Post Politics: Breaking Politics News, Political Analysis & More - The Washington Post

‘Four little girls’ killed in 1963 church bombing honored with Congressional Gold Medal

Scott Wilson — Sat, 25 May 2013 01:27:00 GMT

“Four little girls” received in death Friday one of the country’s highest civilian awards, as the nation’s first African American president honored some of the youngest victims in the historic fight for equal rights.

Read full article >>

Obama nominates John H. Thompson to head Census Bureau

Josh Hicks — Sat, 25 May 2013 00:40:14 GMT

President Obama has tapped John H. Thompson, the head of a private-sector research group with ties to the University of Chicago, to lead the U.S. Census Bureau, which has operated without a permanent director for about nine months.

Read full article >>

In 2009 redux, Obama faces thorny issue of detainees at prison in Cuba

Peter Finn, Scott Wilson — Sat, 25 May 2013 00:21:02 GMT

At the beginning of his first term, President Obama, surrounded by former generals and admirals, announced his intention to close the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay with all the fanfare and sense of possibility accorded a new, determined occupant of the Oval Office.

Read full article >>

Roundup of news from around the Washington region

— Dana Hedgpeth, — Matt Zapotosky — Fri, 24 May 2013 23:40:15 GMT

A Metro maintenance worker has been arrested on charges of stealing 13 defibrillators from the transit agency and selling them through online auction sites.

Derrick Davis, 40, of Laurel was charged Thursday with theft in Prince George’s County District Court.

Read full article >>

U.S. Park Police furloughs to end June 1

Lisa Rein — Fri, 24 May 2013 23:01:51 GMT

Furloughs for the U.S. Park Police forced by the budget cuts known as sequestration will end June 1, the National Park Service announced Friday, because the agency was able to find other savings.

“We’re ending the furloughs,” Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said in an interview, a month after the force of 747 sworn officers and support staff members in three cities began staying home one day per pay period in order to take 12 to 14 unpaid days off by Sept. 30. “We have resolved this within the Park Police budget.”

Read full article >>

Christie says he will 'be here to welcome' Obama to New Jersey

Sean Sullivan — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:14:16 GMT

EARLIER ON THE FIX:

Anthony Weiner's rocky restart

In defense of Lois Lerner

The Fix's top 15 gubernatorial races

Read full article >>

Female lawmakers leading push to crack down on military sex crimes

Craig Whitlock, Ed O’Keefe — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:00:00 GMT

About two dozen lawmakers and Obama administration officials crowded into the Roosevelt Room at the White House on May 9 for an urgent meeting about sexual assaults in the military. The most striking thing about the group, given the male-dominated world of national security, was that 85 percent of those around the table were women.

Read full article >>

Shorthand

Rachel Weiner — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:41:08 GMT

* President Obama and Chris Christie reunited.

* The NDU explained how a heckler got in.

* One Senate candidate called his rival "pond scum."

* Hillary Clinton's book got a release date.

Read full article >>

Sanders skeptical about calls for presidential commission to investigate VA backlog

Steve Vogel — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:34:14 GMT

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs expressed skepticism in a television interview about proposals to create a presidential commission to examine the enormous backlog of veterans disability claims.

Read full article >>

Jindal: GOP scandal response should focus on big government

Aaron Blake — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:14:09 GMT

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) says in a new op-ed that Republicans should focus their scandal response as much on President Obama's role in growing government as on who in his administration knew what and when.

Read full article >>

Paula Broadwell apologizes for affair with still-in-the-headlines David Petraeus

Mary C. Curtis — Fri, 24 May 2013 19:59:00 GMT

Paula Broadwell, trying to get back to life before the headlines, has apologized for her affair with David H. Petraeus, which led to his resignation as CIA director.

In her first in-depth interview, with ABC News affiliate WSOC in Charlotte, Broadwell said, "I have remorse for the harm that this has caused, the sadness this has caused in my family and other families." She said, "I'm the first to admit I've made mistakes, and I'm regretful for the pain I've caused, but at some point again you pick yourself up face forward and keep moving." She said she's "not focused on the past."

Read full article >>

Lois Lerner's "Worst Week"

Chris Cillizza — Fri, 24 May 2013 19:51:10 GMT

Earlier in this space, the Post's Joel Achenbach wrote in defense of Lois Lerner. Proving that reasonable people can disagree, just a few hours later we awarded the now-former head of the IRS' tax-exempt arm the "Worst Week in Washington".

Read full article >>

Senate Republicans praise Victoria Nuland

Rachel Weiner — Fri, 24 May 2013 19:33:09 GMT

If Victoria Nuland is going to take heat from Republicans in her confirmation hearing, it won't come from the party's traditional leaders on national security.

President Obama plans to nominate Victoria Nuland as assistant secretary of state for Europe. In a statement Friday, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) praised the pick and did not mention Nuland's role in crafting talking points after the Sept. 11, 2012, Benghazi attack.

