Judge strikes down Oregon ban on same-sex marriage
PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) – A federal judge struck down Oregon’s ban on same-sex marriage on Monday, saying it violated the U.S. Constitution, as gay rights activists cheered the long-sought victory and counties across the state quickly began issuing …
Senate Democrats split on private debt collectors for IRS
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A proposal to make the Internal Revenue Service hire private companies to collect unpaid taxes is dividing Senate Democrats, with some warning it could lead to harassment of low-income people, but others saying it would boost tax…
Court stymies latest Washington D.C. try at budget independence
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Washington, D.C. will have to find a new front in its battle for budget independence from the Congress after a district court judge on Monday decided the country’s capital city cannot by law decide how to spend its revenues.
‘Obamacare’ taking center stage in Arkansas Republican primary
LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) – As voters head into primaries on Tuesday in the southern swing state of Arkansas, one of the most fiercely debated issues among Republican candidates is the centerpiece healthcare policy of President Barack Obama, a De…
In Georgia primary, crowded field spars for U.S. Senate nod
ATLANTA (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate race in Georgia will be crucial to Republicans’ bid to regain majority control, but with no clear front-runner in Tuesday’s primary election, there is likely to be an extended and expensive fight for the party’s nomi…
Open letter to Obama calls for new steps to promote change in Cuba
MIAMI (Reuters) – The White House should expand licensed travel for all Americans to Cuba and increase support for civil society on the communist-ruled island, according to an open letter to President Barack Obama signed by an unprecedented group of 44…
Kerry calls on U.S. college graduates to face down climate change
BOSTON (Reuters) – The rapidly changing climate poses a threat of sparking greater global conflict, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday told the graduating class of Boston College, urging the graduates to play a role in pushing for new energy …
With ads and foot soldiers, Republican ‘establishment’ squeezes Tea Party
BOISE, Idaho (Reuters) – On a recent Saturday, foot soldiers in the Republican Party’s civil war fanned out across a neighborhood of winding streets and manicured lawns to beat back the Tea Party.
Supreme Court agrees to hear air marshal whistleblower case
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it would weigh whether the federal government rightly fired a U.S. air marshal for disclosing sensitive information to the news media.
Post-Snowden, the NSA’s future rests on Admiral Rogers’ shoulders
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As U.S. National Security Agency Director Mike Rogers seeks to repair the damage to the agency caused by leaks about its electronic spying programs, the abuses of government revealed in the wake of the Watergate scandal are very …