By Patricia Zengerle and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 18, 2012 5:43pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers on Tuesday opened the door to a national debate about gun control following the Connecticut school massacre, a small sign of easing in Washington's reluctance to seriously consider new federal weapons restrictions. Republic...

By David Ingram WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 18, 2012 5:40pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Rifle Association said on Tuesday it wanted to contribute meaningfully to prevent another massacre like the Connecticut shooting, suggesting a sharp change in tone for the largest U.S. gun rights group. "The National Rifle Association of America is made u...

WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 18, 2012 4:57pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has eliminated more than 20 of al Qaeda's top 30 leaders based in Afghanistan and Pakistan from the battlefield since Barack Obama became president, a top U.S. government security official said on Tuesday. Daniel Benjamin, head of the State Department's counterterrorism bur...

WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 18, 2012 4:14pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives pressed the Obama administration on Tuesday to turn over documents that might reveal more about the Federal Housing Administration's shaky finances. "It is imperative that Congress fully understand how and why HUD was unable to anticipate the ...

By Jeff Mason and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 18, 2012 3:34pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House spelled out some gun control measures on Tuesday that President Barack Obama would support in the aftermath of the Connecticut school massacre, including moves by a Democratic senator to reinstate an assault weapons ban. At a memorial...

By Jane Sutton Tue Dec 18, 2012 2:24pm EST (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors said on Tuesday they would not file any charges in the Florida cyberstalking investigation of Paula Broadwell, the biographer whose affair with former CIA chief David Petraeus led to his resignation. Anonymous emails that Broadwell sent to Jill Kelley, a Tampa socialite who knew Pe...

WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 18, 2012 1:01pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Tuesday rejected House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner's "fiscal cliff" backup proposal, saying it fails to meet President Barack Obama's call for a balanced approach and does not put enough of a tax burden on the wealthiest Americans. The White House weighed in af...

WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:37am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Tuesday said President Barack Obama's most recent offer to avert the "fiscal cliff" is "not there yet," but he still hopes he can reach a deal with the White House. Republican Boehner spoke to reporters after meeting with his Republican caucu...

By James B. Kelleher CHICAGO | Sun Dec 16, 2012 12:42am EST CHICAGO (Reuters) - Democratic ward bosses from Chicago and its suburbs failed on Saturday to endorse a candidate to succeed former U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., creating an open primary in February for the vacant Illinois congressional seat. None of the more than one dozen cand...

By Steve Holland WASHINGTON | Sun Dec 16, 2012 12:29am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner has offered to raise tax rates on high earners to break the "fiscal cliff" deadlock in exchange for major cuts in entitlement programs, but President Barack Obama is not ready to accept, a source said late Saturday....

By Thomas Ferraro and Steve Holland WASHINGTON | Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:02pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is not ready to accept a new offer from the Republican leader of the U.S. the House of Representatives to raise taxes on top earners in exchange for major cuts in entitlement programs, a source said late Saturday. The shape ...

By Steve Holland and Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON | Sat Dec 15, 2012 10:47pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to nominate Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, sources familiar with the process said on Saturday. Kerry, the Democratic nominee for pre...

The bill to give longterm gay couples the same legal benefits as conventionally wed couples finally made it to debate Tuesday on the floor of the Legislative Assembly, only to have discussion blocked by recesses. The Libertarian Movement, Renovacion Costarricense Party's Justo Orozco and the (also Evangelical) Renovacion Nacional Party called three 15-minute recesses in quick succession before ...

By James B. Kelleher CHICAGO | Sat Dec 15, 2012 8:43am EST CHICAGO (Reuters) - Democratic ward bosses from Chicago neighborhoods and suburban townships are expected to endorse a candidate on Saturday who will have a leg up in a potentially crowded field to replace former U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. Jackson resigned in November after 17 ...

By Matt Spetalnick WASHINGTON | Sat Dec 15, 2012 6:17am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged Americans on Saturday to join in solidarity as they mourn the victims of a shooting rampage at a Connecticut elementary school, saying the hearts of parents across the country were "heavy with hurt" for the lives lost. In his weekly rad...

By David Ingram WASHINGTON | Fri Dec 14, 2012 7:40pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The mass killing on Friday at a Connecticut school put renewed pressure on U.S. President Barack Obama and other Democrats to reverse their years of caution about gun control laws and address the easy availability of firearms. The scenes from Sandy Hook Elementary - o...

DETROIT | Fri Dec 14, 2012 6:36pm EST DETROIT (Reuters) - Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is carefully assessing legislation passed late on Thursday that would allow certain gun owners to bring concealed weapons to schools, churches and other areas that are currently gun-free, his office said. Snyder, a Republican, has not said if he will sign the bill, pa...

By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON | Fri Dec 14, 2012 6:24pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday signed a bill that brings U.S. trade relations with Russia into the 21st century but also ushers in a testy era in which the United States could publicly "name and shame" Russian human rights violators. The measure, which Congress passe...

By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON | Fri Dec 14, 2012 3:02pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama says federal authorities should not target recreational marijuana use in two Western states that voted to make it legal, given limited government resources and growing public acceptance of the controlled substance. Obama's first comments on the ...

By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON | Fri Dec 14, 2012 12:55pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The "fiscal cliff" impasse is raising the odds that Congress will fail to meet a year-end deadline to avert steep tax hikes and budget cuts that could push the nation into another recession. With talks between President Barack Obama and House of Representatives Spea...

