Obama to visit Oklahoma, tour Jersey Shore with Gov. Chris Christie

President Barack Obama will travel to Oklahoma City on Sunday "to see first-hand the response to the devastating tornadoes and severe weather" that ravaged the area, meet with families affected by the devastation, and thank emergency responders, the White House announced Friday. On Tuesday, Obama will head to the Jersey Shore to assess the rebuilding [...]

Obama tells Naval Academy grads sexual assaults threaten military

President Barack Obama on Friday warned that sexual assault in the military amounts to a national security threat as he enlisted graduating Navy ensigns and Marine second lieutenants at the U.S. Naval Academy in a campaign to stamp it out. “Those who commit sexual assault are not only committing a crime, they threaten the trust [...]

Terry McAuliffe’s brother was once an abortion-clinic-protesting conservative activist. Now he’s a Democrat

Terry McAuliffe, a Democratic operative embroiled in a tight race to become Virginia's next governor, knows a thing or two about conservatives like his Republican opponent, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. That's in part because his older brother, Joseph McAuliffe, spent two decades as a Republican activist who worked for the evangelical leader Pat Robertson's [...]

Obama, all but declaring V-T (Victory Over Terror) Day, hits reset button on national security with drone and Guantanamo speech

Barack Obama has hit the reset button with the most far-reaching national security address of his presidency

Amid heckling, Obama defends drone strikes, vows to close Guantanamo

Saying it's time "to fight terrorists without keeping America on a perpetual wartime footing," President Barack Obama invited Congress in a speech on Thursday to help him scale back the country's 12-year conflict against al-Qaida and its affiliates. "America is at a crossroads. We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else [...]

Did Attorney General Eric Holder OK Attempt to Hack Journalist's Email?

The Justice Department stopped short of saying that Attorney General Eric Holder O.K.’d the investigation into Fox News reporter James Rosen. But critics have seized on a comment Holder made last week, asking if the attorney general misled Congress. The Obama administration has been criticized...

Did Obama Forget to Salute?

The president may have forgotten something as he boarded Marine One this morning. On his way to the U.S. Naval Academy graduation ceremony on Annapolis, Md., President Obama didn’t return the salute of the marine standing guard at the door of Marine One, as he...

IRS' Lois Lerner Takes Fifth, Shuns Congress

Lois Lerner, the Internal Revenue Service’s director of Exempt Organizations who is at the center of the controversy after the agency targeted conservative organizations for gratuitous scrutiny, invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination today at a congressional hearing examining the scandal. Lerner quietly took...

IRS 'Blemish' Prompts Scorn From Senators

Douglas Shulman, the former commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, said today he was “dismayed and saddened” that his agency had improperly targeting conservative groups, but declined to offer a direct apology and dismissed suggestions that he mislead Congress. The testimony from Shulman, who was...

Christie Stars in NJ Tourism Ads, Dems Cry Foul

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his family are starring in television commercials that are part of a publicly funded $25 million tourism campaign to encourage people to visit the Jersey Shore after Superstorm Sandy, but Democrats say they are simply taxpayer-funded campaign ads. The...

Kerry makes 1st official sub-Saharan Africa trip

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Making his first official trip to sub-Saharan Africa, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday demanded that Nigeria respect human rights as it cracks down on Islamist extremists and pledged to work hard in the coming months to ease tensions between Sudan and South Sudan.

Obama: Nation must do more for fallen heroes

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says the nation must do more than just remember its fallen heroes on Memorial Day.

Kerry makes 1st official sub-Saharan Africa visit

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Making his first official trip to sub-Saharan Africa, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday demanded that Nigeria respect human rights as it cracks down on Islamist extremists and pledged to work hard in the coming months to ease tensions between Sudan and South Sudan.

Obama's drone rules provide limits, ambiguity

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama left plenty of ambiguity in new policy guidelines that he says will restrict how and when the U.S. can launch targeted drone strikes, leaving himself significant power over how and when the weapons can be deployed.

Hagel: Cadets must stamp out sex assault scourge

WEST POINT, N.Y. (AP) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Saturday that they must stamp out the scourge of sexual assault in the military.

Are Treasury and the Fed at Odds Over Big Banks?

