California officials lining up for a piece of any stimulus bill
In California, officials have identified $28 billion worth of ready-to-go projects. They range from upgrading the access to the Golden Gate Bridge to realigning Interstate 5 north of Redding -- and the wish lists just keep growing. Mayors from Sacramento to Fresno have big wish lists. | 12/19/08 16:47:00 By - Rob Hotakainen and Michael Doyle
McCarthy makes a quick rise on Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON -- On Monday, Roll Call named California's Kevin McCarthy the House's rookie of the year. | 12/19/08 00:53:00 By - Rob Hotakainen
Olympia native sweats the details of the inauguration
WASHINGTON -- Jennifer Griffith is planning a formal event for 240,000 people, and with less than a month to go her to-do list is four pages long. | 12/19/08 00:52:00 By - Les Blumenthal
Bush on economy moves: I didn't want to be Herbert Hoover
Bush offered Thursday what he dubbed "reflections by a guy who's headed out of town" to a friendly American Enterprise Institute audience at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington. He spoke without notes and took questions for more than an hour. He conceded no serious mistakes and on issue after issue blamed his stumbles on Washington's convoluted ways. | 12/18/08 16:47:00 By - David Lightman
Obama to fill SEC, transportation and trade roles
President-elect Barack Obama has made his selections for Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, transportation secretary and U.S. trade representative, insiders said Wednesday. The trio, former SEC commissioner Mary Schapiro, retiring Illinois Rep. Ray LaHood and former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, could play an important collective role in restoring investor confidence and reviving the nation's economy. | 12/17/08 20:53:00 By - Margaret Talev, Kevin G. Hall and Maria Recio
Obama to name Iowa ex-Gov. Vilsack as agriculture secretary
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is President-elect Barack Obama's choice for agriculture secretary, a Democrat familiar with the decision said Tuesday. Vilsack's nomination was expected to be announced at a Wednesday news conference in Chicago, where Obama also was expected to formally tap Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., to head the Interior Department. | 12/16/08 21:36:00 By - Margaret Talev
Sheep ranchers weigh benefits of lamb promotion program
WASHINGTON -- California sheepherders must now decide whether to keep taxing themselves for the sake of science, ads and cooking lessons. | 12/16/08 15:53:00 By - Michael Doyle
Obama stimulus could offset SC Medicaid cuts
An economic stimulus plan being prepared by President-elect Barack Obama could bring South Carolina $404 million in new federal Medicaid funds, restoring money lost in three recent rounds of state budget cuts. The Medicaid boost, part of Obama's $500 billion economic recovery package, could help create 7,800 new jobs and spur $712 million in new business activity in South Carolina, according to a nationwide analysis by Families USA, a healthcare advocacy group in Washington. | 12/15/08 19:04:00 By - James Rosen
Bush shoe incident caught Secret Service flatfooted
Although the Secret Service put everyone who attended President George W. Bush's Baghdad news conference through several layers of security Sunday, the agency appeared to be caught off guard when an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the president. Agents were forced to the side of the room, which was so crowded that Iraqi journalists added a chair to the front row, then crammed in two additional bodies. There was no room for Army Gen. Ray Odierno's security detail either. | 12/15/08 18:56:00 By - Greg Gordon and Adam Ashton
Probe finds politics drove endangered species decisions
Politics corroded Bush administration decisions on protecting endangered species nationwide, federal investigators have concluded in a sweeping new report. Frustrated scientists went so far as to consider artificially inflating the California vernal pool critical habitat by 20 percent to offset anticipated cuts, investigators noted. | 12/15/08 18:53:00 By - Michael Doyle
Justice: Sex offender registries often inaccurate
Sex offender registries are often inaccurate and incomplete, undermining public knowledge about some of the nation's most reviled criminals, Justice Department investigators warn. | 12/15/08 17:26:00 By - Michael Doyle
Ruling hands big tobacco big setback on state suits
A divided Supreme Court ruled Monday that smokers can sue tobacco companies in state court for making fraudulent claims. | 12/15/08 15:48:00 By - Michael Doyle
Capitol Visitor Center: Grand entrance or monument to excess?
The new Capitol Visitor Center opened this month as a shrine to the legislative branch, presenting a polished version of Congress that leaves little room for cynicism — though plenty of space for bathrooms. | 12/14/08 06:00:00 By - Barbara Barrett
Auto bailout's defeat shows McConnell still has leverage
WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's firm opposition to a bailout for the Big Three automakers in the face of mounting White House pressure might serve as an indication of how the de facto head of a significantly weakened caucus might deal with President-elect Barack Obama's administration. | 12/12/08 20:19:00 By - Halimah Abdullah
Obama, Democrats agree to $500 billion stimulus package
While an auto bailout is on life support, President-elect Barack Obama and Democratic congressional leaders have agreed to a $500 billion economic-stimulus package that they want to move next month even before Obama takes office. | 12/12/08 18:19:00 By - James Rosen
Why the Senate GOP scuttled the automakers' bailout
Most Senate Republicans were willing to scuttle the $14 billion auto bailout Thursday night because of their longstanding disdain for labor unions, free-market preferences — and a yearning to show that a month after stinging defeats at the polls, they could stick together. | 12/12/08 17:26:00 By - David Lightman
White House may tap Treasury funds to help automakers
The Bush administration will weigh its options over the weekend, deciding how best to proceed with its promise to keep Detroit automakers out of bankruptcy. | 12/12/08 11:54:00 By - Kevin G. Hall and David Lightman
Aid for carmakers dead over labor costs; next steps unclear
Senate efforts collapsed late Thursday to negotiate an assistance package for U.S. automakers. Lawmakers had bargained throughout the evening with each other and labor and auto company officials in a last-ditch effort to provide $14 billion in loans to the car companies. Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada called the measure's failure "a loss for the country." | 12/11/08 13:31:00 By - David Lightman
Environmentalists: New rule guts Endangered Species Act
In a move environmental groups says strikes at the heart of the Endangered Species Act, the Bush administration on Thursday announced a new rule that would let federal agencies decide on their own whether their projects harm endangered species, instead of requiring them in many cases to get a second opinion from federal wildlife experts. | 12/11/08 17:29:00 By - Renee Schoof
Obama's environmental adviser has California roots
President-elect Barack Obama's choice as a top environmental adviser knows the Central Valley's air and water problems better than most. | 12/11/08 17:15:00 By - Michael Doyle
Hastings named top Republican on resources committee
WASHINGTON -- Washington Rep. Doc Hastings on Thursday was named the top Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee, a panel that has jurisdiction over everything from endangered species to federal irrigation projects, from the Bonneville Power Administration to the nation's parks and forests. | 12/11/08 16:59:00 By - Les Blumenthal
Senate probe blames top Bush officials for abuses
Former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld; Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top officials were responsible for the use of "abusive" interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay, in Afghanistan and at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, a bipartisan Senate report concluded Thursday. | 12/11/08 15:35:00 By - Roy Gutman and Jonathan S. Landay
Central California GOP lawmakers oppose auto industry bailout
Mariposa Republican George Radanovich supported a $700 billion economic bailout plan but now opposes a $15 billion package aiding the auto industry. | 12/10/08 18:25:00 By - Michael Doyle
Auto bailout bill clears House but faces roadblock in Senate
The House of Representatives approved a $14 billion auto industry rescue Wednesday night by a vote of 237 to 170. However, Senate Republicans' doubts about the emergency loan plan for Detroit's ailing auto industry threaten to put the brakes on the effort. | 12/10/08 18:23:00 By - David Lightman
Bush considering easing rules on foreign farm workers
Farmers would have an easier and cheaper time securing foreign guest workers under pending Bush administration rules. The controversial changes to the so-called H-2A guest-worker program could cut wages and speed worker recruitment. They also would relax requirements for providing foreign workers with housing and transportation. | 12/10/08 17:57:00 By - Michael Doyle
Pentagon ignored danger of roadside bombs, report finds
The military ignored steps before the invasion of Iraq that could have prevented the staggering number of casualties from roadside bombs, the Pentagon's acting inspector general charged Tuesday. The IG's report says that the military knew years before the war that mines and homemade bombs " would be a "threat . . . in low-intensity conflicts." | 12/09/08 18:52:00 By - David Goldstein
