White House news

• Obama administration asks judge to speed up immigration decision

  05-03-2015 23:55
  
  By Julia Edwards WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration asked a federal judge in Texas to decide by Monday whether he will put on hold his prior decision to block the White House's executive orders on immigration, or at least limit the impact to Texas. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, a city along the border with Mexico, issued a temporary court order last month halting President Barack Obama's orders that would have shielded millions of illegal immigrants from
  
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• Rep. Andy Harris, considering Senate run, floats defunding the White House

  05-03-2015 23:51
  
  Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski's surprise retirement has touched off the political derby of a generation in Maryland, and while it's the Democrats' 2016 machinations that are most closely watched, Republicans are joining in, too.
  
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• Why Congress Thinks Obama Isn’t a War President

  05-03-2015 23:45
  
  Though Congress seems incapable of coming to a decision on how to address concerns about authorization for the fight against ISIS, some members of both parties are anxious to see the U.S. deepen its involvement in a different conflict.  They want to supply Ukraine with advanced defensive weaponry to help the country stem the ongoing slaughter by Russian troops. On Thursday, Politico reported on the deepening divide between Republicans and Democrats in Congress over the president’s authority t
  
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• U.S. Vice President Biden, Ukraine's Yatseniuk discuss crisis - White House

  05-03-2015 22:47
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk on Thursday to discuss the ongoing crisis in Eastern Ukraine and the recent passage of economic reforms, the White House said. Biden and Yatseniuk talked about concerns that Russian-backed separatists continue to attack Ukrainian forces, refuse to allow international monitors into territory they control, and have not allowed rescue workers to help at a coal mine explosion, the White House sa
  
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• Funds flowing to My Brother's Keeper after first year

  05-03-2015 22:24
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Even more money than expected has been committed to President Barack Obama's initiative aimed at helping young men of color, White House officals said Thursday.
  
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• Lynch’s AG nomination slowly moving past bipartisan hurdles

  05-03-2015 21:39
  
  Loretta Lynch, poised to make history as the nation's first African American female attorney general, has been caught in a bipartisan political trap that has left her nomination lingering for a historically long time.
  
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• The Ferguson emails show how little race and racism have changed in the Obama era

  05-03-2015 21:19
  
  The Department of Justice's report on the Ferguson police department will likely be one of the most well-read documents to come out of the Obama administration. Yes, it serves as a window into how African Americans, at least in on in one small mid-western city, were treated by people who are paid to protect and serve them. But it is also has -- and will continue  -- to spark a broader conversation about race in the era of the nation's first black president.
  
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• The Ferguson e-mails show how little race and racism have changed in the Obama era

  05-03-2015 21:19
  
  The Department of Justice's report on the Ferguson Police Department will likely be one of the most well-read documents to come out of the Obama administration. Yes, it serves as a window into how African Americans, at least in on in one small Midwestern city, were treated by people who are paid to protect and serve them. But it is also has sparked -- and will continue to -- a broader conversation about race in the era of the nation's first black president.
  
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• Aide: Indonesian leader to visit White House in June

  05-03-2015 19:52
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The chief of staff of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo says the Indonesian leader is expected to visit the White House in early June to forge closer ties with the U.S.
  
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• U.S. ambassador to South Korea to return to work as soon as possible: White House

  05-03-2015 19:06
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert, who underwent surgery after being attacked by a Korean nationalist in Seoul on Thursday, will return to work as soon as he can, a top White House adviser said. "I expect he'll be back on his feet and in his job as soon as possible," Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, told MSNBC in an interview. (Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Emily Stephenson)
  
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• The former spy who infiltrated Congress’s cyber policy debate

  05-03-2015 18:18
  
  Then, after nine years as a spy, Will Hurd turned to defending against virtual attacks in the private sector. Now, Representative Hurd is in Washington, bringing tech expertise to policy issues on Capitol Hill. With key technical and security positions on House committees, Hurd says he'll attempt to bridge the gap between the intelligence community and the private sector on legislative issues. Passcode recently spoke with Hurd about President Obama's cybersecurity plans and National Security A
  
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• Exclusive: White House mulled, then balked at curbing explosive gas on oil trains

