The majority of voters did not vote for Donald Trump for president; the majority of voters did not vote for Republican candidates for the Senate; and fewer than 51% of voters cast their ballots for Republican candidates for the House of Representatives. The Republican Party now controls the White House, both houses of Congress and the Supreme Court, no matter how that came to be. I believe it is worth bearing in mind that a majority of U.S. citizens did not support the Republican winners.   read more

Ireland has not had an American ambassador for 14 months. The fault lies squarely with President Barack Obama, who has not nominated a replacement. The White House offered no explanation for the delay. Officials in Canada also complained about the eight-month delay in their country getting a new U.S. ambassador. But Obama was not to blame for this one. Bruce Heyman's confirmation vote before the full Senate was delayed by partisan politics. He was finally confirmed on March 12.   read more

Among the more prominent violations during the period studied: The production of the “torture memos” by George W. Bush Administration-era Justice Department officials Jay Bybee and John Yoo. Bybee is now a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Yoo is a professor at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law.   read more

Since John Roberts was confirmed as chief justice, cases in which the Chamber has an interest have gone the pro-business group’s way 72% of the time, according to the Constitutional Accountability Center. This compares to a 56% win rate from 1994 to 2005 when William Rehnquist, like Roberts a Republican appointee, ran the court. So far this term, the Chamber has come out ahead on seven of eight cases in which it’s involved.   read more

Con men scammed more than $1.6 billion in 2013, according to a report by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). This does not include identity theft complaints. Victims lost an average of $2,294 in scams. Forty percent of fraud victims were initially contacted by telephone and 33% by email. The Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN), a database the FTC maintains for the use of law-enforcement agencies, reports that identity theft was the top crime reported, with 14% of the 2.1 million complaints.   read more

The bulk of his time,Wright said, was spent trying to cut through the bureaucracy run by Assistant Secretary for Health Howard Koh, for whom Wright worked. One example cited by Wright involved his efforts to fill the post of an ORI division director. He says he was told by Koh’s deputy, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Wanda Jones, that the position Wright wanted to fill was on a secret priority list and he was not allowed to know where that position fell on the list.   read more

In 2011, she was appointed assistant secretary of defense for Global Strategic Affairs (GSA). In that post, Creedon has overseen such policy issues as cybersecurity for the Department of Defense (DOD), nuclear weapons, missile defense and countering weapons of mass destruction. As part of her position as assistant secretary of defense, she has been co-leader of a Pentagon team reviewing recent problems with Air Force nuclear missile crews.   read more

The company also will have the chance to bid on government contracts. It is currently the second largest oil producer in the Gulf—next to Royal Dutch Shell—having drilled 63.6 million barrels in 2013 at Gulf sites leased before the disaster. The lifting of restrictions comes just in time for BP, as the Department of the Interior plans on March 19 to auction oil and gas leases covering more than 40 million acres in the Gulf.   read more

The repeal would not apply to the death sentence of Michael Addison, who was convicted of killing Manchester Police Officer Michael Briggs in 2006. He is scheduled to be the first person to be executed in New Hampshire in 75 years. Hassan’s support of the bill is contingent on Addison’s life not being spared; otherwise she promised to veto it.   read more

Whitaker said the plane piloted by his father disappeared somewhere over Spain in October 1980. The plaintiff seems to suspect that some of the DC-3s he has sought information on were used by the CIA in its covert operations. His FOIA request to the spy agency asked for any information that would reveal whether “any of these persons or aircraft were later found to be employed or contracted by the CIA for service in Central America or elsewhere.”   read more

Cocaine consumption dropped by 50% between 2006 and 2010. Marijuana use, on the other hand, increased by 30% during the period covered by the study. Heroin use remained fairly constant, with a slight rise beginning in 2008. Methamphetamine use peaked in 2005, but the study did not account for users who produce their own drugs. Also the data was drawn primarily from urban areas, and meth use is thought to be more prevalent in rural areas.   read more

Regulators wrote that they had found two cattle heads with eye cancer and that some of the meat shipped was “likely affected with epithelioma of the eye.” Federal investigators told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that the heads were cut off to remove the evidence. The USDA has announced that, in an unusual move, it is conducting a criminal investigation and may actually hold someone accountable.   read more

Sen. Dianne Feinstein has known about the records and asked the White House repeatedly for them. But Obama has refused to allow the committee to examine them. Obama has not exercised a claim of executive privilege to keep the documents hidden. Instead, the White House has just sat on them. “These documents certainly raise the specter that the White House has been involved in stonewalling the investigation,” said Brennan Center's Elizabeth Goitein.   read more

Not even a downturn in profits can dissuade Wall Street from rewarding itself with higher bonuses. Last year, Wall Street’s shrinking pool of workers enjoyed on average a 15% bump in bonuses. The average bonus climbed to $164,530 in 2012, making it the largest bonus since 2007, the year before the financial crisis. Although Wall Street produces only 5% of the New York City’s jobs, it accounts for 22% of its wages.   read more

Millions of Americans stand to receive overtime pay as a result of President Obama’s new labor proposal that targets workers deemed “executive or professional” by their companies. The White House decided to go this route after Republicans refused to support legislation raising the minimum wage. Administration officials argue the government needs to act to help workers whose wages have stagnated, while corporate profits have soared since the Great Recession.   read more

A special military board to review cases of Guantánamo detainees has ruled for the first time that a prisoner remain behind bars indefinitely. The board decided that Abdel Malik al-Rahabi, of Yemen, should not go free in order to “protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States.” Rahabi told the board that he had no desire to harm the U.S. or Americans, and that he just wanted to return home to his family and go back to farming.   read more

Clozapine can cause serious side effects, including seizures and heart-muscle inflammation. Psychiatrist Michael Reinstein was found to have prescribed more clozapine to patients in Medicaid’s Illinois program than all of the doctors in the Medicaid programs of Texas, Florida and North Carolina combined. He also prescribed the drug to Medicare patients, despite its risks to the elderly. At least three of the doctor’s patients died of clozapine intoxication.   read more