'Car czar'? Auto-crat would be more like it, some critics say
Congress is weighing the appointment of a "car czar" with potentially far-reaching power over American automakers. Some business advocates find it heretical that a government bureaucrat or bureaucrats could determine what is or isn't in the best interest of a private company's long-term viability. | 12/09/08 18:24:00 By - Kevin G. Hall
McConnell's Senate campaign nearly $2 million in debt
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's campaign committee appears nearly $2 million in debt and took out loans to aid his hotly contested re-election bid, according to recently released campaign finance records. | 12/09/08 17:53:00 By - Halimah Abdullah
Let bankruptcy judges alter mortgages, lawmakers urge
As the U.S. recession deepens, two members of Congress pledged Tuesday to make the rising rate of foreclosures their top priority in January. | 12/09/08 17:42:00 By - Barbara Barrett
Nichols could add to state's clout in U.S. debate on climate change
California's Mary Nichols has an idea for how Washington can respond to global warming: Start with the Environmental Protection Agency. | 12/09/08 17:04:00 By - Rob Hotakainen
Big Three auto bailout would put U.S. in driver's seat
The plan, which Congress is likely to consider later this week, would give the government authority over major decisions by the automakers. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler would have to report progress to Congress regularly and come up with a long-term restructuring plans by March 31. The government would also set executive pay. The companies couldn't own private aircraft. | 12/08/08 18:59:00 By - David Lightman and Kevin G. Hall
Business dead, car dealers say they deserve help, too
Would-be car buyers can't get credit, vehicle sales are plunging and auto sales jobs are in jeopardy — but as Washington considers aid to the auto industry, it's offering no direct help for car dealers. Yet across the nation, many dealerships face serious problems, and their fate could affect not just those who work for them, but their entire communities. | 12/08/08 17:48:00 By - David Lightman
EPA officials didn't violate lobbying laws, audit finds
Environmental Protection Agency officials didn't violate anti-lobbying laws amid a high-stakes campaign over California's request for permission to strictly regulate greenhouse gas emissions in vehicles, federal investigators have concluded. | 12/08/08 17:20:00 By - Michael Doyle
Supreme Court won't hear Obama citizenship challenge
Without comment, the court brushed off a lawsuit claiming Obama didn't meet the Constitution's citizenship requirements. The move undercuts but doesn't end a legal campaign that's gotten far more traction on the Internet than in the courts. | 12/08/08 15:17:00 By - Michael Doyle
N. Carolina challenger beat incumbent with less money
Larry Kissell often said he wouldn't need as much money as Rep. Robin Hayes to beat him — and he was right. New campaign finance figures show that Kissell, a North Carolina school teacher who will be sworn in to office next month, raised and spent $1.34 million on his winning campaign. Hayes, a five-term incumbent, spent $3.8 million. | 12/05/08 18:45:28 By - Lisa Zagaroli
Supreme Court takes up another challenge to Bush terror strategy
In another landmark challenge to the Bush administration's war-on-terror strategy, the Supreme Court agreed to decide if the administration overstepped its authority when it arrested Ali Saleh Kahlah al Marri inside the United States and ordered him held indefinitely as an enemy combatant without charging him with a crime. | 12/05/08 17:04:00 By - Michael Doyle
Californians rumored in running for top administration posts
Californians have become viable candidates for top Obama administration positions governing farms, natural resources and the environment. | 12/05/08 16:06:00 By - Michael Doyle
Park visitors will be able to carry loaded guns
Visitors to the nation's parks and refuges will be allowed to carry loaded weapons with them under a plan given final approval by the Bush administration Friday. Current regulations require that firearms in national parks must be unloaded and inoperable. | 12/05/08 15:37:00 By - Rob Hotakainen
Obama's strong-willed team will test his management skills
Franklin D. Roosevelt loved to have his aides argue in front of him, the better to see all sides before picking one himself. Richard Nixon tried the same approach, didn't like it, and stopped it. Bill Clinton, too, wanted to hear a lot of voices, but sometimes "drowned" in the cacophony, in the words of one analyst. Now Barack Obama is poised to try it himself. | 12/05/08 15:09:00 By - Steven Thomma
Auto executives try harder, but lawmakers remain wary
Detroit's Big Three automakers presented themselves to skeptical senators Thursday as humble, contrite and badly in need of $34 billion in federal help quickly. But senators who heard their testimony offered little to reassure them. Even those who support giving lending money to the carmakers worried that they couldn't be trusted to spend it well. | 12/04/08 10:55:00 By - David Lightman
New Capitol Visitor Center awes Valley family
Fresno resident Rafael Diaz looks around the new Capitol Visitor Center and thinks he's got his money's worth, all $621 million of it. | 12/04/08 16:23:00 By - Michael Doyle
Video: Laura Bush talks about Christmas at the White House
A video shot Dec. 3, 2008, of the first lady's presentation of White House Christmas decorations. | 12/04/08 08:23:54 By - Tish Wells
Proposed rules could give California growers a big boost
California specialty crop growers could get much bigger federal grants, and for a longer time, under a new Bush administration proposal. | 12/03/08 16:07:00 By - Michael Doyle
Obama taps another ex-rival: Richardson for commerce
President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday named a third former Democratic presidential rival to his administration with his formal announcement of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as his nominee for commerce secretary. | 12/03/08 16:22:00 By - Margaret Talev
Justices' irritation with lower court could save tobacco giant millions
Tobacco giant Philip Morris USA might be partially freed from a $145 million punitive judgment, from the sounds of some Supreme Court justices Wednesday. | 12/03/08 16:04:00 By - Michael Doyle
EPA to gut mountaintop mining rule protecting streams
The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday approved a last minute rule change by the Bush administration that will allow coal companies to bury streams under the rocks left over from mining. The rule reverses a 1983 rule that prohibits dumping the fill from mountaintop removal mining within 100 feet of streams. | 12/02/08 19:52:00 By - Renee Schoof and Bill Estep
Gates walks fine line between two administrations
In his first news conference since President-elect Barack Obama asked him to stay on, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that he and Obama agree on the U.S. course in Iraq, but he couldn't commit to Obama's pledge of a 16-month withdrawal. Instead, Gates said the pace of the drawdown would be one of several discussions in which he'll participate during the new administration. | 12/02/08 19:40:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Conservative lawmakers bring God to Capitol Visitor Center
Seven years in the making, the Capitol's new Visitor Center opened Tuesday. But Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., denounced its displays as "left-leaning" and said many "distort our true history." He was joined in his dismay by U.S. Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Roger Wicker, R-Miss. At DeMint's insistence, "In God We Trust" will soon be added to the displays. | 12/02/08 19:01:30 By - James Rosen
No quick end in sight for Minnesota Senate race
The only thing that might be longer than a Minnesota winter is the state's 2008 Senate race. Four weeks after Minnesotans cast 2.9 million ballots in the costliest Senate contest in the nation, incumbent Republican Norm Coleman is clinging to a lead of 344 votes over Democrat Al Franken. But that's just the beginning of picking a senator. | 12/02/08 17:50:00 By - Rob Hotakainen
Texans prove willing to help pay the price for presidential transition
John Dunn wants to make sure the candidate he supported — President-elect Barack Obama — has an easy transition to power come Jan. 20. | 12/02/08 07:04:50 By - Anna M. Tinsley
Attorney general nominee inherits damaged department
Attorney general nominee Eric Holder will face daunting challenges as the new head of the Justice Department, but those who know him say he's well suited in temperament and experience to tackle the assignment. | 12/01/08 19:15:00 By - Marisa Taylor
Former official accuses appellate judge of downloading porn
In a heated, 38-page complaint that resurrects an old feud, the former courts administrator alleges that 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski committed "felonies and other crimes" by temporarily turning off the courts' Internet security system in May 2001. | 12/01/08 18:05:00 By - Michael Doyle
FEMA trailers: Even empty, they're costing $28 million a year
FEMA is spending $28 million a year to store travel trailers and mobile homes at five Mississippi sites while the agency determines whether they'll be reused or sold as scrap. The cost covers land leases, utilities, security, operational costs and training. Four of the sites are full and on "caretaker" status. Trailers are still being hauled to the fifth site. | 12/01/08 07:31:43 By - Anita Lee
Will Alaska pay price for ousting Stevens?
