Tom Howell Jr.

Harry Reid threatens to kill trafficking bill over abortion language, setting up showdown

A bill to combat human trafficking was supposed to be a major bipartisan achievement — instead it's devolved into a bitter fight over abortion, with Democrats objecting to language that would prevent spending federal funds for the procedure and Republicans saying it's the same provision Democrats have accepted dozens of times before.

March 11, 2015

Senate Conservatives Fund helps Republicans on right, picks fight in Congress

Congress may have moved on from its shutdown showdown over homeland security, but a spat between Republicans loyal to House Speaker John A. Boehner and those who will fight President Obama's immigration policy at any cost is rolling right along.

March 10, 2015

HHS: Nearly 8M could lose Obamacare subsidies after Supreme Court ruling

Nearly 8 million Americans could lose subsidies that help them afford Obamacare plans if the Supreme Court strikes down the administration's interpretation the 2010 law, according to data released Tuesday.

March 10, 2015

Sylvia Mathews Burwell: Supreme Court ruling against Obamacare would harm millions

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell on Monday rebuked critics who want the Supreme Court to invalidate Obamacare's subsidies in much of the country, saying such a ruling would harm millions of Americans who "need, want and like" their health coverage.

March 9, 2015

Supreme Court to lower court: Reconsider Obamacare birth control mandate

The Supreme Court told a lower federal court Monday to reconsider a ruling that forced Notre Dame University to comply with Obamacare's birth control mandate.

March 9, 2015

Ben Sasse driving Republican Obamacare ‘fix’

Freshman Sen. Ben Sasse insists he's not a leading man in the GOP's script to replace Obamacare, but he's playing a key set-up role just three months into his tenure on Capitol Hill.

March 8, 2015

Obamacare on life support as Supreme Court splits on law’s fate

Supreme Court justices divided sharply Wednesday as they heard a third challenge to Obamacare, grappling with the law's poorly drafted language and trying to decide how broadly Congress intended for the government to pay subsidies to help Americans buy insurance.

March 4, 2015

Obamacare Supreme Court partisan battle lines drawn

Federal lawmakers staked out partisan positions on the eve of Obamacare's second major showdown before the Supreme Court, with Democrats urging the justices not to create chaos in more than 30 states, while Republicans mapped out an escape route from the contentious health overhaul.

March 3, 2015

Obama administration prepares for court showdown over Obamacare subsidies

The Obama administration has prepared for Wednesday's Supreme Court showdown by spending an extraordinary amount of time not just arguing the law, but the possible bad outcomes if the justices strike down Obamacare's subsidies in most states.

March 2, 2015

GOP senators say they can rescue Americans from fallout of Obamacare ruling

A trio of influential Republican senators said Monday they're closing in on a plan to help Americans who would be affected by a Supreme Court ruling that yanks Obamacare's subsidies from two-thirds of the states.

March 2, 2015

House rejects Homeland Security funding

Conservatives rebelled in the House Friday afternoon, joining Democrats to defeat a bill to keep the Homeland Security Department open past a midnight shutdown deadline and leaving funding in doubt as all sides continued to fight over President Obama's deportation amnesty.

February 27, 2015

Congress’s Obamacare exemption of itself OK, judge rules

A D.C. judge has dismissed a lawsuit that claimed Congress overstepped its bounds when it allowed lawmakers and staff to enroll in an Obamacare exchange set up for small employers in the nation's capital.

February 26, 2015

Sylvia Mathews Burwell: Not aware of a secret HHS document to prep for Obamacare ruling

President Obama's top health official told Congress Thursday she is not aware of a 100-page workup that, according to an influential Republican, lays out potential options the Health and Human Services Department may take if the Supreme Court strikes down many of Obamacare's subsidies.

February 26, 2015

Ben Sasse outlines off-ramp for Obamacare subsidies case

A freshman Republican senator says he will introduce legislation in the coming days that provides an off-ramp for Americans who would be affected by a Supreme Court ruling this summer that could blow a wide hole in Obamacare.

February 26, 2015

Lamar Alexander, Senate Republicans to test Obama’s bipartisanship

A key Republican said Wednesday the Senate GOP will fast-track two conservative priorities — a bill that shields states from Common Core or other national education standards and a state alternative to Obamacare exchanges — as they seek to test President Obama's bipartisanship.

February 25, 2015

Taxpayers duck Obamacare tax, snubbing IRS

Taxpayers are already telling their accountants they plan to stiff the IRS on the Obamacare tax, saying they figure the chances the agency comes after them for a few hundred bucks are pretty slim, and it makes sense to take the risk.

February 25, 2015

Orrin Hatch: Administration put insurers over regular Americans in plans for Obamacare ruling

A powerful Republican senator says the administration is offering a parachute to insurers under threat by a Supreme Court ruling that could gut Obamacare this June, even as it says nothing to everyday HealthCare.gov enrollees who would lose their subsidies if the justices rule against President Obama's overhaul.

February 25, 2015

Sylvia Mathews Burwell, HHS secretary: No plan to deal with Obamacare subsidies case

The Obama administration broke its silence and told Congress Tuesday it has no plan to deal with the "massive damage" that would result from a Supreme Court decision that invalidates Obamacare's subsidies in most of the states.

February 24, 2015

H&R Block study: Majority of Obamacare clients paying back subsidy

A majority of Obamacare customers who received government subsidies last year to get covered on state and federal health exchanges must pay back a portion to the IRS, according to an H&R Block study released Tuesday.

February 24, 2015

Obamacare subsidy error forces thousands to re-file taxes

Tax season just got more complicated for hundreds of thousands of Americans, as the Obama administration scrambles to fix an error affecting one out of every five Obamacare customers who received government subsidies to help them pay for coverage on HealthCare.gov.

February 22, 2015