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

Ex-federal government reporter switches sides

Former Federal Diary columnist joins federal agency as a top spokesman.

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Ed O'Keefe

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

Federal Diary

Pay raises for federal vs. private workforce

Pay raises for federal vs. private workforce

This chart from President Obama’s proposed fiscal year 2013 budget indicates that pay raises for federal workers recently have dropped sharply in comparison with the private workforce.

Federal Diary: ‘Modest’ raise not enough

US President Barack Obama speaks on his FY 2013 Budget to students at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia, on February 13, 2012. Obama unveiled a budget packed with populist tax hikes on the rich and infrastructure and jobs spending designed to outmaneuver Republicans before he seeks reelection. The measure, including billions of dollars in transportation and education and training projects, is expected to put the emphasis more on securing the accelerating US economic recovery than early cuts in the huge deficit.  AFP Photo/Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

President Obama won’t please many folks with the federal employee provisions in the fiscal year 2013 budget plan he released Monday.

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 the Loop

HANDOUT PHOTO:  
President George W. Bush answers questions from 2011 NADA Chairman Stephen W. Wade during the general session at the NADA Convention and Expo in Las Vegas Feb. 6, 2012. 
(Courtesy of NADA)

Bush claims auto bailout his

President George W. Bush again claims credit for auto industry bailout

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.

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

Congress looks for ways around Supreme Court

Justice Ginsburgh, fourth from left, and her fellow Supreme Court colleagues, seated from left, Anthony Kennedy, John Paul Stevens, John G. Roberts, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and, standing from left, Samuel Alito, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor, pose for their official photograph in Washington, DC.

Lawmakers are trying to get around Supreme Court decisions they dislike or simply go over the nine justices’ heads by rewriting the Constitution.

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.

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

U.S. shippers watch for progress in Panama and ports

Cranes works in part of the new set of locks of the Panama Canal as a part of their expansion project in Panama City, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011. Two new sets of locks, one on the Pacific and another on the Atlantic side of the canal, are part of the waterway's biggest expansion projects since it opened in 1914, which will allow larger Post-Panamax ships to cross the canal. The locks are planned to be finished by 2014. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

A project to deepen and widen the Panama Canal aims to help U.S. businesses meet a new foreign challenge.

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.

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

postpolitics

Department of Transportation would see spending increase http://t.co/Q0NMC16F #2013Budget

postpolitics

Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri and Florida predictions contest winners http://t.co/jCa7JB4R

postpolitics

#2013Budget Homeland Security would see slight spending trim http://t.co/GOaZQxok

More tweets

chelserama

@ZoeyDeutch Mantrackers (pl. n): Slang for people who believe in the mantra CKERS (Cancel Kardashians' Endless Reality Shows) #campaign2012

MeganEPhelps

@KLSouth Is there a perfect candidate? NO, Is he the best candidate, YES! @RickSantorum 4 PRESIDENT! #tcot #election2012 #campaign2012 #GOP

eiontweets

Hey dead people, if you want rights like voting, apply to be an American citizen like everyone else. #pewstudy #campaign2012

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keithellison

The Green Team: teen hiphop group, rapping about environment, Climate, and Justice. They're some really talented, positive youth.

keithellison

I need you. Support superkids by hitting "Like" for song "climate control" by Green Team. Go to dreamreborncontest.com/dm0

JeffFlake

So, no payroll tax offset? Have we even stopped pretending?

More tweets

Politics Videos

The winners and losers of Obama's new budget (2:04)

The winners and losers of Obama's new budget (2:04)

President Barack Obama unveiled a $3.8 trillion spending plan on Monday that seeks to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade, with higher taxes for the wealthy and more investment in areas like community colleges. (Feb. 13)
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)