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A day after laying out his counterterrorism vision, President Barack Obama is addressing future military leaders in a speech to U.S. Naval Academy graduates. It's a tradition for presidents to speak at the commissioning ceremony in Annapolis, Md., about 30 miles from the White House. The academy says 16 presidents have addressed graduates, and Obama is the sixth to do so twice. He also addressed 2009 graduates. Another highlight of the Naval Academy graduation is off this year. The Navy's Blue...

Princess Cristina, the daughter of Spain's King Juan Carlos, is under investigation for possible tax fraud and money laundering, the latest blow to the Spanish royal family's reputation. Palma de Mallorca court judge Jose Castro on Friday asked tax authorities for information regarding Cristina's property and investments as well as finances relating to her partnership with her husband Inaki Urdangarin in a firm called Aizoon. The court recently withdrew a subpoena against the 47-year-old princess...

Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov next week in Paris to discuss peace talks in Syria. U.S. officials say they want to advance efforts to start talks between the Syrian government and opposition leaders. The officials say Kerry will extend a seven-day trip through the Middle East and Africa by one day to dine Monday with Lavrov. The U.S. wants to convince Syrian rebel leaders to attend the planned peace talks in Geneva next month. The Russians...

A long-simmering feud between establishment Republicans and tea partyers broke into full view, with Sen. John McCain accusing younger colleagues of overplaying their hands and tempting Democrats to change Senate rules that protect the minority party. Tactics for dealing with the government's budget and debt became the latest quarrel in a series of skirmishes between McCain _sometimes joined by other traditionalist Republicans _and tea party champions such as Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky,...

President Barack Obama on Thursday reaffirmed his 2008 campaign promise to close the military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where terror suspects have been held since 2002, and begin the transfer of some prisoners to other countries. A look the facility's history: _ JANUARY 2002: U.S. transfers the first 20 prisoners from holding cells overseas to the naval base at Guantanamo Bay. The men are hooded, shackled and wearing orange jumpsuits, and initially held in open-air chain-link cages...

Text of President Barack Obama's speech on the fight against terrorism at the National Defense University, as provided by the White House: ___ It's an honor to return to the National Defense University. Here, at Fort McNair, Americans have served in uniform since 1791_ standing guard in the early days of the Republic, and contemplating the future of warfare here in the 21st century. For over two centuries, the United States has been bound together by founding documents that defined who we are...

President Barack Obama defended the United States' use of drone attacks as an important part of the U.S. counterterrorism policy on Thursday but signed new presidential policy guidelines to spell out for Congress and the public the standards that the U.S. will use before carrying out drone attacks. The guidelines include not using strikes when the targeted people can be captured either by the U.S. or a foreign government, relying on drones only when the target poses an imminent threat and establishing...

President Barack Obama said Thursday that he will engage Congress in exploring a number of options for increased oversight of lethal drone strikes outside of war zones like Afghanistan. The official U.S. figures of number of strikes and estimated deaths remain classified. But, according to the New America Foundation which maintains a database of the strikes, the CIA and the military have carried out an estimated 416 drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, resulting in 3,364 estimated deaths, including...

President Barack Obama defended America's drone attacks as legal, effective and necessary in America's campaign to counter terrorism. But he acknowledged the targeted strikes are no "cure-all" and said Thursday he was haunted by the civilians unintentionally killed. He said he had signed new policy guidelines for the use of drones and said he wanted to find ways to allow additional oversight of the program. Some questions and answers about the program: Q: What are they? A: The U.S. has an extensive...

Out with the global war on terror. In with more narrowly targeted counterterrorism policies that persistently zero in on violent extremists at home and abroad. President Barack Obama on Thursday laid out a counterterrorism strategy for a post 9/11, postwar world that he said seeks to strike the right balance between providing security and safeguarding civil rights in an open society. He said that plan includes more oversight of U.S. drone strikes, shutting down the U.S. detainee center at Guantanamo...

When President Barack Obama pushed his health care overhaul plan through Congress, he counted labor unions among his strongest supporters. But some unions leaders have grown frustrated and angry about what they say are unexpected consequences of the new law _ problems that they say could jeopardize the health benefits offered to millions of their members. The issue could create a political headache next year for Democrats facing re-election if disgruntled union members believe the Obama administration...

The Internal Revenue Service official who led the unit that targeted tea party groups and publicly disclosed the activity has been replaced, making her the third top IRS official moved aside since the episode was revealed two weeks ago. Lois Lerner was put on administrative leave on Thursday, said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and two congressional aides. Without naming Lerner, new Acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel emailed employees that 27-year IRS veteran Ken Corbin would become acting...

