White House news

• Qatar assures U.S. it is committed to fighting Islamic State

  24-02-2015 22:41
  
  By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Qatar is committed to defeating the Islamic State, its emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, assured U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday in his first official visit to the White House. Obama said the emir committed to fighting Islamic extremists and supporting the moderate opposition in Syria. Qatar is part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State, which controls a wide swath of territory in Syria and Iraq. The two leaders are "deeply
  
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• Republicans are alleging media bias over Rudy Giuliani. Are they right?

  24-02-2015 22:34
  
  The Republican National Committee blasted out a memo to just about everyone in the political world Tuesday morning entitled "Time for 2016 Democrats to Answer." Here's the key bit: 
  A review of news coverage from the last week using the TVEyes media monitoring database reveals that the controversies surrounding the Clinton Foundation’s foreign donations, Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s plot to paint President Obama as anti-Semitic and anti-woman, and Vice President Biden’s Somali cab drive
  
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• White House defends Veterans Affairs head after false statement

  24-02-2015 22:31
  
  By Emily Stephenson and Elvina Nawaguna WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Tuesday defended U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald after he apologized for falsely saying he served in the U.S. special forces, but a top Republican said the incident could hurt trust in the department. McDonald said he recently met a homeless man in Los Angeles who said he served in the special forces. McDonald said he incorrectly responded that he had also served there. McDonald is the
  
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• McConnell Comes Up With a New Anti-Shutdown Tactic

  24-02-2015 22:15
  
  In the past, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has repeatedly stepped in at the last minute to help President Obama and the majority Democrats in the Senate break a political impasse and avert a budgetary or economic crisis. As the Senate’s minority leader, the wily Kentucky Republican did so in the summer of 2011, just hours before the U.S. faced default - and then again in the fall of 2013 when he helped end a 16-day government shutdown. Today, McConnell faces another thorny prospect – this time
  
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• Obama vetoes Keystone XL pipeline bill

  24-02-2015 22:10
  
  By Jeff Mason and Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Tuesday swiftly delivered on his vow to veto a Republican bill approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, leaving the long-debated project in limbo for another indefinite period. The Senate received Obama's veto message and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell immediately countered by announcing the Republican-led chamber would attempt to overturn the veto by March 3. Obama rejected the bill hours af
  
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• Stern Advice - Don't wait for Washington to protect retirement investors

  24-02-2015 22:09
  
  After years of talk about how to protect retirement savers, the White House has gotten behind a Labor Department proposal that would require financial advisers to put clients' interests ahead of their own. Consumer champion Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who says she is not running for president, is doing wall-to-wall media on her view that the government should do more to regulate providers of 401 (k) plans, 403(b) plans and individual retirement accounts. The Supreme Court heard arguments on Tuesday i
  
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• COLUMN-Fiduciary standard for advice is long overdue in U.S.

  24-02-2015 21:59
  
  When you are planning for retirement and ask for advice, whose interest should come first - yours or the financial expert you ask for help? The issue has been kicking around Washington ever since the financial crisis, and it took a dramatic turn on Monday when President Barack Obama gave a very public embrace to an expanded set of fiduciary rules. In a speech at AARP, the president endorsed rules proposed by the Department of Labor that would require everyone giving retirement investment advice
  
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• White House: Obama vetoes Keystone XL pipeline bill

  24-02-2015 21:45
  
  President Barack Obama on Tuesday vetoed a Republican bill approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, the White House confirmed.
  
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• Obama vetoes Keystone pipeline approval bill

  24-02-2015 21:44
  
  President Barack Obama on Tuesday swiftly delivered on his vow to veto a Republican bill approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, leaving the long-debated project in limbo for another indefinite period. The Senate received Obama's veto message and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell immediately countered by announcing the Republican-led chamber would attempt to overturn the veto by March 3. Obama rejected the bill hours after it was sent to the White House.
  
