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David Sherfinski

dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com

David Sherfinski covered politics for The Washington Times.

Articles by David Sherfinski

Conservative lawmakers and interest groups have said House Speaker John A. Boehner's offer of $800 billion in tax increases abandoned core Republican principles and earned no credit from a White House that has insisted on even bigger tax hikes. (Associated Press)

Boehner’s ‘fiscal cliff’ plan is criticized by both sides

Republican leaders struggled Tuesday to contain the backlash from conservatives over the GOP's offer of $800 billion in tax increases to head off the "fiscal cliff" — a move that didn't impress the White House, even as it spawned a rebellion on the right.

December 4, 2012
“We’re just saying that if you’re going to take away the Second Aamendment rights … they ought to have it adjudicated, rather than mandated by someone who’s unqualified to state that they should lose their rights.”— Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican (Associated Press)

Change on veterans’ gun rights lights fire

A major defense-spending bill hit an unexpected bump on its journey through the U.S. Senate over an amendment on veterans' gun rights, which devolved into a heated floor debate and foreshadows a potential battle over Democrats' vows to tweak the filibuster rules in the clubby, traditionally collegial body.

December 3, 2012
** FILE ** Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (The Washington Times)

Out of governor’s race, Bolling still a wild card

Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling said Thursday his decision to stay on the sidelines of the Virginia governor's race affords him the opportunity to be a much-needed independent voice in the contest, lamenting a political process he described as increasingly ideological, partisan and mean-spirited.

November 29, 2012
Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Bolling hints of independent bid for Va. governor

Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling's decision Wednesday to drop his bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination paves the way for a battle royale between Republican state Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe — a campaign that could be radically altered if Mr. Bolling follows through on hints he might pursue an independent run.

November 28, 2012
** FILE ** Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Support grows for curbing filibuster

A day after a lengthy and caustic exchange over proposed changes to the Senate's filibuster rules, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell were at it again on the Senate floor Tuesday — though the two did open a tiny window for potential compromise on the matter.

November 27, 2012
** FILE ** Dr. Pedro Jose Greer examines Medicaid patient Kenneth Caldwell, 50, in his office at Mercy Hospital in Miami, where the gastroenterologist has made a career of offering treatment without regard to a patient's ability to pay. (AP Photo)

Study says states participating in Medicaid to see smaller increase

The expansion of health care coverage for millions of the nation's poor called for under President Obama's Affordable Care Act will add a trillion dollars to Medicaid costs over the next decade — but states that participate in the program would see their own costs increase by less than 3 percent, according to a new study.

November 26, 2012
**FILE** Sen. John McCain (right) of Arizona, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and fellow committee member Sen. Kelly Ayotte (left), New Hampshire Republican, listen as Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on Nov. 14, 2012. (Associated Press)

Republicans attack Rice, not race

Republicans shot down Democratic charges that ongoing criticism of U.N. Ambassador Susan E. Rice is couched in racism or sexism, and pressed President Obama for more answers on the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya, as partisan battle lines hardened Wednesday over the incident and its aftermath.

November 21, 2012
Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, says he will block any nomination of Susan E. Rice to become secretary of state. (Associated Press)

GOP riled at intel’s early edits on Libya

Leading Republicans reacted angrily to an admission Tuesday by President Obama's director of national intelligence that his office scrubbed references to al Qaeda's role in the Sept. 11 attack in Benghazi, Libya, from the early talking points used by top administration officials, calling it the latest sign of the administration's bungling of the attack and its aftermath.

November 20, 2012
** FILE ** Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Reid to GOP senators: No select committee for Libya

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, reiterated his opposition to forming a select committee to investigate the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Libya in a sharply-worded letter to Republican senators, writing Nov. 16 that "I refuse to allow the Senate to be used as a venue for baseless partisan attacks."

November 17, 2012
Moran

Moran leaving Va. Democratic leadership

Democratic Party of Virginia Chairman Brian Moran announced Wednesday that he will resign his post next month after an election cycle that saw President Obama carry the state and U.S. Senator-elect Tim Kaine keep retiring U.S. Sen. Jim Webb's seat in Democratic hands.

November 14, 2012
U.S. Sens. John McCain, Arizona Republican, right; Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, left; and Kelly Ayotte, New Hampshire Republican, center, call for a Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing on the Benghazi attack during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C., Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

GOP senators to formally call for select committee on Benghazi

Republican senators plan to introduce a resolution Wednesday calling for a select committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya in which four Americans were killed, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.

