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	2013 MAY May 23, 2013 News Wrap: IRS Replaces Official Who Refused to Answer Questions at Hearing In other news Thursday, the IRS announced that it had replaced Lois Lerner, the official who oversaw the agents who targeted conservative groups. Also, the U.S. House voted to peg federal student loan rates to those set by the financial markets.

	May 22, 2013 Line Between Social Welfare, Politics Plays Into Confusion on Tax-Exemption Law Controversy over the additional scrutiny the IRS paid to conservative organizations has raised attention about the regulations governing tax-exemption criteria. Jeffrey Brown explores who qualifies and how that status is determined with Richard Schmalbeck of Duke University Law School and Kim Barker of ProPublica.

	May 21, 2013 Senate Committee Grills Former IRS Commissioners on When Officials Knew Facts A Senate Finance Committee hearing on the targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service turned its focus to former IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman, who led the agency until last fall. Judy Woodruff has more, including testimony from his successor Steven Miller and the Treasury Department inspector general.

	May 17, 2013 Outgoing IRS Chief Admits Mistakes, but Dismisses Notion Scrutiny Was Political Outgoing IRS chief Steven Miller admitted failures and faced tough questions at a Congressional hearing, but he also asserted that the IRS did not act out of political motivation in scrutinizing conservative groups. Congressional correspondent Kwame Holman reports.

	May 16, 2013 News Wrap: Justice Department Under Fire for Omissions on No-Fly List In other news Thursday, the Justice Department failed to add a small number of terror suspects -- members of the federal witness protection program -- to the government "no-fly" list. Also, tornadoes in Texas killed at least six people, injured dozens and left hundreds homeless.

	May 15, 2013 Obama Announces IRS Resignation, Promises Safeguards and Oversight Cooperation President Barack Obama announced that acting commissioner of the IRS Steven Miller would be stepping down, calling the political targeting scandal "inexcusable." Jeffrey Brown delves into the latest developments and lingering questions with Josh Gerstein for Politico and Paul Streckfus, creator and editor of EO Tax Journal.

	May 14, 2013 Disclosures About Involvement in IRS Targeting Draw Calls for Transparency The scandal at the IRS over political targeting of conservative groups has extended to include agency officials in Washington. Meanwhile, Attorney General Eric Holder ordered the FBI to see if any laws were broken. Jeffrey Brown talks with Juliet Eilperin of The Washington Post and CQ Roll Call's Eliza Newlin Carney.

	May 13, 2013 Understanding Tax Law Behind Reports IRS Engaged in Political Targeting Revelations that the IRS targeted conservative political groups for additional scrutiny has launched a political firestorm. To help understand the tax law, Judy Woodruff is joined by Richard Schmalbeck of Duke University School of Law and Jay Sekulow of the American Center for the Law and Justice.

	May 13, 2013 IRS Under Fire for Scrutinizing Tax Status of Conservative Groups Reports charge the IRS targeted conservative political groups in 2012 by applying extra scrutiny to organizations that focused on government spending or the U.S. Constitution or had the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their names. Judy Woodruff reports on responses from the president and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

	May 8, 2013 New Report Shows Staggering Differences in the Cost of Medical Treatments A new report released by the federal government raises questions about how exactly hospitals determine the cost of treatment, after it revealed that facilities across the country are charging wildly different amounts for the same medical procedures.

	May 7, 2013 Communities Prepare for Sequester Cuts to Staffing and Social Programs With no compromise in sight, communities across the country are bracing for sequester to kick in during the coming weeks. Ray Suarez looks at effects for workers and government programs at the state-level. Gene Grant of New Mexico PBS, Gretchen Frazee of WTIU and Flo Jonic of Rhode Island Public Radio share their perspectives.



	APRIL April 26, 2013 Shields and Brooks on Red Line Reluctance, Flexibility on FAA Furloughs Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks talk with Judy Woodruff about President Barack Obama's "red line" on Syria, the FAA furlough deal in Congress, repercussions of the Boston Marathon attack and George W. Bush's newly dedicated presidential center.

