U.S. Edition
Updated Saturday 6/1 6:53 p.m. ET
(CNN) - U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia said Saturday he was saddened and disappointed by absentee ballot fraud allegations leveled against his former chief of staff.
The congressman said at a press conference he asked for the staffer's resignation and called for fixes to the "flawed voter absentee process" which left the system vulnerable. FULL POST
Washington (CNN) - The federal agency which issued tornado warnings this week has suspended plans for across-the-board employee furloughs that would kick as the summer hurricane season kicks in.
Ciaran Clayton, communications director for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the agency is canceling plans to furlough its 12,000 employees for as many as 20 days between July and September, when the federal fiscal year ends. FULL POST
(CNN) - The controversy over IRS targeting of conservative groups took a new turn this weekend when right-leaning websites drew a connection between the agency's former head and his wife's employment at a liberal group.
The conservative website Breitbart posted that "the goal of Public Campaign is to target political groups like the conservative non-profits at issue in the IRS scandal," naming the campaign finance reform group where Doug Shulman's wife, Susan Anderson, is the senior program adviser. FULL POST
(CNN) – As Congress returns from recess next week, President Barack Obama is urging his colleagues on the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue to get to work on a number of fronts, including housing and immigration.
“There are a lot of reasons to feel optimistic about where we’re headed as a country – especially after all we’ve fought through together,” he said in his weekly address. “We’ve just got to keep going.” FULL POST
(CNN) – During the GOP weekly address Saturday, Republican Gov. Sean Parnell of Alaska called on the Obama administration to make more efforts to tap into domestic energy resources.
The governor said his state is prepared to pay millions in a partnership with the federal government to explore the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for precise estimates of its energy potential. FULL POST