What happens to Alaska's notorious dependence on federal spending now that Ted Stevens' 40-year Senate career has come to a end? Without an "Uncle Ted" to redistribute America's wealth north and with an "Aunt Lisa" or "Uncle Mark" lacking his longevity and clout, will the state's economy come crashing down? | 11/30/08 08:23:07 By - Richard Mauer and Erika Bolstad
Both parties have big stakes in Georgia Senate runoff
The fight for Georgia's U. S. Senate seat is a struggle for much more. For Democrats, the Tuesday runoff could give them their 59th seat in the next Senate. And if Democrat Al Franken beats GOP incumbent Norm Coleman in Minnesota's recount, which will continue into December, Democrats would reach the magic number of 60 Senate seats — the number required under Senate rules to shut off debate and force a vote. | 11/30/08 06:00:00 By - David Lightman and Matt Barnwell
Another twist to Stevens trial: Monday hearing canceled
District Judge Emmett Sullivan has canceled a Monday hearing that was supposed to look into claims by a witness that he lied during his testimony against U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens. Instead, the case now has devolved into a debate between government prosecutors and Stevens' defense attorneys over whether the prosecution violated court procedures by filing a sealed motion about the witness. | 11/29/08 14:08:57 By - Richard Mauer
Duke doctor is a possible candidate to run FDA
Dr. Robert Califf may have a second shot at running the Food and Drug Administration. The respected Duke University cardiologist and head of the Duke Clinical Research Institute is among people mentioned as possible candidates for FDA commissioner in the administration of President-elect Barack Obama. | 11/28/08 21:26:33 By - Sabine Vollmer
As administration changes, job seekers flock to Washington
Tired of your same old job? Frustrated fan of "The West Wing" and want to try your hand at the real thing? Or maybe you just saw an opening on the International Boundary and Water Commission for a tidy $158,000 a year and thought, "Hey, I can do that." Welcome to the great capital job fair. | 11/27/08 13:30:00 By - David Goldstein
Alabama continues holding onto No. 1 spot in fan poll
WASHINGTON — Alabama (11-0) stayed atop the Ipsos Fan First College Football Poll this week, while Oklahoma (10-1) jumped four spots into No. 2 after its 65-21 unraveling of then-No. 2 Texas Tech (10-1), which dropped to No. 6. | 11/27/08 13:00:00 By - Michael Bold
Doris Kearns Goodwin discusses Lincoln, Obama — and their 'rivals'
Thousands of Americans have bought Doris Kearns Goodwin's 2005 book, "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," after hearing that it shaped President-elect Barack Obama's thinking. | 11/27/08 06:00:00 By - Margaret Talev
No longer on the back bench, Boxer finds power to her liking
At 68, Barbara Boxer, California's junior senator, is at the pinnacle of her political power. She's the only Democrat leading two influential committees, the Senate's environmental and ethics panels, and she's planning to use her position to lead the battle against global warming. But with a reputation as one of the Senate's most liberal members, she's also a tempting target for Republicans, who'd like to defeat her when she's up for re-election in 2010. Boxer says she's ready for them. | 11/26/08 16:13:00 By - Rob Hotakainen
Obama: Change 'comes from me,' not his appointees
President-elect Barack Obama essentially said Wednesday that he is the change, striving to assure Americans that he'll shake up Washington despite filling his administration with old hands from the Clinton administration and the capital's corridors of power. | 11/26/08 15:52:00 By - Steven Thomma
Upcoming Congress holds promise, hurdles for Valley lawmakers
San Joaquin Valley lawmakers are maneuvering amid the fallout from the November election. They're adapting their 2009 agendas to fit a new president, a reconfigured Congress and a chaotic economy. They face a complicated political environment filled with high hurdles, fresh openings and no guarantees of success. | 11/26/08 15:30:00 By - Michael Doyle
Want to sell something? Put Obama's face on it
As the federal government tries to revive the nation's ailing economy, President-Elect Barack Obama is proving to be a one-man stimulus package. Tight-fisted consumers are separating themselves from their cash for Obama memorabilia, for travel to witness his Jan. 20 inauguration and even for rental housing in the Washington area as hotel rooms are becoming hard to find. | 11/26/08 00:59:00 By - William Douglas
Candidate for top intelligence post withdraws name
John Brennan, a former senior U.S. intelligence official, withdrew from consideration for a top intelligence post in the new Obama administration amid protests from liberal groups linking him to the Bush administration's "enhanced interrogation" and secret transfers of terrorism suspects to nations that torture prisoners and political opponents. | 11/25/08 19:54:00 By - Jonathan S. Landay
Spratt praises Obama budget choice
Rep. John Spratt on Tuesday praised President-elect Barack Obama's choice of Peter Orszag as White House budget director and expressed relief the job wasn't offered to him. | 11/25/08 18:29:00 By - James Rosen
Environmental groups tell Obama to move fast on climate
Don't wait until the financial crisis is over to attack global warming because cleaner ways to produce and use energy will lead to a stronger economy, leaders of environmental groups said Tuesday as they outlined their wish list for President-elect Barack Obama. | 11/25/08 16:11:00 By - Renee Schoof
Financial scammers target homeowners facing foreclosure
A temporarily laid-off Internal Revenue Service employee, Patricia Ireland was scrambling to meet her mortgage payments recently. Out of the blue, a company called to offer help. For a $2,500 fee, Ireland was told, the company and its Irvine-based lawyers would renegotiate the mortgage. Desperate, Ireland paid a $500 down payment. Then she found the fine print. | 11/25/08 14:42:00 By - Michael Doyle
Wealthy continue to get farm subsidies, GAO finds
Millionaire farmers continue to pluck crop subsidies they don't deserve, federal investigators say. At least 2,702 farmers nationwide received subsidies between 2003 and 2006 even through they were making more than the $2.5 million gross income cutoff. The unwarranted payments totaled $49 million and exposed enduring Agriculture Department management problems, investigators concluded. | 11/24/08 16:28:00 By - Michael Doyle
Summers brings experience in crisis to economics role
Lawrence Summers', Barack Obama's head of the National Economic Council, led the Treasury Department during the final two years of the Clinton administration. He was one of the key decision-makers during the global financial crisis sparked by Mexico's collapse in 1994 and during the Asian and Russian crises in the late 1990s. | 11/24/08 14:33:00 By - Kevin G. Hall
Obama's stance on lands: He'll break with Bush
WASHINGTON — Here's the question: What does a community organizer from Chicago who spent four years in the Senate before being elected president know about spotted owls, endangered salmon, mountain bark beetles, Western water rights, old-growth forests and the maintenance backlog in the national parks? | 11/23/08 06:00:00 By - Les Blumenthal
Hillary Clinton would bring star power to State Department
She's been a mother, a lawyer and a first lady, an aggrieved wife, a U.S. senator and a nearly victorious candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. Now Hillary Clinton appears set to take on a new role: secretary of state. | 11/21/08 19:52:00 By - Warren P. Strobel
Just the name Geithner made stocks soar. Why?
