Illinois is last state to allow concealed carry of guns
CHICAGO (Reuters) – Illinois adopted a law on Tuesday allowing residents to carry concealed guns, becoming the last state in the nation to permit some form of possession of guns in public.
Some lawmakers bristle at tax overhaul starting with ‘blank slate’
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate’s Republican leader and one of its most liberal members seldom agree on much, but on Tuesday both threw cold water on efforts by senior tax legislators to overhaul the U.S. tax code by starting with a “blank slate…
Republican senator won’t fillibuster Obama’s EPA pick
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Gina McCarthy’s embattled nomination to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleared a hurdle on Tuesday when one of her top Republican critics said he would not block a Senate vote on her appointment.
Proposed abortion law hits hurdle in North Carolina
RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) – Proposed new safety standards on abortion clinics in North Carolina hit a snag on Tuesday after Republican lawmakers said they would consult more with state regulators before deciding whether to vote on them.
Democrats may try to end Senate filibusters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, frustrated with a gridlocked Congress, may try to strip Republicans of their power to use procedural roadblocks known as filibusters to halt President Barack Obama’s judicial and executive branc…
Lawmakers plan retroactive fix on student loan interest rates
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers are aiming to pass a retroactive fix this week after congressional inaction caused interest rates on millions of new federal student loans to double on July 1.
IRS moves to halt employee bonuses, citing budget cuts
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Internal Revenue Service, still reeling from its worst crisis in years, is taking steps to halt bonuses for union employees and senior executives, the acting IRS commissioner told employees on Tuesday.
Nominee for FBI director says waterboarding is torture
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – James Comey, the man nominated by President Barack Obama to be the next FBI director, said on Tuesday that he believed the use of waterboarding as an interrogation technique was torture and illegal.
Afghan officials skeptical as U.S. mulls complete withdrawal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is considering pulling out all its troops from Afghanistan next year but is far from making a decision, White House and Pentagon officials said on Tuesday, but Afghan officials expressed skepticism that Presiden…
Privacy fears grow as Obama weighs expanded gun-buyer database
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Mental health advocates are worried that the privacy of people who have received treatment for their illnesses could be jeopardized by a White House push to expand a database used to run background checks on gun buyers.
