Beltway Confidential
By Washington Examiner staff reports; Washington Examiner staff reports, Poliical Correspondent | |
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No revolt this time: House easily passes budget deal that restores defense, domestic cuts
A political shift among House Republicans helped the
In a 332-94 vote, the House approved a measure that would spend
Most Republicans voted for the bill -- just 62 said "no."
The measure now moves to the
The
Many of the
"I'm very pro-defense," said Rep.
The deal is a victory for Rep.
Ryan said after the vote he was surprised it passed by such a wide margin, but over the course of the week, it became increasingly clear the
The measure is a scaled-down version of a hoped-for "grand bargain" on entitlement spending and taxes. That larger deal never materialized and the two sides settled on the much smaller agreement.
Obama administration cracks down on
The Obama administration announced that it was cracking down on companies and individuals U.S. officials say used deceptive practices to help
The enforcement measures come amid lawmaker skepticism of a diplomatic deal between the U.S. and
The Treasury and State departments said they were targeting businesses that evaded international sanctions designed to cripple
U.S. officials said the six-month nuclear agreement between the U.S. and
"These sanctions have isolated
CURRENCY
Fed throws cold water on the idea of dollar coins
The Federal Reserve struck a blow in favor of the dollar bill, saying that replacing it with a coin would be a money-loser for the government and raise costs for businesses.
In past years, some lawmakers, such as Sens.
The
But the Fed disagrees, saying that using a
Part of that analysis involves the increasing durability of U.S. dollars. The Fed says that the average lifespan of a dollar has increased from 18 months in 1990 to 70 months today thanks to the introduction of new technologies such as sensors that can distinguish between dirt and blemishes caused by ink or folds, preventing the Fed from prematurely destroying many bills.
The Fed also surveyed retailers to learn what costs handling large quantities of coins might impose on them. Society "would likely bear costs in the hundreds of millions of dollars per year" to make the switch, losses that would outweigh any possible government savings.
Without a law phasing out the dollar bill, dollar coins are not likely to gain much traction. Despite efforts by Federal Reserve banks and the U.S. Mint to promote the dollar coins in existence, low consumer demand has left regional Fed banks with a 40-year inventory of the coins.
CAMPAIGNS
Huckabee quits radio show, sets sights on 2016 election
He has hosted the "Mike Huckabee Show" on
Evangelical political operative
Lane told Washington Secrets that Huckabee plans to participate in four upcoming "Pastors and Pews" events to be held in
The events are aimed at energizing the evangelical base and getting the estimated 40 million churchgoers to register to vote. "This is a sleeping giant if it ever engages," Lane said.
Huckabee would have different strengths than those expected to run in the
HEALTH
Obamacare enrollment rises in November but still lags
According to HHS, 364,682 have now signed up for insurance during the two-month enrollment period, with 137,204 through the federal online exchange and 227,478 cumulatively through state exchanges.
In October, only 106,000 consumers signed up for insurance coverage, with only a quarter coming through the faulty healthcare.gov website. The administration started a "tech surge" to fix the website, as the first month's enrollment figures threatened to unravel support for
"Evidence of the technical improvements to healthcare.gov can be seen in the enrollment numbers. More and more Americans are finding that quality, affordable coverage is within reach," Sebelius said in touting the November numbers.
Critics, though, noted that while the number of enrollees through the federal website had grown four-fold, the overall number of consumers who had signed up had only doubled, and questioned if the administration was on pace to meet its goal of 7 million enrollees.
Insurers have also raised questions about back-end problems with 834 transmission forms they say are providing them with inaccurate or incomplete information on enrollees, which could delay many Americans from receiving coverage.
The administration said that one in four enrollments was affected by technical bugs over the first two months, and after working on the problem in December the error rate for 834 forms is now one in 10. The
Meghashyam Mali, Assistant Managing Editor
POLITICS
New Biden gaffe: Super Bowl 'maybe not' in
Or is it?
Apparently, Vice President
During an online immigration forum hosted by
Biden replied, "Maybe not this year."
The
The exchange was just the latest example of what friends and foes have dubbed "Joe being Joe."
And it's not the first time Biden has been confused about the Super Bowl.
At a
After a few boos, Biden realized his error and said the
PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATIONS
The
The
"He's the right person to protect Americans who work hard and play by the rules every day, and he'll be the right regulator to make sure the kind of [housing] crisis we just went through never happens again," the president said following Watt's confirmation.
The soft-spoken Watt rarely if ever has been portrayed as a partisan ideologue. He has served for years on a committee dealing with housing matters, which supporters said made him an ideal candidate to head the FHFA.
