White House news

• White House names deputy social secretary to top job

  16-04-2015 23:41
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A former hip-hop journalist who became a White House intern in her 30s was named on Thursday as the new White House social secretary.
  
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• Obama signs bill fixing Medicare doctors' pay

  16-04-2015 23:39
  
  U.S. President Barack Obama signed a bill into law on Thursday that repairs the formula for reimbursing Medicare physicians after Congress, in rare bipartisan fashion, passed a fix earlier this week to prevent a 21 percent cut in doctors' pay. Sitting outside in the White House Rose Garden in his shirt sleeves, Obama said he was signing the bill now rather than waiting for a formal ceremony so it could go into force right away. "This was a bipartisan effort," Obama said, adding he
  
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• Obama nominates Szubin as Treasury undersecretary for terrorism, financial crimes

  16-04-2015 23:39
  
  WASHINGTON, April 16 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday said he would nominate Adam Szubin as Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial crimes, the White House said in a statement. Szubin has been director of the Treasury Department's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence since 2006, where he played a key role in devising U.S. economic sanctions against Iran and Russia. He has been the acting undersecretary since February after Obama picked David Cohen to be deputy
  
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• Russia arms sale to Iran shows economic weakness: US

  16-04-2015 22:54
  
  The White House suggested Thursday that Moscow's move to lift its ban on supplying anti-aircraft systems to Iran shows the weakness of Russia's sanctions-hit economy. This month, Russia lifted a ban on selling Iran its advanced S-300 missile system, triggering concern that this could embolden Tehran in its nuclear stand-off with the West. White House spokesman Josh Earnest reiterated US concerns Thursday, and said the administration had spoken to senior government officials in Russia a
  
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• U.S. lawmakers unveil bill that holds key to Pacific trade deal

  16-04-2015 22:39
  
  By Krista Hughes WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior U.S. lawmakers reached agreement on Thursday on a bill to give the White House "fast track" authority to negotiate a trade pact with 11 other Pacific nations that is central to President Barack Obama's strategic shift toward Asia. The agreement sets the stage for a tough legislative battle over Obama's proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would connect a dozen economies by cutting trade barriers and harmonizing standar
  
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• U.S. charges Florida man who landed helicopter near Capitol

  16-04-2015 22:24
  
  A Florida man who caused a major security scare after landing a small helicopter on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol was charged with two criminal offenses on Thursday and then released pending trial. Douglas Mark Hughes, 61, a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier, faces up to four years in prison on charges of unlawfully operating an unregistered aircraft and violating national defense airspace. Hughes was arrested on Wednesday afternoon after he flew his "gyro copter" over Washington an
  
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• White House calls Grassley comments on Lynch 'duplicitous'

  16-04-2015 22:13
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is using unusually strong language to decry Republican delays in the confirmation of Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch, calling comments by a top Senate Republican "duplicitous."
  
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• Obama recognizes people looking out for working families

  16-04-2015 22:02
  
  President Barack Obama has recognized a dozen people who he says have done extraordinary things to help working families. The group recognized at a White House ceremony Thursday included a Berkeley, California, ...
  
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• U.S. charges Florida man who landed helicopter near U.S. capitol

  16-04-2015 21:51
  
  A Florida man who caused a major security scare after landing a small helicopter on the west lawn of the U.S. capitol was charged with two criminal offenses and then released from U.S. custody on Thursday pending trial. Douglas Mark Hughes, 61, a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier, was charged with unlawfully operating a unregistered aircraft and violating national defense airspace. Aircraft are banned from flying in the area of the Capitol and the White House without permission. Attending the hea
  
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• White House promotes deputy social secretary to top job

  16-04-2015 21:19
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — There's a new social director at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
  
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• Lorne Michaels and ‘SNL’ Cast: Bruce Jenner Jokes Are Not Off Limits

  16-04-2015 21:15
  
  When it comes to Saturday Night Live very few topics are off limits -- including Bruce Jenner’s reported gender transition. While the long-running sketch comedy series -- currently celebrating its 40th anniversary -- has dealt with controversy before, jokes about the Olympic athlete-turned-reality star may prove tricky.  “Nothing is really off limits if we have a take on it that I think is original and funny,” Lorne Michaels told ET Wednesday’s world premiere of the documentary, Live fr
  
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• White House: No vote of confidence for embattled drug chief

  16-04-2015 20:59
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is declining to give a vote of confidence to the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration amid allegations that agents attended sex parties with prostitutes while stationed overseas.
  
