Major items in the House's $174 billion jobs bill
6:25
Key features of the House's $174 billion jobs bill: _$36 billion for highways and mass transit. _$20 billion to keep Highway Trust Fund solvent for existing obligations. _$23 billion to pay teacher salaries in an...
Congress opens probe into Afghan trucking contract
6:13
Congress is investigating allegations that U.S. tax dollars are being paid to warlords and the Taliban for security on supply routes used to truck food, water, fuel and ammunition to American troops in Afghanistan. If...
Judge asked to block wild horse roundup in Nevada
6:00
An animal protection group asked a federal judge Wednesday to block a plan to round up about 2,500 wild horses to remove them from a Nevada range. The mustang roundup planned for Dec. 28 would be one of the largest in...
Obama signs $1.1 trillion spending bill into law
5:57
President Barack Obama has signed into law a $1.1 trillion bill that increases the budgets in many areas of the government by about 10 percent, including health, law enforcement and veterans' programs. Obama signed the...
Committee passes Native Hawaiian legislation
5:56
A House committee approved legislation Wednesday that would let Native Hawaiians establish their own government, but supporters acknowledge that some behind-the-scenes negotiations are still in order before the bill...
US sees Iran edging closer to nuclear arms knowhow
5:55
Behind the U.S. drive for harsh new sanctions on Iran is growing concern that the Iranians are acquiring the know-how to build a nuclear weapon. The latest worry is a purported Iranian secret document that lays out a...
White Americans' majority to end by mid-century
5:51
The estimated time when whites will no longer make up the majority of Americans has been pushed back eight years _ to 2050 _ because the recession and stricter immigration policies have slowed the flow of foreigners...
Roll Call: House votes to increase debt limit
5:26
The 218-214 roll call Wednesday by which the House voted to let the government borrow another $290 billion and avoid a January default on its debt. A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the bill. Voting yes were 218...
Democrats: Estate tax repeal to be short-lived
4:52
Heirs who come into big money after the federal estate tax expires at the end of the month might want to hold off spending it. The Senate rejected a bill Wednesday to extend the estate tax for two months while...
Bailout banks keep tax breaks as they repay loans
4:26
Citigroup and other banks starting to repay the billions of dollars they borrowed from the government are getting another boost as they exit the bailout program: Billions more in tax breaks. Tax law allows money-losing...
Audit finds Afghan anticorruption unit ineffective
4:19
A U.S. government watchdog says the organization created to spearhead Afghanistan's battle against corruption has too little authority, independence and personnel to be effective. In an audit released Wednesday, the...
AP-GfK Poll: Gains for Obama, not his Afghan plans
4:18
Americans like seeing President Barack Obama finally tackle Afghanistan _ even if most don't support his plans. The latest Associated Press-GfK poll shows the president's marks for handling the eight-year-old war have...
Roll Call: House passes defense bill
3:45
The 395-34 roll call Wednesday by which the House passed a $636 billion defense bill that includes funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and provides a 3.4 percent pay hike for military personnel. A "yes" vote is...
Michelle Obama's veggie garden is ready for winter
3:44
First lady Michelle Obama's vegetable garden is ready for the winter. White House assistant chef Sam Kass, who oversees the garden, is using "hoop houses" to help it grow during the cold months. The houses amount to...
High and lows: Bernanke honored then denounced
3:38
Time's Person of the Year one moment; object of Senate scorn the other. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke faces a vote Thursday in the Senate Banking Committee on his nomination for another four-year term as head...
White House sees UN support for Iran penalties
3:37
The White House is confident there's enough U.N. support for more penalties unless Iran acts soon to prove it's not working on a nuclear weapons program. The Obama administration has tried to keep a dialogue open with...
Powdery substance at Senate office tests negative
3:26
A threatening letter with a powdery substance was discovered in Sen. Max Baucus' mailroom Wednesday, but the senator's office said initial tests found no hazard. Baucus, D-Mont., is chairman of the Finance Committee...
WH knocks down Dean challenge to health bill
3:07
The White House spokesman says President Barack Obama rejects a call by the former Democratic Party chairman to defeat the current Senate health care bill. Former Democratic chairman Howard Dean, a physician who also...
First of 30,000 new troops arriving in Afghanistan
2:24
Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell says the first of 30,000 additional troops being sent to Afghanistan have begun to arrive. In a Pentagon press briefing, Morrell told reporters that a Marine battalion ordered to deploy...
US says NKorea must address uranium program
2:16
President Barack Obama's special representative for North Korea said Wednesday that any future nuclear disarmament talks will have to deal with an atomic program the North has only recently revealed. Stephen Bosworth,...
How the AP-GfK poll on Obama was conducted
2:12
The Associated Press-GfK Poll on President Obama and the direction of the country was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media from Dec. 10-14, 2009. It is based on landline and cell phone telephone interviews...
Highlights of House wrapup legislation
11:32
Highlights of the year-end wrapup legislation expected to pass the House Wednesday: DEFENSE SPENDING _$636 billion for the Pentagon for the budget year that began Oct. 1, including $128 billion for military operations...
Health care issues: Who's insured, and how
10:25
A look at key issues in the health care debate: THE ISSUE: How many people have health insurance now, and how would that change if the system is overhauled? THE POLITICS: One of the driving causes behind the longtime...
AP Exclusive: Tourists enjoy White House breakfast
9:33
A Georgia couple who showed up at the White House a day early for a tour somehow wound up at an invitation-only breakfast with President Barack Obama and the first lady. It wasn't a state dinner, but it left the White...
Treasury receives $9.45 million for TCF warrants
9:20
The Treasury Department has received $9.45 million in the sale of warrants it had received from TCF Financial Corp. as part of the support the government provided the bank during last year's financial crisis. The...