But Republicans, who used a filibuster in October to block Watt's nomination, said he didn't have the proper work experience to run the agency.
"America needs someone with technical expertise and experience to run Fannie and Freddie's conservator and ensure that we don't repeat the same mistakes that led to the last financial crisis," Senate Minority Leader
Watt's confirmation was made possible because of new
IN MEMORIAM
Obama honors Mandela as a 'giant of history'
Obama praised Mandela as "the last great liberator of the 20th century" in remarks at
"To the people of
Mandela, who died
Obama was greeted by huge cheers when television cameras showed him arrive at his seat for the service.
But the president's comments later were overshadowed by controversies over his shaking Cuban leader
Obama was joined at the service by first lady
Meghashyam Mali, Assistant Managing Editor
FINANCIAL REFORM
Regulators approve Volcker Rule for banks after three-year wait
Federal regulators approved the final draft of a long-awaited provision of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law that would prohibit banks from making speculative bets for their own profit.
Dubbed the "Volcker Rule" after former Federal Reserve chairman and prominent financial reform advocate
The rules include some measures that bank critics had pushed for since the original proposal was released in
They bar banks from engaging in speculative trading for their own books, a practice called "proprietary trading." It also defines exemptions from the ban to allow banks to fulfill traditional banking services. Among the allowed activities is market-making -- holding positions on both sides of a trade to facilitate customers' trading in that asset. They also include hedging, that is, buying or selling a security or derivative to mitigate risk.
The rules tighten those exemptions by requiring banks to demonstrate that any market-making activities be designed to meet, not exceed consumer demand. They also would have to document a specific rationale for any hedging trade. These measures are intended to ensure that banks are not indirectly engaging in trades for profit, as opposed to for client services.
The rules also would aim to prevent traders from being paid based on profits they generate, in an effort to eliminate incentives for bank employees to make risky bets on the bank's behalf. The rules would take effect in April and banks would be required to conform by
JUDICIARY
The
And with the
The court has been evenly split with eight active judges since
With Obama's nominees locked in limbo, Senate Majority Leader
The effect of the new appointees on the D.C. appeals court's pending lineup may not be drastic immediately, as the court rarely meets as a group to issue opinions, relying instead on three-judge panels to render most decisions.
Still, judicial experts say the additions will play a key role in turning back the court's conservative bent of past years.
The court is considered second only to the
TRAVEL
Legislation has been introduced in both
On the
"Keeping phone conversations private on commercial flights may not be enshrined in the Constitution, but it is certainly enshrined in common sense," Alexander said. "This legislation is about avoiding something nobody wants: nearly 2 million passengers a day, hurtling through space, trapped in 17-inch-wide seats, yapping their innermost thoughts."
The bills were drafted in response to the
There has been much resistance to the
Shuster said that would distract flight attendants and pilots focused on passenger safety.
"For those few hours in the air with 150 other people, it's just common sense that we all keep our personal lives to ourselves and stay off the phone," Shuster said.
GOVERNMENT WASTE
A
"We're going to continue to pursue, to the extent we can, consolidation of programs where it makes sense. Coming in from the outside as I did, I kind of went, 'Wow, this is a labyrinth,' " said Sen.
Her staff compiled a chart of federal agencies active internationally, such as the
"Left to right is all these agencies, and top to bottom is the responsibilities, and you see the X's all over the place. It's a mess," she said.
"Think about this for a minute and don't immediately say no. What if we combined your agency with Ex-Im? Is there any real compelling reason they could not be combined?" she asked.
"Unfortunately for the president, it's not up to him," McCaskill said.
MANUFACTURING
Obama touts auto bailout: 'That bet has paid off'
"Today, that bet has paid off," said Obama heralding the government's
The Treasury announced that it had sold its final shares of GM stock, following its 2011 exit from Chrysler.
"When I took office, the American auto industry -- the heartbeat of American manufacturing -- was on the verge of collapse," Obama said. "As president, I refused to let that happen. I refused to walk away from American workers and an iconic American industry."
"Today, we're closing the book by selling the remaining shares of the federal government's investment in
The auto industry bailout was started by former President
Critics pointed out that the
"Less than five years later, each of the Big Three automakers is now strong enough to stand on its own," the president said. "They're profitable for the first time in nearly a decade. The industry has added more than 372,000 new jobs -- its strongest growth since the 1990s."
Meghashyam Mali, Assistant Managing Editor
MENTAL HEALTH
Meeting with
Vice President
The HHS funding is being made available through the Affordable Care Act. An agency direct loan program will facilitate the
On
In April, lawmakers rebuffed
But both Republicans and Democrats agree that bolstering mental health services could potentially reduce more cases of mass violence.
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