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• Sister says imprisoned U.S-Egyptian just an "idealistic guy"

  16-04-2015 20:43
  
  * Salah and Mohamed Soltan sentenced on Saturday * White House has condemned decision against son, a U.S. citizen * Sister says Mohamed not Brotherhood, helped foreign journalists By Sylvia Westall CAIRO, April 16 (Reuters) - From her home in Washington DC, Hanaa Soltan said she felt an overwhelming sense of grief when an Egyptian court condemned her father to death and her U.S-Egyptian brother to life in jail for involvement in the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Salah and Mohamed Soltan, sentence
  
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• White House mum on DEA chief after sex party scandal

  16-04-2015 20:30
  
  The White House sidestepped questions on Thursday about whether President Barack Obama retains confidence in the chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration after an investigation found DEA agents took part in sex parties with prostitutes in Colombia. The Justice Department's internal watchdog found that 10 DEA agents participated in the parties, paid for by drug cartels. A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House of Representatives have said they have lost confidence in DEA chief Michel
  
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• As mini-copter slips through DC defenses, many ask: How?

  16-04-2015 20:04
  
  By brazenly flying a mini-helicopter through Washington's no-fly zone and landing it on the US Capitol lawn, a 61-year-old pilot stunned the security world and prompted the question: Why wasn't he detected? The city essentially became fortress Washington after the 9/11 attacks of 2001, when the military added Humvee-mounted Avenger missile launchers, intensified aircraft detection systems and integrated air security operations. A huge hovering radar blimp casts a protective eye over th
  
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• White House expresses concerns about DEA after sex party scandal

  16-04-2015 19:52
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House spokesman Josh Earnest declined to say whether President Barack Obama retains confidence in Drug Enforcement Administration chief Michele Leonhart after reports that DEA agents took part in sex parties with prostitutes in Colombia. "We do have concerns about what's been reported by the Office of the Inspector General," Earnest told reporters at a briefing, referring to the internal watchdog at the Justice Department that detailed the allegations.
  
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• White House urges orderly resolution of Greek economic situation

  16-04-2015 19:30
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday it is in the best interests of the global and U.S. economies for Greece to resolve its economic issues in an orderly fashion. "The world economy ...
  
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• U.S. House passes estate tax repeal despite veto threat

  16-04-2015 18:58
  
  The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday ignored a White House veto threat and passed legislation to repeal the estate tax that hits inherited assets worth $5.4 million or more. By a mostly partisan 240-179 vote, the Republican-backed bill will be sent to the Senate, where Democrats are expected to use procedural hurdles to try to block it. House passage was timed for the week when most Americans file their tax returns. Every American deserves the ability to pass their life’s savings to t
  
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• Clinton endorses Elizabeth Warren for Time magazine

  16-04-2015 17:36
  
  By Jonathan Allen NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton made her most ringing endorsement yet of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren's efforts to tamp down on "Wall Street's irresponsible risk taking" in a two-paragraph Time magazine article on Thursday. "She never hesitates to hold powerful people's feet to the fire: bankers, lobbyists, senior government officials and, yes, even presidential aspirants," Clinton, the clear front-runner to win the Democratic nomination
  
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• Hillary Clinton Presidency: We need to talk about Hillary and domestic violence claims

  16-04-2015 16:53
  
  It's official, Hillary Clinton is running for the Democratic presidential nomination and ultimately gunning for the White House. There is of course no shortage of malicious fiction and conspiracy theories surrounding Hillary Rodham Clinton. As Lydia Smith noted this week, Clinton will need to stand not only against her political and ideological rivals, but against pervasive, undisguised misogyny. Her supporters would doubtless like to file allegations about her violent temper among the dive
  
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• FTC Orlando Hosts Largest Educational Conference in Florida of Drupal Web Developers

  16-04-2015 16:03
  
  The event comes on the heels of the White House's launch of the TechHire initiative, which seeks to fill more than 400,000 IT jobs. It is estimated that 4,300 of those are in Central Florida. Drupal is a popular, free content management system. "This truly is a gathering of the minds that make the world move and we are proud to be hosting it," said FTC President David Ruggieri of the event held April 11-12.
  
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• Super PAC formed to help Wisconsin's Walker in '16 campaign

  16-04-2015 15:54
  
  MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Scott Walker's expected campaign for the White House got a boost Thursday as his former campaign managers formed a political group able to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money.
  
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• Obama warns against Ebola complacency despite 'major progress'

  16-04-2015 03:36
  
  Washington, April 16 (IANS) Despite "major progress" in the fight against Ebola, US President Barack Obama has warned against complacency and said the goal now is to get to zero cases. Obama on Wednesday made the remarks at the White House while meeting with the presidents of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, the three West African countries hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak, Xinhua reported. This virus is unpredictable." He said the international community "has to remain fully engaged in a part
  
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