Barack Obama News
Read news, analysis, and commentary on Barack Obama, his administration’s legacy, and his continuing impact on national debates.
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- News
Conservatives Aim to Block Obama’s Plan for More Refugees
As President Barack Obama used his final address before the United Nations General Assembly to urge world leaders to help protect refugees, Republicans in Congress threatened to use their budget powers to restrict who is admitted into the U.S. While refugee resettlement has enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress historically, some Republicans want confirmation from U.S. intelligence leaders that…Josh Siegel -
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Obama’s Absurd Double Standard on Defense Spending
This week we learned that the Obama administration has requested $2.6 billion in emergency funding for Louisiana flood relief. While the specifics of the Louisiana flood relief request should be thoughtfully considered, the very nature of this request highlights the Obama administration’s absurd double standard on budget issues. Back in July, President Barack Obama announced…Justin Johnson -
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3 International Commitments Obama Wants to Tie the US to Before Leaving Office
Before leaving office, President Barack Obama could commit the United States to two actions affecting its nuclear arsenal, and a third on much smaller weapons. “We will continue to review … steps to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our security strategy,” @StateDept says. Ahead of Obama’s final trip to the United Nations General…Fred Lucas -
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US Has Duty to Ensure Internet Freedom, Cruz Says at Hearing on Obama Plan
The internet, an “oasis of freedom,” could become much less free if the United States doesn’t keep guardianship over it, Sen. Ted Cruz said Wednesday during a hearing on Capitol Hill. “The internet is one of the most revolutionary forces ever unleashed on the world,” Cruz, R-Texas, said during the Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing. “People…Leah Jessen -
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How Hispanics, Blacks Have Fared in Obama Economy
President Barack Obama will be speaking this week for the last time during his presidency to annual dinners for black and Hispanic members of Congress, even as his record for the two largest minority groups in the country is at best questionable, based on government numbers. A Census Bureau report this week found wages have climbed…Fred Lucas -
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Meet Native Americans Fighting Obama’s Push to Conserve Public Land
The latest front in a debate over the reach of U.S. control of federal land is a 1.9 million-acre retreat of mesas and canyons located in Utah’s poorest county. The stakes are large for this remote land, which President Barack Obama is considering designating as a national monument, in his continued pursuit of being the…Josh Siegel -
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Obama’s Parting Gift to Planned Parenthood
What do you give to a cash-flush abortion business and political ally that has everything? More taxpayer dollars, of course. In his remaining few months in the Oval Office, President Barack Obama has found a new way to direct more taxpayer money to his friends at Planned Parenthood. The Department of Health and Human Services…Casey Mattox -
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The Disturbing Steady Drip of Revelations About Obama’s Iran Cash Deal
Allegations that President Barack Obama’s administration doled out ransom payments to Iran in exchange for prisoners have been fueled by new revelations about additional cash payments beyond the initial $400 million transfer that the administration already admitted. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama administration, which had transferred $400 million in European currencies to…James Phillips -
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Back Again: This Time Obama Administration Wants a Taxpayer Bailout for Puerto Rico
Less than two months after Congress passed a package aimed to provide financial relief for Puerto Rico, the Obama administration is already at it again—this time seeking an outright taxpayer bailout for the U.S. territory through additional Medicaid funds and access to the earned income tax credit. Why does Puerto Rico need help? After decades…Rachel Greszler -
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Obama Administration Still Hasn’t Implemented Alert System to Protect Police, 15 Months After It Passed Congress
Following the Dec. 20, 2014, ambush murders of New York Police Department Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, police officers and their supporters called upon Congress and the Obama administration to take action to help reduce the likelihood of similar events occurring in the future. A clarion call was struck for Congress to enact the…Scott Erickson -
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3 Ways Obama’s New Overtime Rule Will Hurt Employees
In an alleged attempt to increase the income of certain salaried employees, the Obama administration issued a new overtime rule, set to take effect Dec. 1, that will almost certainly do more harm than good for the employees it seeks to help. Currently, employers only have to pay the overtime time-and-a-half rate to salaried employees…Rachel Greszler -
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What Obama Is Doing to Seal His Environmental Record
Before his last day in office, President Barack Obama wants to impose new fuel-efficiency standards and establish a green energy plan for North America to top off an environmental legacy including major international agreements and a massive expansion of regulations and subsidies. “He will be leaving office with a very strongly negative legacy,” predicted Nick…Fred Lucas -
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Doctors Sue Obama Administration for Forcing Them to Perform Gender Transition Procedures
Five states and a group of religiously-affiliated hospitals and physicians are suing the Obama administration over a federal mandate that forces doctors to perform gender transition procedures on adults and children against their medical judgment. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in a Texas federal court, attempts to roll back a rule imposed by the Department of…Kelsey Bolar -
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Obama Administration Suffers Loss in Case of Transgender Funeral Director
When families lose loved ones, they often seek out funeral homes for solace and comfort and, for people of faith, spiritual consolation as well. At such a delicate time, the last thing grieving families expect is a debate over whether male funeral home employees should be allowed to dress like women at their loved one’s…Roger Severino -
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Obama’s Cash Deal Encourages Iran to Take More Hostages
The trickle of disturbing leaks about the Obama administration’s flawed and risky Iran policy continues to grow. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that “New details of the $400 million U.S. payment to Iran earlier this year depict a tightly scripted exchange specifically timed to the release of several American prisoners held in Iran.” Although…James Phillips -
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What Buildings Obama’s New Transgender Bathroom Regulation Affects
Biological sex will no longer determine restroom accessibility in thousands of federally operated facilities across the country. A new regulation from the Obama administration allows individuals to use whatever bathroom they decide is consistent with their gender identity when visiting or working at properties managed by the General Services Administration, the government agency responsible for…Philip Wegmann -
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The Sneaky Way Obama Is Hiking Death Taxes
President Barack Obama isn’t afraid to enact his agenda over the will of Congress. At this late stage in his presidency, he’s still overreaching his authority to push through an agenda; his most recent overstep being an effort to unilaterally raise the federal estate tax. Conservatives have successfully lessened the impact of the estate tax,…Curtis Dubay -
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Coalition Urges Congress to Sue Obama Before He Gives Away Control of Internet
Arguing that internet freedom and the constitutional power of the purse are at risk, a coalition of more than two dozen civil society groups and activists are calling on Congress to lawyer up and sue the Obama administration. The Commerce Department has violated federal law, the coalition of groups argued in an Aug. 10 letter…Philip Wegmann -
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Obama Administration Moves Money to Fight Zika, Revealing Untapped Funding
The shifting of $81 million to combat Zika is overdue and demonstrates the Obama administration has had untapped resources to fight the mosquito-borne illness, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said. “For over six months we have been calling on the administration to use every existing resource at their disposal to address this crisis,”…Fred Lucas -
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GOP at Odds Over Post-Election Vote on Obama’s Supreme Court Nominee
While Republican leadership insists that the next president will nominate the ninth justice to the Supreme Court, a cadre of Republican senators is pushing a plan to confirm Merrick Garland if their party fails to take the White House this November. The best contingency plan in case Republicans lose, supporters of the plan argue, is…Philip Wegmann