	April 24, 2013 Should U.S. Have Monopoly on Food Sent Abroad to Aid Other Countries? As the USAID announces a new budget proposal that reallocates food aid funding from American farmers to more global sources, Margaret Warner gets views from Ellen Levinson of the Alliance for Global Food Security and former USAID administrator Andrew Natsios.

	April 24, 2013 USAID Rethinks Who Gets Paid to Grow Food for Countries in Need American food aid is sent to places with dire need. And until now, the commodities have been bought from U.S. farmers and shipped overseas on U.S. vessels to be donated. Margaret Warner reports on a new budget proposal that would redirect nearly half the money to buy bulk food more locally to the countries that need it.

	April 23, 2013 Book Examines the Blurring Line Between Soldiers and Spies Since 9/11 Attacks How did the U.S. intelligence community embrace a more operational role in the days after September 11? Margaret Warner talks to New York Times national security correspondent Mark Mazzetti, who explores that transition in his new book, "The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the End of the Earth."

	April 23, 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings Stir Up Questions, Lessons for Public Safety Protocol The bombings at the Boston Marathons stirred up questions about public safety and security at events with large crowds. Jeffrey Brown examines the safety lessons learned with Jim Davis, executive director of the Colorado Department of Safety, and Ed Cannon, former assistant chief of the New York City Police Department.

	April 23, 2013 Boston 10th in Funds Received for 'High Threat' Urban Areas Terrorism has been in the headlines in Boston before. Ten al-Qaida hijackers departed from Boston's Logan airport on Sept. 11, 2001. And in 2012, Tarek Mehanna of Sudbury, Mass., a Boston suburb, was convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaida.

	April 18, 2013 Sen. Durbin: Despite Strong Feelings, Gang of Eight Found Balance on Immigration A bipartisan team of senators rolled out its sweeping plan for immigration reform, meant to create a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. Margaret Warner talks to Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., one of the lawmakers who collaborated on the plan.

	April 12, 2013 Social Security Advocate: Obama's Budget Is 'Bad Policy. Bad Politics.' Leaders of a half dozen liberal and progressive groups rallied at the White House on April 9, 2013, to protest President Barack Obama's call in his budget to reduce cost-of-living adjustments to Social Security and other federal benefits.

	April 11, 2013 How Will President Obama's Budget Impact Medicare, Social Security? The president's proposed budget includes cuts to Medicare and Social Security. Jeffrey Brown discusses the various impacts with Joseph Antos of the American Enterprise Institute, Max Richtman of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare and Jared Bernstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

	April 11, 2013 What do You Think About Obama's Proposal to Reduce Social Security? President Barack Obama's proposed budget includes a decrease in cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security. What do you think? Should the president leave Social Security alone? Or is his approach necessary to tame the deficit?

	April 11, 2013 Judy's Notebook: A Budget to Get Worked Up About The very words "federal budget" make most of us yawn. But I'd argue that at 244 pages (not counting appendices and "supplementals") and with a proposed $3.77 trillion in spending "suggestions," the choices Mr. Obama has made make for exciting reading.

	April 4, 2013 Former INS Chief Talks Politics of Immigration Reform Doris Meissner, a former official in the Clinton administration, ends up talking a lot about politics when the subject is potentially landmark immigration reform legislation now gathering steam in Congress -- a plan she said offers more benefits than deficits for the United States.

	April 4, 2013 With Military Training Cutbacks Coming, How Are You Affected by Sequestration? The residents of the Hampton Roads area of southeastern Virginia, with its large military presence, are on edge: sequestration is going into effect.

	April 3, 2013 What Do Federal Spending Cuts Mean for Science and Researchers? Major science organizations rely heavily on government funding, including top federal programs like the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and NASA. Jeffrey Brown talks to Matt Hourihan of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on how the sequester will impact researchers.

