Obama and elder Bush team up on call to service
7:39
President Barack Obama, who has called on Americans to perform more community service, is joining former President George H.W. Bush in urging citizens to volunteer. Bush on Friday was to host a forum on volunteering at...
Obama to promote community service on Friday
4:52
Fresh off a fundraiser in San Francisco, President Barack Obama heads to Houston to promote community service. The president speaks Friday afternoon at a Points of Light forum on public service at Texas A&M...
Calif. water war spreads to Congress
4:40
It was the kind of legislation that rarely generates much debate in Congress: a bill to expand a local water recycling program. However, the House spent more than three hours Thursday trying to decide whether to allow...
Judge declares mistrial in Abramoff-related case
2:22
A judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the case of a former lobbyist caught up in the Jack Abramoff affair, the biggest setback in the government's long-running prosecution of the influence-peddling scandal. The jury...
Obama defends himself against New Orleans critics
2:21
Insisting he's "just getting started," President Barack Obama defended his administration Thursday against complaints from some residents of the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast that federal help in recovering from the 2005...
No Social Security COLA could prod $250 payments
2:19
Social Security recipients won't get a cost-of-living increase next year for the first time in more than a third of a century, and that could boost President Barack Obama's plan to send seniors another round of $250...
Baucus: All Senate Dems will support health bill
2:18
When it comes time to vote, every Democrat in the Senate _ and perhaps more than one Republican _ will support legislation overhauling the nation's health care system, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee...
Obama urges Democrats to be patient on health care
12:24
President Barack Obama is asking his hard-core Democratic supporters for patience and trust as he tries to stave off criticism that his administration has been slow in fulfilling promises he made as a candidate. ...
House Roll Call: How they voted on Gitmo detainees
9:29
The 224-193 roll call Thursday by which the House rejected a Republican effort to block the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the U.S. for trial. A "yes" vote is a vote to reject the measure. Voting yes were 25...
White House expects thousands on fall garden tours
8:02
Tens of thousands of people are expected to stream through the White House gates this weekend for a rare opportunity to see the fragrant roses, blue salvias and towering, decades-old trees that beautify the president's...
NRC raises concern about new reactor design
6:35
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission raised safety concerns Thursday with the design of a proposed next-generation reactor to be built by Westinghouse Electric Co., saying a key part of the reactor may not withstand a...
Product Recalls: single meter sockets
6:16
The following recall has been announced: _ About 1,400 single meter sockets, made in the U.S. by Milbank Manufacturing Co. of Kansas City, Mo., because a short might occur when the product is in use. If the defect...
Envoy says Afghan runoff election is likely
5:50
A runoff vote is very likely between incumbent Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his closest challenger in the country's highly contested election, Karzai's ambassador to the United States said Thursday. Said Tayeb...
Congress targets Asian carp problem in Great Lakes
5:47
The Senate voted Thursday to provide $6 million for continuing efforts to thwart the Asian carp from penetrating the Great Lakes in what environmentalists fear would destroy much of the existing wildlife in the world's...
California water war spreads to Congress
5:43
The House approved a seemingly benign water recycling program Thursday for the San Francisco Bay area, but only after Republicans fought to broaden drought relief to California's farm belt. The bill authorizing the...
Republicans fail to stop Gitmo transfers into US
5:11
House Democrats on Thursday repelled a Republican effort to block transfer of the Guantanamo Bay detainees to the U.S., handing President Barack Obama a partial victory in his effort to close the prison. Instead, by a...
Lawmakers seek to extend $8,000 tax credit
4:37
Lawmakers are trying to extend and expand an $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers, a stimulus-package tax break that many regard as a significant prop for the still-tottering economy. The latest Senate...
THE INFLUENCE GAME: Forged letters went unreported
4:31
A coal group and two contractors knew about forged lobbying letters sent to three House Democrats before a vote on climate legislation, but the lawmakers were in the dark, documents obtained by a congressional committee...
Energy and water, homeland security bills advance
4:19
The Senate on Thursday approved a bill to basically freeze spending on energy and water projects next year after pouring tens of billions of dollars into them as part of last winter's economic stimulus plan. The 80-17...
Obama says he takes criticism with 'grain of salt'
3:29
President Barack Obama has told a young boy that he shouldn't take it too seriously when he hears all the criticism aimed at the president. At the end of a town hall meeting in New Orleans on Thursday, the boy asked...
Obama: Clean energy helps economy, environment
3:25
President Barack Obama says it's time to do the right thing for the environment and at the same boost the economy by doing more to promote renewable energy and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil. At a town...
Obama says lower costs aren't seen in health care
3:16
Even though consumer prices have fallen in the past year, President Barack Obama says that's not the case for health care costs. Obama says that's one reason he wants people on Social Security to get a $250 payment to...
Obama: 'We will not forget' troubled New Orleans
3:13
President Barack Obama is promising the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast that his administration "will not forget" them as they work to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. Obama says he makes no excuses for the...
Obama says schools need parents' help to succeed
3:00
President Barack Obama says his administration is taking steps to be a good partner with states and local school districts to help students. But he says that, in the end, successful schools need involved parents. At a...
Justice Ginsburg briefly hospitalized again
2:17
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who had cancer surgery earlier this year, was kept at a hospital overnight after she became drowsy and fell from her seat aboard an airplane. Court officials blamed a reaction...
