Not there yet
1| Senate rejects Obamacare repeal
The details: By a 51-47 vote, the Senate rejected a motion that would have allowed an Obamacare repeal bill to move forward. The motion would have required 60 votes. Even if it passed, President Obama would not have been likely to sign the repeal.
Tangled Web rollout
2| CFPB unveils Web site
The details: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau unveiled its new Web site at ConsumerFinance.gov. Despite being neither nominated nor confirmed as director, as required by law, Elizabeth Warren is prominently featured as the head of the agency.
No abortion data
3| Annual federal report discontinued
The details: For the first time in 40 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will not be publishing its annual “Abortion Surveillance Report,” which provides the best single estimate of abortions in the United States. RedState.com reported that the CDC has no plans to release such a report any time soon.
More Egypt drama
4| Journalists attacked
The details: Reporters covering the uprising in Egypt, ranging from Al Jazeera journalists to CNN’s Anderson Cooper were attacked and beaten up by pro-Mubarak forces. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the attacks.
Start crying
5| EPA regulates spilled milk
The details: New authority given to the Environmental Protection Agency to guard against oil spills is being used to tell farmers what to do in the case of a milk spill, such as filing emergency management plans and building containment facilities. The reason? Milk contains oil.
Six figures for part time
6| D.C. Council living large
The details: D.C. Council members are paid more than all of their big-city peers except for those in Los Angeles, the Pew Charitable Trust reported. The average council member rakes in $130,538 — with two months off in the summer.
Siphoning off road funds
7| Md.’s crumbling infrastructure
The details: Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, D, plans to raid the state’s Transportation Trust Fund to balance the budget. But a new report says crumbling roads and bridges cost Maryland drivers $7 billion a year in lost time, wasted fuel and accelerated vehicle depreciation.
Metro’s hiring
8| Transit agency to add more staff
The details: A cash-strapped Metro wants to hire 263 employees, but not to fix dilapidated equipment or even to drive its trains and buses. Most of the new positions are desk jobs that will add to the transit agency’s already bloated payroll.
No receipts
9| $1.2 million undocumented
The details: Montgomery County officials improperly approved more than $1.2 million for construction, maintenance and snow removal without proper documentation, an audit by the county’s top watchdog revealed. Of 172 invoices submitted, 104 could not be validated.
Liar, liar
10| D.C. Council vindicated
The details: Former District interim parks director Ximena Hartsock falsified a federal residency form and lived in a friend’s Virginia basement rent-free after offering her a $27-an-hour summer job, the city’s inspector general reported. Council members had rejected Hartsock for a permanent position.
