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Donna Cassata

A radar image of Tropical Storm Isaac's path is seen on the floor of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Republicans ready to roll, but Isaac clouds tone

Calvin Woodward, Donna Cassata The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - 10:20am

TAMPA, Fla. — For the thousands of Republican convention-goers who’ve been cooling their heels in Tampa, the party is finally on. But with New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast waiting fearfully to see where a massive storm makes landfall, politics has become an awkward enterprise and no one knows what sort of party it will turn out to be.

Republicans, National Read more Comments

In this July 30, 2011, file photo, Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., talks about the standoff between Democrats and Republicans over the debt crisis on Capitol Hill in Washington. West said he believes 75-plus House Democrats are members of the Communist Party, a claim that echoed Joe McCarthy’s unsubstantiated 1950s charges that communists had infiltrated the top ranks of the U.S. government. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

GOP lawmaker says 75-plus Dems are communists

Donna Cassata The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - 4:01pm

WASHINGTON — Republican Rep. Allen West said he believes 75-plus House Democrats are members of the Communist Party, a claim that echoed Joe McCarthy’s unsubstantiated 1950s charges that communists had infiltrated the top ranks of the U.S. government.

Communists, Politics, Republican Party, National Read more Comments

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta outlines the main areas of proposed spending cuts during a news conference at the Pentagon, Thursday, Jan., 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

New round of military base closures announced

Donna Cassata, Robert Burns The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, January 26, 2012 - 5:04pm

WASHINGTON -- Pentagon leaders outlined a plan Thursday for absorbing $487 billion in defense cuts over the coming decade by announcing a new round of base closures, shrinking U.S. ground forces, slowing the purchase of a next-generation stealth fighter and retiring older planes and ships.

Budget cuts, Congress, Defense Department, Leon Panetta, Pentagon, Rep. Rob Bishop, U.S. Air Force, Military, National Read more Comments

Panetta is expected to delay production of perhaps 100 or more of the F-35 Lightning II stealth attack planes that the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps are counting on to replace a portion of their aging aircraft fleets. The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program.

Air Force cuts will include limit on new F-35 purchases

Donna Cassata The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, January 26, 2012 - 1:34pm

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon is preparing to tighten its belt, but with an election-year battle looming in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta wants to stress the positive: Parts of the budget devoted to reshaping the military to fit a new global strategy will actually get fatter, he says.

Budget cuts, F-35 Jets, Pentagon, U.S. Air Force, Military, National Read more Comments

(EVAN VUCCI/The Associated Press) Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey take part in a news conference at the Pentagon, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011.

Panetta: Deep defense cuts mean fewer troops

Donna Cassata The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - 8:27am

WASHINGTON — The number of U.S. ground forces would drop to levels not seen since 1940, the Navy would drop to the smallest number of ships since 1915 and the Air Force would be the smallest ever, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in warning Congress of the dire implications of deeper defense cuts.

Budget, Budget cuts, Congress, Military, National Read more Comments

(J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/The Associated Press) In this July 26, 2011 file photo, then-Joint Chiefs Chairman-nominee, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey testifies on Capitol Hill before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Republicans and Democrats alike are signaling a willingness — unheard of at the height of two post-Sept. 11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — to make military retirees pay more for coverage. The Pentagon’s health care costs have have skyrocketed from $19 billion in 2001 to $53 billion, daunting numbers for a military focused on building and arming an all-volunteer force for war.

Lawmakers open to changes in military benefits

Donna Cassata The Associated Press

Last updated Saturday, October 22, 2011 - 3:57pm

WASHINGTON — The government’s promise of lifetime health care for the military’s men and women is suddenly a little less sacrosanct as Congress looks to slash trillion-dollar-plus deficits.

Benefits, Budget, Budget cuts, Congress, Deficit, Health Care, Military, National Read more Comments

(J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/The Associated Press) In this Oct. 4, 2011, photo, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid meets with reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. Facing fierce congressional resistance, the administration has accepted restrictions on detention of terror suspects. Last year’s defense bill and the omnibus spending bill that Obama and Congress agreed to in April barred the transfer of terror suspects from Guantanamo to the United States, prevented construction or modification of U.S. facilities to house suspects, and required the defense secretary to notify Congress before moving a terror suspect to a foreign country. Now, however, the administration is pushing back by opposing detainee provisions in the latest defense bill. And, citing administration opposition as well as his own reservations, Reid said he would hold up the bill until concerns over the detainee provisions are settled.

Obama, Congress divided over terror suspects

Donna Cassata The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, October 5, 2011 - 7:16am

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has tracked down and killed Osama bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki and other al-Qaida leaders. Yet, in spite of those successes, Republicans and some Democrats in Congress remain intent on challenging the administration’s policies for handling captured terror suspects.

Congress, President Barack Obama, Terrorism, National Read more Comments

Air Force gives $35B contract to Boeing

Donna Cassata, Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, February 24, 2011 - 7:27pm

WASHINGTON -- The Air Force awarded a $35 billion contract to build the next generation of air refueling planes to Chicago-based Boeing Co. on Thursday, delivering a major economic boost to Washington state and Kansas and likely ending nearly a decade-long struggle to replace its fleet of Eisenhower-era tanker aircraft.

"What we can tell you was that Boeing was a clear winner," Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn said in announcing the decision at the Pentagon.

The decision was a surprise, as defense analysts and even some lawmakers had expected European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. to capture the contract. It was a blow to Alabama, which had been counting on EADS to assemble the aircraft at a long-shuttered military base in Mobile.

Business, Air Force, Airplanes, Boeing, Military Update Read more Comments

Senate ratifies START treaty

Desmond Butler, Donna Cassata, The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, December 22, 2010 - 3:30pm

WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Wednesday ratified an arms control treaty with Russia that reins in the nuclear weapons that could plunge the world into doomsday, giving President Barack Obama a major foreign policy win in Congress' waning hours.

Thirteen Republicans broke with their top two leaders and joined 56 Democrats and two independents in providing the necessary two-thirds vote to approve the treaty. The vote was 71-26, with Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., showing up just two days after cancer surgery.

The accord, which still must be approved by Russia, would restart onsite weapons inspections as successors to President Ronald Reagan have embraced his edict of "trust, but verify." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow welcomed the vote but still needed to study the accompanying Senate resolution.

Politics, START treaty, U.S. Senate, National Read more Comments