Ben Wolfgang

Sen. Warren avoids endorsing Hillary Clinton for presidential bid

Progressive darling Sen. Elizabeth Warren repeated her Shermanesque pledge Sunday and vowed not to run for president in 2016, but she declined to endorse her party's clear frontrunner, Hillary Clinton.

Defense secretary admits Obama administration dropped ball on VA care

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel admitted Sunday that the Obama administration and its predecessors "missed" the warning signs around troubling delays for care and other problems at veterans' hospitals across the country.

Rubio gives Hillary an “F’’ as secretary of state

Sen. Marco Rubio on Sunday had harsh words for one of his potential 2016 rivals, saying former Secretary of State Hillary deserves an "F’’ at best for her four years on the job.

Top Dem predicts his party will participate in select Benghazi probe

A top Democrat said Sunday his party will participate with a select committee to investigate the administration's handling of Benghazi terrorist attack — but only if the panel is fair and balanced, like Fox News.

Michelle Obama’s pleas to help kidnapped Nigerians useless without more access

Experts say there's little the Obama administration can do to get back the 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Harem until the African country's government fully opens its doors to assistance.

Obama riles organized labor with Walmart visit

Citing the dangers of climate change, President Obama on Friday took new executive action to promote renewable power and energy efficiency, but the venue the White House chose to make its announcement — a San Jose-area Walmart — led to an uproar among some Democrats and leading figures in organized labor who object to the company's workplace practices.

Obama, Putin to mark D-Day celebration in France

Obama rallies Dems, says midterm elections crucial to breaking cycle of ‘cynicism and dysfunction’

President Obama told Democratic donors Wednesday night that the looming November midterm contests are vitally important — even more important than his own election victories in terms of breaking "this downward spiral of even more cynicism and more dysfunction" that has gripped the nation's political system.

Obama tours site of devastating Arkansas tornadoes, pledges federal support

President Obama on Wednesday told the people of an Arkansas town devastated by tornadoes that their "country is going to be here for you" through the long rebuilding process.

Obama to strip Russia of trade benefits

President Obama on Wednesday took further action economic action against Russia.

White House disputes Putin claim of Russian troop withdrawal from Ukraine border

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday his troops have pulled back from the Ukrainian border — a claim immediately disputed by the White House — and also declared that an insurgent-backed referendum Sunday should be scrapped, raising questions about whether Mr. Putin has blinked or is merely trying to distance Moscow from further violence and unrest.

Driver in custody after prompting White House lockdown

U.S. Secret Service stopped the driver, who hasn't been identified and appears to have been driving a Honda sedan, and took him into custody about 4:40 p.m.

White House rejects calls for VA chief Shinseki to resign

Amid growing calls for his resignation, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki still has the full trust of President Obama, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday.

Texas-based radio station mocks Obama’s climate report

A Dallas-based radio station is pitching in to fight climate change — by declaring all of its programming "carbon neutral."

Obama woos weathermen to sell climate-change agenda

President Obama on Tuesday will turn to some of the nation's top meteorologists to promote action on climate change.

GOP rejects grim White House climate change report

Republicans vowed Tuesday to fight back against the Obama administration's regulatory agenda, dismissing the White House's massive new climate change report as nothing more than a "political document intended to frighten Americans."

Common Core backers mount a counterattack

Facing increasingly vocal criticism, supporters of the Common Core package of school reforms launched a counter-assault Monday, seeking to reassure wavering Republicans that supporting the controversial new educational standards doesn't necessarily spell political doom in primary elections.

White House hints it will shun Hill Benghazi probe

The White House on Monday bashed the latest Republican effort to investigate its handling of the deadly Benghazi attack and hinted it won't cooperate with the effort.

White House: We back fracking, U.S. energy boom

Republican critics and some in the energy industry have often cast President Obama as hostile to fossil fuels, but the White House on Monday issued a clear endorsement of the domestic oil and gas boom and the controversial drilling technique that has made it possible.

Obama continues touting executive action; GOP says inaction on Ukraine hurts the U.S.

President Obama on Saturday vowed to continue using his executive authority whenever possible this year, but Republicans countered that the commander in chief's lack of action on Ukraine hurts the U.S. at home and abroad.