November 14, 2012
GOP Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina (right), have advised 15 of the country’s largest defense contractors to follow the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. (Associated Press)

GOP pushes back at White House for easing layoff alerts

Republican lawmakers are pushing back on guidance from the White House saying that the federal government will reimburse defense companies' liability or litigation costs for not issuing legally mandated layoff warnings to employees this year as deep spending cuts loom, with the companies maintaining postelection they are comfortable with the advice and have no plans to issue the notices this year.

November 13, 2012
"I do not have — and other governors feel the same way — a lot of the information that would lead me to conclude today that a state-based exchange is the best way to go." - Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (The Washington Times)

McDonnell holds off on state health care exchange

Local leaders appear at odds on how to proceed with implementing health insurance exchanges as part of President Obama's health care overhaul. A deadline looms next week for officials to send outlines of their proposals to the federal government.

November 8, 2012
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

McDonnell asks Va. agencies to identify 4 percent cuts

Virginia. Gov. Bob McDonnell, citing the looming "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending cuts set to kick in at the start of next year, a sluggish economy and other budget pressures, is ordering state agency heads to outline potential cuts of 4 percent to their departments.

November 8, 2012
STUMPING?: Once and perhaps future Virginia gubernatorial hopeful Terry McAuliffe chats with Edna Frady at a Falls Church City Democratic Committee fundraising dinner earlier this month. (Drew Angerer/The Washington Times)

McAuliffe beginning process of gubernatorial run

Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe said Thursday he plans to run for governor of Virginia in 2013, becoming the first Democrat to enter a race that will undoubtedly receive significant national attention as just one of two gubernatorial contests next year.

November 8, 2012
Virginia’s senator-elect, Tim Kaine, at his campaign headquarters in Richmond on Wednesday, said he has been dubbed “Junior” by the state’s other U.S. senator, a fellow Democrat. That’s a reference to Mr. Kaine’s new status, won at the polls Tuesday, as the state’s junior senator. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Kaine to pursue ‘common ground’ in Senate

Democrat Tim Kaine said Wednesday he hopes to add his voice to the "common-ground caucus" in a U.S. Senate rife with partisan gridlock and that he wants to serve with Sen. Mark R. Warner, who plans to decide by Thanksgiving whether he will run for Virginia governor once again in 2013.

November 7, 2012
Virginia Senate candidate George Allen greets voters as they wait in line to vote at Washington Mill Elementary School in Alexandria, Va., on November 6, 2012. Allen was also there to vote with his wife Susan. (Eva Russo/Special to The Washington Times)

ELECTION 2012: Kaine edges Allen to win pricey Va. Senate seat

Former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine won one of the most expensive and consequential U.S. Senate races in the country Tuesday, delivering Republican George Allen a second consecutive razor-thin loss and ensuring that the purple state again will have two Democrat-blue senators come January.

November 6, 2012
Vice President Joseph R. Biden (right) leads the charge for Virginia Democratic Senate candidate Tim Kaine at a Monday rally in Claude Moore Park in Sterling, Va. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Allen and Kaine bask in glow of top of tickets

U.S. Senate candidates Tim Kaine and George Allen enjoyed the 11th-hour benefits of Virginia's swing-state status Monday, getting high-profile nods of support from Vice President Joseph R. Biden and Mitt Romney, respectively, at events across the commonwealth and in voter-rich Northern Virginia.

November 5, 2012
Two days before Election Day, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tim Kaine was in Falls Church for a Sunday rally. Republican George Allen was in Newport News with Mitt Romney. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Allen, Kaine make their final pledges

George Allen will make it his job as U.S. senator to make sure Virginians have the opportunity to find work. Tim Kaine will pledge to partner with — and not obstruct — the president to tackle the country's myriad issues.

November 4, 2012
** FILE ** Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks to the media at Seward Park High School on the lower east side, the site of one of many public shelters set up in preparation of the storm, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/ Louis Lanzano)

Bowing to outrage, Bloomberg nixes NYC marathon

In the face of withering criticism, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and organizers of the New York City Marathon announced Friday that the race, scheduled for Sunday, will be canceled.

November 2, 2012