AC

DES MOINES—Former President Bill Clinton is pushing back against Mitt Romney's claim that President Barack Obama is trying to reverse bipartisan welfare reforms he signed into law in 1996. In a television ad released Tuesday and later at an event outside Chicago, Romney criticized a recent Department of Human Services directive that relaxed federal work requirements for welfare recipients in what Obama administration officials said was an attempt to offer states more flexibility in determining who can qualify for state and federal assistance. Romney's ad featured an image of Clinton and mentioned him by name in accusing Obama of trying to roll back the work requirements approved by the former Democratic president. Speaking to supporters Tuesday, Romney called Clinton's efforts on welfare reform "one of the greatest bipartisan successes we've seen." But in a statement issued by his office late Tuesday night, Clinton rejected the GOP candidate's assertions,...