New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner is expected to be President-elect Barack Obama's choice to head the Treasury Department. Reports of his selection sent stocks soaring at the close of trading Friday. | 11/21/08 19:12:00 By - Kevin G. Hall and Margaret Talev
Regulators fired, disciplined for taking gifts from oil firms
Two employees of the Interior Department have been fired and eight others disciplined in a scandal over the acceptance of meals, junkets, gifts and, in some cases, illicit sex and drugs from the oil companies that they regulated, a knowledgeable person said Friday. | 11/21/08 18:58:00 By - Greg Gordon
New Congressman faces the 'magnitude of the job' in Washington
Larry Kissell pulled into town after dark to a "stirring sight," the grand U.S. Capitol awash with light, and the magnitude of the job before him settled in. | 11/21/08 18:20:17 By - Lisa Zagaroli
Obama's choice to lead Homeland Security is praised
President-elect Barack Obama's expected nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, helped investigate the biggest U.S. terrorist event prior to 9/11 — the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing — and has been a national leader on immigration and border-security issues. | 11/20/08 17:45:00 By - Margaret Talev
Senator asks Congress to press Iran on missing FBI agent
Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent, went missing in 2007 from a Iranian island where he was looking into cigarette smuggling. Thursday, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., submitted a resolution to Congress asking U.S. officials to press Iran on the disappearance. | 11/20/08 16:50:43 By - Lesley Clark
Obama calls on his Internet campaign army to march again
President-elect Barack Obama's 3 million campaign volunteers got re-enlistment notices this week. Campaign manager David Plouffe, in a mass e-mail sent Wednesday to former workers, asked how much time they can spare for four missions integral to Obama's effort to transform his victory into a broader political movement. | 11/20/08 16:16:00 By - Frank Greve
Weakened House GOP picks more conservative leaders
Republicans in the House of Representatives on Wednesday gave their bloc a decidedly more conservative — and outspoken — tone, as they voted in new leaders who have reputations as sharp-edged partisans. | 11/19/08 17:22:00 By - David Lightman
America could get its first black attorney general
Eric Holder, a former No. 2 Justice Department official, has been told that he can become the nation's first African-American attorney general, a person with firsthand knowledge said Tuesday. While Obama hasn't formally tapped Holder, one person with direct knowledge said "it's his if he wants it." | 11/18/08 20:39:00 By - Greg Gordon
Obama moves to defrost relations between White House, Congress
Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago congressman who'll become President-elect Barack Obama's White House chief of staff, got a standing ovation on Tuesday when he met behind closed doors with House Democrats. | 11/18/08 18:08:00 By - Margaret Talev and David Lightman
South Carolina ranks last in anti-smoking programs
South Carolina is spending less money than any other state on anti-smoking programs despite having one of the nation's highest smoking rates, a prominent health group said Tuesday. | 11/18/08 17:58:00 By - James Rosen
Central California activists plead for foreclosure aid
WASHINGTON -- Prayers and politics combined Tuesday as Fresno minister Bill Knezovich joined some 170 activists pleading for help with the foreclosure crisis that's stricken the San Joaquin Valley. | 11/18/08 16:38:00 By - Michael Doyle
Murray re-elected to Senate Democrats' No. 4 post
WASHINGTON -- Washington Sen. Patty Murray was re-elected Democratic conference secretary Tuesday, the fourth most powerful position among Senate Democrats. | 11/18/08 16:33:00 By - Les Blumenthal
Black Caucus members warn Obama can't do everything
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are still giddy that Barack Obama is about to become president. They recall crying, jumping for joy, and celebrating when he was declared the winner. But for some, Nov. 4's afterglow is accompanied by a recognition that Obama's election won't necessarily give them an express lane into the Oval Office. | 11/18/08 15:34:00 By - William Douglas
Taxpayers will pay for Gonzales' private attorney
The Justice Department has agreed to pay for a private lawyer to defend former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales against allegations that he encouraged officials to inject partisan politics into the department's hiring and firing practices. | 11/18/08 14:57:00 By - Marisa Taylor
Senate Democrats let Lieberman keep committee chairmanship
Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who this fall campaigned hard for Republican presidential nominee John McCain, got only a mild rebuke Tuesday from Senate Democrats. | 11/18/08 14:48:00 By - David Lightman
Gulf War syndrome a real illness, panel concludes
Federal research into the causes behind the mysterious malady that's affected at least 175,000 combat veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf war has "not been effective," and the report by the congressionally mandated panel suggested that politics or financial concerns might have played a role. | 11/17/08 19:00:00 By - David Goldstein
Demand for inaugural tickets far exceeds supply
Good luck at getting inaugural tickets. Demand far outstrips supply and grows more heated by the day. Lawmakers must figure out how to distribute what they have. First come, first served is one solution. Pure chance is another. Political connections can help, but not always. | 11/17/08 17:23:00 By - Michael Doyle
San Joaquin River restoration bill postponed until 2009
The Senate will postpone until early next year action on a big public lands bill that includes efforts to restore the San Joaquin River, lawmakers decided Monday. | 11/17/08 16:28:00 By - Michael Doyle
White House lists new reasons for rejecting auto industry aid
As the Congress reconvenes for a lame-duck session to do something about the economy, the White House makes it clear that it doesn't want a new bailout for the troubled auto industry. "Taxpayers should not be asked to subsidize private companies that are unwilling to show that they can be viable. It is clear that U.S. automakers must restructure in order to be viable," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. | 11/17/08 13:08:18 By - David Lightman
Obama brings the Chicago crowd to do his business in D.C.
A generation ago, it was a big deal when the late Mayor Richard J. Daley got invited to sleep in the White House's Lincoln Bedroom after delivering Illinois and the 1960 presidential election to fellow Democrat John F. Kennedy. It was a striking sign that an Irish Catholic from the South Side of Chicago had really arrived. Now a slew of Chicago Democrats are about to descend on Washington. | 11/16/08 15:38:00 By - Steven Thomma
World leaders agree on broad principles to calm economic waters
WASHINGTON — World leaders, who gathered here to tackle the ongoing global financial crisis, agreed to a broad range of solutions Saturday but left the details to be worked out until the spring. | 11/15/08 19:26:00 By - Jack Chang
McConnell expects contentious debate over carmakers' aid
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is bracing for a contentious debate over a government rescue of the nation's struggling automotive industry when the Senate reconvenes next week. Much of the opposition will come from his own party, as top Republicans question whether the Big Three automakers' woes are related to the sharp economic downturn or to problems within the industry. | 11/15/08 16:31:48 By - Halimah Abdullah
Alaska's Stevens faces party ouster, election defeat
WASHINGTON — If Republicans in the U.S. Senate ever secretly hoped for one of their own to lose an election, it might be Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, who's in a cliffhanger of a race with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. | 11/15/08 15:30:00 By - Erika Bolstad
White House's help to automakers might defuse Democrats' plans
The White House Friday tried to take steam out of Congress' bid to give new aid to the ailing auto industry, saying it would make it easier for the carmakers to tap $25 billion in an existing federal loan program. But Congress wants to spend more. | 11/14/08 17:09:00 By - David Lightman
Ties to S. Carolina's Jim Clyburn may help as Obama era dawns
The House majority whip's eldest daughter, Mignon Clyburn, is on the short list to head the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates television, radio and, increasingly, the Internet. Other Clyburn allies cited as possible Obama officials: House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt and Inez Tenenbaum, a former S. C. public schools superintendent. | 11/14/08 17:59:00 By - James Rosen
Army promotes its first 4-star female general
The U.S. Army promoted the first female to four-star general in its history Friday in an emotion-laden ceremony that sparked hopes among women that the role for female troops will continue to expand. | 11/14/08 17:50:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
U.S. begins pursuing drilling off Virginia coast
Months after President George W. Bush and Congress lifted bans on offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean, the federal government moved Thursday to pursue oil and natural gas exploration off the coast of Virginia. | 11/13/08 18:51:00 By - Barbara Barrett
Hedge fund gurus OK with some federal regulation
Billionaires testifying before Congress on Thursday gave guarded support for proposals that would bring greater regulation of hedge funds, the investment funds for the ultra-wealthy being blamed in part for today's global financial turmoil. | 11/13/08 18:07:00 By - Kevin G. Hall
D.C.'s big Obama dilemma: What to do with the crowds?
As many as 1.5 million people may come to Washington for Barack Obama's inauguration Jan. 20, according to official estimates. That's five times the number that showed up for President Bush's two inaugurations. Congressional offices report they're overwhelmed by requests for the 240,000 free tickets to the event, hotel rooms are being snapped up, and some D.C. residents are making room for dozens of relatives and friends. And, of course, there are those seeking to profit. | 11/11/08 16:38:00 By - William Douglas
River restoration bill finally nears completion
San Joaquin River restoration efforts, a roller-coaster ride if there ever was one, now have cleared what could be the last big hump prior to congressional approval. | 11/11/08 15:19:00 By - Michael Doyle
Must cities accept donated monuments? High court to rule
At issue is a monument that a religious group wants placed in a Utah city park. The religious group that donated the monument says the park already contains monuments containing the 10 Commandments. So even if the city doesn't like the group's message, it has to take the monument. | 11/10/08 16:37:00 By - Michael Doyle
Bush Middle East efforts end with little progress
Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is wrapping up the Bush administration's yearlong attempt to broker Israeli-Palestinian peace with little to show for her investment. The diplomatic initiative has helped to dispel the mutual distrust that chilled peace talks for seven years. But there have been few tangible successes. | 11/09/08 14:07:00 By - Dion Nissenbaum
Can a $100 billion stimulus save a $14 trillion economy?