Forecasting the changing nature of threats against the U.S. for years to come, President Barack Obama says "America is at a crossroads." And so, too, is his presidency's counterterrorism policy, which has long struggled to balance protecting the nation from terror attacks while upholding Americans' rights. The Obama administration this week acknowledged that four Americans have been killed _ three of whom were not specifically targeted _ in secretive overseas drone strikes against al-Qaida...

Schools in Newtown, Conn., will receive $1.3 million in federal aid to recover after the shootings that left 26 students and educators dead last year. Education Secretary Arne Duncan planned to announce the School Emergency Response to Violence grant during a visit to the state on Friday. The grant to Newtown schools was designed to offset costs the district incurred after the December 2012 shooting as well as provide counseling and training for school officials. "This tragedy has forever changed...

Scott Walker tried to introduce himself to Iowa Republicans Thursday as so many would-be presidential candidates often do _ one of their own. After all, the Wisconsin governor weighing a 2016 bid for president spent seven years as a young child living in Plainfield, a tiny town in northeast Iowa Walker referred to a half-dozen times during a 40 minute speech at a Republican fundraiser. More broadly, the rising GOP figure prescribed what he characterized as a Midwestern approach to politics...

Scott Walker tried to introduce himself to Iowa Republicans Thursday as so many would-be presidential candidates often do _ one of their own. After all, the Wisconsin governor weighing a 2016 bid for president spent seven years as a young child living in Plainfield, a tiny town in northwest Iowa Walker referred to a half-dozen times during a 40 minute speech at a Republican fundraiser. More broadly, the rising GOP figure prescribed what he characterized as a Midwestern approach to politics...

U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner announced Thursday that he is resigning from Congress effective in August to take a post with the University of Alabama system. In the letter to his congressional colleagues, the six-term Republican said he will resign to become vice chancellor of government relations and economic development at the University of Alabama System. He holds undergraduate and law degrees from the university. His sister, Judy Bonner, is president of the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa _ one of...

Anthony Weiner set out to reintroduce himself to voters Thursday as he embarked on a mayoral bid after leaving Congress in a sexting scandal. He found a much more supportive reception in his first day of campaigning than he did from the state's top Democrat, who bluntly criticized his candidacy a day earlier. At a Democratic political forum in the Bronx in which he faced some of his political opponents for the first time, Weiner was greeted with warm applause after delivering a speech that included...

President Barack Obama on Thursday reaffirmed his 2008 campaign promise to close the military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where terror suspects have been held since 2002, and begin the transfer of some prisoners to other countries. A look the facility's history: _ JANUARY 2002: U.S. transfers the first 20 prisoners from holding cells overseas to the naval base at Guantanamo Bay. The men are hooded, shackled and wearing orange jumpsuits, and initially held in open-air chain-link cages...

President Barack Obama plans to give the Jersey Shore a boost with a post-Memorial Day visit to showcase recovery efforts in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. The White House says the president will tour the coastline with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday and speak about the need to expand economic opportunities for middle-class families hit by the storm. He plans to meet with business and home owners who have benefitted from the recovery. Obama and Christie were a picture of bipartisanship...

Charges that an Army sergeant secretly photographed and videotaped women at West Point are part of a military-wide pattern of sexual misconduct, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Thursday. The military has been rocked by a series of arrests and incidents of sexual misconduct. But the news from the venerable U.S. Military Academy _ where the motto is "Duty. Honor. Country." _ could be particularly embarrassing. The Army said Wednesday that a sergeant at West Point had been charged with secretly...

A Republican member of the Arizona House who supports GOP Gov. Jan Brewer's push to expand Medicaid received an obscene and threatening voicemail at her office, a sign that the rancorous debate over embracing a signature component of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul in the state is far from over. A visibly shaken state Rep. Kate Brophy McGee of Phoenix urged fellow members Thursday to tell their constituents to be civil, after a fellow lawmaker encouraged opponents of the plan to...

Moving quickly to stem a raging controversy, the new acting head of the Internal Revenue Service started cleaning house Thursday by replacing the supervisor who oversaw agents involved in targeting tea party groups. A day after she refused to answer questions at a congressional hearing, Lois Lerner was placed on administrative leave, according to congressional sources. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said Lerner was asked to resign but refused,...

A long-simmering feud between establishment Republicans and tea partyers broke into full view Thursday, with Sen. John McCain accusing younger colleagues of overplaying their hands and tempting Democrats to change Senate rules that protect the minority party. Tactics for dealing with the government's budget and debt became the latest quarrel In a string of them between McCain _sometimes joined by other traditionalist Republicans _and tea party champions such as Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of...

