Latest Dismissal of United States Attorneys controversy Stories

BEIJING (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate bill that would impose steep tariffs on Chinese goods unless Beijing significantly raises the value of the yuan has little chance of becoming law, a visiting senator said on Friday. Sen. Arlen Specter said the legislation proposed by Sens. Charles Schumer and Lindsey Graham was "not exactly a front-runner Congressional proposal." "It was never about to be passed," the Pennsylvania Republican told reporters. Schumer, a New York Democrat, and Graham, a...

By Vicki Allen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration on Wednesday said it would accept many but not all elements of the military justice code to try foreign terrorism suspects, to replace military tribunals that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled illegal. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the administration was still drafting its plan, but that it would propose trying enemy combatants based on military court martial procedures -- although with a number of key changes. Those...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At the urging of Democrats, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has put off a vote until September on whether to keep John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, committee aides said on Monday. Democrats want to use that time to press the White House for documents they had sought last year during the dispute over Bolton's nomination to be U.N. envoy. They contend he bullied intelligence analysts to conform to his hawkish views in his last job as top...

By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush prevented a review earlier this year by Justice Department lawyers of his warrantless domestic spying program, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified on Tuesday. Gonzales told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, however, that he was confident the program's constitutionality would be upheld by a proposed review of it by a secret federal court. Gonzales said Bush refused to give the Justice Department's Office of Professional...

By Vicki Allen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration is sending Congress conflicting signals on how to try foreign terrorism suspects despite earlier calls for Congress to ratify the current system struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, senators said on Thursday. The White House was grappling with whether to expand legal rights of detainees by basing policies on the U.S. military justice code to satisfy the court, or try to preserve much of President George W. Bush's plan for...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional Republicans attacked Democrats on Thursday for an Internet video featuring flag-draped coffins of U.S. casualties in Iraq, saying it "crossed the line" by exploiting troops and politicizing the war. Democrats questioned their outrage, noting Republicans have used images related to the September 11 attacks in their fund raising and White House political adviser Karl Rove has urged candidates to emphasize the Bush administration's record on security...

By Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a reversal, the White House has agreed to allow a secret federal court review of the National Security Agency's warrantless domestic spying program, a top U.S. Senate Republican announced on Thursday. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said he had negotiated a bill with the White House to update surveillance laws and clear the way for an examination of the constitutionality of the program designed to track terrorists. "We have...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House, in a policy reversal, has agreed to allow a federal court review of the National Security Agency's domestic spying program, a top Senate Republican announced on Thursday. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter said he has negotiated a proposed bill with the White House that would do that and voiced hope his panel would approve it. "We have structured a bill which is agreeable to the White House and I think will be agreeable to this...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday refused to restore $750 million in anti-terrorism funds that have been taken away from New York City and Washington and shifted to smaller cities thought to be at lower risk of attack. By a vote of 53-47, the Senate killed an amendment by New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton and others, who protested the 40 percent funding reduction for New York this year and a 43 percent cut for Washington. "New York City and Washington, D.C....

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Karl Rove, U.S. President George W. Bush's senior political advisor, on Tuesday took the administration's message on immigration reform to Latino leaders, saying the country was approaching a "critical moment" in the debate. Speaking at the annual convention of leading Latino civic group the National Council of La Raza, Rove said Bush would work with Republicans and Democrats in coming weeks to push through reform legislation that has bitterly divided Congress,...