Obama administration

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Report Warns Democrats: Forget Biden, Remember Obama

Welcome PAC calls for ditching progressive language, working with Republicans on crime

(Newser) - A new report from a center-left group warns the Democratic Party is alienating voters with its left-wing rhetoric and policies, losing ground with nearly every group except "white liberals." The group, Welcome PAC , spent six months consulting hundreds of thousands of voters and found that 70% see the...

AG Launching Grand Jury Probe Into Obama Officials: Sources

Controversial move comes after Gabbard's comments about 'conspiracy'

(Newser) - Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered a grand jury investigation into whether Obama administration officials broke federal law during their review of Russia's interference in the 2016 election, sparking controversy and criticism from both political parties. Bondi's move, first reported by Fox News and confirmed by a...

Gabbard Accuses Obama Aides of a 'Treasonous Conspiracy'

Intelligence director alleges a 'treasonous conspiracy' to hurt Trump

(Newser) - In a new attempt to discredit the findings that Russia wanted Donald Trump to win the 2016 presidential election, the US director of national intelligence has accused several officials in Barack Obama's administration of participating in a "treasonous conspiracy." Tulsi Gabbard said she'll provide her newly...

Chappelle: I Saw Celebs Leave 'Dirty Notes' for Trump Aides

Comedian describes mischief during one of President Obama's last White House parties

(Newser) - In 2019, then-White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed aides of former President Obama had left disparaging notes around the White House for members of former President Trump's administration to find. At Inauguration Day, "Every office was filled with Obama books, and we had notes left behind that...

Grandma Who Killed Lookalike Faces Another Murder Charge

Lois Riess has been extradited to Minnesota

(Newser) - A Minnesota woman serving life in prison for the murder of a Florida woman who resembled her is back in her home state to face another murder charge. Lois Riess was booked Friday on charges of first and second-degree murder in the March 2018 killing of her husband, David Riess,...

Pompeo: Obama Made a Mess of the Mideast

Says policies led to rise of ISIS, problems with Iran

(Newser) - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a scathing rebuke of the Obama administration's Mideast policies Thursday, denouncing the former president for "misguided" and "wishful" thinking that diminished America's role in the region, harmed its longtime friends, and emboldened its main foe: Iran. In a speech to...

Obama Sets Up Roadblock to Possible Muslim Registry

Post-911 program is officially scrapped

(Newser) - Donald Trump has mused about a registry for Muslims from high-risk nations to Muslims in the US , but an Obama administration move places a bit of a roadblock in his way. The New York Times reports that the Department of Homeland Security is formally ending a post-9/11 program that targeted...

Obama Hits Russia With New Sanctions

But Trump could lift them once he's in office

(Newser) - The Kremlin is threatening to respond in kind after the US imposed new sanctions against Russia on Tuesday. The sanctions go after several businessmen and companies—and they're not over allegations of hacking . Instead, the US is punishing Moscow for what it sees as Russia's illegal incursions in...

Obama Administration Blocks Mining Near Yellowstone

Feds stepping up efforts to stop development

(Newser) - US officials on Monday blocked new mining claims outside Yellowstone National Park as the Obama administration races in its last days to keep industry out of natural and environmentally sensitive areas. Mining claims on 30,370 acres north of the nation's first national park would be prohibited for at...

12 Freed Gitmo Inmates Linked to US Deaths

Sources say former detainees have killed at least 6 in Afghanistan

(Newser) - Information about former Guantanamo Bay detainees who returned to militancy is very slowly leaking out—and it will give ammunition to those fighting to keep the detention center open. Sources tell the Washington Post that around 12 released Gitmo prisoners—all of them freed during the George W. Bush administration—...

'Huge' Win for House GOP in ObamaCare Lawsuit

Federal judge says administration spending on health care subsidies is unconstitutional

(Newser) - In what Politico labels a "huge win" for the House GOP, a federal judge ruled Thursday that the Obama administration is making unconstitutional federal expenditures to maintain the president's ObamaCare law, the AP reports. At issue: $175 billion in so-called "cost-sharing" reimbursements that the government doles out...

White House Rejects $100M Trump Ballroom

Donald Trump says it would be better than tents

(Newser) - The Obama administration said Monday it had turned down Donald Trump's offer to pay for a new $100 million White House ballroom, USA Today reports. "I'm (not) sure it would be appropriate to have a shiny gold 'Trump' sign on any part of the White House,...

Report: US Secretly Tried to Spur a Coup in Syria

Obama administration held secret talks with 'elements of' regime for years

(Newser) - For years, the Obama administration held secret back-channel talks with members of the Syrian regime in the hope of unseating Bashar al-Assad, US and Arab officials tell the Wall Street Journal . The communication came in bursts—sometimes with senior Syrian officials, other times through intermediaries including Russia and Iran. In...

Appeals Court Dumps Ruling Finding NSA Program Illegal

It's a win for the White House

(Newser) - A federal appeals court today ruled in favor of the Obama administration in a dispute over the National Security Agency's bulk collection of telephone data on hundreds of millions of Americans. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed a lower court ruling that said...

FDA: Dump 'Heart Attack' Trans Fats in 3 Years

Obama gives food companies 3 years to phase out artificial trans fats

(Newser) - The Obama administration is cracking down on artificial trans fats, calling them a threat to public health. The FDA said today it will require food companies to phase out the use of artificial trans fats almost entirely. Consumers aren't likely to notice much of a difference, but the administration...

Report: White House Lied About Killing of bin Laden

Journalist Seymour Hersh writes that Pakistan knew al-Qaeda leader's location

(Newser) - A lengthy new report by the investigative journalist Seymour Hersh turns the official account of Osama bin Laden's assassination on its head. In the London Review of Books , Hersh writes that the US didn't, as it has said, discover bin Laden's location through couriers. Instead, top Pakistani...

Emergency Room Visits Rising Under ObamaCare: Poll

Three-quarters of emergency doctors cite increase

(Newser) - Backers of ObamaCare have said it would reduce the number of visits to emergency rooms, the Wall Street Journal notes, but in fact, a poll of ER doctors finds that number has been climbing. "Visits are going up despite the (Affordable Care Act), and in a lot of cases...

US, Afghan Leaders Make Nice Again

John Kerry talks with Ashraf Ghani at Camp David

(Newser) - In a show of unity, US and Afghan officials laid the groundwork for new relations between the two countries today, including plans to seek American funding to maintain an Afghan security force of 352,000 and long-term counterterrorism efforts. Discussions over future US troop levels continue as the war winds...

Obama, Netanyahu, Iran: What You Need to Know

Israeli PM to speak to Congress on Iran as Kerry works for nuke deal

(Newser) - Over the next two days, Washington will be a study in contrasts. Today, President Obama and two key advisers will push for a diplomatic means of avoiding a nuclear Iran; tomorrow, in a controversial speech to Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will push back against the plan, the New ...

Susan Rice Slams Netanyahu Visit as 'Destructive'

Says PM is damaging Israel's relationship with Washington

(Newser) - Controversy has been swirling over the Israeli prime minister's upcoming speech to a joint session of Congress, which John Boehner planned without Obama administration approval and comes shortly before Israeli elections. Now, National Security Adviser Susan Rice is bashing the visit as having "injected a degree of...

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