A day after she refused to answer questions at a congressional hearing, Lois Lerner was replaced Thursday as director of the Internal Revenue Service division that oversaw agents who targeted tea party groups. Danny Werfel, the agency's new acting commissioner, told IRS employees in an email that he had selected a new acting head of the division, staying within the IRS to find new leadership. Ken Corbin, a 27-year IRS veteran, will be the new acting director of the agency's exempt organizations...

The U.S. expressed concern Thursday over increased attacks on religious minorities in Indonesia, but human rights groups accused Washington of downplaying the problem as it looks to forge stronger relations with Jakarta. Muslim-majority Indonesia has emerged as Southeast Asia's most robust democracy since the fall of longtime dictator Suharto 15 years ago this week. But recent years have seen increased reports of violence and discrimination against Christians, minority Shiite Muslims and the Ahmadiyah...

The Senate on Thursday voted to limit the amount of government subsidies the wealthiest farmers receive when purchasing crop insurance. The vote was one small victory this week for critics of a massive, five-year farm bill that would cost almost $100 billion a year and includes generous subsidies for the nation's biggest crops. Supporters have deflected other attempts on the Senate floor to reduce government help for agriculture, including proposals to trim sugar subsidies and crop insurance....

Schoolchildren from New Jersey shore communities battered by Superstorm Sandy will join Michelle Obama for a garden harvest next week. The White House says the first lady will also be joined Tuesday by students who helped plant the crops last month. The New Jersey students are from Union Beach Memorial School in Union Beach and Long Beach Island Grade School in Ship Bottom. Both schools were damaged in last October's storm. Both also teach their students about healthy eating, which is one of...

Dismissing a veto threat from President Barack Obama, lawmakers in the House passed legislation that links student loan rates to the ups and downs of the financial markets in a vote largely along party lines. The Republican-backed bill would allow students to dodge a scheduled rate hike for students with new subsidized Stafford loans next month, but rates could rise in coming years. Democrats largely opposed the measure _ which they branded the "Making College More Expensive Act" _ while the Republican...

President Barack Obama is providing more Hurricane Sandy disaster relief to New York, increasing the share of public assistance that the government will pay from 75 percent to 90 percent of the cost. The change would mean a significant increase in the amount of money the state would receive from the federal government for road and sewer reconstruction projects and hospital and school rebuilding efforts. The White House said Thursday the extensive damage was putting a strain on state and local...

President Barack Obama defended the United States' use of drone attacks as an important part of the U.S. counterterrorism policy on Thursday but signed new presidential policy guidelines to spell out for Congress and the public the standards that the U.S. will use before carrying out drone attacks. The guidelines include not using strikes when the targeted people can be captured either by the U.S. or a foreign government, relying on drones only when the target poses an imminent threat and establishing...

A website partially funded by the oil and gas industry could be a "constructive" tool for federal regulators as they consider requiring public disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations, Senate Energy Committee Chairman Ron Wyden said Thursday. Wyden, D-Ore., stopped short of endorsing the website, FracFocus.org, but said it could be helpful as lawmakers and federal agencies consider ways to regulate hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Fracking involves pumping...

House members writing a bipartisan immigration bill said Thursday they had patched over a dispute that threatened their efforts, even as they and the rest of Congress prepared to return home for a weeklong recess where many could confront voters' questions on the issue. The eight lawmakers in the House immigration group have struggled for months to come to agreement on a sweeping bill that would have a chance in the GOP-controlled House while satisfying Democrats' objectives. Talks almost broke...

After five years of trying, President Barack Obama has placed his first nominee on a key appeals court in Washington. The Senate voted unanimously on Thursday, 97-0, to confirm Sri Srinivasan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The court is considered the most important in the country after the Supreme Court. Srinivasan is currently the principal deputy in the Office of the Solicitor General. He has worked in both Democratic and Republican administrations and served...

President Barack Obama said Thursday that the Justice Department will review the policy under which it obtains journalists' records in investigations of the leak of government secrets. Obama acknowledged he is "troubled by the possibility that leaks investigations may chill the investigative journalism" that he says holds government accountable and said he has expressed his concerns to Attorney General Eric Holder. But he said his administration would continue to try to find the government employees...

President Barack Obama's nominee for commerce secretary was questioned briefly about her ties to a subprime mortgage lender that failed in 2001 and her role as a beneficiary of family offshore trusts in the Bahamas, but those were minor bumps in an otherwise smooth Senate confirmation hearing Thursday. Chicago billionaire business executive and philanthropist Penny Pritzker is a longtime Obama friend who raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for both of his presidential campaigns. If she wins...