  05-03-2015 16:35
  
  By Patrick Rucker WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration weighed national standards to control explosive gas in oil trains last year but rejected the move, deciding instead to leave new rules to North Dakota alone. Current and former administration officials told Reuters that they were unsure of federal jurisdiction to force the energy industry to drain volatile gas from crude oil originating in North Dakota's fields. Instead, they opted to back North Dakota's effort to remove
  
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• Hillary Clinton Benghazi e-mails: Democrats predict 'death by 1,000 cuts' after latest Clinton scandal

  05-03-2015 15:21
  
  Suddenly, Democrats across America are asking themselves today: "Ugh, do we really want to do THIS for the next two years? Hillary Rodham Clinton, who political pundits for months - years even - have deemed the de facto Democratic presidential nominee, has plunged into a pair of downright Clintonian scandals that threaten to dash her hopes to win the White House in 2016. "This is real, and this is serious," said an official in the Democratic Party, who asked to go unnamed. Hard on
  
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• Source: Obama counsel not aware of Clinton's email practice

  05-03-2015 13:08
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House counsel's office was not aware when Hillary Rodham Clinton was secretary of state that she relied solely on a private email account.
  
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• Easter Seals Joins 'The Campaign To Change Direction' To Change The Way America Addresses Mental Health

  05-03-2015 12:00
  
  WASHINGTON, March 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Easter Seals announced today their involvement with 'The Campaign to Change Direction,' a national initiative to create a new story in America about mental health, mental illness and wellness. As part of the collective effort led by Give an Hour, Easter Seals joined 50 other campaign partners in this effort with its pledge to bring the 'Campaign to Change Direction' movement to its network of military families, individuals with special needs, affiliates
  
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• Emirates Airline president plans talks in Washington over subsidy row

  05-03-2015 11:52
  
  Emirates Airline President Tim Clark plans talks with officials in Washington in two weeks' time to help formulate its response to allegations by U.S. airlines of unfair subsidies awarded to Gulf airlines, he said on Thursday. Delta Air Lines Inc, United and American Airlines have asked the White House to look into the financial statements of competitors from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which they accuse of receiving more than $40 billion in government subsidies since 2004. The Gulf carr
  
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• The EU could introduce tough new restrictions on drone ownership

  05-03-2015 11:35
  
  Flickr/Mauricio Lima The EU has been urged to start getting serious about drone ownership, and the House of Lords EU Committee has suggested that it starts by creating a register of everyone who owns a drone in Europe. The BBC reports that new measures are being considered to control how drones are sold, owned and flown within Europe.  One of the proposals is that anyone who owns a drone would have to register it online, so that it’s possible to monitor what drones are being flown in Europe.
  
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• Clinton emails inject Obama's administration into 2016 fray

  05-03-2015 09:12
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton's use of private email has thrust the Obama administration into the 2016 presidential campaign fray, forcing the White House to defend — or at least explain — the former secretary of state's conduct.
  
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• Obama names Indian American investor as IMF director

  05-03-2015 06:32
  
  Washington, March 5 (IANS) President Barack Obama has nominated Sunil Sabharwal, an independent Indian American investor in the payments sector, as US Alternate Executive Director at International Monetary Fund for a term of two years. The White House sent Sabharwal's nomination to the Senate on Wednesday. Sabharwal, who has been an independent investor since 2006, was the chairman of the Board of Ogone, a European ecommerce payment services company, from 2011 to 2013, according to the White Hou
  
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• Amid Clinton controversies, Democrats seek alternative

  05-03-2015 05:42
  
  Democratic activists in early presidential nominating states say that new controversies swirling around Hillary Rodham Clinton have made them more eager than ever for alternatives in 2016.
  The undercurrent of anxiety about Clinton’s vulnerabilities has grown in recent days with potentially damaging news of foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation and the former secretary of state’s use of private e-mail accounts to conduct official business.
  
