Senate passes sweeping immigration legislation
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate approved a landmark immigration bill on Thursday that would provide millions of undocumented immigrants a chance to become citizens, but the leader of the House of Representatives said the measure was dead on arri…
Obama has short list to succeed Federal Reserve chairman Bernanke
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House has assembled a short list of candidates to succeed Federal Reserve Bank chairman Ben Bernanke, a source familiar with the process said, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is running the search.
Obama taps Ron Binz to lead energy regulatory body
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama has tapped renewable energy advocate Ron Binz as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency that has made headlines in the past year with tough enforcement actions against Wall Street …
Obama’s environmental nominee in jeopardy from Senate Republicans
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama made a plea this week for the U.S. Senate to confirm his choice to head the agency that will oversee the core of his new climate change plan, but nominee Gina McCarthy’s prospects seem increasingly in doubt…
Lawmakers unlikely to pass last-minute fix on student loans
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Lawmakers scrambled on Thursday to introduce last-minute bills to keep student loan interest rates from doubling on July 1, but even supporters doubted any measure would pass in time.
Texas governor slams state lawmaker who stalled abortion bill
DALLAS (Reuters) – Texas Governor Rick Perry made a highly personal criticism on Thursday of the state senator who thwarted a Republican proposal to restrict abortion, saying she had not learned from her own experience as a teenage mother born to a sin…
Watchdog defends review of IRS conservative scrutiny
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, facing criticism of his findings that tax authorities targeted Tea Party-linked groups for extra scrutiny, said his office did not find evidence that the term “progressives” …
Supreme Court declines to take up two more gay rights cases
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A day after deciding two major cases on gay marriage, the U.S. Supreme Court declined on Thursday to take up two more cases on the issue.
Senate tax-writers give colleagues deadline for tax fixes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Senate’s top Democratic and Republican tax-writers, undertaking a rewrite of the U.S. tax code, on Thursday challenged their Senate colleagues to justify keeping popular tax breaks versus lowering rates.
More than half of Americans disapprove of new health law: poll
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A majority of Americans say President Barack Obama’s healthcare overhaul will make things worse for their families and the nation overall, a poll released on Thursday found, highlighting the challenges his administration still fa…