Out with the "global war on terror." In with more narrowly targeted counterterrorism policies that persistently zero in on violent extremists at home and abroad. President Barack Obama on Thursday laid out a counterterrorism strategy for a post 9/11, post-war world that he said seeks to strike the right balance between providing security and safeguarding civil rights in an open society. He said that plan includes more oversight of U.S. drone strikes, shutting down the U.S. detainee center at Guantanamo...

President Barack Obama said Thursday that he will engage Congress in exploring a number of options for increased oversight of lethal drone strikes outside of war zones like Afghanistan. The official U.S. figures of number of strikes and estimated deaths remain classified. But, according to the New America Foundation which maintains a database of the strikes, the CIA and the military have carried out an estimated 416 drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen, resulting in 3,364 estimated deaths, including...

Text of President Barack Obama's speech on the fight against terrorism at the National Defense University, as provided by the White House: ___ It's an honor to return to the National Defense University. Here, at Fort McNair, Americans have served in uniform since 1791_ standing guard in the early days of the Republic, and contemplating the future of warfare here in the 21st century. For over two centuries, the United States has been bound together by founding documents that defined who we are...

President Barack Obama was interrupted three times by a woman who shouted about drones and detainees in Cuba as he delivered a speech on national security. The woman was identified as Medea Benjamin from the anti-war group Code Pink. Benjamin yelled from behind a bank of cameras before security removed her from the hall at National Defense University in Washington. Obama at one point said he was willing to "cut the young lady some slack" because the issues he was addressing are worth being passionate...

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi on Thursday called "surreal" the judicial reasoning behind an appellate court's decision to uphold his guilty verdict and four-year jail term in a tax fraud case. In a nearly 200-page document detailing its reasoning behind the May 8 decision, the court said, "There is conclusive evidence, oral and documented, that Berlusconi directly managed ... an enormous tax evasion through off-shore companies." Berlusconi was convicted for his role in purchasing the...

Greece's conservative-led government can't lower taxes before the public deficit falls further, the prime minister said Thursday, but he pledged to eventually slash the corporate tax rate to a flat 15 percent. Antonis Samaras made the promise at a meeting in Athens with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency. Greece has imposed a series of emergency taxes and spending cuts in exchange for international bailout loans, but the measures hurt...

A new round of military base closings is going nowhere in Congress. The House Armed Services readiness subcommittee passed a bill Thursday rejecting the Obama administration's request for more domestic base closings. Military leaders are cutting the number of troops and argue the drawdown will leave them with more installations than they need. The money saved by closing unused facilities can be spent on training and other essential operations. But military installations are often the economic...

Turkish lawmakers on Thursday began debating a bill that bans all alcohol advertising and tightens restrictions on sales of such beverages _ a proposal the government insists is aimed at protecting the young from the ills of spirits but which secularists say is an example of the Islamic-based ruling party's encroachment on personal freedoms. The proposal bars the sale of alcohol anywhere within 100 meters (yards) of mosques, schools and other educational centers, which could lead to the eventual...

President Barack Obama says he will nominate Katherine Archuleta, a former top campaign aide, as director of the Office of Personnel Management. Archuleta would be the first Hispanic to direct the agency, which oversees and sets policies for the federal government's civil service workforce. Archuleta was national political director for Obama's presidential campaign in 2011 and 2012. If confirmed by the Senate she will replace acting director Elaine Kaplan. The previous director, John Berry, stepped...

Secretary of State John Kerry says he's all in for Palestinian shwarma. Kerry chomped one of the meat sandwiches after meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. Asked what toppings he wanted, Kerry said, quote, "I want everything. I'm all in." After the first bite, Kerry declared, "Fantastic." Kerry has been promoting Palestinian economic development. His next stop was to a sweet shop run by the same owner across the street.

Lying about receiving a military medal could become a crime, under a bill headed to the president's desk. The Stolen Valor Act cleared the Senate Wednesday and the House earlier this week. The act makes it a crime to lie about military medals, if the purpose is to benefit from the claim. The measure revives a law struck down by the Supreme Court. The court said it may be disreputable to lie about receiving a medal, but it's protected under the First Amendment. This bill is narrower, making it...

Urban renewal? New census estimates show that most of the nation's largest cities further enhanced their allure last year, posting strong population growth for a second straight year. Big cities surpassed the rate of growth of their surrounding suburbs at an even faster clip, a sign of America's continuing preference for urban living after the economic downturn quelled enthusiasm for less-crowded expanses. Farther-out suburbs known as exurbs saw their growth slip to 0.35 percent, the lowest in...

Anthony Weiner knows there may be a lot of New Yorkers who would never consider voting for him again, but he says he's running for mayor because he wants to bring his ideas to the fore _ and win. "I don't kid myself. I know that this is going to be a difficult slog, and I'm going to have to have a lot of difficult conversations with people along the way," the former congressman, whose career imploded in a rash of raunchy tweets two years ago, said by phone Wednesday after officially launching...