Read full article >>

Anthony Weiner's rocky restart

Sean Sullivan — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:54:00 GMT

Anthony Weiner announced late Tuesday that he would run for mayor of New York. He's received a lot of attention in his first few days back in politics. But much of it hasn't been the good kind.

Since kicking off his bid for political redemption, the former congressman, who resigned from the House after sending lewd photos to women online has quickly run into some speed bumps.

Read full article >>

David Koch: Just as bad as I thought, only cheaper

Sheila Weller — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:41:14 GMT

I am always buoyed when someone who is all too easy to dislike reveals a glimmer of unexpected grooviness or humanity. I'm happy to put myself down as a stereotyper — even a bigot — in return for being surprised that a person once thoroughly dismissed by narrow-minded me has affection-worthy dimensions.

Read full article >>

In defense of Lois Lerner

By Joel Achenbach — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:47:12 GMT

The week that was as seen through the lens of the one and only Joel Achenbach.

Reading the commentary on the IRS hearings, it's clear that the overriding rule in Washington opinion circles is that the moment someone says they have done nothing wrong is when the presumption of guilt hardens into an incontrovertible fact of guilt, with only the punishment left to be decided.

Read full article >>

Take ‘em out to the ball game: Members of Congress plan bipartisan outing to Nats game

Emily Heil — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:45:39 GMT

Ask old-timers why Congress is so divisive these days, and many will say it’s because lawmakers of opposing parties rarely hang out and socialize together like they did in days of yore.

Harkening back to an earlier era, members of Congress are planning a bipartisan evening at Nationals Park, where on June 5, they’ll leave politics aside and take in a game between the New York Mets and the Nats.

Read full article >>

Furloughs to end for U.S. Park Police, Park Service director says

Lisa Rein — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:18:14 GMT

Furloughs for the U.S. Park Police forced by the budget cuts known as sequestration will end June 1, the National Park Service will announce Friday, because the agency was able to find other savings to offset them.

Read full article >>

Obama nominates new Census director

Josh Hicks — Fri, 24 May 2013 17:01:00 GMT

President Obama has nominated John H. Thompson to head the U.S. Census Bureau.

Thompson, who was nominated Thursday, is president and CEO of the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), a private-sector research group. He also held various positions with the Census Bureau between 1987 and 2002, according to a biography provided by the White House.

Read full article >>

Hillary Clinton book due out in June 2014

Aaron Blake — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:30:37 GMT

Hillary Clinton's new memoir doesn't have a title yet, but it does have a scheduled release date: June 1, 2014.

That's according to the new Amazon.com entry for the book, which features a plain book jacket with the former secretary of state's name and photo, but no title.

Read full article >>

The Fix's top 15 gubernatorial races

Sean Sullivan, Aaron Blake, Rachel Weiner — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:15:24 GMT

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) isn't taking any chances.

Riding high as polls continue to show he is a strong favorite to win reelection and one of the country's most popular governors, Christie's campaign has taken an aggressive early stance against underdog opponent and Democratic state Sen. Barbara Buono.

Read full article >>

Citing military sexual assaults, Obama urges Naval Academy graduates to uphold public trust

Nick Anderson — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:47:00 GMT

President Obama on Friday used the issue of sexual assault in the military to illustrate to Naval Academy graduates the importance of trust and honor at a time when the public has grown weary of missteps by public servants.

Read full article >>

Mulhauser named chief of staff at Ex-Im bank

Emily Heil — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:17:00 GMT

Scott Mulhauser, a veteran Senate staffer and former aide to Vice President Biden, is the new chief of staff at the Export-Import Bank.

Mulhauser was a senior advisor to the Presidential Inaugural Committee was worked for the presidential re-election campaign as Biden’s deputy chief of staff. Before that, he spent more than a decade on Capitol Hill, including a stint at the Senate Finance Committee.

Read full article >>

Gomez compares Markey to 'pond scum'

Rachel Weiner — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:15:08 GMT

The Massachusetts Senate race has gotten quite heated, with Republican Gabriel Gomez calling Democratic Rep. Ed Markey "pond scum" for a web video that invokes Osama bin Laden.

"You know I've got four young kids, and they've got to sit there and they've got to see an ad with their dad, who's a SEAL, who served honorably," he told a reporter after speaking at the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce. "And for him to be as dirty and low, pond scum, to put me up there next to bin Laden, he's just got to be called what he is."

Read full article >>

The unflagging spirit of Moore, Okla.: ‘It’s about hope’

Carol Morello — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:13:52 GMT

MOORE, Okla. — The first thing Kevin Gibson did after returning to his house, torn apart by a powerful tornado Monday, was pull an American flag and a temporary flagpole from the corner of his partially standing garage.

Read full article >>