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• Keystone XL bill vetoed by Barack Obama after approval by Congress

  24-02-2015 21:42
  
  U.S. President Barack Obama has vetoed a bill that would have approved construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The move, while expected, is still significant because it is only the third time that the current U.S. president has opted to shoot down a bill passed by Congress. The White House position is that cross-border pipeline permits are a matter for the president to decide — not Congress — and that the Keystone XL bill was an attempt to usurp a presidential responsibility.
  
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• Defying GOP, Obama vetoes Keystone XL pipeline bill

  24-02-2015 21:38
  
  President Barack Obama has vetoed a Republican bill forcing construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The White House sent notice of the veto to the Senate on Tuesday, shortly after the bill was received ...
  
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• NJ's Christie strikes teachers' pension deal, seeks broader pact

  24-02-2015 21:36
  
  By Luciana Lopez Trenton, NJ (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie struck a deal with the state's teachers on a "roadmap" for pension reform while warning of a dire future if other unions do not make similar commitments to cut the surging cost of workers' retirement benefits. The agreement between Christie, a Republican weighing a bid for the White House in 2016 and the New Jersey Education Association, marked a dramatic turn in a long-bitter relationship. Under prop
  
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• White House notifies Senate that Obama has vetoed Keystone XL oil pipeline bill

  24-02-2015 21:33
  
  White House notifies Senate that Obama has vetoed Keystone XL oil pipeline bill.
  
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• McConnell plan moves Senate closer to deal on Homeland Security funding

  24-02-2015 21:17
  
  The Senate moved closer Tuesday to a deal to avert a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security this weekend, but its plan faced an uncertain path in the House.
  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters he was prepared to move swiftly on a bill to extend funding for DHS through the fiscal year that is not contingent on Republican demands to repeal President Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
  
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• US plays down 10-year Iran deal

  24-02-2015 20:47
  
  The White House on Tuesday denied it was seeking a nuclear deal with Iran that would last just 10 years, a timeframe critics say is inadequate. "There are some who are making the case publicly that we are in favor of a deal that would just be 10 years in duration, and that is not accurate," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. Israel and some domestic critics say a decade-long agreement -- even one which on conclusion would leave Iran at least a year away from building a bomb -- op
  
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• Obama hails Qatar as 'strong partner' against Islamic State

  24-02-2015 20:15
  
  US President Barack Obama praised Qatar as a "strong partner" in the fight against Islamic State militants Tuesday, as he hosted Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in the Oval Office. "Qatar is a strong partner in our coalition to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL," said Obama, using another name for the jihadist group. Qatar is host to a large US military base, but the two countries are sometimes uneasy allies. The White House played down allegations that Qatar has itself
  
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• White House defends U.S. VA secretary after false statement

  24-02-2015 19:58
  
  The White House on Tuesday defended U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald after he apologized for falsely saying he served in the U.S. special forces, but a top Republican said the scuffle could hurt trust in the department. McDonald said in a statement on Monday that he had met a homeless man in Los Angeles who said he served in the special forces. McDonald said he incorrectly responded that he had also served there, and he apologized for what he called a "misstatem
  
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• Obama vetoes Keystone XL bill

  24-02-2015 19:55
  
  This post has been updated. 
  
  President Obama has vetoed a bill authorizing the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.
  Congressional Republicans sent a bill authorizing the controversial Keystone XL pipeline to the president's desk Tuesday, setting the stage for the third veto President Obama has issued.
  
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• Senate GOP leader is seeking a way out of Homeland Security funding impasse

  24-02-2015 19:47
  
  The Senate’s top Republican was trying to build support Tuesday for a new plan to avert a partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security on Saturday, but it was unclear whether Democrats and rank-and-file GOP lawmakers would support it.
  
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• White House: U.S. not negotiating 10-year nuclear deal with Iran

  24-02-2015 19:39
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Reports that the United States was negotiating a 10-year nuclear deal with Iran are not true, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States and Iran were exploring the option of a 10-year nuclear freeze as part of talks over Tehran's nuclear program. (Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Bill Trott)
  
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• Lawyer: White House fence jumper expected to take plea deal

  24-02-2015 19:39
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who the Secret Service says scaled a White House fence and dashed into the executive mansion before being caught inside carrying a folding knife is expected to take a plea deal.
  