	April 2, 2013 VA Backlog Files Stacked So High, They Posed Safety Risk to Staff Almost one million veterans are waiting for their benefit claims to be processed, according to an investigation by the Center for Investigative Reporting. One regional office in North Carolina was so overrun with claims folders that the sheer weight of their content actually exceeded the load-bearing capacity of the building.



	MARCH March 29, 2013 Returning Veterans Face Huge Backlog, Disorganization in Fight for Benefits Returning from combat, many veterans face another battle: waiting for medical claims to be processed. A recent report found that 245,000 veterans wait a year or more for help from the Veterans Administration. Hari Sreenivasan talks with veterans and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki about the delays and backlog.

	March 27, 2013 News Wrap: Obama Appoints First Female Director of the Secret Service In other news Wednesday, Julia Pierson was sworn in as the new director of the Secret Service. Pierson, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, is the first woman to hold this post. Also, James Holmes, the man accused in the Colorado movie shooting last July, has offered to plead guilty and serve life in prison.

	March 25, 2013 NPR/CPI Report: Deadly Work, Little Oversight in Nation's Grain Bins NPR and CPI spent six months reviewing government documents, interviewing workers, government officials, victims' families, company owners and legal and agriculture industry experts who have studied grain bin working conditions.

	March 8, 2013 Brooks and Marcus Discuss Washington's Effect on the Economy, Budget Deal Hopes New York Times columnist David Brooks and Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus talk with Jeffrey Brown about February's job report and how much politics and the government policy -- sequestration in particular -- effect the economy, plus the possibility of a bipartisan budget agreement and Rand Paul's John Brennan filibuster.

	March 7, 2013 Pelosi: For Budget Deal, 'Let's Talk' About Ensuring Strength of Entitlements Congressional correspondent Kwame Holman reports on President Obama's new round of negotiations with Republicans on a long term deficit deal. Judy Woodruff talks with House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi about the prospects of a bipartisan budget deal, the sequester cuts and the confirmation of CIA director John Brennan.

	March 7, 2013 After Almost 13-Hour Filibuster, Senate Confirms John Brennan for CIA Director The Senate voted to confirm John Brennan as director of the CIA after an intense confirmation hearing and filibuster over concern about the president's power to order drone strikes on American citizens stateside. Scott Shane of The New York Times and Niels Lesniewski of Roll Call join Jeffrey Brown to discuss the confirmation.

	March 6, 2013 Iraq Reconstruction: Read the Full Report and Lessons Learned The Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction wrapped up a review of nine years and $60 billion's worth of rebuilding projects in Iraq and issued a report Wednesday that found at least $8 billion was "wasted."

	March 6, 2013 House Moves Up Vote on Spending Bill as Snowstorm Bears Down on DC House Republicans will hold a vote Wednesday on their stopgap measure to keep the federal government funded past March 27. The legislation, which seeks to remove the prospect of a potentially calamitous government shutdown, locks in post-sequester spending levels, but includes protections for defense and veterans programs.

	March 5, 2013 Virginia Attorney General Criticizes Federal Government Overreach in New Book Judy Woodruff talks with Ken Cuccinelli, attorney general of Virginia and gubernatorial candidate in that state, about his new book, "The Last Line of Defense," which explores the role of the federal government. Cuccinelli was the first state attorney general to sue the federal government over the health care reform law.

	March 5, 2013 On Heels of Sequester, Lawmakers Move to Prevent Government Shutdown Although they missed the sequester deadline, members of congress are moving to lay the groundwork to prevent a government shutdown. Ray Suarez talks with The Takeaway's Todd Zwillich about the debate over the Republican spending measure, as well as potential political hurdles on Capitol Hill.

	March 5, 2013 Virginia's Ken Cuccinelli on How to Manage Medicare Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the leading Republican candidate in the state's gubernatorial race, sat down with the NewsHour to discuss his new book's overarching theme -- the overreach of the federal government. We've excerpted a five minute preview of the conversation that will air in full Tuesday night.

	March 5, 2013 Parties Look to Budget Battles with Sequestration a Reality With Washington bracing for impact on two fronts -- ice expected to fall from the sky and across-the-board budget cuts slowly taking effect -- the conversation has shifted to the budget battle that will dominate the final days of winter.

