Senators closing in on border security compromise
WASHINGTON (AP) -- White House-backed immigration legislation is gaining momentum in the Senate, where key lawmakers say they are closing in on a bipartisan compromise to spend tens of billions of dollars stiffening the bill's border security requirements without delaying legalization for millions living in the country unlawfully....

Conservative conference highlights murky tax laws
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Organizers insist the Faith and Freedom Coalition's recent conference was not focused on politics....

Obama making plans to tackle global warming
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is planning a major push using executive powers to tackle the pollution blamed for global warming in an effort to make good on promises he made at the start of his second term. "We know we have to do more - and we will do more," Obama said Wednesday in Berlin....

House to vote on farm bill cuts to crop insurance
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House is preparing to vote on whether to cut federally-subsidized crop insurance that helps farmers when they lose crops or revenue....

Dem senator presses Pentagon on Guantanamo feeding
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The force-feeding of terror suspects at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, runs counter to international standards, medical ethics and the practices at American prisons, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Wednesday in pressing the Pentagon to establish a more humane treatment....

Russia could stand in way of Obama's nuke cuts
WASHINGTON (AP) -- By saying he intends to bargain with Russia over new reductions in nuclear weapons, rather than make cuts on his own, President Barack Obama is asking for cooperation from a former Cold War foe in no mood to agree....

Mueller: FBI uses drones for surveillance
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI uses drones for surveillance of stationary subjects, and the privacy implications of such operations are "worthy of debate," FBI Director Robert Mueller said Wednesday....

IRS draws new criticism over $70M employee bonuses
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Already reeling from a pair of scandals, the Internal Revenue Service is drawing new criticism over plans to hand out millions of dollars in employee bonuses....

Senate backs Froman as next trade representative
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Michael Froman, a senior White House economic adviser and classmate of President Barack Obama at Harvard Law School, on Wednesday won Senate confirmation to be the next U.S. trade representative....

Oversight board concerned about NSA surveillance
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chairman of the federal oversight board that President Barack Obama said will meet with him to discuss the National Security Agency's secret surveillance program said Wednesday that the group has numerous concerns about the operation and plans to publish a report after a full inquiry....