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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

FILE - In this March 13, 2015 file photo, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to a meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. In an interview with CBS News, Kerry said the U.S. is pushing for Syrian President Bashar Assad to seriously discuss a transition strategy to quell the Arab country's four-year civil war. (AP Photo/Brian Snyder, Pool, File)

John Kerry chides GOP for Senate letter on Iran nuclear deal

Secretary of State John F. Kerry says the decision by Senate Republicans to interject themselves into nuclear negotiations with Iran was "calculated to interfere" with his efforts to limit Tehran's ability to build an atomic bomb.

March 15, 2015
In this Feb. 19 2015 file photo, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, speaks during a press conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi, File)

House leaders say they’re working on fix to outdated Medicare formula

Top House lawmakers said Friday they're inching closer to a plan that repeals the formula that pays doctors for each service provided under Medicare and replaces it with one that rewards providers for high-quality care — a measure that both sides of the political aisle have said is long overdue.

March 13, 2015
Ayru Crymef of Washington, and others with the Service Employees International Union, hold signs depicting numbers of people who have lost heath care coverage during a rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 4, 2015, as the court was hearing arguments in King v. Burwell, a major test of President Barack Obama's health overhaul which, if successful, could halt health care premium subsidies in all the states where the federal government runs the insurance marketplaces. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Obamacare special enrollment for penalty payers a one-time deal, admin says

The Obama administration said Friday the special enrollment period that kicks off this weekend for uninsured Americans who missed Obamacare's signup deadline and face a tax penalty will be a one-time deal, as the nation confronts the confluence of health care and tax season for the first time.

March 13, 2015
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who just a few days ago praised the GOP for the bill and said his Democratic troops were on board, vowed Wednesday to block the legislation until the abortion language is stripped. (Associated Press)

Harry Reid threatens to kill trafficking bill over abortion language, setting up showdown

A bill to combat human trafficking was supposed to be a major bipartisan achievement — instead it's devolved into a bitter fight over abortion, with Democrats objecting to language that would prevent spending federal funds for the procedure and Republicans saying it's the same provision Democrats have accepted dozens of times before.

March 11, 2015
Sen. Ben Sasse

Ben Sasse driving Republican Obamacare ‘fix’

Freshman Sen. Ben Sasse insists he's not a leading man in the GOP's script to replace Obamacare, but he's playing a key set-up role just three months into his tenure on Capitol Hill.

March 8, 2015
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius speaks with reporters outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 4, 2015. The Supreme Court heard arguments in King v. Burwell, a major test of President Barack Obama's health overhaul which, if successful, could halt health care premium subsidies in all the states where the federal government runs the insurance marketplaces. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Obamacare on life support as Supreme Court splits on law’s fate

Supreme Court justices divided sharply Wednesday as they heard a third challenge to Obamacare, grappling with the law's poorly drafted language and trying to decide how broadly Congress intended for the government to pay subsidies to help Americans buy insurance.

March 4, 2015
FILE - This Jan. 25, 2012, file photo shows the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington. A Supreme Court case over the legality of federal subsidies that help millions of Americans afford health coverage under President Barack Obama’s health care law poses risks to both political parties. Republicans and conservatives who brought the case say many of those subsidies are illegal. Should they win, the states whose residents would be hurt are disproportionately represented by Republicans in Congress. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Obamacare Supreme Court partisan battle lines drawn

Federal lawmakers staked out partisan positions on the eve of Obamacare's second major showdown before the Supreme Court, with Democrats urging the justices not to create chaos in more than 30 states, while Republicans mapped out an escape route from the contentious health overhaul.

March 3, 2015
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio leaves the House chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Feb. 27, 2015, after the House voted to go to conference committee on a long-term "clean" spending bill for the Homeland Security Department hours before a shutdown was to begin. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House rejects Homeland Security funding

Conservatives rebelled in the House Friday afternoon, joining Democrats to defeat a bill to keep the Homeland Security Department open past a midnight shutdown deadline and leaving funding in doubt as all sides continued to fight over President Obama's deportation amnesty.

February 27, 2015