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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2016, file photo, an Aedes aegypti mosquito is photographed through a microscope at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil. A new study suggests the worrisome Zika virus apparently has been in Brazil at least a year longer than experts previously thought. Some experts have speculated the virus first came to the Americas sometime in 2014. But the new study, led by Brazilian researchers, concludes Zika landed in Brazil a year earlier. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File)

Zika probably hit Brazil in 2013, before World Cup: Study

Zika virus probably arrived in Brazil in mid-2013, researchers said Thursday in a study that says the World Cup soccer tournament and other stand-alone events probably aren't to blame for the outbreak that's been linked to serious birth defects in Latin America.

March 24, 2016
In this Oct. 6, 2015, file photo, the HealthCare.gov website, where people can buy health insurance, is displayed on a laptop screen in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

HealthCare.gov suffered 316 security incidents: gov’t report

The Obama administration reported more than 300 security incidents on its main Obamacare website during an 18-month span, according to a nonpartisan report Wednesday that says HealthCare.gov is weaker than it should be behind the scenes, despite front-end upgrades for consumers.

March 23, 2016
Nuns with the Little Sisters of The Poor, including Sister Celestine, left, and Sister Jeanne Veronique, center, rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, as the court hears arguments to allow birth control in health care plans in the Zubik vs. Burwell case. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) ** FILE **

Birth control carve-out in Obamacare splits the Supreme Court

Catholic nuns and religious nonprofits that object to paying for employee contraceptives faced a deeply divided Supreme Court on Wednesday, as the liberal justices warned against allowing faith-based objections to stymie important government goals such as expanding access to women's health care.

March 23, 2016
House Speaker Paul Ryan (Associated Press)

Paul Ryan’s budget plan crushed by House conservative rebellion

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Tuesday that he still wants Congress to pass a budget this year, but a conservative rebellion has likely squelched those chances, forcing Republicans to plow ahead with the annual spending bills without the guidance of a full plan for the money.

March 22, 2016
House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., joined by the House GOP leadership, talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 22, 2016, following a closed-door caucus meeting. In a response to a reporter’s question, Ryan said he's not worried that Donald Trump will cost Republicans control of the chamber in November's election. With Trump leading the race for the GOP presidential nomination, some in the party worry that his unbridled comments about women, Hispanics and others will cost Republican candidates in swing House districts. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Paul Ryan still pushing for GOP budget

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Tuesday that he wants to adopt a fiscal 2017 budget before annual spending bills hit the floor, though conservatives who balked at last year's bipartisan spending deal said they cannot support a blueprint until Congress cuts $30 billion as part of must-pass legislation.

March 22, 2016
In this Jan. 18, 2016, file photo, a researcher holds a container of female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes at the Biomedical Sciences Institute at Sao Paulo University in Brazil. The Zika virus is mainly transmitted through bites from the same kind of mosquitoes that can spread other tropical diseases, like dengue fever, chikungunya and yellow fever. (AP Photo/Andre Penner, File)

Hillary Clinton to Congress: Approve Obama’s $1.9B Zika request now

Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton told Congress Friday to swiftly approve President Obama's $1.9 billion request to fight the Zika virus at home and abroad, saying the outbreak linked to serious birth defects is "real," "dangerous" and threatening U.S. shores.

March 18, 2016
In this Sept. 24, 2014, file photo, health care workers load a man suspected of suffering from the Ebola virus onto an ambulance in Kenema, Sierra Leone. (AP Photo/Tanya Bindra, File)

WHO: Sierra Leone is Ebola-free again

The World Health Organization on Thursday said Sierra Leone is Ebola-free once again, after a mid-January flareup spoiled West Africa's efforts to stamp out the two-year outbreak that killed more than 11,000 people.

March 17, 2016
House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, R-Ga., joined at left by Vice-Chairman Todd Rokita, R-Ind., presides over a markup session as the panel presses ahead with a 10-year balanced budget plan that cuts federal health care programs and agency budgets. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House GOP forges ahead with budget amid party revolt

The House Budget Committee approved a 10-year spending plan Wednesday that might still be doomed, as Republican leaders who raved about its policy goals still face objections from rank-and-file conservatives who oppose spending levels the parties agreed to last fall.

March 16, 2016
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Democrat (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Chris Van Hollen on GOP budget: We’re not running out the door

Rep. Chris Van Hollen blasted a House GOP-authored budget Wednesday and then tried to take the high road, saying Democrats will at least go through the motions of marking up a fiscal blueprint after Republicans ignored President Obama's proposal.

March 16, 2016
A report by Sen. Ben Sasse, Nebraska Republican, said Obamacare exchanges had nearly 6 percent fewer insurers competing on them in 2016. (Associated Press)

Ben Sasse: Obamacare has fewer insurer options in 2016

Obamacare customers in nearly two thirds of U.S. counties had three or fewer insurers to choose from in 2016, a GOP senator said Monday in an office report that argues President Obama oversold his signature law as a catalyst for competition.

March 14, 2016