Justices are being served on late-night TV

(Brad Barket / AP)

THE HIGH COURT | All of a sudden, the Supreme Court is fodder for late-night comedians, and the result is not something for which the image-conscious justices are likely to set their DVRs.

Columnists

The Federal Eye by Ed O'Keefe

Obama’s budget boosts military, civilian pay

But the proposed pay raises differ and are likely to spark criticism.

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Ed O'Keefe

The Federal Eye by Ed O'Keefe

Obama budget: Who wins, who loses?

Here is an agency-by-agency breakdown of Obama’s 2013 budget proposal.

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Ed O'Keefe

The Federal Eye by Ed O'Keefe

Keep or cut? Your thoughts on the federal budget.

What insight do you have into the federal budget? First, delve into the federal budget document. Then share your thoughts.

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Ed O'Keefe

The Federal Eye by Ed O'Keefe

Obama budget: Fed workers should contribute more to pensions

The Obama administration is proposing to increase the contribution of federal employees to their retirement program by 0.4 percent each year over three years.

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Ed O'Keefe

The Federal Eye by Ed O'Keefe

Parents upset by plans to close federal day care

Facility at USDA headquarters must close for safety concerns; parents say they didn’t have enough warning.

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Ed O'Keefe

Federal Diary

Obama budget: Fed workers should contribute more to pensions

The Obama administration is proposing to increase the contribution of federal employees to their retirement program by 0.4 percent each year over three years.

In defense of federal workers

FILE - In this April 2, 2009 file photo, House Oversight Committee member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. takes part in the committee's hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Police are still investigating the shooting near Old Dominion University in Virginia early Friday, June 10 that killed 20-year-old Christopher Cummings, the congressman's nephew and the son of the congressman’s brother, James Cummings. The congressman described the shooting in his nephew’s off-campus apartment as random.  (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) is trying to protect employees’ pay and benefits from GOP proposals.

Cummings says federal employees have sacrificed enough

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings is in the difficult position of protecting federal employees from a flow of proposals pushed by the majority Republicans that would limit pay and benefits.

In the Loop

Playing pilot

Fundraiser attendees can live out their “Top Gun” fantasies.

Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

Retro scandal

In the Loop’s roundup, what’s old is new, Obama comes up short, and the Supreme Court is funnier than we thought.

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R-MA) delivers remarks at the American Conservative Union's annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, February 10, 2012.  REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst   (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS)

CPAC by the numbers

Mitt Romney said some variation of the word “conservative” dozens of times.

The Influence Industry

Return of the RNC big donor

Return of the RNC big donor

Money from wealthy supporters gave the Republican National Committee a boost in 2011.

Big donors return to the RNC

An employee at a foreign currency exchange receives U.S. dollar notes from a customer, to be changed into Indonesian rupiah currency, in Jakarta August 30, 2005. The rupiah recouped losses suffered earlier on Tuesday as the central bank pushed up interest rates after the currency's 17 percent plunge this month heightened worries about the impact of record prices. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government will announce a package of policy measures by Wednesday to support the rupiah, which hit a four-year low on Tuesday morning. REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni

Checks of $10,000 or more rolled in again in 2011, helping to boost Republican coffers; small donations, however, were lagging previous years’ totals.

Obama’s track record on reining in lobbyists

FALLS CHURCH, VA - FEBRUARY 01: U.S. President Barack Obama delivers remarks on the economy February 1, 2012 at the James Lee Community Center in Falls Church, Virginia. Obama spoke on the mortgage principle reduction plan he had mentioned in his State of the Union address. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Will his latest proposal, from his State of the Union address, gain more traction than his previous ideas?

In Session

Want to ‘fix Congress?’ There’s a caucus for that.

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 3:
Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va), L, and Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) talk outside the U.S. Capitol on February 3, 2012, in Washington, DC.  Two freshmen lawmakers have formed a 'reform caucus' in which they are pushing to end congressional pensions and other benefits.
(Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

A pair of House Republican freshmen have formed a well-timed new group — the Fix Congress Now Caucus.