Washington is poised during the next 90 days to approve spending perhaps $100 billion to jolt the ailing economy. The only questions are when it will happen and whether it would have much impact. President Bush and Republican congressional leaders may be reluctant to support one before Obama takes office, and analysts are skeptical about how much a $100 billion stimulus would move a $14 trillion economy. | 11/09/08 06:00:00 By - David Lightman
Stevens likely to get cold shoulder from GOP colleagues
Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska may not have the warmest of welcomes from fellow Republicans when he returns to the Senate later this month for Congress' lame-duck session. A host of Republican senators, including John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Jim Demint, have called for him to resign. | 11/07/08 18:38:00 By - Erika Bolstad
Iraqis seek more 'withdrawal' talks; U.S. says they're over
The United States delivered Thursday what it said was the final text of the controversial accord on the stationing of U.S. forces in Iraq, but Iraq said more talks are needed before the government can accept it. "We have gotten back to the Iraqi government with a final text. Through this step, we have concluded the process on the U.S. side," said Susan Ziadeh, the U.S. Embassy spokeswoman in Baghdad. "Iraq will now need to take it forward through their own process." | 11/06/08 17:53:00 By - Leila Fadel, Nancy A. Youssef and Warren P. Strobel
Bush officials moving fast to cut environmental protections
In the next few weeks, the Bush administration is expected to relax environmental-protection rules on power plants near national parks, uranium mining near the Grand Canyon and more mountaintop-removal coal mining in Appalachia. Many will be finalized before Thanksgiving, so the 60-day waiting period will have expired before the Obama administration takes over. | 11/06/08 16:11:00 By - Renee Schoof
Big business prepares for a less friendly Washington
After years of playing offense, big business is getting ready for the less familiar role of playing defense following President-elect Barack Obama's victory and legislative gains by other Democrats. Corporate America enjoyed favorable treatment under the Bush administration for almost eight years and for most of the era of Republican control of Congress from 1995 to 2007. | 11/05/08 17:33:00 By - Kevin G. Hall
Obama's relationship with new Congress will be complicated
President-elect Obama's Washington will be a friendly but probably not overwhelmingly supportive place, since his coattails pulled only about 20 new Democrats into in the House of Representatives and five into the Senate. | 11/05/08 17:11:00 By - David Lightman
Election results bring opportunities for Californians
WASHINGTON -- This week's historic election brings with it a new batch of California winners and losers. Count one-time Fresno resident Michael Robertson among the winners. | 11/05/08 16:11:00 By - Michael Doyle
Restrictions on student exchanges to Cuba upheld
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that the regulations don't violate presumed rights to academic freedom and due process as argued by a group of more than 400 academic professionals that calls itself the Emergency Coalition to Defend Educational Travel, which brought the legal action. | 11/04/08 19:04:00 By - Jack Chang
Supreme Court debates 'F-word' without using it
A clearly divided Supreme Court on Tuesday debated indecent language for an hour without anyone using the words in question. | 11/04/08 13:39:00 By - Michael Doyle
Unions challenge Idaho ban on political activities deductions
Idaho's teacher and firefighter unions on Monday confronted a divided Supreme Court in a case closely watched by the nation's 22 right-to-work states. | 11/03/08 18:05:00 By - Michael Doyle
Businesses have much at stake in drug suit's outcome
Supreme Court conservatives on Monday sounded sympathetic to a drug company's pleas for protection from state court lawsuits. | 11/03/08 16:19:00 By - Michael Doyle
Stevens juror left for horse race, not her father's funeral
Juror No. 4 in Sen. Ted Stevens' federal corruption trial, otherwise known as Marian Hinnant, didn't leave to attend her father's funeral in California, as she told the judge at the time. | 11/03/08 13:08:00 By - Erika Bolstad
Sen. Reid says Stevens cannot stay in Senate
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Sunday that Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska cannot remain a senator even if he's re-elected Tuesday because he's a convicted felon. The statement came in response to a Stevens statement citing Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, as saying Stevens would stay. | 11/02/08 13:37:00 By - Erika Bolstad
Oracle executives boosting Calif. congressman's campaign
First-term U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., introduced legislation that would establish a research-and-development tax credit. Now the executives of Oracle are pumping thousands of dollars into his re-election campaign, helping him keep a fiannce edge over his Republican opponent. | 10/31/08 16:34:00 By - Michael Doyle
Supreme Court considers: Can states enhance federal rules?
Diana Levine went to the doctor with a migraine headache. She ended up losing her arm. | 10/31/08 16:18:00 By - Michael Doyle
Supreme Court arguments will focus on naughty words
Dirty words will captivate the Supreme Court while the rest of the world is watching election returns Tuesday. In oral arguments that just might turn blue, the court will consider whether fleeting swear words on national television merit punishment. It's a closely watched case, and not just for the R-rated language and a cast of characters that includes Bono, Cher and lesser-tier celebrity Nicole Richie. | 10/31/08 14:51:00 By - Michael Doyle
Attorney general's private trips have cost taxpayers
Attorney General Michael Mukasey has taken personal trips on government jets almost every weekend since he took office less than a year ago at a cost to taxpayers of more than $155,800, Justice Department and Federal Aviation Administration travel records show. | 10/31/08 06:00:00 By - Marisa Taylor
Bailout funds being spent in ways Congress never foresaw
The $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan was intended to go to buying up distressed mortgages and other bad assets. Instead, it's gone to equity stakes in banks, and at least one bank used the money to buy a rival. It's also likely to be used to buy stakes in life insurance companies, and maybe to help struggling Detroit automakers. Some lawmakers whether what's happening serves the public interest. | 10/30/08 16:11:00 By - Kevin G. Hall
Fed slashes rate again, nearing uncharted waters
The Federal Reserve made a half-point cut to benchmark lending rate Wednesday in an attempt to bolster a slowing economy and left the door open for further cuts that could bring interest rates to historic lows. | 10/29/08 14:54:00 By - Kevin G. Hall
SC senators ask Stevens to resign
Sens. Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham on Tuesday called on fellow Republican Sen. Ted Stevens to resign from the Senate in light of his conviction on corruption charges. | 10/29/08 07:56:08 By - James Rosen
Sole-survivor law in place, but not quite ready for vets
WASHINGTON -- Madera County resident and Marine Corps veteran Nick Ramey is one frustrated sole survivor. | 10/28/08 16:44:00 By - Michael Doyle
With time short, Bush pushes EPA to relax power-plant rule
The Environmental Protection Agency is working at the Bush administration's direction on a new rule that would weaken regulations for power plants, allowing them to increase emissions without adding pollution controls. | 10/27/08 17:58:00 By - Renee Schoof
Tough times: Congress grew 13 percent richer in 2007
Members of Congress are not like you and me. For one, two-thirds of senators and 39 percent of House members are millionaires. For another, their collective wealth grew 13 percent in 2007. | 10/27/08 17:20:00 By - Rob Hotakainen
Stevens jury must start again, judge says, as juror replaced
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan put an alternate juror on the panel considering the case against U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens Monday morning and told the jury it must start its deliberations again. The alternate juror had sat through the presentation of evidence, but hadn't particpated in the jury's discussions since deliberations began. | 10/27/08 11:53:00 By - Erika Bolstad
Bush administration has housed many homeless
On a cold January morning in 2001, Mel Martinez, who was then the new secretary of housing and urban development, was headed to his office in his limo when he saw some homeless people huddled on the vents of the steam tunnels that heat federal buildings. | 10/26/08 06:00:00 By - Frank Greve
Justice Department to probe possible foreclosure scams
The Justice Department is gearing up to probe potential scams targeting distressed San Joaquin Valley homeowners. On Friday, Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, urged Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate mortgage-reduction schemes now being marketed through the Valley. For an upfront fee, homeowners are being told, their monthly mortgage payments can be renegotiated. | 10/24/08 17:15:00 By - Michael Doyle
Jury dramas likely to delay verdict in Stevens trial
Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption trial all but ground to a halt Friday morning as a judge tried to determine how to handle a grieving juror who had to leave town to attend her father's funeral. | 10/24/08 11:11:00 By - Richard Mauer and Erika Bolstad
EPA weakens new lead rule after White House objects
After the White House intervened, the Environmental Protection Agency last week weakened a rule on airborne lead standards at the last minute so that 60 percent fewer polluters would have their emissions of the potentially dangerous chemical monitored. | 10/23/08 19:34:00 By - Renee Schoof
Greenspan takes some blame for financial meltdown
Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan was once called the Maestro for his steady stewardship of the U.S. economy. On Thursday, he told a House committee that the views he's long held — less regulation and letting the markets police themselves — are now in question. Separately, the head of the FDIC said on Thursday that the federal government could provide loan guarantees for reworked mortgages as a way to ease the housing crisis. | 10/23/08 19:13:00 By - Kevin G. Hall
Naturalized voters critical in future California elections, study says
