FAA seeks millions in fines for United, US Airways
2:46
The Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday proposed levying multimillion-dollar fines against United Airlines and US Airways for safety violations, including flying a plane after mechanics stuffed shop towels into...
VA to ease way for vets to get stress disability
2:34
Female soldiers and others serving in dangerous roles behind the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan have long complained it was hard to prove their combat experience when applying for disability for post-traumatic...
Democrats favor repealing exemption for insurers
2:17
Frustrated with health insurers, Democratic lawmakers are calling for revoking the industry's antitrust exemption. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that the health insurance...
Senator's son starts campaign for Nevada governor
2:02
The son of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has formally entered the Democratic race for Nevada governor, saying the state needs to diversify its economy and stop postponing difficult decisions. Clark County...
Jury deadlocked in Abramoff-related trial
1:29
A judge directed a jury Wednesday to keep deliberating despite its inability to reach a verdict on seven of eight charges in the criminal trial of an ex-lobbyist caught up in the Jack Abramoff influence peddling...
Snowe: Health care bill a 'good place to start'
7:45
Sen. Olympia Snowe, the only Republican to support the Finance Committee's health care bill, said Wednesday she could foresee a government-run plan that would "kick in" if private insurers fail to live up to...
President holds meeting on Afghan policy
6:41
President Barack Obama huddles with his national security team Wednesday, as he continues a series of meetings on U.S. policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the afternoon, the president heads to suburban Virginia with...
NTSB to review crash of organ transplant plane
6:39
The National Transportation Safety Board is set to determine the cause of a 2007 crash that killed six people when their plane slammed into Lake Michigan off Wisconsin's coast. The NTSB planned to discuss the crash on...
Dem foe says billionaire NYC mayor buys support
3:49
Billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Democratic challenger bickered vigorously about money in city politics during their first debate, trading accusations about who has bought support and who has been bought. ...
A look at health care plans in Congress
3:06
Health care legislation is taking shape in both the House and Senate. Details are still being negotiated and any final bill would have to meld proposals from both houses. A look at various proposals: ___ The Senate...
Where things stand with health care overhaul
3:05
A top-to-bottom remake of the U.S. health care system along the lines sought by President Barack Obama moved a step closer to reality Tuesday as the Senate Finance Committee approved a 10-year, $829 billion plan that...
Obama EPA releases Bush-era global warming finding
10:00
A controversial e-mail message buried by the Bush administration because of its conclusions on global warming surfaced Tuesday, nearly two years after it was first sent to the White House and never opened. The e-mail...
Russian FM: Iran sanctions threats won't work
9:40
Russia publicly pushed back Tuesday against U.S. efforts to threaten tough new sanctions if Iran fails to prove its nuclear program is peaceful, dealing an apparent setback to President Barack Obama's hopes for Moscow's...
AP sources: Afghan commander frets over corruption
9:40
Rampant government corruption may derail the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida in Afghanistan even if as many as 80,000 additional U.S. troops are sent to the war, the top military commander there has concluded,...
White House celebrates Hispanic musical heritage
9:26
The White House became "La Casa Blanca" on Tuesday, celebrating Hispanic musical heritage with a South Lawn concert and such guests as Gloria Estefan, George Lopez, the Bachata music group Aventura, Jose Feliciano and...
US faults Turks for canceling NATO air exercises
6:52
The United States has chided Turkey for canceling a NATO military exercise because Israel also was participating. Neither the Turks nor NATO has confirmed that Israel's participation in the exercises over Turkey was...
Latin party guest chef raids White House garden
6:42
Tuesday night's Fiesta Latina concert at the White House wasn't just a chance to showcase Latin music. The White House brought in guest chef Maricel Presilla to help tell the pan-Latin story through finger food. ...
Iraq vets at treatment plant asked to get exam
6:23
Six years after nearly 1,200 U.S. soldiers in Iraq were potentially exposed to a sometimes deadly chemical linked to cancer, the military and Veterans Affairs Department have been tracking them down and asking them to...
Pentagon: recruiting last year was best since 1973
6:17
The Pentagon's personnel chief said Tuesday the military has completed its best recruiting year since 1973, meeting all its goals and bringing in a better educated group of young people. The Army, Navy, Air Force and...
GOP NJ governor candidate's spending questioned
6:08
The Republican candidate for New Jersey governor, who has campaigned on a platform of ethical integrity and cutting government waste, regularly spent beyond federal guidelines on business travel while U.S. attorney,...
Obama picks MN woman as 1st openly gay US marshal
5:39
President Barack Obama has nominated a Minnesota policewoman to become the first openly gay person to serve as a U.S. marshal. Sharon Lubinski is an assistant chief in the Minneapolis Police Department, where she has...
The real female maverick in GOP: Olympia Snowe
5:36
Forget Sarah Palin. The female maverick of the Republican Party is Sen. Olympia Snowe. The 62-year-old, moderate Maine lawmaker voted on Tuesday for a Democratic health care bill, breaking with her party and giving a...
Obama: Senate panel OK 'critical milestone'
5:27
President Barack Obama says passage of legislation by a key Senate committee is "a critical milestone" toward getting a health care overhaul this year, but that "now is not the time to pat ourselves on the back." Obama...
House would extend parents' health plans for kids
5:22
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House health care overhaul bill now being finalized would allow young adults to stay on their parents' health insurance policies until they're 27. Most insurance plans let kids...
Where things stand with health care overhaul
5:11
A top-to-bottom remake of the U.S. health care system along the lines sought by President Barack Obama moved a step closer to reality Tuesday as the Senate Finance Committee approved a 10-year, $829 billion plan that...
