US News

The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator.

Republican lawmakers have a message for those who want the party to soften its emphasis on social conservatism in hopes of reaching a wider national audience: Not so fast.

Onlookers take snapshots as the motorcade carrying United States President Barack Obama passes the Brandenburg Gate after arriving in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, June 18, 2013.

Authorities say a woman was held captive by three people who forced her to do housework, raided her bank account and menaced her with snakes.

A Texas congressman who was choking on a piece of popcorn is thanking a fellow Republican from Arizona and a House staffer who is also a doctor for stepping in to help.

United Airlines says an oil filter issue has prompted the crew of a Boeing 787 flying from Denver to Tokyo to divert to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The latest possible resting place of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa is an overgrown farm field where the normal calm of chirping crickets is being drowned out by a beeping backhoe, the chop of an overhead news helicopter and the bustle of reporters and onlookers.

A judge has declared a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a verdict in the trial of a Detroit police officer who fatally shot a 7-year-old girl.

Under pressure from House conservatives opposed to comprehensive immigration reform, House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday, "I don't see any way of bringing an immigration bill to the floor that doesn't have majority support of Republicans."

The director of the National Security Agency said today the government's sweeping surveillance programs have foiled some 50 terrorist plots worldwide, including one directed at the New York Stock Exchange, in a forceful defense of spy operations that was echoed by the leaders of the House Intelligence Committee.

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said Tuesday lawmakers are worried about the possibility of further disclosures about the government's sweeping electronic surveillance and the impact that could have on efforts to combat terrorism.

The abortion wars return to Congress in a big way with House legislation to ban almost all abortions after a fetus reaches the age of 20 weeks.

There's good news for most companies that provide health benefits for their employees: America's slowdown in medical costs may be turning into a trend, rather than a mere pause.

The governors of Texas and South Dakota visited Connecticut on Monday to court gun manufacturers that have threatened to leave since the state passed tough new gun-control laws this year in response to the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

New airborne laser scanning data has uncovered a network of roadways and canals, illustrating an entire bustling ancient city linking Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temples complex.

Chicago's next U.S. attorney faces a dilemma sprung from the twin evils bedeviling America's third-largest city.

The Republican Party's hope of running stronger presidential races by revamping immigration is about to hit a big hurdle: House Republicans.

A woman who was sentenced to death at age 16 after she confessed to her part in the torture and murder of a 78-year-old bible studies teacher has been released from an Indiana prison after spending a quarter century behind bars.

Federal agents revived the hunt for the remains of Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa on Monday as they searched a field in suburban Detroit.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that deals between pharmaceutical corporations and their generic drug competitors, which government officials say keep cheaper forms of medicine off the market, can be sometimes be illegal and therefore challenged by federal officials in court.