WASHINGTON -- Naturalized citizens in the San Joaquin Valley could decide future elections, immigrant advocates conclude in a revealing report issued Thursday. | 10/23/08 16:36:00 By - Michael Doyle
Stevens jury is deliberating, but finds the task stressful
The jury in the trial Sen. Ted Stevens began deliberating shortly after the judge read it 81 pages of instructions detailing what conclusions jurors must reach to find the 84-year-old Alaska Republican guilty of lying on his Senate financial-disclosure forms. After several hours, the jury sent a note to the judge saying it wanted to go home early. Paraphrasing, the judge said, "Kind of stressful right now. We need a minute of clarity right now." | 10/22/08 00:22:00 By - Richard Mauer and Erika Bolstad
Global financial crisis puts Asarco settlements in doubt
WASHINGTON -- The global economic slowdown has threatened to unravel Asarco's plan to emerge from bankruptcy, and the century-old mining company's Mexican owners may yet reassert control. | 10/22/08 13:13:00 By - Les Blumenthal
Congress weighs next steps for financial regulation
As federal regulators continue to unveil new measures to reverse the global financial crisis, Congress on Tuesday began weighing what changes might be needed to restore confidence in the U.S. financial system and prevent future crises. | 10/21/08 18:23:00 By - Kevin G. Hall
State, Tuolomne Utilities District battle over Pinecrest Lake
WASHINGTON -- The Sierra Nevada's popular Pinecrest Lake is roiled in a dispute over water and power. | 10/21/08 17:15:00 By - Michael Doyle
California race draws vacationing volunteers from Washington
Political junkies are gravitating toward the Northern San Joaquin Valley, seeking action and maybe a career boost in one of California's few competitive congressional campaigns. | 10/20/08 16:45:00 By - Michael Doyle
Final arguments in Stevens trial begin Tuesday
In its four-year probe into corruption in Alaska politics, the Justice Department has secured five guilty pleas and won three convictions of lobbyists, business leaders and state lawmakers. Now, it's up to prosecutors to persuade jurors to convict the most prominent figure of all in the federal investigation: Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the U.S. Senate. | 10/20/08 13:52:00 By - Richard Mauer and Erika Bolstad
Poll: Americans think food safety is pretty good
What's the scariest food in your kitchen? Fish. The second scariest? Beef. What food looks safest? Cheese. Those are among the findings of a new Ipsos/McClatchy online poll about food safety. | 10/20/08 13:18:00 By - McClatchy Newspapers
U.S. will host economic summit before year's end
President Bush joined the leaders of France and the European Commission Saturday to announce that the United States would host a global summit before the end of the year to address the world's burgeoning economic crisis. Who'll be invited was unclear. | 10/18/08 17:47:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Valley incumbents face little or no opposition
WASHINGTON -- San Joaquin Valley congressmen face little competition this November but insist they are taking nothing for granted. | 10/17/08 16:44:00 By - Michael Doyle and John Ellis
Your Sunday's free again. 3rd-party debate canceled
The troubled presidential debate for third-party candidates scheduled for Sunday at Columbia University in New York was canceled Friday after none of the four candidates committed to the event. They all claimed conflicts. The Green Party candidate, for example, already had plans to attend the Black Panther Party reunion in Atlanta. | 10/17/08 19:06:00 By - Maria Recio
Biden to campaign Sunday in Washington State
Joe Biden's visit to Tacoma on Sunday is just another in a long line of appearances by Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates in the closing days of their campaigns, as John Kerry, Al Gore, Michael Dukakis and Geraldine Ferraro all held rallies. | 10/17/08 16:52:00 By - Les Blumenthal
Prosecutor grills Stevens over renovations
Sen. Ted Stevens, taking the stand in his own corruption trial, on Friday accused the chief witness against him of lying to jurors about conversations the two former friends had about money. | 10/17/08 14:04:00 By - Erika Bolstad and Richard Mauer
New law expands funding for organ transplant network
WASHINGTON -- The nearly 19,000 California patients awaiting an organ transplant could benefit from a bill signed by President Bush this week. | 10/16/08 16:09:00 By - Michael Doyle
On stand, Sen. Stevens denies filing misleading forms
Sen. Ted Stevens took the stand in his own defense late Thursday afternoon, asserting in a rapid-fire exchange with his lawyer that he'd done no wrong. "Senator, when you signed those forms, did you believe they were accurate and truthful?" his lawyer, Brendan Sullivan, asked about Stevens' Senate financial-disclosure forms. "Yes, sir," Stevens said. | 10/16/08 00:50:00 By - Richard Mauer and Erika Bolstad
Deficit: Trillion-dollar shortfall looms, but what will the candidates do?
The ambitious spending and tax cut plans that Barack Obama and John McCain are promising make no fiscal sense, experts say. "Does either candidate have a realistic budget plan? 'Absolutely not,'" said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan research group. | 10/15/08 18:04:06 By - David Lightman
Report: Taxpayers paid for GOP politicking in 2006 elections
The White House dispatched cabinet members and other agency officials to more than 300 events nationwide to help Republican candidates in the run-up to the 2006 midterm elections, according to a House of Representatives committee report. | 10/15/08 16:29:00 By - Marisa Taylor
Cheney goes to hospital for irregular heartbeat
Vice President Dick Cheney went to the hospital Wednesday after experiencing an abnormal heartbeat and was scheduled to have an outpatient procedure to "restore his normal rhythm," his office said. | 10/15/08 14:33:00 By - William Douglas
Cheney in hospital for abnormal heartbeat
Vice President Dick Cheney went to the hospital Wednesday after experiencing an abnormal heartbeat and is scheduled to have an outpatient procedure to "restore his normal rhythm," his office said. | 10/15/08 14:01:06 By - William Douglas
Veco chief told Stevens contractor to 'eat' bill, jury hears
It would have been "business suicide" to cross the powerful Bill Allen, testified the carpenter who renovated Sen. Ted Stevens' home in Alaska and who said he was bullied into not sending the senator a final $13,393 bill. | 10/15/08 13:31:00 By - Erika Bolstad and Richard Mauer
Poll: Few Americans panicked over market's gyrations
Despite all the recent wild swings in the stock market, Americans are not panicking about their investments, according to a new Ipsos/McClatchy poll. The poll found few investors selling or planning to sell, few saying they would stop making planned contributions to retirement plans or other programs that buy stocks, and increased confidence in bank deposits thanks to more generous government insurance coverage. | 10/14/08 18:35:00 By - Steven Thomma
Memos tell wildlife officials to ignore global-warming impact
The legal opinions about the Endangered Species Act come as the Bush administration seeks to change regulations to reduce the role that government wildlife experts have in protecting animals from the effects of climate change. | 10/14/08 17:50:00 By - Renee Schoof
California kiwifruit growers get federal boost
Uncle Sam is doubling down on an investment in California kiwifruit, with a new boost in funding for overseas ads and marketing. | 10/14/08 15:34:00 By - Michael Doyle
Stevens case could go to jury Monday
A jury could begin deliberations Monday in Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption case, leading to the possibility of a verdict less than two weeks before the veteran Republican stands for re-election in Alaska. | 10/14/08 11:56:00 By - Richard Mauer and Erika Bolstad
Bush: U.S. stake in 9 banks needed to preserve capitalism
President Bush this morning announced that the federal government will take direct ownership stakes in nine U.S. banks and guarantee nearly all lending in the United States in an unprecedented intervention in U.S. business. Recognizing the unusual nature of the intervention, which stopped short of seizure but was not voluntary for the banks, Bush said the intent was not to end capitalism but "to preserve it." | 10/13/08 19:40:00 By - Kevin G. Hall
Daring to utter the 'L' word: Obama on track to a landslide
Barring a dramatic change in the political landscape over the next three weeks, Democrats appear headed toward a decisive victory on Election Day that would give them broad power over the federal government. | 10/12/08 06:00:00 By - Steven Thomma
Bush to remove N. Korea from terror list to save nuke deal
President Bush is set to remove North Korea from the U.S. list of terrorist-sponsoring nations as early as Saturday in an end-of-term bid to save a deal to eliminate the secretive communist nation's nuclear weapons program, State Department officials said Friday. | 10/10/08 18:40:00 By - Warren P. Strobel
Economy's bust is a boon for military's recruiting effort
The economic crisis could help the military recruit and retain troops, Pentagon officials said Friday, potentially ending years of extraordinary bonuses and waivers that have become necessary to keep enough troops to fight two wars. The U.S. military spent $750 million on recruiting bonuses in the past year. | 10/10/08 17:55:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Work continues on wobbly San Joaquin River plan
Lawmakers are revisiting a San Joaquin River restoration plan even as it comes under sustained pressure. With two Valley water districts raising pointed questions recently, negotiators continue to tinker with the ambitious river plan. Some options could delay the time when water starts flowing downstream from Friant Dam. | 10/10/08 16:40:00 By - Michael Doyle
Entitlements: Time running out on Social Security, Medicare fixes
Social Security and Medicare long have been considered the nation's fiscal time bombs, and the ticking is getting louder. But presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain have no comprehensive plans to overhaul the systems, and are campaigning almost as if they don't notice them. | 10/10/08 15:41:00 By - David Lightman and Kevin G. Hall
Colin Powell: Stevens' reputation 'sterling'
Colin Powell, the retired Army general and former secretary of state, described Sen. Ted Stevens in court Friday as a "trusted individual" and man with a "sterling" reputation. | 10/10/08 00:55:00 By - Richard Mauer and Erika Bolstad
Did U.S. government snoop on Americans' phone calls?
