WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday named the Coast Guard’s former top commander to a new, high-level post to help direct the nation’s Arctic strategy, signaling the polar region’s importance in national security and foreign policy matters. Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr., who retired this May as the commandant of the Coast Guard, will…

WASHINGTON — The United States has an ambassador to Fiji and the Kingdom of Tonga. Yet we have no ambassador to a region that might hold more vital American interests — the warming Arctic. That’s the omission U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen would like to fix. The Everett Democrat on Wednesday joined Republican Jim Sensenbrenner of…

Washington state’s congressional delegation on Monday submitted a strong entry into this year’s political Super Bowl betting sweepstakes, announcing a mass wager with Colorado’s delegation. That means all members of Congress representing Washington and Colorado — 17 in all; 10 from Washington and seven from Colorado — are offering to give something to the other side…

WASHINGTON — A U.S. House bill that would raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour gained one more backer Tuesday with Rep. Rick Larsen of Everett. Larsen joined at least 155 other Democrats — including four members from Washington — who already signed on as co-sponsors of the measure, introduced last March by Rep….

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen of Everett on Tuesday urged Dennis Rodman to stick to basketball and butt out of diplomacy, after the ex-NBA star suggested in an interview that a former Lynnwood resident had done something to warrant his imprisonment by North Korea. Appearing on CNN from Pyongyang, Rodman lashed out when interviewer…

WASHINGTON — It won’t ban the kind of secret collection of emails and messages by the National Security Agency that was revealed by the spy agency’s former contractor, Edward Snowden. But a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, Thursday would lift the legal gag order on companies on how much and what type of…

UPDATED at 11:30 a.m. with information on South Carolina delegation, and at 2:20 with estimates on trip costs. WASHINGTON — The state budget stalemate in Olympia has forced Gov. Jay Inslee to cancel his upcoming trip the Paris Air show, where he was to lead a group of  four dozen private executives and public…