funds for the Flint, Michigan, water crisis.

September 28, 2016
"The Republicans are essentially saying the disasters in our states are more important than the disasters in your state," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said. (Associated Press)

Senate blocks bill to avert government shutdown

Congress hurtled toward a government shutdown after Senate Democrats led a filibuster Tuesday, blocking a stopgap spending bill that funded the fight against Zika and addressed flooding in Louisiana, West Virginia and Maryland, but offered no money for Michigan residents affected by lead-tainted water.

September 27, 2016