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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

"Improving bridges, roads and our infrastructure is critical to our economy, but we're going to need time for the House committees to do their work," Speaker John A. Boehner said before the chamber voted to keep road projects moving through Oct. 29 and to fill a $3.3 billion budget hole at the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Associated Press)

Education reform bill nears completion

House and Senate lawmakers hoping to avert a government shutdown, pass a long-term highway bill and vote on Iran's nuclear ambitions this fall are squeezing in another item that has bedeviled Congress for years -- settling on a bipartisan rewrite of the No Child Left Behind education law that can win over the White House.

September 2, 2015
Tori Reichelderfer, 17, shows her support as Planned Parenthood Action Council holds a community rally at the state Capitol in Salt Lake City on Aug. 25, 2015. Planned Parenthood Association of Utah CEO Karrie Galloway says the demonstration is a protest against Gov. Gary Herbert's decision to stop disbursing federal money to Planned Parenthood. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP) **FILE**

Planned Parenthood chapters among those receiving new Obamacare grants

The Obama administration announced more than $1 million in grants Wednesday to Planned Parenthood, banking on the women's health care provider to help sell Obamacare to patients and defying congressional Republicans battling to end all public funding for the organization.

September 2, 2015
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker will hitch a ride aboard Air Force One with President Obama on Monday — with his talking points ready. (Associated Press)

Alaska Medicaid expansion can move forward, judge says

The Alaska Supreme Court rejected a request by state lawmakers' Monday to thwart Gov. Bill Walker's unilateral plan to extend Medicaid benefits to tens of thousands of previously ineligible state residents.

August 31, 2015
March for Life holds a rally and march each year to protest the Supreme Court's landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that declared a constitutional right to abortion. (Associated Press Photo/File)

Federal judge shields March for Life from Obamacare birth-control rules

A federal judge Monday blocked the Obama administration from enforcing its birth-control mandate on March for Life, a secular nonprofit, saying the anti-abortion group met the same criteria for an exemption as houses of worship that do not have to comply with the Obamacare rule.

August 31, 2015
Pediatrician Charles Goodman vaccinates 1-year-old Cameron Fierro with the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, or MMR vaccine, at his practice in Northridge, Calif., on Jan. 29, 2015. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Vaccination rates still high after Disneyland outbreak sparked debate: CDC

Months after a Disneyland measles outbreak cast a harsh light on the "anti-vaxx" movement, the Obama administration said Thursday that childhood vaccination rates remain high across the country and that less than 2 percent of kindergarteners were exempt from the shot requirements for the 2014-2015 school year.

August 27, 2015
Legal analysts say it's hardly surprising that President Obama — a lame-duck who has leaned on his own powers to move his domestic agenda — finds himself at the mercy of the courts. (Associated Press)

Obama agenda and legacy in the hands of federal judges

A federal judge in Texas has put President Obama's deportation amnesty on hold, while another judge in the District of Columbia is poised to rule any day now on whether the House can sue to stop parts of the administration's Obamacare spending.

August 26, 2015
The HealthCare.gov website, where people can buy health insurance, is displayed on a laptop screen in Portland, Ore., in this Nov. 12, 2014, file photo. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, File)

Obamacare ‘Cadillac tax’ to hit 1 in 4 employers that offer health care benefits

Obamacare's "Cadillac tax" will hit one in four employers that offer health care benefits, a leading industry analyst says in a report being released Tuesday, socking companies with a massive levy that Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill say is unfair to those who have negotiated high-quality plans as part of their jobs.

August 25, 2015
Republican presidential candidate Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker greets fairgoers during a visit to the Iowa State Fair, Monday, Aug. 17, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Scott Walker lays out plan to repeal, replace Obamacare

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker touted his "put up or shut up" style and called out members of his own party Tuesday in unveiling his own plan to repeal and replace Obamacare with a system of refundable tax credits, an overhaul of Medicaid and reforms to long-term care.

August 18, 2015
Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell speaks in Washington on July 28, 2014. (Associated Press) **FILE**

HHS: Nearly 1 million got covered between Obamacare’s enrollment periods

Nearly a million people have signed up for Obamacare since Feb. 23 because they lost other forms of coverage or had a significant life change, the Obama administration said Thursday in a snapshot of people who used the federal HealthCare.gov website between the law's formal enrollment periods.

August 13, 2015
Hillary Rodham Clinton's plan would direct law enforcement agencies to crack down on for-profit colleges that engage in deceptive marketing, fraud, and other illegal practices. (Associated Press)

Hillary Clinton cracks down on for-profit colleges after cashing in

When Hillary Rodham Clinton, the 2016 presidential candidate, unveiled her college affordability plan on Monday, she sounded every bit the critic of for-profit universities. But Mrs. Clinton, the spouse, benefited to the tune of millions of dollars from that same industry in a business relationship her husband enjoyed as recently as this spring.

August 10, 2015