Intel chief's No. 2 likely to get Senate approval
4:58
National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair is one step closer to getting the final member of his senior team in place after a Senate confirmation hearing for David C. Gombert (GOM'-bert). A former State Department...
AP Interview: Ed chief says grants are for reforms
4:53
With states jockeying for extra school dollars from the economic stimulus, Education Secretary Arne Duncan reminded them Tuesday the point is to help kids do better. Cash-strapped states are competing for $5 billion in...
First lady stresses small steps to improve health
4:52
First lady Michelle Obama says small changes in diet and exercise habits can improve health and fitness. In other words, don't try to change everything at once. Choose walking over driving. Add a vegetable or fruit to...
Court considers death sentence for Ohio neo-Nazi
4:51
The Supreme Court seemed receptive Tuesday to reinstating the death sentence of a flamboyant neo-Nazi convicted of murdering three men in Ohio more than a quarter century ago. Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray told...
Obama: Afghanistan decision in 'coming weeks'
4:04
President Barack Obama said his decision on the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan will be made in "the coming weeks." While military and security decisions will be an important element in that strategy, Obama said "another...
Supreme Court will hear appeal of Enron's Skilling
3:53
The Supreme Court said Tuesday it will take up former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling's appeal of his convictions for his role in the collapse of the energy giant, accepting another high-profile challenge to a favorite tool of...
AP IMPACT: Obama's favors blue states for travel
3:49
For President Barack Obama, it's almost as if the election campaign never ended. Just look at his travel schedule. The same states that Obama targeted to win the White House are seeing an awful lot of the president,...
AP Interview: Baucus unsure how Snowe would vote
3:38
Sen. Max Baucus says he didn't know for sure that Republican Senator Olympia Snowe would vote in favor of his health care overhaul bill until she actually did so. The Montana Democrat said he had a strong sense that...
Unions will oppose Baucus bill unless it's changed
3:35
About 30 unions will run a full-page ad in newspapers Wednesday announcing their opposition to the Senate Finance Committee's health overhaul bill, a top labor lobbyist said. The ad will state that unions will oppose...
Court to decide constitutionality of bad advice
3:16
Supreme Court justices on Tuesday questioned whether defendants should expect their lawyers to correctly advise them on all the possible consequences of a guilty plea, including on important issues like deportation. ...
Summary of actions by the Supreme Court on Tuesday
1:58
The Supreme Court on Tuesday: _ Agreed to hear an appeal from former Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeff Skilling for his role in the collapse of the one-time energy giant. Lower courts have upheld 19 of his 2006...
In a skeptical age, Obama is government's face
11:11
The 44th president was sworn in and barely took a breath. Within days _ hours, really _ he set to tackling a bruising recession that he inherited. And an enormous policy agenda that he didn't. Ever the multitasker,...
High court will review 'S&M Svengali' case
10:44
The Supreme Court has agreed to consider reinstating the sex trafficking and forced labor conviction of a man dubbed the "S&M Svengali." The justices said Tuesday they will hear an appeal filed by federal...
Obama celebrates Spain and Hispanic music
7:35
President Barack Obama welcomes Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (zah-pah-TEH'-roh) to the White House on Tuesday. The two leaders will have a working lunch. In the evening, the president and first...
CAPITAL CULTURE: In a word, they are Obama's faves
7:10
For all his flourish, President Barack Obama sure falls back on a few familiar phrases. Make no mistake. Change isn't easy. It won't happen overnight. There will be setbacks and false starts. Those who routinely...
US wants bunker-buster fast, denies Iran is reason
6:35
The Pentagon is speeding up delivery of a colossal bomb designed to destroy hidden weapons bunkers buried underground and shielded by 10,000 pounds of reinforced concrete. Call it Plan B for dealing with Iran, which...
Teachers benefit from job-saving stimulus spending
3:13
Teachers appear to have benefited most from the effort to save jobs with the $787 billion recovery package, which sent billions of dollars to states that were on the verge of ordering heavy layoffs in education. The...
A look at the MOP, 'massive ordnance penetrator'
3:13
The "massive ordnance penetrator," or MOP bomb, will be the largest conventional bomb in the U.S. arsenal. It is now undergoing testing and is slated to come on line by mid-2010. The bomb, made by Boeing Co., is...
Official: Taliban better financed than al-Qaida
1:01
The Taliban are in much stronger financial shape than al-Qaida and rely on a wide range of criminal activities to pay for attacks on U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, a senior Treasury Department official said...
Dems scramble after warning from health insurers
12:11
Insurance companies aren't playing nice any more. Their dire message that health care legislation will drive up premiums for people who already have coverage comes as a warning shot at a crucial point in the debate and...
GOP uses ACORN to fight bank redlining law
9:28
Conservative Republicans are capitalizing on the troubles of community activist group ACORN _ ranging from charges of voter registration fraud to embarrassing videos of its employees _ to revive their long-standing...
Summers: Bush era set stage for economic troubles
5:52
A top White House official issued a robust defense of the Obama administration's recovery policies on Monday with a pointed critique of economic conditions and fiscal policies during the presidency of George W. Bush. ...
Job data to show stimulus aided teachers, laborers
4:30
President Barack Obama's stimulus plan spared tens of thousands of teachers from losing their jobs, state officials said Monday amid a nationwide effort to calculate the effect of Washington's $787 billion recovery...
Obama invites tribal leaders to Nov. WH conference
2:38
President Barack Obama is inviting Native American leaders to a White House conference on Nov. 5. The president says he wants to hear directly from them about how his administration can meet their needs and help make...
Job losses mar recovery, create woes for Dems
2:12
A distressed economy is widely blamed for President George H.W. Bush's re-election defeat in 1992, and a decade earlier, for the loss of 26 House seats in midterm elections by Ronald Reagan's Republicans. Yet in both...