Skip to content
Advertisement

Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

Looking back at the 2012 election, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus concluded, "Our message was weak, our ground game was insufficient, we weren't inclusive, we were behind in both data and digital, our primary and debate process needed improvement." (CBS News via Associated Press)

Reince Priebus, RNC chairman: Campaign to enlist new GOP nominee is ‘dumb’

Republicans who think they can draft an eleventh-hour alternative to front-runner Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz are pushing a dumb idea that is "never going to work," the party's top official said Sunday, throwing cold water on voices that say it is not to late to pick a candidate with broader appeal.

April 24, 2016
In this Jan. 27, 2016, file photo, samples of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, responsible for transmitting dengue and Zika, sit in a petri dish at the Fiocruz Institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. Mosquito-eradication efforts have taken on new urgency in Brazil with the Olympic Games slated to start in August. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)

Heritage Action: Make sure Zika virus deal is paid for

An influential conservative group told Congress on Friday to pay for an emerging deal to combat the Zika virus by swiping dollars from other programs or using the annual budget process to prioritize the fight over other spending.

April 22, 2016
Dallas County Mosquito Lab microbiologist Spencer Lockwood sorts mosquitos collected in a trap, left, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, in Hutchins, Texas, that had been set up in Dallas County near the location of a confirmed Zika virus infection. (AP Photo/LM Otero) ** FILE **

Senate works to partially fund Obama’s Zika request

The Senate is nearing a roughly $1 billion deal that would fund part of President Obama's request to fight the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne illness that causes serious birth defects and is threatening the U.S. mainland.

April 21, 2016
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, leaves the House Chamber at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 27, 2015. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Steny Hoyer to conservatives: Stop blocking Ex-Im Bank nominee

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer pleaded with a key Senate Republican Tuesday to reconsider his "frustrating" decision to block a nominee to the Export-Import Bank, arguing his blockade is holding back an agency that enjoys majority support from Congress.

April 19, 2016
Lara, who is less than 3 months old and was born with microcephaly, is examined by a neurologist at the Pedro I hospital in Campina Grande, Paraiba state, Brazil, on Feb. 12, 2016. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Senate Dems to Mitch McConnell: Take up $2B Zika request now

Senate Democrats pleaded with Republican leaders Monday to take up President Obama's $1.9 billion request to combat the Zika virus "as soon as possible," saying the mosquito-borne illness poses a real threat to pregnant women.

April 18, 2016
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., joined by House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La., left, and other GOP leaders, meets with reporters following a closed-door caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington, in this Wednesday, April 13, 2016, file photo. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) ** FILE **

House GOP agrees: Puerto Rico bill isn’t a ‘bailout’

Congress' bill to rescue Puerto Rico from its debt crisis is not a bailout, House Republicans agreed Friday, but conservatives are still coming to grips with provisions that appear to rewrite the rules from under the island's creditors.

April 15, 2016
Lara, who is less than 3 months old and was born with microcephaly, is examined by a neurologist at the Pedro I hospital in Campina Grande, Paraiba state, Brazil, on Feb. 12, 2016. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Zika causes birth defects: CDC

The Zika virus definitely causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads and suffer other brain defects, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday, hoping to erase any doubt about the mosquito-borne illness' threat to pregnant women and their newborns.

April 13, 2016
House of Representatives Resident Commissioner for Puerto Rico Pedro Pierluisi speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 13, 2016, during the House Natural Resources Committee legislative hearing on a discussion draft of the "Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act." (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

GOP leaders scramble to rescue Puerto Rico from $72B debt

House Republican leaders scrambled Thursday to rally support for a bill that rescues Puerto Rico from $72 billion in bond debt by imposing an oversight board to audit the U.S. territory's finances and put it on a path toward fiscal responsibility.

April 13, 2016
National Edition News cover for April 18, 2015 - Obamacare fails to deliver on free birth control as some insurers charge fees: FILE - This May 28, 1999, file photo shows a new birth control pill container designed to look like a woman's makeup compact for Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc., of Raritan, N.J., displayed at the manufacturer's assembly line. More than half of privately insured women are getting free birth control due to President Barack Obama’s health care law, part of a big shift that’s likely to continue despite the Supreme Court allowing some employers with religious objections to opt out. (AP Photo/Mike Derer, File)

Obama rejects Supreme Court’s contraception trade-off

The administration shot down the Supreme Court's effort to forge a compromise on Obamacare's contraceptive mandate, saying Tuesday that the justices' alternative proposal would set up too many hurdles for the government and insurers.

April 12, 2016