	March 4, 2013 Obama, Boehner Look Ahead to Next Budget Deadline The next budget deadline is a little more than three weeks away, but President Obama and congressional Republicans appear no closer to resolving their differences that produced a stalemate over $85 billion in automatic spending cuts that kicked in last week.

	March 1, 2013 Sequester Spotlight: Virginia's Military Region Cathy Lewis, host of WHRO's "HearSay," says the cuts will have a dramatic effect on the the labor force in the military-rich Hampton Roads region, where on Tuesday President Barack Obama called on lawmakers to compromise.

	March 1, 2013 Assessing Impact of Sequester Cuts at Local and Federal Levels To learn how the sequester cuts will have impact on both the federal and local levels, Jeffrey Brown talks with Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post, Karen Kasler of Ohio Public Television and Megan Verlee of Colorado Public Radio.

	March 1, 2013 Last Minute White House Meeting on Sequester Spurs Political Combat Not Progress With no sequester deal achieved, $85 billion dollars in spending cuts are poised to take effect. Judy Woodruff reports on the response from the White House and congressional leaders, as well as what the cuts will mean for the coming weeks.

	March 1, 2013 Lawmakers Head for Exits As Sequester Deadline Arrives A day after competing proposals failed in the Senate, the focus of official Washington on Friday will turn to the White House, where President Obama and top congressional leaders are scheduled to sit down and discuss the $85 billion in automatic spending cuts that are set to kick-in before day's end.



	FEBRUARY Feb. 28, 2013 News Wrap: Last Attempts by Lawmakers to Prevent Sequester Fail In other news Thursday, it was "sequester eve" in Washington: the final day before $85 billion dollars in automatic spending cuts take effect. Also, the Obama administration plans to intervene in a challenge to California's gay marriage ban. The Justice Department is pushing the Supreme Court to strike down the ban.

	Feb. 27, 2013 Why the Sequester Won't Solve America's Debt Problems While Congressional leaders squabble about the sequester, scheduled to take effect March 1, Making Sense contributor Larry Kotlikoff says that the United States has bigger financial problems that could affect generations to come.

	Feb. 26, 2013 Did Embattled Confirmation Process Weaken New Defense Secretary Hagel? The Senate voted to confirm former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel as the next defense secretary by a vote of 58-41, after 18 Republicans joined with Democrats to end a filibuster blocking the nominee. Judy Woodruff talks to Mark Thompson of Time magazine about whether the confirmation fight affects Hagel at the start of his tenure.

	Feb. 26, 2013 Fed Chair Bernanke Warns Lawmakers Sequester Could Slow Economic Recovery Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke warned Congress that the automatic spending cuts slated to take effect Friday could put a drag on economic growth. Gwen Ifill talks to economist Nariman Behravesh about whether political paralysis will affect the economy and how consumers are shrugging off Washington dysfunction.

	Feb. 25, 2013 Despite Gloomy Urgings, No Signs of Give From Congress on Sequester In a meeting with the nation's governors, President Obama urged members of congress to forget politics and get back to governing to prevent automatic spending cuts. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times and Margaret Talev of Bloomberg News talk with Judy Woodruff about the effects of the sequester and how it may get resolved.

	Feb. 25, 2013 Prospects for Deal to Avert Sequester Appear Grim A central question hangs in the air as the week begins. (And, no, it doesn't involve the First Lady's appearance at Sunday's Oscars.) Can President Obama and Congress defy the odds and come to a deal before Friday, when $85 billion in automatic cuts to defense and domestic spending are scheduled to begin taking effect?

	Feb. 22, 2013 Transportation Secretary Warns Sequestration Would Disrupt Air Travel With sequestration due to take effect in a week, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood warned that automatic spending cuts would disrupt air travel and cause a myriad of problems. Lisa Rein of the Washington Post joins Ray Suarez to discuss about what's reality, what's hype, and the Republican response to the imposing cuts.