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• Knife-wielding attacker slashes face of U.S. ambassador in South Korea

  05-03-2015 03:12
  
  By James Pearson and Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert was slashed in the face by a Korean nationalist but was not seriously hurt during an attack at a breakfast forum held in the capital on Thursday to discuss Korean reunification, police and witnesses said. U.S. President Barack Obama quickly called Lippert to wish him a speedy recovery, a White House official said. In 2010, Kim tried to attack the Japanese ambassador to Seoul by throwing a piece of conc
  
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• Amid Clinton controversies, Democrats yearn for an alternative

  05-03-2015 02:42
  
  Democratic activists in early presidential nominating states say that new controversies swirling around Hillary Rodham Clinton have made them more eager than ever for alternatives in 2016.
  The undercurrent of anxiety about Clinton’s vulnerabilities has grown in recent days with potentially damaging news of foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation and the former secretary of state’s use of private email accounts to conduct official business.
  
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• White House counts on Sen. Wyden to deliver on a trade deal

  05-03-2015 02:34
  
  Three weeks ago, Sen. Ron Wyden got an unlikely phone call. On the line was President Obama, who last year helped foil the Oregon Democrat’s plans to shepherd a modest tax bill through Congress.
  Obama was calling to thank Wyden for his support of the president’s sweeping trade agenda which, in a reflection of the topsy-turvy politics of the issue, has drawn support from Republican leaders and staunch objections from many Democrats.
  
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• U.S. ambassador to South Korea attacked during speech

  05-03-2015 01:35
  
  The U.S. State Department said the American ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, was injured in an assault during a breakfast speech in Seoul but that his injuries were not life threatening. "We strongly condemn this act of violence," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said, adding Lippert was being treated at a hospital. President Barack Obama called Lippert to wish him a speedy recovery, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said.
  
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• US warns Tikrit offensive must not fuel sectarianism

  05-03-2015 01:33
  
  The United States on Wednesday warned an offensive to retake control of the Iraqi city of Tikrit from Islamic State militants must not fuel sectarian tensions. "It is important -- and (Iraqi) Prime Minister (Haider al-)Abadi himself has indicated... that this operation should not be used as an excuse or as cover for individuals taking sectarian-motivated retribution," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. US forces are not involved in the operation, which is being carried out by an
  
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• U.S. ambassador to South Korea slashed in face by assailant

  05-03-2015 01:22
  
  By James Pearson and Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert was slashed in the face by a Korean assailant at a breakfast forum in the capital early on Thursday, police and a witness said, but was not seriously wounded. Lippert, 42, was bleeding from a facial wound but was walking after the attack as he was taken to the hospital. He was later reported to be in a stable condition. A White House official in Washington said Lippert's injuries were not life-thr
  
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• Obama has called U.S. ambassador to South Korea: White House

  05-03-2015 01:11
  
  President Barack Obama has called Mark Lippert, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, to wish him a speedy recovery, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said on Wednesday after the envoy was slashed in the face in Seoul. "The President called U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Mark Lippert, to tell him that he and his wife Robyn are in his thoughts and prayers, and to wish him the very best for a speedy recovery," Meehan said.
  
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• Injuries 'not life-threatening' for U.S. ambassador to South Korea - White House

  05-03-2015 00:58
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to South Korea has been injured, but his injuries are not life threatening, a White House official said on Wednesday, speaking on background. Ambassador Mark Lippert, 42, was attending a breakfast forum in central Seoul when an unidentified assailant attacked him, slashing him in the face, a witness at the event told Reuters. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
  
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• House committee subpoenas e-mails from Clinton’s personal account

  05-03-2015 00:40
  
  A House investigative committee issued subpoenas late Wednesday afternoon to the State Department, seeking a deeper look into former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton’s nearly exclusive use of personal e-mails to do her official business during her tenure, the committee confirmed Wednesday.
  
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• 13 Kardashian Spin-Offs Starring Kendall and Kylie Jenner We’d Actually Watch

  05-03-2015 00:06
  
  Another day, another new Kardashian spinoff on E! How many Kardashian spinoffs are they at now? How do they even have time for other programming? Has Guiliana Rancic considered changing her name to Guiliana Kardashian to ensure job security? Maybe she should... Anyway, following word that the Kardashians have agreed to be kept up with for an additional three years and Bruce Jenner has possibly already scored an offshoot series, Variety reports the network is mulling another spinoff for youngest
  
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