Susan Ferrechio

Published: Wed, Feb 27, 2013

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, is demanding that the Department of Homeland Security explain why it is releasing illegal immigrants now in police custody. McCaul, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, wrote to John Morton, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (which falls...

Susan Ferrechio

Published: Wed, Feb 27, 2013

President Obama will meet with top House and Senate leaders at the White House Friday to discuss a deal that supposedly would avoid the so-called sequester cuts - hours after the $1.2 trillion sequester actually takes effect. The meeting was announced Wednesday morning, in the middle of a...

Susan Ferrechio

Published: Tue, Feb 26, 2013

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday there is no chance of striking a deal to avert the deep budget cuts set to take effect Friday unless the final compromise includes a tax hike. "I think we need some revenue to take the pressure off everybody," Reid said. "The American...

Susan Ferrechio

Published: Tue, Feb 26, 2013

After a bruising confirmation battle, the Senate on Tuesday cleared former Sen. Chuck Hagel to become secretary of defense by an historically slim margin. Hagel, 66, who until 2009 represented Nebraska in the Senate, was confirmed by a 58-41 vote and will succeed Leon Panetta. His first order...

Susan Ferrechio

Published: Tue, Feb 26, 2013

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said the Obama administration's decision to release hundreds of illegal immigrants now detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could hurt the chances that Republicans and Democrats can strike a deal on immigration reform this year. According to ICE, the...

Susan Ferrechio

Published: Mon, Feb 25, 2013

The showdown in Congress over $1.2 trillion in automatic budget cuts will be punctuated this week with a last-minute Senate deal that would replace those cuts with a new plan to evenly divide the pain between tax increases and spending cuts. Republicans, meanwhile, are trying to play down dire...

Susan Ferrechio

Published: Sat, Feb 23, 2013

Just days before automatic budget cuts are scheduled to rip $85 billion in domestic and military spending from the federal budget, Congress and the White House are spending more time pointing fingers than negotiating the deficit-reduction deal that would avert the looming cuts. Congress,...

Susan Ferrechio

Published: Thu, Feb 21, 2013

Former Sen. Chuck Hagel may survive the protracted and contentious confirmation process for the top job at the Pentagon, but his rocky road to confirmation will likely make him a far weaker defense secretary, say defense and foreign policy experts. "I think Hagel will be on short leash in...

ROBERT BURNS

Published: Wed, Feb 20, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress on Wednesday that if automatic government spending cuts kick in on March 1 he may have to shorten the workweek for the "vast majority" of the Defense Department's 800,000 civilian workers. They would lose one day of work per week,...