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has been cagey about whether he thinks Wall Street's giant banks are getting dangerously large and out-of-control once again, as many experts believe. But at a hearing on Capitol Hill this week, Lew gave the clearest indication yet that he's not especially worried and is going to take the light-fingered approach of his predecessor, Tim Geithner—and that he doesn't appe

Why Is it So Hard to Fire a Low-Performing Government Employee?

Federal officials at the time of the Gilded Age created the civil service as way to insulate government workers from the influence of politics. The Pendleton Act and the Civil Service Act of 1883 established the merit-based system, which ended the practice of awarding government jobs as political favors and led to the system that is currently in place.

The Edge: Scandals? What Scandals? This Week Is Historical for Another Reason

The Edge is National Journal's daily look at today in Washington -- and what's coming next. The email features analysis from NJ's top correspondents, the biggest stories of the day -- and always a few surprises. To subscribe, click here.

Scandals? What Scandals? This Week Is Historical for Another Reason

This is an excerpt from The Edge, the National Journal's daily look at today in Washington -- and what's coming next. The email features analysis from NJ's top correspondents, the biggest stories of the day -- and always a few surprises. To subscribe, click here.

Are Treasury, Fed at Odds Over Big Banks?

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has been cagey about whether he thinks Wall Street's giant banks are getting dangerously large and out-of-control once again, as many experts believe. But at a hearing on Capitol Hill this week, Lew gave the clearest indication yet that he's not especially worried and is going to take the light-fingered approach of his predecessor, Tim Geithner—and that he doesn't appe

Scandals Have ‘Snowballed’ Through the Obama Years and More May Be Coming, Rep. Blackburn Says

Blackburn told TheBlaze that she has even heard of more whistleblowers set to step forward regarding scandals at the EPA.

Obama's Two Weeks of Scandalmania, in Photos

President Obama has not had an easy couple weeks. Three scandals blew up. His counterterrorism speech was one moment that drew praise from the press — who are furious over the Department of Justice investigation of reporters' communications with national security sources — was interrupted by notorious heckler Medea Benjamin. There was the IRS thing, and there was more than just that. Oh, and it wa

Marco Rubio’s Immigration Decision Point Has Arrived

Marco Rubio (Photo: Shark Tank Media)

Fox News Is a Terrible Advocate for Freedom of the Press

Roger Ailes is full of self-righteous outrage that the Department of Justice subpoenaed Fox News reporter James Rosen's personal emails as it investigated the leak of classified information about North Korea. It's a recent conversion after leading a news network that has been calling for criminalizing journalism for years.

Obama Needs to Step Up and Make a Deal on Debt Ceiling, Sen. Lamar Alexander Says

"It's unpopular stuff...but that's why we have presidents."

New House Homeland Security Chair’s Blunt Analysis: Obama Admin’s Narrative Is One of Biggest Security Threats

"After bin Laden was killed, they want to close the case on al-Qaeda and radical Islam...The idea that somehow this is all over is really preposterous."

Gun Background Check Politics, Explained in Seven Graphs

When Democratic Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas voted against a gun background check compromise last month, he was taking a measured political risk. Even as Mayor Michael Bloomberg's anti-gun group announces a plan to spend $350,000 on ads criticizing Pryor, a detailed new poll walks through why it may have made political sense. With another vote on the issue a near-certainty, gun control advocat

Terror Fears Stoked By Trend Of Young Muslims From U.S., Europe Fighting With al-Qaeda in Syria, Africa

“It is extremely concerning when these extremists eventually return home with skills that bring the battle zone to our front door."

Obamacare's Not-So-Scary New Math

One of the big fears about Obamacare has been that insurers will charge exorbitant prices for plans sold on state exchanges, meaning the law would have the opposite effect of its goal to make health care more affordable. But that's not happening in California. The state released the prices for plans sold on Covered California, the state's exchange, and they're much cheaper than expected, The New

Bridges and U.S. Infrastructure Spending Are Falling: Is There a Link?

It's still not entirely clear what caused I-5 bridge over the Skagit River in Washington to collapse Thursday night. Nor is it clear, despite media reports, how strong the bridge was before it broke. What is clear is that, had the state needed to repair it, getting federal money to do so would be an uphill climb.