Federal-agency judges should be impartial, not beholden to a department heada s agenda

If you were embroiled in a dispute over claims for benefits or federal enforcement actions, your case would probably end up before an administration law judge . These judges - of whom there are more than 1,900 across the federal government, 1,600 in the Social Security Administration alone - oversee trial-like hearings and adjudicate a range of administrative and regulatory questions.

Ivanka coy about her Democratic partners in policy talks

"You have to, especially in an environment like this, you have to work to earn trust a and I've worked very hard to do that," the first daughter and adviser to the president said Wednesday at the Bipartisan Policy Center. "And I don't want to call out names because a lot of people who engaged with me in the most substantive way have done so because they know that I'm not going to violate their confidence and share their perspectives publicly."

The Debt Clock Keeps Spinning

In 1989, a New York businessman who was worried about chronic federal budget deficits erected the National Debt Clock in midtown Manhattan to keep a running tally of how much the U.S. government owes. The total had reached $2.7 trillion, and Seymour Durst wanted "to call attention to the soaring debt and each family's share of it."

New tax form is indeed smaller, but filing is no simpler

The Trump administration may deliver on its promise to reduce a commonly used tax form to postcard size, but it does not shrink the workload for many Americans filling out their taxes. A draft copy of the new 1040 income tax form given to The Associated Press by a staffer on the Ways & Means Committee shows that the form will be reduced from two full pages to a double-sided half page.

Joe Biden had plenty to say about President Trump during a stop at an Ohio barber shop

Former Vice President Joe Biden stopped by a Cincinnati barber shop Friday , but he wasn't there to get a haircut. The outspoken Democrat shook hands, cracked jokes and talked about President Donald Trump the way a future presidential candidate might, even though he continued to play coy about whether he'll run in 2020.

Democrats’ Anti-Wall Street Wing Just Won a Major Victory

New York voters denied longtime House Democratic Caucus chairman Joe Crowley an 11th term, instead backing 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic socialist and former organizer for Senator Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign. "It's time we acknowledge that not all Democrats are the same," Ocasio-Cortez said in her viral campaign announcement video.

Scaramucci: Lewandowski should apologize for mocking girl with Down syndrome

Anthony Scaramucci The Hill's 12:30 Report - Sponsored by Delta Air Lines - Trump to meet House GOP as backlash to 'zero tolerance' policy grows The Memo: Child separation crisis risks 'Katrina moment' for Trump Trump digs in amid uproar on zero tolerance policy MORE Corey R. Lewandowski Lewandowski says 'womp womp' at story of young girl being separated from mother at border If Congress takes no action, the Social Security trust fund will become depleted in 2034 Five things to know about the lawsuit against the Trump Foundation MORE to apologize after mocking a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome who was reportedly separated from her mother after crossing the border illegally.

Emergency rooms often the only dialysis option for undocumented immigrants

Juan's black tennis shoes sit at the end of his bed, a baseball cap is pulled low on his head and tubes snake out from under a blanket to a machine humming beside him that is taking blood from his arm, cleaning it and pumping it back into his body. Juan, 43, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who asked that his identity be concealed due to fears of deportation, is receiving dialysis for kidney failure at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital.

Virginia Votes For A Racist And First-Time Black Candidate In The Strangest Primary Ever

Vangie Williams scored a victory Tuesday by defeating two military veterans to win the Democratic nomination to run for Congress. Williams would the first African-American to represent the state's first congressional district if she wins her November battle against Republican incumbent Rep. Rob Wittman .

Opinion: Beware the Dog Days of August

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., walks to his Capitol office after the Republican Senate policy lunch that took place at the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Tuesday. Nothing happens in August, right? At least that's always the usual explanation for the mass exodus that leaves Washington nearly uninhabited for much of D.C.'s dog days.

How worried should you be about Medicare and Social Security?

The problems may only keep getting worse in a time of political tension and deep partisan divisions. Here are some questions and answers on an issue that ultimately will affect every American family and isn't going away: The government's annual Trustees Reports on the programs shows the financial condition of both worsening significantly since last year.

Media Treat Trump Administration’s Partisan Fear-Mongering as…

"Progressive economists have long maintained that to the degree that Social Security needs to be 'rescued,' it could be easily managed through modest tax hikes," Johnson writes. On Tuesday, dozens of media outlets broke what at first seemed to be a major story about "the government" announcing that Social Security and Medicare will be broke in less than 20 years: If the lifelines of millions of poor, elderly and disabled were going to crumble in less than a generation, this would be major news indeed.