The baseball star, the Hollywood 10, Oliver North. And Lois Lerner of the IRS. The official enmeshed in a probe of the tax agency is the latest on a roll call of witnesses brought before Congress who refused to answer lawmakers' questions. A few well-known names who invoked Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination: ___ White House gate crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi declined to tell lawmakers in 2010 how they sailed past the Secret Service to attend President Barack Obama's...

At the center of a political storm, an Internal Revenue Service supervisor whose agents targeted conservative groups swore Wednesday she did nothing wrong, broke no laws and never lied to Congress. Then she refused to answer lawmakers' further questions, citing her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself. In one of the most electric moments since the IRS controversy erupted nearly two weeks ago, Lois Lerner unwaveringly _ but briefly _ defended herself before the House Oversight and Government...

The incoming mayor of Los Angeles was able to defeat a fellow Democrat by depicting her as a pawn of utility union bosses in a city long friendly to labor, an outcome expected to echo beyond California as unions nationwide face threats to their clout. With all precincts reporting Wednesday, Councilman Eric Garcetti defeated city Controller Wendy Greuel, 54 percent to 46 percent, in the matchup of two occasional allies at City Hall. Garcetti has his own labor ties but said the difference in the...

President Barack Obama's spokesman says the White House is facing "legitimate criticisms" for its shifting accounts about who knew what about the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative political groups, and when they knew it. Press secretary Jay Carney's acknowledgement Wednesday was an attempt to stem a growing narrative that the White House has bungled its response to the IRS controversy, even though the White House appears to have had no direct role in the agency's targeting of...

The Senate on Wednesday rejected a Republican bid to turn the federal food stamp program over to the states. Known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the food stamp program is administered by the Agriculture Department and federal dollars are unlimited as long as recipients qualify. The program cost $78 billion last year, more than double the price in 2008. A proposal by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., to a wide-ranging farm bill would have converted the program into grants...

The Pentagon has decided to buy a new computerized health records system to be able to better share and merge its data with the Department of Veterans Affairs, but officials cautioned that it was part of a "long-term modernization" effort and would not help ease the backlog in VA disability claims. The announcement Wednesday came on a day when Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki were called to Capitol Hill to explain to frustrated lawmakers what progress...

President Barack Obama's nominee for transportation secretary _ Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx _ received a friendly reception from senators of both parties Wednesday laced with warnings that the nation needs to make a host of transportation improvements with no clear way to pay for them. Foxx told a jammed Senate confirmation hearing that he will look for "partners" in local and state government to help find creative ways to finance air, rail and highway improvements. While senators pressed him...

A key House committee chairman on Wednesday sharply criticized a wide-ranging immigration bill just passed by a Senate committee, underscoring the difficulties ahead as the politically volatile measure moves forward in a divided Congress. Separately, a bipartisan House group that has been working behind the scenes to craft its own immigration measure encountered fresh difficulties. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., argued that the bill passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee...

President Barack Obama on Wednesday threatened to veto legislation by House Republicans that would avert a doubling of student loan interest rates on July 1 but allow them to vary with the markets going forward. The White House issued the warning a day before the full House was scheduled to vote on the bill. Leaders from both parties expected the legislation to pass the House over the objections by Obama and many fellow Democrats, who argued that the lower rates would give way to higher ones later....

Michelle Obama said Wednesday that stories of toil and sweat by slaves once held at a historic home within sight of the White House are an important part of U.S. history, including her own personal story, and are "as vital to our national memory as any other." The first lady commented as American Express announced its donation of $1 million to the White House Historical Association to preserve Decatur House and pay for education programs for children. The nearly 200-year-old house is owned by...

An Army sergeant has been charged with secretly photographing and videotaping at least a dozen women at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, including in a bathroom. The Army said Wednesday that Sgt. 1st Class Michael McClendon is facing charges of dereliction of duty, mistreatment, entering a women's bathroom without notice, and taking and possessing inappropriate photos and videos of women who were naked or in various states of undress. The women have been notified by the Army about the...

A federal judge apologized Wednesday for an 18-month delay in unsealing documents in a case involving an alleged leak of classified information to a reporter. The documents include two warrants and related materials for the email accounts of Stephen Kim, a State Department adviser who faces charges of leaking secret information about North Korea to Fox News reporter James Rosen. The warrants and materials, which had originally been ordered unsealed in November 2011, will be unsealed this week....

A House committee chairman has withdrawn a subpoena to compel a retired diplomat to answer questions in private about an independent investigation of last year's attack in Benghazi, Libya. Rep. Darrell Issa (EYE'-suh) says he acted after Thomas Pickering agreed to meet with the House Oversight and Committee Reform Committee behind closed doors. Pickering and former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen led the investigation into the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. diplomat mission. Four Americans,...

