
THE RESET: Guns, immigration topping week's agenda
A week into his second term, President Barack Obama is temporarily turning from perpetual political fights over the national debt, government ...
Lawmakers see immigration overhaul this year
Republican and Democratic lawmakers were cautiously optimistic Sunday that a long-sought overhaul of the nation's immigration system that includes a ...

Leading Democrat: Gun control faces uphill climb
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who's leading the push to restore an assault weapon ban, acknowledged on Sunday that the effort faces tough odds to pass ...

'No budget, no pay' advances despite reservations
In an earlier era, a move like the one engineered by House GOP leaders to pass a "no budget, no pay" measure probably would have been stopped in its ...

APNewsBreak: Harkin won't seek 6th Senate term
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin said Saturday he will not seek a sixth term in 2014, a decision that eases some of the burden the national Republican Party faces ...

Democrats may stand in Obama's way on gun measures
As the Senate prepares to begin debating new gun control measures, some of President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats are poised to frustrate his ...
Health answers sought about burned-off war garbage
J.D. Williams didn't think much about the smoke cloud that often shrouded his air base in Iraq. Not when it covered everything he owned with black ...

Court says Obama appointments violate constitution
President Barack Obama violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate last year to appoint three members of the National Labor Relations Board, ...

Ga. Sen. Chambliss won't seek re-election in 2014
When Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss announced Friday that he wouldn't seek a third term in 2014, a race that already was likely to feature a contested ...

Obama picks foreign policy aide as chief of staff
President Barack Obama announced Friday that his new chief of staff is longtime trusted aide Denis McDonough, whom the president described as a close ...
GOP senators will oppose VA electoral change
The prospects appear doomed in Virginia this year for Republican-backed legislation that would replace the state's winner-take-all method of ...

Obama presses liberal agenda as he starts 2nd term
From gun control to gay rights, President Barack Obama's second-term agenda is shaping up as an unabashedly liberal wish list. In less than a week, ...

Senate OKs modest restrictions on filibusters
The tradition-laden Senate voted Thursday to modestly curb filibusters, using a bipartisan consensus rare in today's hyper-partisan climate to make ...

What's a filibuster look like? Not Jimmy Stewart
From Jimmy Stewart's fictional all-night talkathon to real-life dramas over World War I and civil rights, the Senate's filibuster has played a notable ...

Congress charts new collision course over deficit
The nation's sharp disagreements over taxes and spending are on a re-routed collision course, as Senate Democrats launch a plan that includes new ...

AP sources: Pentagon opens combat roles to women
The Pentagon is lifting its ban on women serving in combat, opening hundreds of thousands of front-line positions and potentially elite commando jobs ...

Debt crisis averted - but spring fight still ahead
Retreating with a purpose, Republicans sped legislation through the House on Wednesday to avert the imminent threat of a government default but ...

Defiant Clinton takes on lawmakers on Libya attack
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivered fiery rejoinders Wednesday to Republican critics of the Obama administration's handling of the ...

THE RESET: Delay becoming the norm for US gov't
Congress often gives itself more breathing room. In other words, it kicks the can down the road. It's an overused expression nearly everybody scoffs ...

NJ senator takes digs at mayor's interest in seat
Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, at age 88 the oldest sitting U.S. senator, said Tuesday that the mayor of the state's largest city is surely ...

GOP moves to delay debt-ceiling showdown 3 months
Seeking to regain their budget footing versus President Barack Obama, Republicans controlling the House are moving quickly to try to defuse a ...

Recognition sought for church bombing victims
Nearly 50 years ago, white supremacists planted a bomb in a Birmingham, Ala., church that killed four young girls preparing to worship, an act of ...
Feud over budget for diplomatic security escalates
A long-running feud over whether Congress provides enough money for protecting U.S. diplomats escalated Tuesday as the chairman of a Senate ...

Obama climate pledge faces test on oil pipeline
Environmental groups say President Barack Obama's warning about climate change will soon be tested as he decides whether to approve the Keystone XL ...