Washington Takeout: Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich explains how the oil spill that threatens the business and environment of the Gulf Coast region is also threatening Congressional Democrats who hoped to pass a sweeping energy and climate reform bill. Listener Responses: We hear what you had to say about the Times Square bomb attempt and […]
Yesterday, in a bipartisan vote, the House of Representatives rejected all $940 billion worth of the farm bill. Democrats opposed the bill because it cut food stamps for low-income families by $20.5 billion over a decade. On the other hand, Republicans were upset that the bill didn’t cut enough. The result was 195 yeas and […]
With so much before it once again, the court has once again held off on issuing 2 expected decisions on gay marriage and 1 on voting rights, it seems to have avoided a big decision in the affirmative action case fisher versus the University of Texas… Despite having so much before it, the U.S. Supreme […]
Yesterday N.S.A. director Keith Alexander testified before a Senate committee in a previously-scheduled hearing about cyber-security. It was the first time an N.S.A. official was asked to publicly face Congress since the story broke. Though the hearing largely stayed on topic, lawmakers did use the opportunity to pepper him with at least a few questions about […]
This week, three major scandals have picked up steam in Washington: the I.R.S. unfairly targetomg conservative groups, the Department of Justice’s subpoena of journalists’ phone numbers and last year’s attacks on the U.S. compound in Benghazi. Amid the back and forth, our partner the New York Times asks the question: How can a president with grand […]
On Monday, New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee introduced a bill that would allow the US to provide weapons to the Syrian opposition. He spoke to Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich about the proposed legislation.