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Susan Crabtree

scrabtree@washingtontimes.com

Susan Crabtree was a reporter for The Washington Times.

Articles by Susan Crabtree

President Obama dances with first lady Michelle Obama during the Inaugural Ball at the Washignton Convention Center during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington on Jan. 21, 2013. (Associated Press)

Balls cap a busy and star-studded weekend

After an Inauguration Day full of pomp, speeches and parades, the president and first lady joined thousands of supporters and special guests in black ties and an array of sparkling gowns for an elegant evening of dancing and star-studded entertainment at the Washington Convention Center.

January 21, 2013
**FILE** President Obama answers questions from members of the media on Jan. 14, 2013, during a news conference at the White House in Washington. (Associated Press)

Obama campaign machine morphs into activist group

President Obama's campaign has transformed itself into a tax-exempt organization aimed at supporting his second-term agenda and countering a similar group that top Republican strategist Karl Rove has run during the last two election cycles.

January 18, 2013
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, applauds after handing the gavel to House Speaker John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, who was re-elected as House Speaker of the 113th Congress, on Jan. 3, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Associated Press)

House leaders save ethics unit

House leaders reappointed the board of directors for a congressional ethics panel Wednesday, officially allowing the House-funded investigative unit to remain up and running.

January 16, 2013
President Obama, during a White House news conference Monday, said GOP threats to hold the line on the nation's borrowing are "irresponsible." Republicans hope the debt limit debate can be used to make Democrats address the deficit. (Associated Press)

Rhetoric heats up on debt ceiling

Republicans and conservative groups rebuffed President Obama's latest attempt to pressure GOP lawmakers to back down from using the debt ceiling as leverage to extract serious, long-term spending cuts from Democrats.

January 14, 2013
President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrive for their joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Jan. 11, 2013. (Associated Press)

Obama speeds up drawdown in Afghanistan, hedges on post-2014 force

President Obama said Friday Afghan forces would take the lead for security in the country by this spring — slightly ahead of schedule — but gave no clear indication how many U.S. troops would remain in the country beyond next year, following a summit meeting at the White House with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

January 11, 2013
President Obama (center), accompanied by outgoing Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner (left), announces in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, that he will nominate current White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew (right) as the next secretary of the treasury. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Obama says Lew has his trust to head Treasury

President Obama officially nominated White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew on Thursday to replace departing Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, calling his key aide a man of great integrity who has his "complete trust."

January 10, 2013
Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Solis stepping down as secretary of labor

Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis announced Wednesday that she will leave the administration — a surprise resignation that adds to what is turning into a major shake-up among President Obama's team.

January 9, 2013
Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta (center) greets acting CIA Director Michael J. Morell after attending a news conference at the White House on Monday, at which President Obama announced that he is nominating his deputy national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism and John O. Brennan (left) as the CIA chief. (Associated Press)

Nominations pick fight with GOP

Chuck Hagel faces a tough confirmation fight, but rejecting President Obama's pick to head the Pentagon would be an almost unprecedented act for the Senate, which has rarely rejected a Cabinet nominee chosen from within its own ranks.

January 7, 2013
Norquist

Norquist gives Republicans a break on taxes

Urging Republicans to gear up for a season of pitched fiscal battles, anti-tax guru Grover Norquist is diminishing the potential fallout of waging another drawn-out fight over raising the debt-ceiling.

January 3, 2013
Peter Orszag

Orszag: Obama lost leverage for fiscal fights ahead

Despite Democratic claims to the contrary, President Obama's former top budget adviser thinks his old boss has lost leverage for the budget battles to come in the wake of this week's deal avoiding an immediate fall over the "fiscal cliff."

January 3, 2013
Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer was outspoken over the deal’s limits and called it “incomprehensible” that spending cuts will be on the table again in two months. (Associated Press)

Obama displeases both sides

As the White House and Congress sought a soft landing in the "fiscal cliff" negotiations, President Obama was getting an earful from critics on the right as well as the left, with even some disgruntled Democrats struggling to paint the president's handling of the talks in the final days in a positive light.

January 1, 2013
Lt. Lance Leone survived a July 2010 helicopter crash near LaPush, Wash., but his Coast Guard promotion and career may not. (U.S. Coast Guard via Associated Press)

Coast Guard may sink career of crash survivor

U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Lance Leone survived a helicopter crash that killed three others and beat back criminal charges of negligent homicide — but now he says he is in a final battle to avoid being sacrificed on the altar of bureaucratic accountability.

December 23, 2012