AP source: Obama writes letter to NKorean leader
6:38
President Barack Obama has written a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as part of an intense effort to draw the reclusive nation back to nuclear disarmament talks, a senior State Department official...
Obama to host new safety chairwoman, NASA chief
5:25
President Barack Obama meets Wednesday at the White House with recently installed Consumer Product Safety Commission Chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum. Tenenbaum has promised a more vigorous enforcement approach at the agency....
US calls Japan base delay decision unfortunate
3:11
The United States is frustrated by Japan's delay in relocating a major U.S. military base, even as the U.S. signals a willingness to be patient with Tokyo's new government. The moderate approach reflects the Obama...
AP Exclusive: Tourists enjoy White House breakfast
12:52
It wasn't a state dinner, and they didn't crash it on purpose. Still, a Georgia couple who showed up at the White House a day early for a tour somehow wound up at an invitation-only breakfast with President Barack...
Democrats propose $50B for jobs-boosting projects
8:10
Responding to calls among rank-and-file Democrats for more infrastructure spending, House leaders Tuesday unveiled a plan to add almost $50 billion in spending on highways, housing and school repair as part of a...
Roll Call: How they voted on drug imports plan
7:52
The 51-48 roll call Tuesday by which the Senate rejected a plan that would allow Americans to import low-cost prescriptions from abroad. Sixty votes were needed to pass the measure. A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the...
Senate rejects plan to import low-cost drugs
7:32
The Senate rejected a plan Tuesday to allow Americans to import low-cost prescriptions from abroad, handing drug makers a victory that may help secure passage of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. The vote...
House votes to turn down volume of noisy TV ads
7:06
The House on Tuesday voted to level off the abrupt spikes in volume felt by television viewers during commercial breaks. The bill _ approved by a voice vote _ is aimed at stopping TV ads from playing noticeably louder...
Lawmakers: Soldiers have problems with combat gear
7:04
Troops are being sent to war zones without proper training and suitable gear, according to two senior Democratic lawmakers who say they've been told by soldiers about problems ranging from their backpacks to their...
Ex-State employee sentenced to 2-year probation
7:04
A former State Department employee has been placed on probation for two years for illegally accessing passport applications of more than 65 celebrities and others. Twenty-eight-year-old Karal Busch of District Heights,...
House votes to expand sanctions on Iran
6:26
The House voted Tuesday to impose new economic sanctions on Iran as lawmakers cast doubt on Iran's willingness to respond to diplomatic efforts to curtail its purported nuclear arms program. The legislation, approved...
Ex-Kennedy aide charged with defrauding Senate
6:21
A former office manager for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy has been charged with conspiring to defraud the Senate of more than $75,000 in pay and bonuses. Authorities charge that 39-year-old Ngozi T. Pole filled out...
Ill. town welcomes plan to house Gitmo detainees
6:04
The White House decision to move up to 100 Guantanamo Bay detainees to this dying Mississippi River town has folks here seeing dollar signs, not suspected terrorists. Many people in this rural community are hopeful...
Gitmo detainees not free in US after prison
6:04
Guantanamo Bay detainees brought into this country for trial will not be staying here, the Obama administration is promising. A detainee tried in this country would be treated for immigration purposes as though he is...
White House not expecting weapons treaty this week
5:34
The White House said Tuesday it didn't expect President Barack Obama to sign a nuclear weapons treaty with Russia when he travels to Copenhagen this week. Spokesman Robert Gibbs said the U.S. and Russia continued to...
Bill would give undocumented legal status
5:09
Hispanic, black, Asian and other House lawmakers backing immigration overhaul called Tuesday for legalizing illegal immigrants in the U.S., despite a weakened economy and joblessness. The coalition of lawmakers said...
Obama talks climate with 3 European leaders
4:51
President Barack Obama is discussing the climate summit in Denmark with other world leaders. Obama spoke by telephone Tuesday with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs...
Popularity of texting edging out cell phone calls
4:41
R u kidding me? Americans punched out more than 110 billion text messages in December 2008, double the number in the last month of 2007, as the shorthand communication becomes a popular alternative to cell phone calls. ...
For Westerners, it's not easy to join the Taliban
4:18
As five U.S. students are alleged to have discovered, joining Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents isn't easy for outsiders _ one reason the flow of foreign fighters to Afghanistan so far is a small stream compared to the...
Lawmaker scolds administration on Fort Hood info
3:35
Sen. Joe Lieberman, who chairs a Senate oversight committee, chided the Obama administration Tuesday for not providing information to lawmakers probing the Fort Hood killings. The Connecticut independent said his...
Clinton to attend climate change talks in Denmark
2:34
The State Department says Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Copenhagen this week to attend a conference aimed at fashioning a global deal to curb emissions that cause global warming. The...
Federal workers owe more than $3B in back taxes
2:06
Federal workers owed the government more than $3 billion in back income taxes in 2008, just as federal tax revenues started to suffer from the recession. More than 276,000 federal employees and retirees owed back...
Obama panel urges single system for secrets
1:09
A presidential task force on government secrecy has recommended creating a new government-wide system for categorizing sensitive information to reduce confusion about exactly who should know what. The recommendations...
Schwarzenegger says go carefully on climate change
12:25
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says world policymakers do not have to choose between a clean environment and economic growth. Schwarzenegger said "we've proved that over and over again in California."...
Health care issues: Public plan compromises
10:50
A look at key issues in the health care debate: THE ISSUE: Are compromises being considered when it comes to letting the government sell insurance in competition with private industry? THE POLITICS: The so-called...