
Washington (CNN) - A huge increase in workload, rather than deliberate targeting, led to "foolish mistakes" and the political discrimination in the Internal Revenue Service cited by an inspector general's report, the agency's outgoing commissioner said Friday.
The testimony by Steven Miller, who was forced to announce his resignation this week as acting IRS commissioner, came at the first congressional hearing on the matter that has put President Barack Obama's administration on the defensive.
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FULL STORYWashington (CNN) - Around half the public is tuned in to the controversies that are consuming the nation's capital, according to a new poll.
But the Gallup survey indicates party affiliation is playing a role in how closely people are keeping an eye on the controversies. And according to the poll, most say further investigation is needed.
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(CNN) – When President Barack Obama visits Ellicott Dredges Friday in Baltimore, he'll announce he's signed a presidential memorandum meant to hasten federal permitting processes, thereby creating jobs.
But the owner of the company, Peter Bowe, has another idea for getting Americans to work: approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a project Republicans say would create jobs and foster energy independence but some Democrats argue would pose serious environmental risks.
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NATIONAL STORIES:
CNN: 7 still missing from deadly Texas tornadoes
A North Texas community forged ahead in a massive cleanup, and the search for the missing continued Friday from 16 tornadoes that ripped through the area. That search for seven people still missing is still active, a local sheriff said. "We're going to keep on looking," Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds said Thursday. "We're not going to give up until every piece of debris is turned over." The seven-hour onslaught of twisters, 16 confirmed so far according to the National Weather Service, battered the area Wednesday, turning neighborhoods into rubble and leaving six people dead.
CNN: Cause of catastrophic Texas explosions remains mystery
Investigators have not ruled out an intentional fire being behind explosions at a fertilizer plant in the small town of West that left 15 people dead, the Texas fire marshal said Thursday. State Fire Marshal Chris Connealy said investigators were unable to rule out three possible causes, including a spark from a golf cart, an electrical short or an intentionally set fire. "The cause cannot be proven to an acceptable level," Connealy told reporters.
(CNN) – Republicans using the Internal Revenue Service scandal to slam health care reform have a new twist in their argument.
Sarah Hall Ingram, who heads the implementation of the Affordable Care Act at the IRS, formerly led the agency's tax exempt/government entities division, the same division that's now taking heat for targeting conservative groups in the past few years.
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(CNN) – President Barack Obama plans to appoint former Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords to the board of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship program, the White House announced Thursday.
Giffords, who resigned from Congress after being wounded in a 2011 mass shooting, was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Chihuahua, Mexico in 1996.
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(CNN) - The House of Representatives passed a measure to repeal Obamacare entirely on Thursday - a move the GOP-led chamber has done twice already.
But the latest scandal involving the IRS, one of the key agencies charged with enforcing the health care law, is adding fuel to the political fire over the controversial new law.
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Washington (CNN) - After months of intense negotiations, a bipartisan U.S. House group has reached an "agreement in principle" on immigration reform, according to Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, one of the GOP members of the group.
A Democratic aide familiar with the discussions confirmed that all the members signed on and told CNN both Democrats and Republicans "will now run the whole package past their respective leadership and colleagues" and aim to formally introduce legislation at the beginning of June.
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(CNN) – Sen. Rand Paul continued his blitz against Hillary Clinton, arguing Thursday the former secretary of state was involved in changing the Benghazi talking points, despite recently-released e-mails indicating she did not have a direct role in the matter.
The Republican senator of Kentucky–who’s considering a 2016 presidential bid–said that because her spokeswoman at the time, Victoria Nuland, was engaged in the editing process for the talking points, then Clinton must be implicated, as well.
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Washington (CNN) - While much of Washington's attention is on the various controversies involving the IRS, the Benghazi attack and the Justice Department subpoena of the Associated Press, those on both sides of the gun control debate are engaged in trying to sway public opinion.
Much of the focus right now is on New Hampshire Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte, the only member of the U.S. Senate from New England to vote against the proposal pushed by her colleagues, Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) and Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania), to expand background checks for gun purchases.
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