By Fred Barbash WASHINGTON | Fri Dec 14, 2012 9:32am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The failure of Democrats and Republicans to break the impasse over the "fiscal cliff" is raising the possibility of Congress going beyond the year-end deadline to complete the work necessary to avert steep tax hikes and budget cuts that experts fear could push the nat...

By Kim Dixon and Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON | Fri Dec 14, 2012 1:15am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The tax break that U.S. states, cities and counties get on the bonds they issue is in growing jeopardy now that Republicans, in addition to Democrats, are considering limits on the exemption. As part of the "fiscal cliff" negotiations to raise mor...

By Fred Barbash WASHINGTON | Thu Dec 13, 2012 10:08am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Negotiations are expected to continue Thursday on the "fiscal cliff" with Republicans at a growing public opinion disadvantage and approval ratings for President Barack Obama rising to levels not seen since the killing of Osama bin Laden. Senior Democratic Senator Ke...

By Nick Carey and Bernie Woodall LANSING, Michigan | Thu Dec 13, 2012 8:29am EST LANSING, Michigan (Reuters) - As a trained aerospace engineer, Patrick Colbeck applied his penchant for data analysis and "systematic approach" to his new job in early 2011: a Michigan state senator, recently elected and keen to create jobs in the faded industrial po...

By Kim Dixon and David Lawder WASHINGTON | Thu Dec 13, 2012 5:44am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sharp differences remained on Wednesday between congressional Republicans and the White House in talks to avert the "fiscal cliff" of steep tax hikes and budget cuts, and negotiators warned the showdown could drag on past Christmas. A Wall Street Journal...

By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON | Thu Dec 13, 2012 1:12am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After a year of knocking on doors and working the phones to get President Barack Obama re-elected, Meechie Biggers had gotten over her fear of talking politics with strangers. So when she came to Washington last week, the small-town real estate agent and a few like-m...

WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 12, 2012 11:20pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify on December 20 before the House of Representatives and Senate foreign affairs committees on a report on the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, the committees said on Wednesday. The attack on September 11 killed U.S. ...

By Scott Malone and David Ingram BOSTON/WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 12, 2012 9:11pm EST BOSTON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday that U.S. election officials should register eligible voters automatically and take steps to reduce the long lines Americans encountered in national elections on November 6. In a speech in Bos...

By David Lawder WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 12, 2012 8:59pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democrats are moving quickly to push through the Obama administration's full request for $60.4 billion in emergency aid for Superstorm Sandy, but a growing number of Republicans are arguing for a smaller initial amount. The Senate Appropriations Committee relea...

WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 12, 2012 7:52pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who came tantalizingly close to winning the Democratic presidential nomination four years ago, played down the notion she would run again for the White House in 2016 in comments aired on Wednesday. Clinton for the past four years has served a...

WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 12, 2012 11:42am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Wednesday he still has "serious differences" with President Barack Obama over how to resolve the year-end "fiscal cliff" as top Republicans vowed to stay in Washington until just before - and after - Christmas to reach a deal. "I wa...

By Fred Barbash WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:40am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More public jousting in the "fiscal cliff" talks is expected from Democrats and Republicans on Wednesday in what has become a daily ritual of demanding more specific proposals to avert the steep tax hikes and budget cuts set for the end of the year. On Tuesday the Wh...

By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 7:45pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House and House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner's office held more negotiations on Monday on ways to break the "fiscal cliff" stalemate, although neither side showed any public signs that they were ready to give ground. The talks gained urgency afte...

By Janet Roberts and Ryan McNeill Mon Dec 10, 2012 6:44pm EST (Reuters) - New Jersey lawmakers on Monday pressed the head of New Jersey Transit to explain $100 million in damage to rail cars and engines flooded during Superstorm Sandy, particularly why his agency stored hundreds of cars and locomotives in low-lying railyards. Executive Director James Wein...

By David Lawder WASHINGTON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 5:34pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Of the many distasteful elements to the year-end "fiscal cliff" that Washington is desperately trying to avoid, few are more loathed than the automatic, indiscriminate spending cuts scheduled to begin on January 2. Yet a repeat of this agonizing drama could play out n...

By Steve Holland REDFORD, Michigan | Mon Dec 10, 2012 4:58pm EST REDFORD, Michigan (Reuters) - Making no visible headway in direct talks with Republicans, President Barack Obama took to the road on Monday to apply pressure on his political opponents to agree to a "fiscal cliff" deal that would raise taxes on the richest Americans. Wearing shirtsl...

WASHINGTON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 4:18pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department on Monday notified Congress that it had approved an arms sale valued at $421 million to Japan for upgrades to its Aegis missile defense system built by Lockheed Martin Corp, and related equipment. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign arm...

By Charles Abbott WASHINGTON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 4:12pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress should slash at least $100 billion in costs from the U.S. farm bill - three or four times more than cuts currently proposed - and resist calls for a hurry-up vote this week, a dozen anti-deficit and environmental groups said on Monday. At a news conference,...

REDFORD, Michigan | Mon Dec 10, 2012 3:36pm EST REDFORD, Michigan (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday threw his support behind labor unions opposed to a Republican-led drive for "right-to-work" laws in Michigan, saying efforts to pass such measures were not about economics but about politics. Obama used a visit to an auto plant in the cradle of ...

By Richard Cowan and David Lawder WASHINGTON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 1:04am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and his Republican opponents in Congress enter a crucial week in the "fiscal cliff" impasse with more than just differences over taxes to bridge: Also in the way is pervasive mistrust among members of Congress that discourages ...