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• Is this Cuban baseball player worth a 100 percent tax?

  24-02-2015 19:32
  
  The news that the Boston Red Sox are about to sign Cuban import Yoan Moncada is just the latest indication of the changing demographics within Major League Baseball (MLB), as the talent pool is increasingly filling out with some of the island nation’s brightest baseball stars. Moncada, an infielder, has agreed to a deal with a lucrative $31.5 million signing bonus, according to CBSSports.com. Moncada’s payday shattered the previous record for an international signing bonus of $8.25 million w
  
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• Obama to veto Keystone XL pipeline bill Tuesday: White House

  24-02-2015 19:25
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will veto on Tuesday a bill that would have allowed Congress to approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. Earnest said Congress had sent the bill up to the White House. Officials have warned in advance that Obama would veto the measure, which would have circumvented a State Department process, underway for years, to determine whether the project is in the United States' national interest. (Re
  
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• GOP senators eyeing White House runs steering clear of spotlight in DHS debate

  24-02-2015 19:22
  
  Congressional Republicans are locked in a heated debate over how to avert a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, but those among them with an eye on running for president have been mostly playing supporting roles.
  
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• GOP senators eyeing White House runs aren’t seizing spotlight in DHS debate

  24-02-2015 19:22
  
  Congressional Republicans are locked in a heated debate over how to avert a shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, but those among them with an eye on running for president have been mostly playing supporting roles.
  
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• Obama to veto Keystone XL oil pipeline bill on Tuesday

  24-02-2015 19:22
  
  President Barack Obama will veto a Republican bill on Tuesday that would have approved construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The bill arrived at the White House from Congress on Tuesday morning. ...
  
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• Netanyahu vows to do 'everything' to stop Iran deal

  24-02-2015 19:06
  
  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he would do "everything I can" to prevent a nuclear deal between world powers and Iran, a week ahead of travelling to Washington. Netanyahu's government has always opposed a deal with Tehran over its nuclear programme, and he is to address the US Congress on March 3 on the subject, in a move that has angered the White House. "The information which has reached me in recent days greatly strengthens our concerns regarding th
  
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• White House says VA secretary's false statement will not impact work

  24-02-2015 17:47
  
  The White House does not expect U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald's false claim that he served in the U.S. special forces to impact his work, a spokesperson said on Tuesday. "We take him at his word and expect that this will not impact the important work he's doing to promote the health and well-being of our nation's veterans," the spokesperson said. McDonald apologized on Monday for saying he had served in the special forces when he had not. McDonald was confirmed to
  
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• U.S. Senator Warren makes push on middle-class issues

  24-02-2015 17:16
  
  U.S. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has so far brushed aside calls to seek the presidency, launched a campaign on Tuesday to tackle middle-class issues expected to be prominent in the 2016 election and promised to be a "loud" voice in the debate. Warren, a long-time consumer advocate who is often mentioned as a potential White House candidate, said the project was aimed at promoting policies to shift Washington away from corporate lobbyists and instead address education, wage
  
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• Obama to veto Keystone XL bill

  24-02-2015 17:04
  
  This post has been updated. 
  
  Congressional Republicans sent a bill authorizing the controversial Keystone XL pipeline to the president's desk Tuesday, setting the stage for the third veto President Obama has issued.
  
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• Keystone XL bill — a.k.a. veto bait — heads to president’s desk

  24-02-2015 17:04
  
  Congressional Republicans sent a bill authorizing the controversial Keystone XL pipeline to the president's desk Tuesday, setting the stage for the third veto President Obama has issued.
  Addressing the president of the Senate on the floor Tuesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared, "Mr. President, Congress is sending the president another piece of bipartisan legislation today."
  
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• NJ's Christie, teachers mend relations to address pension gap

  24-02-2015 16:17
  
  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has won agreement from the state's teachers union on a "roadmap" for addressing its massive pension problem, a dramatic turn in a long-bitter relationship between the two camps. Christie, a Republican weighing a bid for the White House in 2016, will reveal the development formally in his annual budget address on Tuesday afternoon in Trenton, the state capital, his office said in a statement. Christie and the New Jersey Education Association have had an acrimoni
  
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• Seth Meyers has a couple things to say about Giuliani’s comment that Obama doesn’t love America

  24-02-2015 15:38
  
  [Some of the content in this entry could not be displayed on this device.]
  
