Jacqueline Klimas
Articles by Jacqueline Klimas
Democrats push bill to repeal Hobby Lobby ruling
Congressional Democrats introduced a bill Wednesday to repeal part of a key religious freedom law and require for-profit companies to pay for their employees' birth control under Obamacare. Published July 9, 2014
Dems hope stories of unemployed spur action in House
House Democrats shared stories of unemployed constituents Wednesday afternoon to spur Speaker John A. Boehner to hold a vote to renew the benefits. Published July 9, 2014
VA Secretary Sloan Gibson to testify before Congress next week
Veterans Affairs Acting Secretary Sloan Gibson will make his first trip to Capitol Hill as the head of the embattled department next week. Published July 9, 2014
Almost half of colleges haven’t investigated a sexual assault in five years: survey
A stunning number of U.S. colleges and universities said they didn't investigate a single sexual assault on their campuses over the last five years, according to a new report released Wednesday by Sen. Claire McCaskill who said it signals many schools are in denial. Published July 9, 2014
VA official ‘sickened’ by whistleblower retaliation
A top VA official spoke candidly Tuesday night, apologizing for failing the American people who trusted the department to care for the nation's veterans. Published July 8, 2014
VA chiefs who stifled whistleblowers got $100,000 in bonuses
The Department of Veterans Affairs paid out more than $100,000 in bonuses last year to top executives at facilities that ignored whistleblower complaints of poor patient care. Published July 8, 2014
Lawmakers plan bills on VA whistleblower protection
Lawmakers said Tuesday night that they planned to introduce legislation to better protect VA whistleblowers after hearing from employees who faced consequences at work for reporting instances of bad patient care. Published July 8, 2014
VA secretary nominee to meet with top veterans lawmaker
Robert McDonald, who the president tapped last week to be the next secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, is scheduled to meet with Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent, Tuesday afternoon on Capitol Hill. Published July 8, 2014
VA fix could cost billions
The VA's data on patient wait times is so bad that Congress's official scorekeeper can't even calculate the costs for fixing the agency, and that has become a major hurdle as lawmakers push for a quick fix on Capitol Hill. Published July 3, 2014
Military pensions could become targets in sex assault convictions
Lawmakers say it's worth considering giving the military power to strip service members of their pensions after Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair was acquitted of sex assault but convicted of lesser charges, leading to a sentence some in Congress said was too light for what he was accused of. Published July 2, 2014
Top VA director retires amid whistleblower scandal
The director of the Office of the Medical Inspector at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has recently come under fire for not taking whistleblower reports seriously, has retired, according to a press release. Published July 2, 2014
New VA chief must fix agency’s tarnished image
Bob McDonald, the man President Obama nominated Monday to take the helm at the VA, will have to fix quickly what some are calling the nation's most corrupt bureaucracy — while being under intense pressure from a public shocked by stories of veterans dying stuck on wait lists awaiting care. Published June 30, 2014
VA secretary nominee an ‘expert at making organizations better,’ Obama says
President Obama on Monday officially tapped the former leader of Procter & Gamble to take over the scandal-plagued Department of Veterans Affairs. Published June 30, 2014
50 VA hospital workers claim retaliation for blowing whistle on the horrors they saw
When Valerie Riviello, a nurse at a Veterans Affairs facility in New York, saw the clinic restrain a sexual assault survivor to a bed for seven consecutive hours, she released the woman. Published June 29, 2014
Former President Bill Clinton: Hillary devoted to workers
Hillary Clinton's lifetime of public activism — not her recent comments on the family's finances — should show Americans that she's in touch with the struggles of the middle class, former President Bill Clinton said on Sunday. Published June 29, 2014
Lerner’s lawyer dismisses IRS probe as election year politics
The attorney for former IRS official Lois G. Lerner dismissed the scandal surrounding his client as "convenient" electioneering, accusing Republicans of creating suspicions about disappearing emails to drum up support among the GOP base in an election year. Published June 29, 2014
Obama picks ex-P&G head to lead Veterans Affairs
President Obama intends to nominate a former executive at Procter and Gamble to be the next Veterans Affairs secretary, according to top members of Congress on veterans issues. Published June 29, 2014
Senior WH advisor: Michelle Obama will ‘never’ run for office
Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Obama, said Sunday that first lady Michelle Obama will never run for office. Published June 29, 2014
Lawsuit beyond frivolous, former Obama lawyer says
A former White House lawyer said Sunday that a proposed lawsuit against President Obama is nothing more than a political stunt in an election year. Published June 29, 2014
Hillary Clinton ‘not out of touch,’ former president Clinton says
Former President Bill Clinton said Sunday that Hillary Clinton's history of public service should override her comments on her family's wealth to show that she is in touch with the struggles of the middle class. Published June 29, 2014