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Articles by Tom Howell Jr.

This photo provided by the Service Employees International Union show a couple reviewing health care plans at an Affordable Care Act enrollment event sponsored by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West and Community Coalition, in Los Angeles Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014. (AP Photo/SEIU, Michael Chavez) ** FILE **

Obama says HealthCare.gov works ‘flawlessly’

President Obama says the federal Obamacare exchange works "flawlessly" and that returning customers should "go shopping" before the end of the day for a good deal on coverage that starts Jan. 1.

December 15, 2014
Rep. Ron DeSantis, Florida Republican, is among those members of Congress who received a "100 percent" rating in his voting record for supporting conservative legislation.  (Associated Press)

House GOP won’t force Obamacare on staffers

Senate Republicans' vote this week to make their staffers use the Obamacare exchanges has put the spotlight on their House colleagues, who refused to do the same in a vote earlier this year, leaving them in a tenuous political position.

December 11, 2014
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, center,  temperature is taken by a Chinese soldier, left, before the opening of a new Ebola virus clinic sponsored by China, in Monrovia, Liberia, Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2014, Liberia got another 100 treatment beds in the fight against Ebola on Tuesday, as yet another Sierra Leonean doctor became infected with the disease sweeping West Africa. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf toured the Ebola treatment center built by China, calling it “first-class.”(AP Photo/ Abbas Dulleh) **FILE**

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian president, thanks Congress for Ebola aid

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf expressed "profound gratitude" Wednesday to U.S. government and aid workers fighting Ebola in her country, saying American leadership set off a domino effect that brought global aid to West African countries reeling from the viral disease.

December 10, 2014
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (Associated Press/File)

Congress axes D.C. marijuana legalization in spending plan

A voter approved ballot initiative legalizing marijuana in the District and a council-passed measure decriminalizing the drug fell victim to federal budget negotiators, who inserted an amendment into a massive $1.1 trillion spending bill that effectively restores criminal penalties for pot possession in the nation's capital.

December 9, 2014
Obamacare supporters have labeled it the "primary care cliff," and say it would be a disaster for the health of 22 million poor Americans if the country goes over the Sept. 30 deadline without finding more money for the programs. "It will precipitate a huge crisis in primary care," said Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent. (Associated Press)

Obamacare nears ‘primary care cliff,’ with programs serving poor set to expire

Republicans won't need to lift a finger to make a dent in at least three Obamacare programs. The trio of primary care programs, which serves poor Americans, is due to expire at the end of this fiscal year unless Congress finds more funding. But keeping the programs alive could be a tough sell amid a political climate still sour on President Obama's signature health law.

December 7, 2014
Ebola health care workers carry the body of a man suspected of dying from the Ebola virus in a small village Gbah on the outskirts of  Monrovia, Liberia, Friday, Dec. 5, 2014. A U.N. peacekeeper who contracted Ebola in Liberia will be flown to the Netherlands for treatment, a Dutch Health Ministry spokeswoman said Friday.  (AP Photo/ Abbas Dulleh)

Ban Ki-moon warns of Ebola outbreak’s aftermath

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Friday that Ebola is devastating West African economies that had been "vibrant and growing" before the outbreak hit, and that more than 3,000 children have been orphaned because of the virus.

December 5, 2014
Passage of a defense bill would put an official stamp on the contentious debate over how and where to recognize World War I by authorizing sculptural and landscape changes to Pershing Park, named for WWI Gen. John J. Pershing, so it can honor American soldiers who fought in the 1914-1918 war. (Washington Times)

World War I memorial included in defense bill

A massive defense bill introduced in Congress contains a provision that would designate Pershing Park in the District as a national World War I memorial, putting an official stamp on the contentious debate over how and where to recognize the Great War.

December 3, 2014