  Seth Meyers took on Rudy Giuliani's comments last week that Obama doesn't love America during his "A Couple Things" segment on "Late Night."
  
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• Chicago deciding Mayor Emanuel's re-election fate

  24-02-2015 15:35
  
  CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel hoped to avoid being forced into a runoff as voters headed to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to give the former White House chief of staff a second term.
  
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• Congress sends Keystone bill to Obama, who plans to veto it

  24-02-2015 15:02
  
  House Speaker John Boehner (BAY'-nur) says Congress is sending President Barack Obama legislation to build the Keystone XL pipeline on Tuesday. The White House is indicating Obama will quickly veto it ...
  
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• Jon Stewart on Obama’s case of ‘MSNBCitis’

  24-02-2015 13:54
  
  [Some of the content in this entry could not be displayed on this device.]
  
  
  The Obama administration has been criticized for its refusal to use the term "Islamic" when describing ISIS or terrorism, and Jon Stewart offered his diagnosis for the reason Obama is having trouble with that.
  
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• President Obama will veto the Keystone XL bill today. There’s more of that to come.

  24-02-2015 13:00
  
  At some point over the very short term (perhaps even before you are reading this), President Obama is expected to issue the third veto of his presidency. That veto will terminate the effort of Congressional Republicans (and, fleetingly, former Louisiana senator Mary Landrieu) to force approval of the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to the Gulf Coast.
  
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• A History of the Obama Administration in Three Pens

  24-02-2015 13:00
  
  Remember President Obama's first veto? On Tuesday, Congress sent a bill to the White House that was intended to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline.
  
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• Obama taps Indian Americans to fix things at home and abroad

  24-02-2015 10:10
  
  Washington, Feb 24 (IANS) President Barack Obama, with the largest number of Indian Americans in his administration, keeps dipping into the expanding talent pool of the three million-strong Indian American community, to take care of issues ranging from combating terrorist propaganda abroad to nation's health at home. Last week, after an international conference on terrorism, Obama named Rashad Hussain, a Muslim of Indian heritage, as US Special Envoy and Coordinator for Strategic Counter-Terrori
  
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• UN human rights chief invited to Bangladesh

  24-02-2015 09:26
  
  Dhaka, Feb 24 (IANS) Bangladesh has invited the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein to visit Dhaka and see the human rights situation amid the ongoing political violence, media reported Tuesday. Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said that he had invited him during his meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Washington, bdnews24 reported. "He showed his interest in visiting Bangladesh," Ali said. Ali and the UN chief's meeting was held on the sidelines of t
  
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• Chicago ready to decide Mayor Emanuel's re-election fate

  24-02-2015 07:15
  
  CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel hopes to avoid being forced into a runoff when voters head to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to give the former White House chief of staff a second term.
  
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• The Obama Administration Has Responded Very Differently To Two Recent Immigration Rulings

  24-02-2015 03:22
  
  The Obama administration has had two notably different reactions to two injunctions related to immigration policy, which were handed down by federal judges last week. One critic of relaxed immigration laws says that the two different responses are further proof of the administration’s desire to undermine immigration restrictions. On Monday, the Justice Department announced that it was asking Andrew Hanen, U.S. District Court Judge in Brownsville, Texas, to lift an injunction which threatens to
  
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• Republicans split on DHS funding, edging closer to partial agency shutdown

  24-02-2015 02:43
  
  Congressional Republicans remained sharply divided Monday over how to fund the Department of Homeland Security, prompting White House officials to begin preparations for a potential shutdown of the agency this weekend.
  
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• Kerry names special envoy for LGBT rights

  24-02-2015 01:18
  
  Secretary of State John Kerry has selected an openly gay career Foreign Service officer to serve as the United States’ “heart and conscience” in promoting equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in countries where they are discriminated against.
  
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