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Tom Howell Jr.

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Tom Howell Jr.

thowell@washingtontimes.com

Tom Howell Jr. covers politics and the White House for The Washington Times. He can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

Bidens welcome families back to the White House for the Easter Egg Roll

Rain or shine, the egg roll is back at the White House. President Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcomed families and children back to the White House on Monday for the annual Easter tradition for the first time in three years, as the nation tries to shake off the pandemic doldrums and get back to normal.

April 18, 2022

In this Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, file photo, a woman receives her second Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine jab from a health care worker during the inaugural vaccination weekend drive in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, in South Africa. Senegal and Rwanda have signed an agreement with German company BioNTech for the construction of its first start-to-finish factories to make messenger RNA vaccines in Africa, according to BioNTech Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

White House announces second global COVID-19 summit

The White House and its foreign counterparts said Monday they will hold a second global COVID-19 summit to plot a path out of the acute phase of the pandemic and prepare for future health threats.

April 18, 2022

President Joe Biden speaks at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, in Greensboro, N.C., on April 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) ** FILE **

Biden uses Tax Day to draw contrasts with GOP

President Biden used Monday's tax-filing deadline to promote his social welfare agenda while lobbing attacks at Senate Republicans, saying his tax plan would look out for the middle class while Senate Republicans promote a plan that would impose income taxes on those who currently pay none.

April 18, 2022

A man takes a photo of burning propellant in a street near destroyed Russian military vehicles near Chernihiv, Ukraine, Sunday, April 17, 2022. Witnesses said multiple explosions believed to be caused by missiles struck the western Ukrainian city of Lviv early Monday as the country was bracing for an all-out Russian assault in the east. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

Russian strikes hit Lviv, killing at least seven in the western Ukrainian city

Russia hit the western Ukrainian city of Lviv from the air Monday, killing at least seven in the first known deaths of the war in that city.

April 18, 2022

President Joe Biden speaks at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, in Greensboro, N.C., on April 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) ** FILE **

Biden, first lady report 2021 income of nearly $611,000 on tax returns

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden made public their tax return on Friday showing they earned nearly $611,000 in 2021.

April 15, 2022

NYC mayor hails frontline heroes in subway shooting as anti-crime pledge falters

New York City Mayor Eric Adams is hailing "frontline heroes" who responded to a subway shooting in Brooklyn, striking an upbeat tone about resiliency in the Big Apple as he scrambles to combat crime and unease on America's largest transit system.

April 15, 2022

President Joe Biden speaks at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, in Greensboro, N.C., Thursday, April 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) **FILE**

Biden touts low unemployment in many states

President Biden on Friday highlighted low state unemployment rates across the country as he tried to shine a light on the pandemic recovery and a competitive job market, while voters complain about soaring consumer costs.

April 15, 2022

A sign advising visitors to don face coverings stands outside the main entrance to UCHealth University of Colorado hospital Friday, April 1, 2022, in Aurora, Colo. Consistently low COVID-19 hospitalizations prompted hospital officials to loosen some restrictions at the facility, which includes eliminating the testing requirements for anyone who enters. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

FDA approves first breath test for the coronavirus

The Food and Drug Administration has authorized the first test that can detect the coronavirus in a person's breath.

April 15, 2022

Vice President Kamala Harris, left, wearing a face mask, accompanied by her husband, Douglas Emhoff, speaks with firefighters while visiting the Los Angeles Fire Department Station 94, in Los Angeles, Friday, Dec. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu) ** FILE **

Harris, Emhoff to host a historic Seder at VP residence

Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff on Friday will be the first second family to hold a Passover Seder at the vice presidential residence.

April 15, 2022

President Joe Biden speaks at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, in Greensboro, N.C., on April 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) ** FILE **

Biden nominates Michael Barr as top banks regulator after his first pick failed

President Biden said Friday he intends to nominate Michael Barr as the Federal Reserve's bank regulator after his last pick for the job ran into opposition from centrist Democrats.

April 15, 2022

A local resident walks past a damaged vehicle marked with the letter Z, which has become a symbol of the Russian military, in an area that Russian-backed separatists claim to control in the Ukraine city of Mariupol, Wednesday, April 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov, File)

Russia strikes military plant near Kyiv, threatens more

The Russian defense ministry said Friday it launched strikes on a Ukrainian plant near Kyiv that makes anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles.

