Politics

President Obama may be vacationing with his family in Hawaii but that hasn’t stopped him from working. On Thursday the president signed into law a defense bill that will crack down on sexual assault in the military, the Associated Press reports via the New York Daily News. As reported by the Pentagon, some 26,000 members…

Peter Baker’s Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House offers not only an authoritative and nuanced portrait of the Bush administration but also a window into the way in which Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice wielded power during a time of war. The two most senior black Cabinet officials of the Bush…

The president now has health care coverage—times two. In a move that the White House is calling a symbolic show of President Obama’s support for the newly enacted health care system, the president’s aides enrolled him using healthcare.gov, even though the president’s medical needs are met through the military, the Associated Press reports. Obama signed…

Though the president is on his annual vacation in Hawaii, he told Congress that he is closely monitoring the unrest in South Sudan, the Los Angeles Times reports. On Saturday, four U.S. service members were wounded after an aircraft attempting to evacuate the Americans was attacked in Bor, the capital of Jonglei State in the…

While her husband has had a somewhat rocky year, first lady Michelle Obama has continued to bask in the glow of sky-high approval ratings. As popular as ever, this year she got to begin a new chapter as a political wife, a chapter in which she no longer has to worry about another election ever…

President Obama this weekend began his annual holiday vacation in Hawaii with his family, following a bruising year of criticism—chiefly because of the tumultuous rollout of his signature health care law. He was noticeably relaxed as he walked onto a Honolulu tarmac Friday shortly before midnight, the Washington Post reports. He was joined by first…

North Carolina went from being the model of a voter-friendly state to the poster child for voting restrictions, in one session of a Republican-dominated state legislature. Now, the battle over sweeping new laws passed this year is in the courts, with challenges from the Justice Department and civil rights groups, with crucial midterm elections on…

During his annual year-end news conference on Friday, President Barack Obama said goodbye to a tumultuous year and expressed hope that the growing economy would continue to create new jobs and that his health care program would continue to improve, the Associated Press reports. He said 2014 would be “a breakthrough year for America.” Obama…

Republicans and Democrats in Congress are patting their backs as if simply doing their job deserves a gratuity. Their budget deal, passed by the Senate on Wednesday, has now gone to the president’s desk for signing. But though this moment may represent a temporary cease-fire of Republican obstructionism, the Ayn Rand-ian principles that have guided…

The day before a planned town hall meeting in Chicago to be hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton, an activist in Roseland, one of the city’s deadliest communities, expressed hope that Sharpton could help stanch the flow of blood of young black males.   “I’m glad Al Sharpton’s here,” Diane Latiker, founder of Kids Off…