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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- Opinion
Obama’s Visit to Argentina: An Opportunity for Increased Free Trade
President Obama’s travels to Latin America this week included a visit to Argentina and its newly elected president, Mauricio Macri. New leadership in Argentina presents new possibilities for increased cooperation with the United States, including the expansion of bilateral trade. According to Argentine Ambassador Martín Lousteau, speaking about current trade between the two nations at…Tori K. Smith -
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Conservatives Raise Alarms Over Liberal Record of Obama’s Supreme Court Pick
President Obama nominated a longtime federal appeals court judge to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia. But even before the announcement became official Wednesday morning, conservative groups quickly expressed concern. Conservatives raised the alarm that the nominee was unacceptable as word leaked that Merrick Garland, chief judge of the…Philip Wegmann -
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Why This Lone Democrat Opposed Obama’s New Education Secretary
John King Jr.’s leadership of New York’s education department led one Democratic senator to vote against King’s confirmation as President Barack Obama’s pick for education secretary. The Senate confirmed, with a 49-40 vote Monday evening, King to head the Department of Education. “John King’s tenure in New York was very adversarial, leaving families, students and…Leah Jessen -
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Obama’s Clean Power Plan Will Destroy Navajo Nation Jobs
The federal government and its allies are choosing dubious environmental prescriptions to effectively impose a new tax on electricity, increasing the costs of energy on all Americans and businesses. These added costs will especially impact middle- and low-income families and those seniors on fixed incomes. When running for office in 2008, President Barack Obama famously remarked,…Chuck DeVore -
- Opinion
Obama’s Campaign Against EU Independence Unlikely to Sway Brits
For the past two days, I’ve been speaking at the Freedom Festival, an annual gathering of conservative and libertarian activists organized by the Freedom Association in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. The mood at the Festival is a lot like that in the United States: No one has a good word for the…Ted Bromund -
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Congress Should Prevent ‘Midnight Regulations’ in Obama’s Last Year
As President Barack Obama’s term of office comes to a close, a new issue percolates in Washington: What end-of-term rules (also known as midnight regulations) will his administration produce? Given the president’s prolific executive lawmaking, will Congress be able to stop them? “The federal lawmaking process should be simple,” says Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla. “The…John-Michael Seibler -
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Fear of Undermining Iran Deal Complicates Obama Administration’s Response to Missile Tests
The Obama administration’s careful reaction to Iran’s latest round of ballistic missile tests showcases the difficult balance the United States and its allies face in deciding how forcefully to push back, without undermining last summer’s nuclear deal. Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s missile tests conducted by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran did not violate the…Josh Siegel -
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Warning Signs About Failed Co-Ops Ignored by Obama Administration, Senate Report Says
The Obama administration ignored warnings from a private consulting firm about the viability of nonprofit insurance companies created under Obamacare, which could ultimately cost the taxpayers $1.2 billion doled out in loans to 12 of the insurers. According to the study from Republicans on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Deloitte Consulting evaluated loan applications…Melissa Quinn -
- Opinion
Obama’s Amnesty Loophole
Speaking from the White House Rose Garden on July 15, 2012, President Barack Obama promised the American people about his new Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, “Now, let’s be clear—this is not amnesty; this is not immunity. This is not a path to citizenship.” Now, more than ever, the president’s statement has proven to…Sen. Mike Lee -
- Opinion
Sen. Ben Sasse: Obama Has ‘Wreaked Havoc’ on America
Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., says it’s one thing to be anti-establishment and another to know how to ensure that America remains great for future generations. President Obama “has wreaked such havoc on America,” Sasse said in my interview with him. “America is in dire times,” the freshman U.S. senator told me, fresh off his speech at…Genevieve Wood -
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Congress Plans Fight on Obama Administration’s Illegal Diversion of $3.5 Billion to Insurers
The fight over whether the Obama administration broke the law by prioritizing insurers over billions of dollars in payments to the U.S. Treasury through a program implemented under Obamacare is only beginning. Following the release of a memo from the Congressional Research Service last week, Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee pressed Health…Melissa Quinn -
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Senate Republicans Still Open to Lower-Court Obama Nominees
Republicans haven’t completely closed the tap on the Senate’s pipeline for judicial nominees. While they vow to halt confirmation of any Supreme Court pick by President Obama, they say they won’t completely freeze out his district or circuit court nominees. That’s consistent in the minds of senior GOP senators. There’s a distinction, they argue, between…Philip Wegmann -
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Conservative Lawmaker’s Bill Would Push Back Against Obama’s Executive Overreach
Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., is still angry about the omnibus spending bill that passed through Congress more than two months ago. Buck is frustrated—not only by what Congress included in the massive $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill, but also by what Congress intentionally left out. He wants the legislature to reassert its rule-making authority by…Philip Wegmann -
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House Republicans Vow to Scuttle Boehner-Obama Spending Levels
The largest Republican caucus in Congress has thrown its weight behind a proposal to reduce spending significantly and scrap a 2015 budget deal. With that move, the conservative-leaning Republican Study Committee brings additional urgency to an ongoing budget battle in Congress. House Speaker Paul Ryan wants to keep in place spending levels in the Bipartisan…Philip Wegmann -
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Is Obama Administration Plan for Puerto Rico a ‘Bailout’? Congress Debates Action on Debt Crisis
The Obama administration is proposing a plan to help Puerto Rico with its debt crisis, framing the issue as a bipartisan responsibility owed by the U.S. government and Congress to an island that has 3.5 million American citizens. Though the administration says its proposal stops short of being a direct federal bailout, it remains an…Josh Siegel -
- Opinion
Obama’s Strategic Defense Funding Plan
Early in February, the Obama administration released its fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget request. In the budget request, the president continues to fund a number of essential nuclear weapon modernization and sustainment programs. The significance of these programs is likely to increase in coming years, as Russia continues to increase reliance on its rapidly expanding…Michaela Dodge -
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Gov. Brian Sandoval Backs Out as Obama’s Possible Supreme Court Pick
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican, has taken his name out of contention in President Obama’s search for a nominee to fill the current Supreme Court vacancy. In a statement Sandoval provided Thursday to Nevada political reporter and commentator Jon Ralston, the governor said: Earlier today, I notified the White House that I do not wish to be…Natalie Johnson -
- Opinion
Voters, Not Obama, Should Decide Future of Supreme Court
The last time voters had the opportunity to show the direction they’d like to see the country go, they voted against the one President Barack Obama was taking. That’s why it’s hard to see how allowing him to pick Justice Antonin Scalia’s successor and shape the direction of the Supreme Court for the next decade…Genevieve Wood -
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Progressives Rip GOP’s ‘Unconstitutional’ Blocking of Obama Supreme Court Nominee
Senate Republicans are abusing their constitutional authority by “blockading” any Supreme Court nominee put forward by President Barack Obama, progressive legal experts said Wednesday. “This is not just an instance of the Senate refusing to do its duty. This is actually better understood as an unconstitutional power grab by the Senate,” Edward Fallone, an associate professor…Natalie Johnson -
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Lawmakers: Obama Administration Illegally Diverted Billions Intended for US Treasury to Insurers
Republicans on Capitol Hill are questioning the legality of a move by the Obama administration to give billions to insurers under a program implemented under Obamacare that they say is equal to an insurer bailout. At issue for lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee is whether the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services…Melissa Quinn