Another year, another campaign. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is gearing up for re-election next year, his third race in four years. But the Republican's courting of out-of-state donors and conservatives, his plans to visit Iowa this week and his refusal to say whether he would serve out another full term if elected suggest he might be seeking a much bigger prize _ the presidency. Not that he will openly acknowledge as much. "I love being governor," Walker said recently, just two years after bursting...

House lawmakers are moving to protect Capitol Hill's budget even as they're working to slash other programs like education, health research, water projects and housing aid for the poor. The effort by the House Appropriations Committee promises a small budget increase for legislative branch operations even as funding for labor, health and education programs would absorb an almost 20 percent cut. Federal firefighting efforts also face big cuts, as do transportation and community development grants....

President Barack Obama will travel to tornado-ravaged Moore, Okla., on Sunday. White House spokesman Jay Carney says the president will view the tornado damage first-hand. He also plans to meet with victims and first responders. The monstrous tornado barreled through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday afternoon, demolishing an elementary school and reducing homes to piles of rubble. State authorities say two infants were among the 24 people who perished in the twister. The town of Moore is a community...

House Republican who oppose abortion promoted legislation Wednesday that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. These Republicans want to move ahead despite recent court decisions that have struck down similar state laws. The GOP lawmakers also are taking on their own leadership, which has shown little desire to hold votes on contentious social issues. Arizona Rep. Trent Franks, joined by 10 other Republicans and anti-abortion advocates at a news conference, said there was a "good chance"...

When a small anti-abortion group in Iowa sought nonprofit status, the Internal Revenue Service asked its board to promise not to organize protests outside Planned Parenthood and demanded to know how its prayer meetings and protest signs were educational. Although the Coalition for Life of Iowa's application was ultimately approved in 2009, the tax collection agency's treatment of that and other anti-abortion groups has gotten new attention in the wake of an ongoing scandal over the alleged targeting...

A Senate panel has endorsed President Barack Obama's slate of five nominees to sit on the National Labor Relations Board. Two of them advanced despite strong GOP opposition. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted to send the nominees _ three Democrats and two Republicans _ to the full Senate. Most Republicans senators on the panel voted against two of the Democratic nominees because they are currently sitting on the board as recess appointments. A federal appeals court...

The White House says President Barack Obama will nominate Dan Tangherlini to run the General Services Administration, the agency in charge of federal buildings and supplies. Tangherlini has been the GSA's acting administrator since April 2012. Obama is nominating him to the full post, which requires Senate confirmation. Tangherlini has been a key figure in the GSA's effort to change a free-spending culture after a series of spending scandals that revealed government waste. Obama says in a statement...

The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency says U.S. officials are "going neighborhood to neighborhood" to make sure Oklahoma gets the help it needs. FEMA's Craig Fugate promises in an interview that officials won't desert Oklahoma, saying "We don't leave here when the cameras leave. We stay here and get the job done." Fugate tells CNN that the agency has enough money to assist the people of Moore, Okla., who were caught in the path of destruction as the nearly 1.3-mile-wide...

A string of unrelated events is highlighting divisions among Republicans just when they'd like to show a united front and take full advantage of President Barack Obama's latest political problems. Tensions between libertarian-leaning and more mainstream Republicans were on vivid display Tuesday as Sens. Rand Paul and John McCain clashed over Apple Inc.'s tax-avoidance strategies. Paul, a tea party favorite and son of a libertarian hero, had feuded earlier with McCain _ the party's 2008 presidential...

A look at the 867-page immigration overhaul bill approved Tuesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee: ___ BORDER SECURITY _The bill sets goals of surveillance of 100 percent of the border with Mexico, and catching or turning back 90 percent of would-be crossers. _Within six months of enactment of the bill, the Homeland Security Department must develop a border security plan to achieve those goals, including the use of drones, additional agents and other approaches; and develop a plan to identify...

The works do seem to be "gummed up" on Capitol Hill. And President Barack Obama isn't the only one to say so. Yet despite years of hand-wringing in both parties, little progress has been made toward changing congressional rules on filibusters, senatorial "holds" on presidential nominees and other stalling ploys. Inhibiting forward motion is the fact that all lawmakers are keenly aware that their party is always just one congressional election away from losing _ or gaining _ majority control....

Republican Rep. Mike Rogers has pulled off a rare feat in a bitterly divided Congress _ a working, productive relationship with Democrats in overseeing the nation's 16 spy agencies. The question now is whether the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee sticks around the House or fulfills GOP hopes and launches a bid for the U.S. Senate seat from Michigan. "I've served on this committee since 2004. I saw the worst partisanship creep into what should be a neutral zone in national security...

