U.S. Politics & Elections

Eric Holder's liberation

2013-05-19T11:00:26Z

Last February, Attorney General Eric Holder was so worn out from a House committee's four-hour grilling over the Fast and Furious fiasco that he couldn't get up from the witness table. Amid the post-hearing commotion, a couple of aides swooped...

Boston reignites terror stings debate

2013-05-18T22:06:19Z

Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsaernaev allegedly hatched a real plot that killed three and injured nearly 200 at last month's Marathon bombings. Many experts say Boston could have been spared all that blood and destruction if only the FBI had lured...

Va. GOP launches tea party ticket

2013-05-18T15:11:47Z

RICHMOND, Va. - Rejuvenated by a Democratic scandal in Washington and a tea party conservative atop their ticket, Virginia Republicans Saturday nominated a trio of statewide candidates whose fate will be closely watched as an indicator of the health of...

Lawyers: No clear-cut DOJ abuse

2013-05-18T11:00:54Z

Journalists were swift, loud and universal in their condemnation: The revelation that the Justice Department had secretly subpoenaed the phone records of Associated Press reporters was outrageous -- a massive government overreach that would surely have a chilling effect on...

Bipartisanship follows the money

2013-05-18T10:59:30Z

There's nothing like the overflowing coffers of interest groups to get political consultants in a gridlocked Washington to see the value of bipartisanship. The group formed by Mark Zuckerberg to push for immigration reform has brought together GOP operatives who...

5 fixes for the IRS

2013-05-17T23:09:26Z

Never again. That's the vow President Barack Obama and congressional leaders are making in the wake of the IRS tea-party targeting sandal. It's a good talking point. Finding the fix that everyone can agree to is much harder. Consider this:...

Lew learned of IRS probe in March

2013-05-17T21:50:49Z

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew learned in March that an inspector general was investigating the IRS's targeting of conservative groups, but he did not know the details until last Friday. Lew said in an interview with Bloomberg TV today that he...

IRS hearing: The takeaways

2013-05-17T18:35:34Z

The ousted head of the IRS was grilled for four hours Friday, but we still don't know how the tea party targeting really started. What we do know from the first hearing since the scandal broke: IRS officials haven't convinced...

First IRS hearing opens with tough talk

2013-05-17T13:28:19Z

Steven Miller, the ousted acting IRS Commissioner, is facing harsh criticism from top lawmakers in a House Ways and Means Committee hearing that is under way this morning. He's facing questions about why the agency didn't reveal a program that...

What would Cheney do?

2013-05-17T09:04:23Z

It took him a day or two to get started, but President Barack Obama this week signaled that he is going to follow the conventional Washington playbook for trying to tamp down scandal. He has furrowed his brow, sacked an...

Why the GOP thinks it could blow it

2013-05-17T00:55:07Z

Republicans are worried one thing could screw up the political gift of three Obama administration controversies at once: fellow Republicans. Top GOP leaders are privately warning members to put a sock in it when it comes to silly calls for...

IRS scandal: What we still haven't learned

2013-05-17T00:30:44Z

A hearing on the IRS rarely has so much potential for drama. Steven Miller, the agency's ousted acting commissioner, will spend several hours on Friday morning in the ornate House Ways and Means Committee room explaining his role in a...

This time, Obamacare repeal is about the IRS

2013-05-16T22:40:31Z

Republicans have hated Obamacare for years, and on their 37th repeal vote Thursday, they found a reason to hate it even more: the IRS. They've warned about its role in Obamacare before, but this time, they used its targeting of...

Obama attempts 'scandal reduction surgery'

2013-05-16T21:52:04Z

President Barack Obama appeared before the White House press corps Thursday, performing what could best be described as scandal reduction surgery: an operation to cut the number of scandals he's dealing with from three to one. The White House staff...

Obama to name Werfel to IRS

2013-05-16T19:13:13Z

President Barack Obama will appoint Daniel Werfel as the acting commissioner of the IRS, three sources tell POLITICO. Werfel replaces Steven Miller, who stepped down Wednesday at the request of Obama and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in the wake of...

Obama to Congress: Boost embassy security funds

2013-05-16T17:19:38Z

President Barack Obama called on Congress to take action to boost security at U.S. diplomatic facilities around the world, as he continued efforts Thursday to take control of a controversy that has plagued his administration for the past eight months...

Obama to name new IRS leader

2013-05-16T15:19:06Z

President Barack Obama plans to appoint a new acting IRS commissioner this week, a senior administration official told POLITICO on Thursday. The president instructed Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to request and receive the resignation of acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller...

Obama tries to stop the bleeding

2013-05-16T09:06:02Z

In recent days, Democratic strategists have all but begged President Barack Obama to take control of a deepening public relations disaster that threatens to derail his second-term agenda. On Wednesday evening, Obama did just that. The White House released 100...

State fretted over Benghazi talking points

2013-05-16T01:10:33Z

As the number of people handling the Benghazi talking points grew, the amount of information the document offered shrank. Emails and documents released by the White House Wednesday reveal an editing process that valued caution over comprehensiveness as officials worked...

Resignation won't plug leadership gap

2013-05-16T00:00:18Z

The resignation of Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller might offer a cathartic moment for an angry tax paying public -- but it won't right the ship at the troubled agency. There are no clear candidates inside the agency who would...