Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) sent messages to all members of Congress terminating their positions, stating “Your performance has not been adequate to justify further employment.” All Democratic and independent members of Congress, as well as two Republicans, found themselves locked out of their offices after everything inside had been confiscated.   read more

On October 17, 2011, President Barack Obama announced his intent to appoint as ambassador to the small West African nation of Togo a veteran diplomat who has spent years focusing on Africa–US relations.   Born circa 1954 in Indiana, Robert E. Wh...   read more

The Obama administration created an uproar in women’s health circles on Wednesday when Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Kathleen Sebelius overruled the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) decision to allow the Plan B emergency contracept...   read more

Japan’s government is being criticized for spending some of its earthquake disaster relief funds on its whaling fleet, which has struggled to meet its quotas due to harassment from conservationists.   The Fisheries Agency plans to spend an ext...   read more

Halliburton has been accused of destroying evidence that might have indicated it was partly responsible for the fatal oil well blowout that occurred on April 20, 2010, in the Gulf of Mexico.   The accusation was leveled by BP, which together w...   read more

Firefighters in South Fulton, Tennessee, have done it again—allowing a home to burn to the ground because the owners didn’t pay for the local fire protection fee.   Resident Vicky Bell called 911 on Monday after her mobile home caught fire. Fi...   read more

Scientists for decades have been freezing thousands of endangered species samples in the hopes of preventing extinction for many plants and animals.   The San Diego Zoo has used cryogenics since 1972 to preserve skin cells from rare and endang...   read more

Going after criminal cases targeting fraud has come down to what’s easier to prosecute for the Obama administration.   While Americans of all stripes have clamored for justice in the wake of the financial crisis, the U.S. Department of Justice h...   read more

The islands of Maldives in the Indian Ocean are famous for their white sands, turquoise waters and tourism, which accounts for 28% of the nation’s gross domestic product. A full 90% of government tax revenue comes from import duties and tourism-re...   read more

Alpha Natural Resources has been ordered to pay the largest penalty ever for a mining disaster. The company will pay $209 million in restitution and civil and criminal penalties for owning Massey Energy, the notorious mining business that operated...   read more

In the wake of the MF Global controversy, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has adopted new regulations that limit how futures brokerages handle their customers’ money.   The new rules ban firms from borrowing client money through the use...   read more

With a shortage of available farm workers, thanks to the state’s anti-illegal immigrant law, Alabama may use prisoners to pick crops.   Farmers are pushing the idea to state agricultural officials, arguing they need someone to help harvest field...   read more

First-class mail service is headed for a significant slowdown beginning next spring, unless Congress acts to help the struggling U.S. Postal Service.   In order to save $2.1 billion annually and stave off possible bankruptcy, USPS is planning ne...   read more

Five hundred and thirty-five lawmakers on Capitol Hill spent the last 12 months producing one of the least productive congressional sessions in recent memory. As of November 30, the House had approved only 326 bills, the fewest in at least 10 non-...   read more

Conservatives have demanded that President Barack Obama fire his ambassador to Belgium for remarks linking anti-Semitism to the unresolved Palestinian-Israeli conflict.   The two leading Republican candidates for president, Mitt Romney and Newt ...   read more

Efforts to slow the effects of global warming went out the window last year with a record release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. A small number of big developing nations, trying to stimulate their economies out of the global recession, fue...   read more

The top official at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has resigned after being arrested last weekend for drunk driving outside of Washington, DC.   FAA Administrator Jerome Randolph “Randy” Babbitt was pulled over by police in Fairfax Ci...   read more