NJ Topics Vice President

Newt Gingrich

Are We Seriously Considering the Threat of an Internet Apocalypse?

This was a prophecy, one that former Speaker Newt Gingrich has been warning us all about for years.
Jenness Simler

Jenness Simler, Majority Policy Director

As majority policy director on the House Armed Services Committee, Jenness Simler has a wide range of responsibilities, from managing strategy and committee organization to advising the chairman.
Mandela

Are South Africans Ready for a Future Without Nelson Mandela?

It's not so much his day-to-day impact people fear losing, it's something more esoteric. They're afraid of losing his idea.
Markey

Senate Race in Massachusetts Features First Real ‘Climate Candidate’

In his quest to become the next senator from Massachusetts, Democratic Rep. Edward Markey is doing something that’s never been done before: campaigning for national office on the signature issue of climate change.
Bush Clinton Obama

What If the Next President Is Even Worse?

Partisanship shouldn't blind Americans to Bush-Obama civil-liberty threats.
IRS building

Congressional Republicans Are Milking the Scandals for Everything

GOP members in both chambers finally feel like they have something to hang around the president’s neck. 
Obama

The Myth of Presidential Leadership

It is past time to abandon selective history and wishful thinking, and realize the inherent limits of presidential power.
Hillary Clinton

Play of the Day: A Look at 2016

Fast forward to 3:10 to see Fallon compare the two on important issues.
Barack Obama

Insiders: Syrian Chemical Weapons Use Does Not Yet Justify U.S. Military Intervention

Even though President Obama acknowledged chemical weapons use in Syria, nearly two-thirds of National Journal's National Security Insiders believe the American military should not yet intervene in the bloody fight against Bashar al-Assad.
Joe Biden

5 Reasons Not To Take Joe Biden's Presidential Ambitions Seriously

Even though Biden's acting like a 2016 contender, with a weekend visit to South Carolina, don't buy the buzz. 
Landrieu 2012 photo

What the Energy Panel Would Look Like Under Chairwoman Landrieu

If Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., takes over the gavel of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee next Congress, she is in a prime spot to lead on an issue that’s critically important to her state.
Mary Landrieu

Landrieu Primed to Lead Energy Panel – If She Wins Reelection

A domino effect prompted by Max Baucus’s coming retirement leaves her poised to chair what is arguably the most important committee to energy-rich Louisiana.
Presidents and first ladies

Play of the Day: Let’s Party Like It’s 2006!

Fast forward to 4:35 to see how Bush could rehabilitate his image even more.
Pressure cooker used in Boston bombings

How Pressure Cookers Get Classified as a WMD

WASHINGTON -- Accusing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev of carrying out a WMD strike at the Boston Marathon could offer prosecutors a clear route to a conviction, even though the two pressure-cooker devices used in last week's attack do not fit the accepted definition of a "weapon of mass destruction," academics and former federal prosecutors said on Tuesday.
Boston bomber search

Boston Lockdown Reflected WMD Response Plans

The Friday lockdown of Boston and surrounding communities was a highly rare response in the United States to a terrorism threat, reminiscent of security plans typically contemplated in response to attacks involving weapons of mass destruction.
POTD321

Play of the Day: March Madness!

Fast forward to 4:00 to watch Letterman get the scoop on Ryan’s budget proposal from the man himself. Well, kind of.
terror trio

Who Are the American Terrorists?

There are no Americans currently on the "kill list," but there are a few citizens deemed "most-wanted" for terrorism.
Being Biden

Joe Biden Finally Tells Us What It's Really Like to Be Joe Biden

If there's one thing Joe Biden knows, it's how to oblige the Internet.
Cheney

Dick Cheney at War With His Documentary Filmmakers

Former vice president is angry that a new movie portrays him as manipulative operator--even though he cooperated with the project.
Ernest Moniz, Obama's Reported Pick to Head the Energy Department

Who Is Ernest Moniz, Obama's Choice for Energy Secretary?

President Obama on Monday nominated MIT professor Ernest Moniz to become the next Energy secretary, succeeding Steven Chu. Here's what you need to know about him.
Obama Talks Sequester

The 4 Most Politically Sensitive Budget Cuts

President Obama and congressional Republicans have been trading blame for the failure to avoid automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, but ultimately both sides could see some blowback from the public once the reductions start to take effect.  Here are four areas where cuts are the most politically sensitive.
Barack Obama

Why You Don't Want Me to Be President

The White House is waving the white flag on working with a hardheaded Republican Party.

White House on Damage Control After Leak

CongressWhite HouseNational SecurityPoliticsEnergyEconomy & BudgetHealth Care TOP FIVE WHITE HOUSE ON DAMAGE CONTROL AFTER LEAK. After the draft of a White House immigration proposal was leaked to USA Today late Saturday, the administration is working to calm down the bipartisan group of law...
waterboarding

Is Obama's Drone Policy Really Morally Superior to Torture?