Senate panel OKs bill to make radio pay fees
2:00
Legislation to make radio stations pay royalties to performers when they broadcast their music won the Senate Judiciary Committee's approval Thursday. Satellite radio, Internet radio and cable TV music channels already...
THE INFLUENCE GAME: Unions help, hinder Democrats
1:17
When it comes to the health care battle, President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are learning that with friends like labor unions, they barely need Republicans to muck things up. The AFL-CIO, the American...
Obama signs major Pakistan aid bill
1:10
President Barack Obama on Thursday signed into law a $7.5 billion aid package for Pakistan that the U.S.-ally's military criticized as American meddling in its internal affairs. The measure provides $1.5 billion...
Treasury Department freezes al-Qaida member assets
12:45
The Treasury Department says it is freezing the assets of a German national and al-Qaida member believed to be operating on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Citing investigations by German authorities, the...
Court statement about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
12:12
The Supreme Court's statement on the hospitalization Thursday of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: ___ U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was taken to the Washington Hospital Center at approximately 11:15 p.m....
Obama, liberals split on security and media issues
11:35
New cracks are opening in the relationship between President Barack Obama and his liberal allies in Congress over his desire to continue some Bush-era tactics against terrorism and his opposition to protecting reporters...
Biden's son says he's inclined to make Senate run
7:58
Vice President Joe Biden's son, who has returned after serving a tour with the Army National Guard in Iraq, says he'll take his time to decide whether to seek his father's Senate seat. Interviewed on ABC's "Good...
President meets with New Orleans residents
5:22
President Barack Obama is making his first presidential trip to the hurricane-battered city of New Orleans. His first stop Thursday is a charter school in the city, where he'll talk with students. Obama then holds a...
Democrats work to finalize health legislation
3:12
White House officials and Senate Democrats are meeting in private to iron out differences on a health care overhaul that could affect every American. In public, they're united by a common enemy: the health insurance...
Social Security to make it official: No COLA
3:11
The Social Security Administration makes it official Thursday: There will be no cost of living increase for Social Security recipients next year, the first year without one since automatic adjustments were adopted in...
Obama, liberals split on security and media issues
3:09
New cracks are opening in the relationship between President Barack Obama and his liberal allies in Congress over his desire to continue Bush-era tactics against terrorism and his opposition to protecting reporters from...
FACT CHECK: Health insurers cherry-pick facts
3:07
In its assaults on a Democratic health care overhaul bill, the insurance industry uses facts selectively and mixes accurate assertions with misleading spin and an embrace of worst-case scenarios. Take the 30-second TV...
SUPREME COURT NOTEBOOK: When lawyers don't matter
3:04
Chief Justice John Roberts once famously and controversially described a judge's role as akin to an umpire who merely calls balls and strikes. On Wednesday, Roberts offered a new take on that argument in a Supreme...
Obama calls for $250 payments to seniors
8:59
President Barack Obama called on Congress Wednesday to approve $250 payments to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no increase in Social Security next year. The Social Security Administration is scheduled to...
Senate Dems seek higher doctor payments
8:48
Maneuvering to boost prospects for sweeping health care legislation, Senate Democrats hope first to win quick approval for a bill that grants doctors a $247 billion increase in Medicare fees over a decade but raises...
Obama praises late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy
8:40
President Barack Obama said Wednesday there never will be another senator like the late Edward M. Kennedy, whose voice the president said has been missed during congressional deliberations over remaking the nation's...
House lets states get rid of Iran-linked funds
8:01
The House on Wednesday sent a message to Iran that pursuit of nuclear capability will not go unpunished, approving legislation that allows state and local governments to curtail investments in international corporations...
Obama talks US nonmilitary efforts in Afghanistan
6:55
As President Barack Obama inches closer to a decision on new troops for Afghanistan, his latest war council debate Wednesday centered on how to strengthen U.S. civilian efforts there and significantly ramp up training...
From Baghdad to Boston, Biden re-redefining VP job
6:34
Early in the 2008 campaign, when high hopes hadn't given way to harsh realities, presidential candidate Joe Biden told his wife, Jill, "I can picture myself sitting in the Oval Office. I can picture who I'd pick up the...
GOP senator's protest grinds the Senate to a halt
6:28
The Senate ground to a halt Wednesday in a display of what an individual senator can do to protest his treatment by some of Capitol Hill's most powerful barons. Instead of passing a $33.5 billion measure funding energy...
7,500 tax dodgers apply for IRS amnesty program
6:17
Some 7,500 international tax dodgers have applied for an amnesty program that promises no jail time and reduced penalties for tax cheats who come forward, the Internal Revenue Service announced Wednesday. The tax...
House panel begins push on financial overhaul
6:08
A key House panel moved to tighten rules on previously unregulated financial instruments Wednesday, a long-awaited step toward governing the obscure and complex transactions at the heart of the troubles that befell some...
Obama says he's looking at any way to create jobs
6:05
Standing at the site of a highway project funded by his economic stimulus plan, President Barack Obama said Wednesday he is committed to exploring all avenues to create jobs. Obama said his administration is going to...
NTSB faults pilot, first officer for plane crash
5:42
The pilot of a 2007 medical flight that crashed into Lake Michigan, killing all six aboard, mishandled an unusual flight situation and was unable to properly coordinate with his first officer, the National...
House passes bill to toughen pilot training rules
5:42
The House voted Wednesday to toughen regulations on pilot training, qualifications and work schedules, a response to a fatal crash in upstate New York in February and other accidents involving regional airlines. The...