Congress tries again to hand president a line-item veto

Rep. Ryan (R-Wis.) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) onl Tuesday, January 24, 2012.

It’s not often that Congress voluntarily surrenders power, but that’s what will happen if the latest version of legislation granting the president a line-item veto becomes law.

Expectations low for election-year agenda

Our unpopular Congress: A new Post-ABC poll shows Congress’s approval at 13 percent — nearly an all-time low. You’d be surprised at some of the things in history that have been more popular than the current Congress.

Members of the House and Senate are in the same building this week for the first time in 2012, ready to kick off a new legislative year. Based on conventional wisdom, they should hardly bother.

The High Court

Justices are being served on late-night TV

Television host Jon Stewart is seen during a taping of 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' in New York, Wednesday Nov. 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Brad Barket)

THE HIGH COURT | All of a sudden, the Supreme Court is fodder for late-night comedians, and the result is not something for which the image-conscious justices are likely to set their DVRs.

Supreme Court has shown unity, but little guidance

The nine justices were unanimous in three recent decisions, including one about the use of a GPS tracker in the case of a D.C. nightclub owner, but those rulings also left many questions unanswered.

Court asked to overturn bone marrow decision

Powerful women in Washington: From the American Red Cross to the Supreme Court, more and more institutions of power in the nation’s capital are seeing women take the lead.

The Obama administration last week asked an appeals court to overturn a recent decision that said bone marrow donors can be paid for what their bodies produce.

Fine Print

An Iran strike wouldn’t be easy

Iran’s Natanz uranium-enrichment facility (toured by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2008) is below ground.

At the Pentagon and in Israel, plans show the difficulties of an operation targeting Iran’s nuclear sites.

A leaner fighting machine

FILE - In this June 28, 2011 file photo, Navy Vice Adm. William H. McRaven, center, is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. As traditional military operations are cut back, the Pentagon is moving to expand the worldwide reach of the U.S. Special Operations Command to strike back wherever threats arise. U.S. officials say the Pentagon and the White House have embraced a proposal by special operations chief Adm. Bill McRaven to push troops that are withdrawing from war zones to reinforce special operations units in areas somewhat neglected during the decade-long focus on al-Qaida. At left is Gen. James D. Thurman, nominee to become commander of U.S. forces in Korea. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Defense Department’s new way of looking at warfare.

Here’s where the presidential national security debate could become interesting

Mitt Romney’s second run: After what was widely considered an unfocused and bloated campaign in 2008, the former Massachusetts governor has a more tightly knit team for this year’s run for the Republican presidential nomination.

Mitt Romney wants to add 100,000 troops to the force, while President Obama wants to trim the Army and Marine Corps. Obama’s path meets current law, so how could Romney manage it?

The Federal Buzz

Should recent graduates consider a career in government?

Should recent graduates consider a career in government?

The 2011 National Association of Colleges and Employers survey shows that only 2.3 percent of more than 35,000 college students said they plan to work in the federal government.

The Federal Coach

Getting the best, despite the bashing

In a recent survey, only 2.3 percent of college students said they plan to work for the federal government.

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Featured Opinion Writer

Federal Player

Keeping Treasury’s budget in check

At the height of the nation’s economic crisis, 28-year old Kimberly Panicek answered the call to serve.

PostPolitics on Twitter

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Department of Transportation would see spending increase http://t.co/cvZVznFs

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Romney: ‘War against Israel is a war against all democracies’ http://t.co/ye27pLfz

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State Department to see modest spending increase http://t.co/caNxh4UK

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Pew poll: Rick Santorum catches Mitt Romney http://t.co/IfKPFx8D #polls #gop2012 #campaign2012

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RT @AAUWSTEM: New #AAAS website will track presidential candidates’ views on #science and #tech issues http://t.co/SMhkaWWH #campaign2012

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Proud of #CO delegation's bipartisan effort to support CO spaceport certification from FAA, create #jobs in aerospace. http://t.co/bvbnxcTI

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Speaking now on the Senate floor on the President's budget proposal - watch here: http://t.co/1zfXZmLP

