Posted: 6:38 AM Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says federal spending and the country's debt will dominate the congressional agenda for the next three months

Updated: 1:31 PM The Obama administration is rejecting a new proposal from Syrian President Bashar Assad that would begin a peace process and keep the besieged leader in power.

Posted: 6:32 AM In 2010, Gov. Chris Christie underestimated the first major storm of his administration by flying to Disney World hours before snow crippled New Jersey.

Posted: 6:30 AM Obama faces a full agenda in Washington, including possible appointments of a new defense secretary and CIA director and a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Posted: 2:02 PM Idaho Republican Sen. Michael Crapo pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of driving while intoxicated and then apologized for his actions and asked forgiveness from his constituents.

Posted: 1:29 PM Attorneys for a former Tennessee Republican Party chief of staff have included the party as a defendant in a lawsuit.

Posted: 8:35 AM A new Congress opened for business Thursday to confront long-festering national problems, deficits and immigration among them, in an intensely partisan and crisis-driven era of divided government.

Posted: 8:33 AM A patchwork extension of federal farm programs passed as part of a larger "fiscal cliff" bill keeps the price of milk from rising but doesn't include many of the goodies that farm-state lawmakers are used to

Posted: 8:18 AM Tucked into the "fiscal cliff" tax package approved by Congress are billions of dollars in tax breaks that should make the new year a lot happier for businesses of many stripes.

Posted: 8:16 AM Nearly a year after suffering a debilitating stroke, Sen. Mark Kirk walked the 45 steps up the Capitol on Thursday and reclaimed his seat in the U.S. Senate on the first day of the 113th Congress.

Posted: 8:15 AM The House on Thursday adopted Republican-written rules for the chamber that reflect the party's efforts to cut spending, stop government regulations and oppose same-sex marriage.

Posted: 7:05 AM Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm says she soon will leave Current TV, where she has hosted a public affairs program for the past year.

Posted: 6:24 AM Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, sidelined for almost a month by a string of medical problems, is upbeat and planning to return to work next week, the State Department said Thursday.

Posted: 8:11 AM In a State House news conference, Christie blasted Republican U.S. House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio for delaying a vote on a $60 billion aid package for Superstorm Sandy recovery.

Updated: 7:14 AM Congress is ushering in the new and the old — dozens of eager freshmen determined to change Washington and the harsh reality of another stretch of bitterly divided government.

Updated: 7:14 AM Rep. Paul Ryan, the GOP's 2012 vice presidential candidate, voted for the "fiscal cliff" compromise that raised taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

Posted: 7:09 AM Lawmakers bought a little time with a New Year's agreement to hold income tax rates steady for 99 percent of Americans while allowing payroll taxes to go up

Posted: 7:08 AM The New Year's Day deal averting the "fiscal cliff" lays the groundwork for more combustible struggles in Washington over taxes, spending and debt in the next few months.

Updated: 7:10 AM The House is headed for a vote on aid for Superstorm Sandy victims after House Speaker John Boehner mollified Republicans from New York and New Jersey upset with his decision to cancel action on the bill.

Posted: 7:05 AM Financial markets around the world are celebrating the climactic New Year's agreement to avert scheduled tax increases and budget cuts in the United States. But the party could be a short one.

Posted: 7:03 AM A week after rushing to Washington to help end a tense, end-of-year standoff with Congress, President Barack Obama is back in Hawaii for vacation.

Updated: 6:11 AM Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was released from a New York hospital on Wednesday, three days after doctors discovered a blood clot in her head.

Posted: 6:41 AM A bill passed by Congress late Tuesday averts widespread tax increases and delays spending cuts that had threatened to take a bite out of the economy.

Updated: 10:16 AM Congress' excruciating, extraordinary New Year's Day approval of a compromise averting a prolonged tumble off the fiscal cliff hands President Barack Obama most of the tax boosts on the rich that he campaigned on.

Posted: 6:23 AM President Barack Obama says an effort to change the nation's tax code that is too skewed toward the wealthy has been achieved with the "fiscal cliff" deal approved in Congress.