Skip to content

Listen Now

Threat Status podcast: Why robots are at the center of U.S.-China competition

TRENDING:
Donald Trump
Advertisement

Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

Vanessa Torres (center) and her fiance Rachel Broussard (right) of Hampton, Va., console Vanessa's daughter Gabriela, 12, as they listen to speakers during a rally for marriage equality outside the Supreme Court in Washington as the justices begin hearing two days of arguments in cases involving gay marriage on March 26, 2013. Torres and Broussard each have two children from previous marriages and are getting married in August. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Both sides optimistic, uncertain as gay marriage arguments end

Attorneys who are challenging and defending California's ban on gay marriage before the Supreme Court struck an optimistic tone as they emerged from arguments on Tuesday, even if they conceded they have no idea how the justices will rule about three months from now.

March 26, 2013
Qween Amar (left) from Orlando, Fla., dances March 26, 2013, by Margie Phelps (right), a member of the Westboro Baptist Church, outside the Supreme Court in Washington,where the court will hear arguments on California's voter approved ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. (Associated Press)

Key justice: ‘Immediate injury’ in gay marriage ban

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, often pegged as a key swing-vote between the court's conservative and liberal blocs, has signaled that children of same-sex couples suffer an "immediate legal injury" from California's ban on gay marriage, according to an account of the high court's oral arguments provided by Bloomberg News.

March 26, 2013

Corporation rights drive divergent rulings on contraception

A federal judge has rejected a Michigan company's urgent plea for protection from the contraception mandate in President Obama's health-care law, noting that a corporation's rights are not always the same as an individual's.

March 25, 2013
Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele chats following the annual Red Mass for the U.S. Supreme Court at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Ex-RNC head Michael Steele knocks down Christie criticism

Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael S. Steele said Monday that conservatives' decision to ostracize popular New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for embracing President Obama in a time of crisis was "nothing short of moronic."

March 25, 2013
**FILE** Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nev. walks out of the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 4, 2013, following the counting of Electoral College votes. (Associated Press)

Senate narrowly passes first budget in four years

Saturday's razor-thin, predawn approval of a spending plan in the Senate is being called a victory by Democrats — but Republicans emerged from the all-nighter with momentum on two key issues: deficit reduction and the Keystone XL pipeline.

March 22, 2013
** FILE ** Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Firefighters, birth control lead off Senate budget votes

The Senate kicked off what promises to be a lengthy "vote-a-rama" session tied to their budget plan Friday afternoon by swiftly approving funds for forest firefighters out West and then defeating, largely along party lines, an amendment that would have let secular employers refuse to insure contraception.

March 22, 2013
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi speaks during her Capitol Hill news conference Thursday. The California Democrat wants President Obama’s health care law expanded to mandate that drug companies give Medicare better rebates on prescription drug purchases. (Associated Press)

‘Obamacare’ still a work in progress

Marking the third anniversary of the health care law's passage in Congress, Republicans and Democrats agreed on one thing Thursday — President Obama's signature legislative achievement could use some changes.

March 21, 2013
**FILE** Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican (Associated Press)

Senate votes to kill Obamacare-related tax

The Senate on Thursday voted to repeal a sales tax on medical devices that is part of President Obama's health-care law, a rare bipartisan attempt to strip away a section of the controversial reforms.

March 21, 2013

GOP still trying to take apart ‘Obamacare’

President Obama's health care law passed Congress three years ago and remains almost entirely intact, but Republicans say they are still gathering support to dismantle it, betting that the overhaul will lose its political heft as Americans feel the brunt of its taxes and regulations.

March 20, 2013
Rep. Joe Crowley, New York Democrat. (Associated Press, File)

Lawmakers push bill on primary-care doctor shortage

Five members of Congress reintroduced a bill Monday that takes on the nation's shortage of primary-care doctors by increasing the number of government-funded training slots at teaching hospitals.

March 18, 2013