Five men are under round-the-clock U.S. surveillance in Libya, wanted for questioning in the attack last year on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. The White House believes there is enough proof for a military force to seize them as terrorist suspects, officials say, but prefers to wait until investigators have enough evidence to try them in a U.S. civilian courtroom. The decision not to seize the men militarily underscores the White House aim to move away from hunting terrorists as enemy...

The Pentagon is asking Congress for more than $450 million for maintaining and upgrading the Guantanamo Bay prison that President Barack Obama wants to close. New details on the administration's budget request emerged on Tuesday and underscored the contradiction of the president waging a political fight to shutter the facility while the military calculates the financial requirements to keep the installation operating. The budget request for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 calls for $79 million...

Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the author of a unanimous decision delivered at the Supreme Court on Monday, but Sotomayor was hundreds of miles from Washington when the court convened. While her eight colleagues donned their black robes and took the bench to announce opinions, Sotomayor was wearing Yale blue and receiving an honorary degree in New Haven, Conn. Among her messages to graduates of Yale Law School, where Sotomayor received her law degree in 1979: A justice's life isn't all glamour....

An early count of mail-in ballots Tuesday pointed to a close race for Los Angeles mayor. The tally pegged city Councilman Eric Garcetti at 49 percent and city Controller Wendy Greuel at 51 percent, with about 2,400 votes separating them out of more than 130,000 counted in the mayor's contest. As much as half the vote is expected to come from mail-in ballots. The vote from precincts around the city will be released later Tuesday. Despite record spending on the campaign, turnout at polls appeared...

Los Angeles County prosecutors said Tuesday they'll seek to retry five former officials in the city of Bell who were accused of corruption and overpaying themselves with public funds. Prosecutors want the retrial after jurors in March issued a mixed verdict for former officials in the scandal-plagued Los Angeles suburb, and the judge declared a mistrial on some counts, said Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Jean Guccione. The former mayor and four former Bell council members...

Republicans controlling the House pressed ahead Tuesday with slashing cuts to domestic programs far deeper than the cuts departments like Education, Interior and State are facing under an already painful round of automatic austerity. Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security and the Pentagon would be spared under the plan approved by the House Appropriations Committee on a party-line vote, but legislation responsible for federal firefighting efforts and Indian health care would absorb a cut of 18 percent...

Arkansas' state treasurer resigned Tuesday after being accused of accepting at least $36,000 cash in exchange for steering business to an investment broker, bowing to bipartisan calls to step down or face removal from office. Democrat Martha Shoffner held the office since 2007 and was re-elected in 2010. She was barred by term limits from seeking re-election next year. "I am proud to have been elected by and to have served the people of the state of Arkansas and regret that I can no longer perform...

President Barack Obama says a far-reaching immigration overhaul approved by a Senate panel is largely consistent with his own principles. He says the bill meets the challenge of fixing a broken U.S. immigration system. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill in a 13-5 vote after the panel's chairman agreed not to force a vote on his proposal to allow gay Americans to seek green cards for their spouses. Obama says he hopes the bill will still be improved. He's applauding the bipartisan...

Summoned by Congress, a key figure in the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups plans to invoke her constitutional right against self-incrimination and decline to testify at a congressional hearing on Wednesday. Lois Lerner heads the IRS division that singled out conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status during the 2010 and 2012 election campaigns. She was subpoenaed to testify Wednesday before the House oversight committee. But...

A senior House Republican says U.S. military forces weren't in a position to help those under attack at a U.S. diplomatic post in Libya because the State Department had failed to ask the Pentagon for help in securing the compound before the raid. The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, congressman Howard "Buck" McKeon, also says billions of dollars in cuts to the Defense Department's budget raise the potential for greater risk at U.S. posts overseas because there won't be enough troops...

Top lawmakers and officials said Tuesday that the federal government has plenty of money on hand to pay for recovery efforts in the wake of the devastating tornado that struck Oklahoma. The government has more than $11 billion in its main disaster relief fund. Recovery costs in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore are expected to be a relatively small fraction of that amount. The devastating 2011 tornado that wiped out much of Joplin, Mo., for instance, required about $750 million in federal disaster...

The Senate voted Tuesday to keep a $400 million annual cut _ or roughly a half of 1 percent _ to the food stamp program as part of a major five-year farm bill. Food stamps now cost almost $80 billion annually and are used by 1 in 7 Americans. The House and Senate have differed sharply on how much the domestic food aid should be cut, with the House version of the farm bill proposing to cut five times more than the Senate bill and change eligibility rules for recipients. The Senate Agriculture...

