Senators 'troubled' by Rice answers on Libya

Republican senators said Tuesday that they have even more questions about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, after meeting with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan E. Rice, who has become a lightning rod for criticism of the Obama administration's handling of the attack.

Senators in GOP propose migrant reform

Moving to try to steal the immigration spotlight from Democrats, top Senate Republicans on Tuesday introduced their own version of the Dream Act to grant young illegal immigrants legal rights — though it wouldn't give them a special path to citizenship.

Support grows for curbing filibuster

A day after a lengthy and caustic exchange over proposed changes to the Senate's filibuster rules, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell were at it again on the Senate floor Tuesday — though the two did open a tiny window for potential compromise on the matter.

Inaction on Hill seen as jackpot for online-gambling states

Months after D.C. lawmakers repealed a measure that would have allowed first-in-the-nation online gambling on home computers and at select sites in the shadow of Capitol Hill, several states are forging ahead with online games of chance while a harried Congress remains unlikely to pass a federal bill that would regulate the practice.

Damage assessors for feds get blitz training

From floods in Florida to mudslides in California, Ronald Houston inspected thousands of battered homes during his career in the disaster business, becoming one of the top earners for a local joint venture that gets paid lots of money in the wake of powerful storms such as Sandy.

Angry protesters fill Tahrir Square

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered Tuesday in the center of Cairo to protest their democratically elected president's recent decrees granting himself near-absolute power, chanting slogans against the Muslim Brotherhood and accusing him of trying to become Egypt's new dictator.

HURT: Closing loopholes a solution unlikely to happen

So President Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi have returned to Washington emboldened by their "clear mandate" from voters.

Bypassing Republicans, Obama makes tax argument directly to public

President Obama embarked Tuesday on a tax-hike strategy that avoids direct negotiations with Congress in favor of trying to rally the public to exert more pressure on Republican lawmakers.

'Talks' begin on 'Fast and Furious' gunrunning operation

Lawyers for the Justice Department and a House committee investigating the failed "Fast and Furious" gunrunning operation met this week to discuss a possible compromise over the release of disputed documents sought by House investigators in an attempt to resolve a pending lawsuit.

Inside the Beltway: Fluke, PSY and the rover

Brace for impact: Time magazine's annual search for the Person of the Year is under way, seeking the person, idea or entity that most influenced the news in 2012.

Pot smokers' outlook still hazy after Colorado legalization vote

When it comes to legalized pot, Coloradans are still holding their breath.

CDC: Youths make up in 1 in 4 new HIV cases

Teens and young adults now account for more than a quarter of the new cases of HIV identified in the United States annually, and a clear majority of those cases involve young gay or bisexual men, the federal government said in a major new survey Tuesday.

Renowned author Oliver Sacks examines life through a transcendental lens of neurochemistry

Oliver Sacks may be an atheist, but flashes of heaven and hell illuminate his new book "Hallucinations," which is studded with stories of mystical experiences and ends with a reference to God.

Party's over for would-be U.S. rock diplomat

Forget talk of ambassadors and national security. The State Department had a glittering flirtation with the Office of Party Hearty. It was brief. It was sensational. It failed.

Stocks slide on 'fiscal cliff' warning

Stocks slumped on Wall Street Tuesday after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was frustrated by the lack of progress in talks over the U.S. budget impasse in Washington.

Graph suggests Iran is working on nuclear bomb

Iranian scientists have run computer simulations for a nuclear weapon that would produce more than triple the explosive force of the World War II bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, according to a diagram obtained by The Associated Press.

Commentary

TANCREDO: Border control is primary problem

Enforcement is still the primary issue in the immigration reform debate, as it should be.

WILSON: Immigration reform is more than a fence

The failure of successive administrations to secure the U.S. border and operate a functional immigration system in the 1990s and early 2000s made it impossible to build any consensus on needed immigration reform.

LAMBRO: Obama's war on wealth

Abig issue is missing in the debate over the "fiscal cliff": how to get the Obama economy growing again, fueling capital investment, jobs and higher incomes.

MILLER: Harry Reid goes nuclear

Forget about bipartisanship; Harry Reid has decided there's no option that goes too far if it means diluting the influence of Republicans. The Senate majority leader plans to break with long-standing tradition in January by rewriting the chamber's rules to silence the Republican minority.

EDITORIAL: Unions play Grinch on Black Friday

Unions hoping to strike a blow for Big Labor got a black eye from Black Friday shoppers instead. Empowered by their role in President Obama's re-election earlier this month, union bosses were surprised to learn that for most Americans, sympathy for left-wing economics stops at the superstores' automatic doors.