Bush was condemned for waterboarding. But this administration kills from above.
State Union

Expect to Hear an Absolutely Forgettable State of the Union Speech

When President Obama takes to the speaker’s rostrum on the floor of the House of Representatives Tuesday evening, you can expect him to speak for more than an hour. But don’t bet on him saying anything you’ll remember a month later.

Obama Releases Legal Opinion on Drones

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Bill Clinton to Address House Dem Retreat

Former President Bill Clinton will address House Democrats at their annual issues retreat this week, a three-day event beginning Wednesday that will include a heavy focus on economic issues.
Obama Press conference

Obama's Bad-Cop Act is Working

Obama is often playing bad cop to Biden's good cop these days. Bad news for the Kumbaya crowd: It seems to be working.
Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton

Why Clinton and Biden Won't Run in 2016

Sorry to spoil the fun, but a Clinton-Biden smackdown is not in the cards for 2016. In fact, both of them will likely skip the race.
Malarkey

How The Onion's 'Diamond' Joe Biden Took on a Life of His Own

America's favorite fake veep: He's your drunk, dirty uncle who washes his car shirtless and doesn't do what he's told. Is he anything like the real thing?
Obama Biden Wreath

The 2nd Term of President Obama Begins (Photos)

Clinton -- inaug

Historic Inauguration Images: Lincoln, Suffragists, Missiles, Michael Jackson, and More!

Grand pageants surrounding the oath of office are nothing new.
Obama Biden Basketball

Joe Biden: Obama's Mr. Fix-It

Vice President Joe Biden isn't getting much political credit for his legislative work on the president's behalf.
nee

In the Center of the Gun-Control Debate, a Father of a Convicted School-Shooting Conspirator

In 2008, Joseph Nee was convicted of plotting a school shooting. Today, his father might have influenced the future of gun control.
Obama Issues

State of the Union Stakes: Guns, Debt, and Climate Change Give Obama Shot at Immortality

The only thing Obama could do worse than failing on the big issues is failing to try on a big way.
Obama Swearing In at Inauguration with Bible

What Do Inauguration Poet, Biden Oath-Giver Have in Common?

Many people of color will be involved in the inaugural festivities, from a famed civil-rights pioneer to an activist actress.
Joe Biden

Joe Biden Is the Only Closer the White House Has

After climbing the fiscal cliff, Vice President Joe Biden turns to gun control.
John Brennan and Chuck Hagel

Will Chuck Hagel and John Brennan Fight?

Inside the future battle over targeted killing.
Hagel -- Defense

Who is Chuck Hagel and Why Is He Being Nominated as Defense Secretary?

Hagel is no easy choice for Obama.
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp

Senators Get (Mock) Sworn Into the 113th Congress

Biden Fiscal Cliff

Biden May Be the Most Influential Vice President Ever

But in a sign of just how important a figure the vice president has become in Washington, Biden’s absence until now has been one reason that Republicans doubted Obama’s seriousness about cutting a deal, my colleague Chris Frates reported last week.

Hawaii's New Senator Steps Up to the Cliff

Hawaii’s Senator-to-be Brian Schatz arrived in Washington prepared. Wearing a brand new overcoat shortly after stepping off of Air Force One, Schatz said he’s ready and eager to work toward preventing a year-end austerity crisis.
Inouye lies in state

A Capitol Goodbye to Inouye

On Thursday morning, the partisan back-and-forth stopped for a moment. It wasn’t the impending fiscal cliff that loomed largest. Instead, it was the larger-than-life memory of Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, who died Monday and lies in state today.
Senator Daniel K. Inouye at Committee Hearing

Senator Daniel Inouye, 'One of the Giants of the Senate,' Leaves Long Legacy

Sen. Daniel Inouye, the Senate Appropriations chairman whose panoramic and compelling life story brought him from World War II hero to third in line in succession to the presidency, died on Monday.
Podcast Thumbnail

How Al-Qaida in Yemen Became the Biggest Terrorist Threat to the U.S.

In the United States, Yemen is largely an unknown country. But it might pose the biggest terrorist threat to the U.S. in the coming years, argues Gregory Johnsen, author of the book The Last Refuge: Yemen, Al-Qaeda, and America's War in Arabia. He tells that story on this week's podcast.
Biden

Joe Biden Goes to Costco: Caption This

Vice President Biden took a trip Thursday to D.C.'s first Costco for its grand opening. The trip was described by the Vice President's Press Pool as an "extended shopping spree." We don't know for sure everything he bought yet, but we do have one piece of visual evidence here that begs the question: just what is Joe Biden thinking?

Biden's Targeted Attack Lines Against Romney

In recent days, it seems Vice President Joe Biden has one message to the groups he addresses: Mitt Romney doesn't like you. No, he really doesn't like you. The vice president's attack dog role, combined with the Obama campaign's need to win enough support from certain demographic groups, means that...
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