The Senate Intelligence Committee is examining allegations by two former U.S. military linguists that the super-secret National Security Agency routinely eavesdropped on the private telephone calls of American military officers, journalists and aid workers. | 10/09/08 18:32:25 By - Jonathan S. Landay
Alabama holds onto No. 1 spot in fans' poll
WASHINGTON — Alabama's escape from unranked Kentucky was enough to give the Crimson Tide the coveted No. 1 spot for the second consecutive week in the Ipsos Fan First Poll. | 10/09/08 17:06:00 By - Lisa Zagaroli
Survivors of 'hometown heroes' battle for benefits
Volunteer Alabama firefighter Martha Bice died 12 years ago, done in by bad smoke. Many courtroom fights later, the Justice Department will finally be settling accounts for this woman Congress considers a hometown hero. | 10/09/08 16:39:00 By - Michael Doyle
Mullen: Afghanistan military situation will worsen next year
The highest-ranking U.S. military officer warned Thursday that the situation in Afghanistan will likely get worse next year and that it will take time to turn it around because it has been headed in "the wrong direction" for the last two years. | 10/09/08 00:22:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef
Fellow senator testifies to Stevens' integrity
One of Sen. Ted Stevens' oldest friends and peers, a fellow World War II veteran and senator, led the charge Thursday to defend the Alaska Republican's character and integrity. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, the first defense witness in Stevens' corruption trial, told jurors that fellow senators have "absolute faith" in the 84-year-old Stevens. | 10/09/08 00:08:00 By - Erika Bolstad and Richard Mauer
Stevens trial hit with another setback
The corruption case against Sen. Ted Stevens suffered a blow to its credibility Wednesday afternoon when a judge ruled that prosecutors and jurors won't be able to consider some crucial evidence about the time two workers spent renovating his house. | 10/08/08 18:53:20 By - Richard Mauer and Erika Bolstad
Environmentalists face high hurdle in Sequoia forest dispute
A Sequoia National Forest dispute reached the Supreme Court on Wednesday, giving conservative justices a chance to limit public challenges to federal land-management decisions. | 10/08/08 16:52:00 By - Michael Doyle
Supreme Court shows little sympathy for whales beset by sonar
Whales may simply have to pay the price as the Navy prepares for war, Supreme Court justices suggested Wednesday. In a closely watched environmental case, justices Wednesday morning repeatedly sounded sympathetic to Pentagon officials who want to run large-scale Navy exercises off the Southern California coast. While the resulting underwater sonar storm disturbs marine mammals, it also helps prepare sailors for combat. | 10/08/08 15:28:00 By - Michael Doyle
New U.S. intelligence report warns 'victory' not certain in Iraq
A nearly completed high-level U.S. intelligence analysis warns that unresolved ethnic and sectarian tensions in Iraq could unleash a new wave of violence, potentially reversing the major security and political gains achieved over the last year. | 10/07/08 17:15:00 By - Jonathan S. Landay, Warren P. Strobel and Nancy A. Youssef
Court to decide when public lands management can be challenged
WASHINGTON -- A well-seasoned Sequoia National Forest logging dispute comes to a boil Wednesday, as the Supreme Court considers when activists can challenge the management of federal lands. | 10/07/08 16:24:00 By - Michael Doyle
Judge orders 17 Guantanamo detainees released to U.S.
In a dramatic setback for the Bush administration, a federal judge ordered the U.S. government Tuesday to immediately release and transfer to the United States 17 Chinese-born Muslims detained for almost seven years at Guantanamo. The decision marked the first time a court has ordered the release of Guantanamo detainees into the U.S. | 10/07/08 14:28:00 By - Marisa Taylor
Stevens' friends sought to hide helping senator pay bills
Sen. Ted Stevens' friends went out of their way to help pay his bills, according to court testimony Tuesday, even conspiring to cover up how much money they paid for something as minor as plumbing repairs at the senator's home in Alaska. | 10/07/08 11:22:00 By - Erika Bolstad and Richard Mauer
Market plunge continues, despite Fed's new lending plan
The Dow fell another 508.39 points, or 5.1 percent, Tuesday bringing its decline in the last five trading days to 13 percent. That, despite a major initiative by the Federal Reserve to lend money directly to U.S. businesses in an effort to unclog the frozen credit markets. | 10/07/08 11:09:00 By - Kevin G. Hall
Supreme Court skeptical about smokers' deception claims
The Supreme Court returned to the stage Monday as justices weighed whether state laws can be used to challenge deceptive cigarette advertising. | 10/06/08 15:15:00 By - Michael Doyle
On tape, Stevens professes innocence, worries about jail
Federal prosecutors played secretly recorded conversations from 2006 that showed an occasionally profane Sen. Ted Stevens, irritated with the investigation that led to charges this summer that he took more than $250,000 in gifts — chiefly from Veco Corp. — and lied about them on his Senate financial-disclosure forms. | 10/06/08 14:37:00 By - Richard Mauer and Erika Bolstad
Will new Mars lander be parked or scrapped?
America's next daring adventure on Mars -- a one-ton rolling science laboratory scheduled to launch next October -- is in deep trouble. Huge cost overruns and technical difficulties may cause the $2 billion dollar Mars Science Laboratory to be delayed or cancelled outright, members of a NASA advisory committee were warned last week. | 10/05/08 13:25:00 By - Robert S. Boyd
Split between Georgia, Alabama senators on bailout reflects divide in GOP
WASHINGTON -- In many ways, the congressional battle over the largest federal bailout in U.S. history reflected stark ideological differences among Republicans on whether conservative fiscal principles must yield in resolving the nation's financial crisis. | 10/05/08 06:00:00 By - Halimah Abdullah
Stopgap spending bill contains funds for Washington
WASHINGTON -- Even as Congress and the White House struggled to deal with the nation's mounting financial crisis, President Bush quietly signed a stopgap spending bill last week that provides hundreds of millions of dollars for projects and programs in Washington state. | 10/05/08 06:00:00 By - Les Blumenthal
The bailout bill is now the law. So what happens next?
