
Father of Newtown victim: Ban assault weapons
After weeks of arguing constitutional fine points and citing rival statistics, senators wrangling over gun control saw and heard the anguish of a ...

THE RESET: Both sides now see spending cuts likely
President Barack Obama is waiting until after deep automatic spending cuts actually kick in before meeting with congressional leaders to search for ...

Senate panel hearing from Newtown father, doctor
Sen. Dianne Feinstein says there has never been a greater need for a federal ban on assault weapons. The California Democrat made the remark as the ...
House to take up Senate's anti-violence act
Congress appeared on a course to renew the expired Violence Against Women Act after House Republican leaders on Tuesday agreed to take up a version ...

Obama rejects plan for more say in spending cuts
President Barack Obama brushed off a Republican plan Tuesday to give him flexibility to allocate $85 billion in looming spending cuts, wanting no part ...

US Senate panel backs Lew nomination for Treasury
The Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday approved President Barack Obama's choice of Jacob Lew to be Treasury secretary and sent the nomination to the ...
Bernanke will likely be pressed on Fed bond buying
Chairman Ben Bernanke will be pressed to clarify the Federal Reserve's approach to the still-sluggish U.S. economy when he testifies to Congress this ...
Senate panel likely to write gun bills next week
The Senate Judiciary Committee seems all but certain to start voting on an assault weapons ban and other gun curbs next week, Congress' first roll ...

All condemn pending budget cuts, spread blame
The White House and Republicans kept up the unrelenting mudslinging Sunday over who's to blame for roundly condemned budget cuts set to take effect ...
Lawmakers dispute records for private gun sales
A dispute over whether to require record keeping for private gun sales is holding up a compromise between Republican and Democratic senators over ...

Cruz's tactics boil Washington, but impress Texas
Ted Cruz glanced at his black cowboy boots, beneath a silver Texas belt buckle, waiting for the admirers to stop clapping. His arrival had turned a ...

Administration warns of impact of broad budget cut
Widespread flight delays and shuttered airports, off-limit seashores and unprotected parks. The Obama administration is painting a dire portrait of ...
GOP House panel chairman will consider gun bills
The Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said Friday that he's interested in writing legislation this year improving background checks ...
White House to give senators Benghazi documents
The White House has agreed to give the Senate Intelligence Committee documents related to the attack on a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, ...

Alaska senator pushes for wildlife refuge road
Thin barrier islands five miles off the tip of the Alaska Peninsula shelter Izembek Lagoon from the Bering Sea, but it's what's beneath the surface ...

Schenkkan, O'Brien win award honoring Sen. Kennedy
Dan O'Brien's "The Body of an American" and Robert Schenkkan's "All the Way" have been named the inaugural winners of a theater award honoring the ...

GOP senators are treading carefully with tea party
Twice burned, Republicans are treading carefully around tea party groups as they pursue a Senate majority that slipped through their fingers in 2010 ...

Labor, business agree to principles on immigration
Business and labor groups announced agreement Thursday on the principles of a new system to bring lower-skilled workers to the U.S, a key priority for ...

Obama calls Boehner, McConnell as budget cuts loom
Signaling an attempt to break an impasse, President Barack Obama on Thursday placed calls to House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Republican leader ...

Sequester Q&A: For US, a new season of uncertainty
Here comes the sequester: big federal spending cuts and a new season of economic uncertainty for a nation still trying to shake off a recession.
Education considering district-by-district waivers
Education Secretary Arne Duncan is talking with school districts about how to free them from unworkable parts of the federal No Child Left Behind law, ...

US senator hopeful Vietnam adoptions to restart
Vietnam and the United States are close to an agreement allowing Americans to adopt Vietnamese children again, five years after a ban was imposed amid ...
Obama: Immigration leak didn't hurt Senate talks
President Barack Obama sought Wednesday to mitigate any damage from the leak of an immigration bill being drafted by the White House, telling a ...

BP civil settlement remains elusive as trial nears
The U.S. Justice Department and the five Gulf coast states affected by a massive oil spill nearly three years ago have indicated they would like to ...

Pentagon notifies Congress of likely furloughs
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress on Wednesday that if automatic government spending cuts kick in on March 1 he may have to shorten the ...