ChuckGrassley

RT @GrassleyOffice: .@ChuckGrassley will be on @1430_KASI in #Ames with @trenterice at 1:30 pm CT. Listen here http://t.co/HTSEULGy #Iowa

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Politics Videos

Obama unveils $3.8 trillion budget

Obama unveils $3.8 trillion budget

President Barack Obama unveiled a $3.8 trillion spending plan on Monday for 2013 that seeks to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade but does little to restrain growth in the government's huge health benefit programs. (Feb. 13)
President Obama's budget goes to Capitol Hill (2:08)

President Obama's budget goes to Capitol Hill (2:08)

President Barack Obama has sent Congress a new budget that seeks to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade through cuts in government spending and higher taxes on the wealthy. (Feb. 13)
Mitt Romney tops Santorum in CPAC straw poll (1:59)

Mitt Romney tops Santorum in CPAC straw poll (1:59)

Mitt Romney has won The Washington Times/CPAC Presidential Straw Poll of conservative activists. Romney polled 38 percent of the respondents. Rick Santorum drew 31 percent, Newt Gingrich polled 15 percent, and Ron Paul polled 12 percent. (Feb. 11)
Ron Paul suffers narrow loss to Mitt Romney in Maine (1:45)

Ron Paul suffers narrow loss to Mitt Romney in Maine (1:45)

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) narrowly lost the Maine caucuses to GOP rival Mitt Romney Saturday. Paul polled 36 percent of the vote, compared to Romney's 39 percent. Several communities elected to hold their caucuses later, but those votes won't count. (Feb. 11)
Sarah Palin brings anti-Washington message to CPAC (2:02)

Sarah Palin brings anti-Washington message to CPAC (2:02)

Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin brought her anti-Washington message to this year's Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. She also urged conservatives to support the GOP's eventual nominee. (Feb. 11)
Seeking Maine win, Mitt Romney attacks Obama (0:48)

Seeking Maine win, Mitt Romney attacks Obama (0:48)

Mitt Romney, the one-time front-runner, stepped up efforts to court Republicans in recent days, reflecting growing concern about the outcome of what has become a two-man race in Maine. (Feb. 11)
Catholics mixed on Obama 'accommodations' (1:26)

Catholics mixed on Obama 'accommodations' (1:26)

President Obama has unveiled a birth control compromise that he says will protect religious liberties and ensure that women have access to free contraception. Some are applauding the move, but the Catholic League calls it a "slap in the face." (Feb. 10)
At CPAC, conservatives search for unity (2:00)

At CPAC, conservatives search for unity (2:00)

At the Conservative Political Action Conference--a combination trade show and political rally for College Republicans--conservatives express hope that the Repubican Party will be united behind a candidate before the general election in November. (Feb. 11)
Gingrich attacks 'Republican establishment' at CPAC (1:53)

Gingrich attacks 'Republican establishment' at CPAC (1:53)

GOP White House hopeful Newt Gingrich on Friday said the GOP establishment is not tough enough to win a presidential campaign. (Feb. 20)
GOP candidates on Obama's contraception plan (1:38)

GOP candidates on Obama's contraception plan (1:38)

Speaking at CPAC on Friday, Republican Presidential candidates Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich weighed in on President Obama's plan that would have required religiously affiliated employers to provide contraception coverage to women. (Feb. 10)
Newt Gingrich's full 2012 CPAC speech (29:41)

Newt Gingrich's full 2012 CPAC speech (29:41)

Newt Gingrich spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday in Washington. (Feb. 10)
Navy names ship for Gabrielle Giffords (2:39)

Navy names ship for Gabrielle Giffords (2:39)

The Navy has named a ship for Gabrielle Giffords, the recently retired congresswoman from Arizona who is recovering from a gunshot wound to the head received in January 2011. The littoral combat ship is among the Navy's most versatile. (Feb. 10)
Mitt Romney's full CPAC 2012 speech (26:07)

Mitt Romney's full CPAC 2012 speech (26:07)

Mitt Romney delivers remarks during the 2012 Conservative Political Action Convention in Washington, D.C.