All DC Decoder
- US military aid to Syria rebels: Why Obama is starting with the minimum
Obama's cautious shift away from providing only non-lethal assistance to Syria's rebels reflects continued deep misgivings about sending US arms into the war and a desire to keep a door open to diplomacy.
- NSA surveillance 101: What US intelligence agencies are doing, what they know US intelligence agencies are gathering massive amounts of US telephone calling data and social media data on both foreigners and citizens. Here are seven questions and answers about what is known so far.
- Why Obama chose woman with no CIA experience for No. 2 CIA job
Avril Haines will be the first woman to be second in command at the CIA, but critics point not to her gender but her lack of CIA experience. Her choice suggests Obama wants a close ally.
- Actually, Americans aren’t shrugging over NSA surveillance
Two new polls find that a majority of Americans disapprove of the NSA's data-mining programs. The head of the NSA says he's ready to provide evidence they've helped prevent terrorist attacks.
- Morning-after pill: how the politics of Plan B changed for Obama
In a change of course, the Obama administration has cleared the way for Plan B One-Step to become easily available to women and girls of all ages. Social conservatives are furious.
- Edward Snowden leaks: why Obama has a political cushion
Edward Snowden and his decision to speak out as the leaker of classified national security documents have deflected attention from President Obama. The political odd couples defending and opposing the programs also insulate the president.
- How do Americans feel about NSA surveillance? Ambivalent
When terrorists strike, intelligence agencies are faulted for failure to 'connect the dots.' If that's what the NSA is trying to do with its mass surveillance of phone records and Internet use, how do Americans feel about that?
- PRISM: What’s behind this NSA surveillance tool lurking about your Facebook page?
The PRISM program has been sucking up what most people would think of as personal information on Google, Facebook, Skype, and other Internet providers. What’s up with the NSA's secret surveillance effort?
- How immigration reform might also spur young Americans to study math, science
Measures in immigration reform legislation would channel fees from high-skilled visas into investments for American students to delve into science, technology, engineering, and math.
- Obama touts California as health-care reform model. Will costs really fall?
The impact of President Obama's health-care law on medical costs is hotly debated. On Friday, he argued his side, highlighting trends in a state where premiums by some measures may not change much.
- Obama on NSA data-mining: ‘Nobody is listening to your telephone calls’
President Obama defends once-secret counterterrorism programs, such as NSA data-mining, and decries leaks, even as he welcomes public debate over how to balance security with civil liberties.
- US immigration reform: Why 'E-Verify' screenings, while flawed, will pass
E-Verify screenings of new workers, in use in some states, has the strongest public support of all the basic elements of immigration reform. It's included in the bill the Senate began debating Friday.
- Verizon phone-snooping flap: why Obama won't be harmed
News that Verizon has been forced to turn over millions of phone records to the US government feeds the narrative of Big Brother-ism in Washington. But concerns over national security are likely to mitigate political fallout.