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Articles by Seth McLaughlin

Iowa Republican Party chairman A.J. Spiker.

GOP civil war rages in Iowa as Ron Paul supporter fights establishment

The same rift between insurgent Republicans and old-line party establishment figures that is rattling Washington is also playing out in states such as Iowa, where open warfare has broken out between veteran GOP operatives and the state party chairman, an ally of former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.

December 24, 2013
John Koskinen, President Barack Obama's choice to head the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013, before the Senate Finance Committee hearing on his nomination. Koskinen, 74, is a retired corporate and government official with experience managing numerous organizations in crisis. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

McConnell to oppose Obama’s IRS pick Koskinen

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Thursday that he will oppose President Obama's pick to be the next head of the scandal-plagued IRS because of the recent rule change Senate Democrats muscled through regarding the confirmation of presidential nominees and because of the ongoing investigation into the additional scrutiny the Internal Revenue Service gave to conservative groups.

December 19, 2013
Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, and other Republicans walk to a closed-door GOP meeting before the Senate moves to pass a modest, bipartisan budget bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013. The bill is designed to keep Congress from lurching from fiscal crisis to fiscal crisis and ease the harshest effects of the automatic budget cuts known as the sequester. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House, Senate GOP differ in approach to support of budget deal

While most House Republicans backed the new budget deal, Senate Republicans balked — underscoring the tricky election-year politics that face the GOP as it tries to show it can govern in Washington, while facing angry base voters back home.

December 18, 2013
Dr. Ben S. Carson (Courtesy of Dr. Carson)

Dr. Ben Carson disavows efforts at presidential draft

Looking to cash in on Dr. Ben Carson's ballooning popularity among conservatives, some independent groups are soliciting his growing fan-base for money — all without the doctor's permission.

December 13, 2013
Walking through a basement corridor on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013, House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is pursued by reporters on the morning after a budget deal was worked out between Ryan and Senate Budget Committee Chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. After Ryan presented his plan to the House Republican Conference this morning, Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, and GOP leaders signaled support for the deal, which was one of a few key measures left on Congress' to-do list near the end of a bruising year that has produced a partial government shutdown, a flirtation with a first-ever federal default and gridlock on President Obama's agenda. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

GOP hopes taking shutdown off the table with budget deal will pay dividends

By clearing the decks of the bipartisan budget deal, some political observers say, the GOP establishment is banking on the idea that giving up ground in the spending battle now will pay off over the long run by allowing Republicans to avoid getting punished for another government shutdown.

December 12, 2013
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio leaves a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013, where he vehemently rebuked conservative groups who oppose the pending bipartisan budget compromise struck by House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Budget Committee Chair Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. Boehner said the GOP leadership has had enough tea party-driven intransigence in Congress and he doesn’t care what they think. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House budget bargain faces Senate filibuster; Republicans line up to oppose

Overcoming vocal opposition from both ends of the spectrum, the House of Representatives easily passed a bipartisan budget proposal that aims to prevent another government shutdown for the next two years, clearing the way for it to be approved by the Senate and quickly signed into law by President Obama.

December 12, 2013
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican, told John Koskinen that he is "very favorably disposed toward your nomination and want to see you confirmed" to head the IRS. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

IRS nominee gets GOP support

The ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee said Wednesday he will support President Obama's nominee to become the next head of the scandal-plagued IRS — an announcement that bodes well for John Koskinen's confirmation by the Senate.

December 11, 2013
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, left, joined by House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., takes reporters' questions, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013, as House Republicans signaled support for a budget deal worked out yesterday between Ryan and Senate Budget Committee Chair Rep. Patty Murray, D-Wash. The budget deal was one of a few major measures left on Congress' to-do list near the end of a bruising year that has produced a partial government shutdown, a flirtation with a first-ever federal default and gridlock on President Obama's agenda. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

All-out war breaks out in GOP over budget pact

Tea party groups and fiscal conservatives wasted no time Wednesday in savaging a bipartisan budget agreement negotiated between House Republicans and Senate Democrats, drawing an unusually angry response from House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican.

December 11, 2013
FILE - In this June 4, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama gestures while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, June 4, 2013, to announce the judicial nominations including Patricia Ann Millett, right, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Senate Democrats have approved a key judicial nominee from President Barack Obama, the first nomination cleared since they weakened Senate filibuster rules.The Senate voted 56-38 to approve Millett's nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Senate confirms Obama judge following filibuster rule change

The Senate confirmed Patricia Millett to the powerful federal appeals court in Washington, making her the first of President Obama's judicial picks to be approved since Democrats changed filibuster rules that potentially will usher in a new era of how nominees are confirmed.

December 10, 2013
**FILE** Rep. Michael K. Simpson, Idaho Republican (Associated Press)

New battlefront emerges in war between Republicans, tea party

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's new push to get involved in Republican primaries by defending incumbents against tea party challengers could actually make it easier to unseat them, according to the head of the influential Club for Growth.

December 5, 2013
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has helped energize liberal Democrats who accuse the Obama administration of not fighting hard enough for issues they care about. (Associated Press)

Democratic infighting erupts over ‘we can have it all’ fantasy on entitlements

The Democratic rift over entitlements deepened this week as a top party contender for governor in Pennsylvania came under fire from liberals after a think tank of which she is co-chairwoman criticized economic-populism messages of Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and New York Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio.

December 4, 2013
Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, Louisiana Democrat, is among the red-state Democrats who will be challenged during her re-election campaign about her support of President Obama's judicial nominees. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Conservatives turn heat on red-state Democrats over judges

Conservative groups are looking to make the Capitol Hill battle over President Obama's judicial nominees an issue in Senate elections in 2014 by arguing that red-state Democrats are "rubber-stamping" liberal judges.

December 3, 2013