The $700 billion financial-sector bailout became law Friday, but there's still only a vague idea of how it might work and whether it's enough. A lot of heavy lifting lies ahead. That was evident Friday when stock markets largely ignored passage of the legislation. The Dow finished down 157.47 points, 1.5 percent, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted similar drops. | 10/03/08 18:39:00 By - Kevin G. Hall
Central California lawmakers stick to their guns in bailout
Lawmakers from the San Joaquin Valley on Friday stuck to their previous positions on a financial bailout package whose specific benefits to California residents are still being tallied. | 10/03/08 14:52:00 By - Michael Doyle
Credit crisis deepens as Congress mulls bailout
Stocks fell sharply Thursday, sparked by rising recognition that a freeze is hardening in the vital credit markets that fund daily business operations. September was the worst month on record for corporate credit, the Federal Reserve said, with the amount of credit corporations got to fund their day-to-day operations falling by $153.5 billion, almost $95 billion of that in the last week. | 10/02/08 19:20:00 By - Kevin G. Hall
Four Washington lawmakers pressured to change bailout votes
Just days after they voted against the $700 billion Wall Street bailout, four Washington state lawmakers faced mounting pressure Thursday to change their minds as the House prepared to take up the rescue package again. | 10/02/08 18:56:00 By - Les Blumenthal
What prompted lax oversight? For politicians, a $64 million question
The Wall Street financiers and firms whose problems have prompted a $700 billion federal bailout are no strangers to Capitol Hill or to politics. Since 2001, eight of the most troubled firms have donated $64.2 million to congressional candidates, presidential candidates and the Republican and Democratic parties. | 10/02/08 18:40:00 By - Greg Gordon
House leaders are confident bailout bill will pass this time
Congressional leaders raced Thursday to round up support for a financial-rescue bill on the eve of a crucial Friday vote in the House of Representatives, expressing cautious optimism that House members will reverse themselves and pass the measure. | 10/02/08 16:12:00 By - Dave Montgomery
Merced is No. 2 for foreclosures, but it got no federal funds
Last month, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it was spreading $3.9 billion among all 50 states and numerous cities to help communities buy foreclosed properties, fix them up and sell them. But Merced, Calif., one of the worst hit cities in the country, got no funding. HUD said it was just doing what Congress ordered. | 10/02/08 16:17:00 By - Michael Doyle
Supreme Court's new session to be devoted to business
A business-friendly Supreme Court will start another season Monday on familiar turf — a closely watched case involving cigarette advertising. Chief Justice John G. Roberts has kept the focus on corporate cases during his three-year tenure and this year will continue the trend: of the 41 cases the court's agreed to hear, at least 16 are business cases. | 10/02/08 16:06:00 By - Michael Doyle
Stevens trial to continue despite prosecution errors
Prosecutors seriously bungled evidence and witnesses but Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption trial will proceed as planned, a federal judge ruled Thursday. The case against the Alaska Republican had threatened to collapse earlier in the day when his attorney demanded a mistrial or dismissal of charges over the government's failure to turn over evidence favorable to the senator. | 10/02/08 11:27:00 By - Richard Mauer and Erika Bolstad
Senate passes $810 billion bailout, House vote is uncertain
In a historic vote, the Senate approved a massive $700 billion rescue plan for the nation's finance system Wednesday night, but only after tacking on another $110 billion in tax breaks to lure votes from both parties. A strong bipartisan majority rallied behind the controversial Wall Street bailout package, passing it by 74-25. The vote sends the measure to an uncertain fate in the House of Representatives, where lawmakers rejected the original version on Monday. | 10/01/08 21:34:09 By - Kevin G. Hall and Dave Montgomery
Bailout drama shifts back to House — and Pelosi
After the Senate voted 74-25 Wednesday night to approve a historic $700 billion bailout of the nation's financial industry, the focus will move to the Democratic House speaker, Nancy Pelosi. With a House vote coming as soon as Friday, she will face the toughest test of her two-year leadership tenure as she tries to persuade skeptical colleagues to approve the largest financial bailout in U.S. history. | 10/01/08 21:45:00 By - Rob Hotakainen
Added provisions help convince California's senators to approve bailout
The Senate added hundreds of pages and unrelated sweeteners to an already massive financial rescue package. That helped convince California's senators, both of whom said they would vote for the $700 billion bailout legislation Wednesday night. | 10/01/08 19:16:00 By - Michael Doyle
What's in that Senate bill? Something for everyone
The Senate version of a $700 billion plan designed to rescue the ailing financial sector from potential collapse is virtually identical to large parts of the legislation rejected Monday in the House of Representatives. However, the Senate measure also contained many unrelated measures, including authorization for terrorism investigations. | 10/01/08 18:00:00 By - Kevin G. Hall
Courts: Next president will reshape judiciary from top to bottom
The next president will tip the courts, one way or another. Supreme Court openings are all but guaranteed, and that's just the start: 44 trial and appellate federal judicial vacancies already await filling. There will be more. | 10/01/08 16:20:00 By - Michael Doyle
House honors first climbers to scale El Capitan
Lawmakers who blanched at a $700 billion financial rescue package have found time to honor the brave men who climbed Yosemite National Park's El Capitan peak a half-century ago. Kicking off a round of commemorations, the House approved a resolution saluting three climbers who were the first to scale the world's tallest free-standing granite monolith. A 50th anniversary celebration will be held in Yosemite next month. | 10/01/08 15:39:00 By - Michael Doyle
Stevens, former Veco chief did favors for each other
At its heart, the relationship between Sen. Ted Stevens and the chief of one of Alaska's largest private employers was symbiotic and relatively uncomplicated, federal prosecutors continued to demonstrate Wednesday. | 10/01/08 11:58:00 By - Erika Bolstad and Richard Mauer
FBI won't release details on anthrax suspect
The FBI is declining to release at least 15,000 pages of documents related to the now deceased prime suspect in the 2001 anthrax attacks despite lingering suspicions that the bureau has accused the wrong man. | 09/30/08 18:41:00 By - Marisa Taylor
San Joaquin River maneuvering continues as Congress nears end
Political maneuvering over the San Joaquin River's future continues even as Congress grinds to a halt. | 09/30/08 16:38:00 By - Michael Doyle
Angry voters drove bailout's failure (no mention of Pelosi)
The thousands of Georgians who've phoned, written and e-mailed members of the House of Representatives over the past few days had just one message: Vote against the $700 billion bailout plan for Wall Street ... or else. | 09/30/08 15:27:00 By - Halimah Abdullah
Hearing it from the folks back home
Here's a sampling of constituent messages received by Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson's office, which has received more than 12,000 e-mails, phone calls and faxes on the bailout. | 09/30/08 15:10:00 By -
Ex-Veco chief describes former friendship with Stevens
The self-made Alaska construction executive whose testimony could bring to an end the 40-year Senate career of Ted Stevens took the stand Tuesday in the corruption case against his former fishing buddy and friend. Bill Allen, the founder of Veco Corp. and the star witness in Stevens' trial, spoke fondly and with admiration of the 84-year-old Republican senator. | 09/30/08 15:10:00 By - Richard Mauer and Erika Bolstad
Prosecutor to probe role of politics in attorney firings
Attorney General Michael Mukasey agreed Monday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other officials involved in the firings of nine U.S. attorneys broke the law. | 09/29/08 18:54:00 By - Marisa Taylor and Greg Gordon
Barrett only member of SC delegation to vote against bailout
Defying the White House and the House Republican leadership, Republican Rep. J. Grisham Barrett split from the rest of the South Carolina House delegation Monday and voted against the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry. | 09/29/08 17:17:00 By - Michael Bold
Inslee joins state's three Republicans in voting against bailout package
Washington state's three Republican House members, along with a lone Democrat, opposed a $700 billion bailout of financial markets Monday, saying they couldn't support a package that could leave taxpayers picking up the tab for Wall Street's mess. | 09/29/08 17:03:00 By - Les Blumenthal
Prosecutor to probe White House role in attorney firings
Attorney General Michael Mukasey agreed Monday to appoint a prosecutor to continue investigating the firing of nine U.S. attorneys after the Justice Department's watchdog found "substantial" evidence that partisan politics played a role in some of the ousters. | 09/29/08 11:10:00 By - Marisa Taylor
Prosecution's handling of potential witness angers Stevens trial judge
Sen. Ted Stevens late Sunday accused prosecutors of hiding evidence from a potential witness that would help the Alaska Republican clear his name before the election, and asked a judge to declare a mistrial in his corruption case. | 09/29/08 11:01:00 By - Erika Bolstad and Richard Mauer
Tide flowing for Obama as campaign enters final weeks
Several things still could swing the contest back toward John McCain, most notably the remaining debates. But as of now, forces are coming together to help Barrack Obama just as the long campaign enters the final stretch. | 09/28/08 18:22:00 By - Steven Thomma
Anger at bailout turns on fat salaries for Wall Street execs
Both Democrats and Republicans report that thousands of constituents have called to oppose the Bush administration's bailout. That opposition has increased the stakes as congressional negotiators promise to reach a deal by 6 p.m. Sunday. Some members of Congress clearly are feeling the pressure. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D.-Calif., suggested any executive who keeps his company out of the bailout because of proposed limits on compensation should be "put on his boat" and the boat set on fire at sea. | 09/27/08 16:43:00 By - David Lightman
Out of bounds! Obama camp distorts a GOP leader's remark
Throw the flag on: The Obama campaign. Call: False start. What happened: The campaign sent out a release Friday quoting Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., saying that fellow Republican John McCain killed a bailout deal. | 09/26/08 18:13:00 By - Steven Thomma
California cities, counties to get federal money to help buy foreclosed homes
Sacramento, Modesto and Fresno will be getting new federal funds to help buy up foreclosed homes, the Bush administration announced Friday. | 09/26