President Barack Obama believes journalists shouldn't be prosecuted for doing their jobs, the White House said Tuesday, showing solidarity with First Amendment advocates alarmed by a pair of high-profile federal probes into national security leaks. Although Obama believes leaking classified information violates the law, he also believes that a free press is critical _ and that questions being raised about the proper balance between those two concerns are entirely appropriate, said White House...

A Senate panel voted on Tuesday to provide weapons to rebels battling the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad, the first time lawmakers have endorsed the aggressive U.S. military step of arming the opposition in the 2-year-old civil war. With a degree of trepidation, the Foreign Relations Committee voted 15-3 for a bill that would provide lethal assistance and military training to vetted rebel groups, and would slap sanctions on anyone who sells oil or transfers arms to the Assad regime such...

The Army says the commanding general of Fort Jackson, S.C., has been suspended in connection with charges of adultery and involvement in a physical altercation. The Army says Brig. Gen. Bryan Roberts reportedly was in an altercation with another woman, not his wife. Roberts was suspended from his job by Gen. Robert W. Cone, commander of Army Training and Doctrine Command, while the investigation continues. Roberts took command of Fort Jackson in April 2012. He has been in the Army for about...

A key figure in the Internal Revenue Service controversy plans to invoke her constitutional right not to testify at a congressional hearing on Wednesday. Lois Lerner is the director of the IRS division that handles applications for tax exempt status. That division was responsible for giving extra scrutiny to tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax exempt status. In a letter addressed to House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, Lerner's lawyer says his client has "not committed...

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Tuesday he will delay final decisions on about 20 applications to export liquefied natural gas until he reviews studies by the Energy Department and others on what impact the exports would have on domestic natural gas supplies and prices. Moniz, who was sworn in Tuesday as the nation's new energy chief, said he promised during his confirmation hearing that he would "review what's out there" before acting on proposals to export natural gas. Among the things Moniz...

President Barack Obama pledged urgent government help for Oklahoma Tuesday in the wake of "one of the most destructive" storms in the nation's history. "In an instant, neighborhoods were destroyed, dozens of people lost their lives, many more were injured," Obama said from the White House State Dining Room. "Among the victims were young children trying to take shelter in the safest place they knew _ their school." The president added that the town of Moore, Okla., "needs to get everything it...

As of Tuesday, May 21, 2013, at least 2,091 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count. The AP count is one less than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Tuesday at 10 a.m. EDT. At least 1,732 military service members have died in Afghanistan as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. Outside of Afghanistan, the department reports at least 124 more...

Two people familiar with the Senate immigration deliberations say the White House has suggested to Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy that it would be best to put off a controversy over gay marriage until a bill goes before the full Senate. President Barack Obama backs the proposal to give equal treatment to gays and lesbians, but is unlikely to veto a broad immigration bill that does not include the provision. Leahy, the Democratic chair of the Judiciary Committee, has not yet said whether he will seek...

Conservative Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn says that any additional federal aid to help tornado victims and to rebuild devastated areas of his state should be financed with cuts to other programs in the government's $3.6 trillion budget. Spokesman John Hart says it's a position Coburn has consistently held regarding federal spending on disasters dating to the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City. But federal disaster aid such as $60 billion passed earlier this year to rebuild coastal...

President Barack Obama will be meeting with his disaster response team, including Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, on Tuesday before delivering a statement on the devastating tornado that tore through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday. Obama has declared a major disaster in Oklahoma, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts. The president also spoke Monday with Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and Rep. Tom Cole, whose home is in the heavily damaged town of Moore....

It was a rare moment in relations between the media and the government: In 2008, FBI Director Robert Mueller called the top editors at The New York Times and The Washington Post to apologize because the bureau had improperly obtained reporters' telephone records four years earlier. The extraordinary call was an admission that the FBI's actions violated Justice Department policy about seeking journalists' phone records. But nothing about what the FBI did in 2004 appeared to run afoul of any law....

His latest legislative achievements put him in the vanguard of his party's liberal base. He's been a top fundraiser for President Barack Obama. And he's ramping up his travel to help fellow Democrats around the country. Little-known outside his home state, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has methodically checked the necessary boxes toward earning the reputation of good Democratic soldier as he considers whether to run for president in 2016 _ a White House bid that would face long odds. It's very...

Arkansas' state treasurer was accused Monday of taking at least $36,000 in cash _ sometimes stashed in a pie box _ from a broker who later came to manage a large share of the state's $3.3 billion investment portfolio. Democrat Martha Shoffner, who made her initial court appearance Monday, said she had no plans to resign despite members of her own party joining Republican calls for her to step down. She was released on her own recognizance but ordered to surrender her passport. Federal prosecutors...