April 15, 2022

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., speaks during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Feb. 1, 2022 in Washington. “This is a crisis, and in my estimation, because of a lack of planning from the administration, it’s about to get worse,” said Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona. Kelly and fellow Arizona Democratic Sen. Sinema met Wednesday, March 30, with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to press their case for the administration to better plan and coordinate a response. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via AP, File)

Sen. Sinema says Title 42 decision is inconsistent with mask extension

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema on Thursday said if President Biden can extend the federal mask mandate on transportation, he also can delay his decision to lift a pandemic order at the border.

April 14, 2022

Law enforcement officials lead subway shooting suspect Frank R. James, 62, center, away from a police station in New York, Wednesday, April 13, 2022. The man accused of shooting multiple people on a Brooklyn subway train was arrested Wednesday and charged with a federal terrorism offense. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

N.Y. subway case features conflicting accounts of who played the hero

Brooklyn shooting suspect Frank R. James will appear in court Thursday, but there is confusion and controversy about how he ended up in custody Wednesday, about 30 hours after he allegedly opened fire on a crowded New York subway car and platform.

April 14, 2022

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference, Feb. 1, 2022, in Miami. DeSantis vetoed the state’s newly draw congressional map and lawmakers will hold a special session in April to redraw the map. DeSantis said Tuesday, March 29, that lawmakers appear to have focused more on requirements in the state constitution and not the U.S. Constitution. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Gov. DeSantis to migrants dropped in D.C.: Do not come to Florida

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis reportedly told illegal immigrants not to come to his state after some of the 23 migrants who were bused to the nation's capital said they planned to head to Miami.

April 14, 2022

President Joe Biden walks across the tarmac to speak to the media before boarding Air Force One at Des Moines International Airport, in Des Moines Iowa, April 12, 2022, en route to Washington. Biden said that Russia's war in Ukraine amounted to a "genocide," accusing President Vladimir Putin of trying to "wipe out the idea of even being a Ukrainian." The Biden administration has for weeks grappled with how much intelligence it's willing to give Ukrainian forces trying to stop Putin. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) **FILE**

Gallup: Biden’s approval plummeting faster among younger Americans

President Biden's approval rating has dropped far more sharply among young Americans than among older Americans over the course of his presidency, Gallup said Thursday.

April 14, 2022

Pedestrians wearing protective masks walk along Broadway in the SoHo district of New York, Friday, March 4, 2022. COVID-19 hospitalization numbers have plunged to their lowest levels since the early days of the pandemic, offering a much needed break to health care workers and patients alike following the omicron surge. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

N.Y. says two sublineages of BA.2 are fueling COVID spread upstate

New York officials say a pair of newly discovered subvariants of the coronavirus can spread 25% faster than the dominant BA.2 variant and are contributing to a rise in cases.

April 14, 2022

The Russian missile cruiser Moskva, the flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, is seen anchored in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, on Sept. 11, 2008. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the ship was damaged Wednesday, April 13, 2022, but not that it was hit by Ukraine. The Ministry says ammunition on board detonated as a result of a fire whose causes &quot;were being established,&quot; and the Moskva's entire crew was evacuated. (AP Photo, File)

Ukraine says its missile strikes hit a Russian warship in the Black Sea

Ukrainian forces on Thursday said they struck a Russian flagship in the Black Sea, marking the first time they damaged a ship at sea rather than in a port.

April 14, 2022

National Guardsmen stands watch over a fence near the International bridge where thousands of Haitian migrants have created a makeshift camp, on Sept. 18, 2021, in Del Rio, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Texas sends first bus of illegal immigrants to D.C., delivers border crisis to Biden’s doorstep

Texas shipped its first busload of migrants to Washington on Wednesday as part of Gov. Greg Abbott's plan to make President Biden and the nation's capital feel some of the pain of the border crisis.

April 13, 2022

Travelers are lining up at O'Hare airport in Chicago, Friday, July 2, 2021. The federal requirement to wear face masks on airplanes and public transportation is scheduled to expire next week, and airline executives and Republican lawmakers are urging the Biden administration to let the mandate die. The fate of the rule — and consideration of an alternate “framework” of moves to limit the spread of COVID-19 — was under discussion Monday, April 11, 2022 within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

CDC extends transportation mask rule for two weeks

The Biden administration will extend the federal mask mandate on public transportation for another two weeks because it wants time to evaluate the BA.2 variant and whether it will cause major problems.

April 13, 2022

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks during a press conference at the Texas Department of Public Safety Weslaco Regional Office on Wednesday, April 6, 2022, in Weslaco, Texas. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP) ** FILE **

WH slams Texas Gov. Greg Abbott over new border inspections

The White House slammed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday for ordering "unnecessary and redundant" inspections at the southern border in the wake of President Biden's decision to lift a pandemic-era order that turned back migrants.

April 13, 2022