US Politics News

Millions hunkered down for icy conditions expected to last through the weekend from Texas to Ohio to Tennessee as a cold snap covered much of the nation, knocking out power and making roads treacherous Saturday.

South Africa is readying itself for the arrival of a flood of world leaders for the memorial service and funeral for Nelson Mandela as thousands of mourners continued to flock to sites around the country Saturday to pay homage to the freedom struggle icon.

President Barack Obama, battered by weeks of turmoil over the malfunctioning HealthCare.Gov website, turned to a fresh item on his agenda on Saturday as he pressured Republicans in Congress to extend benefits for jobless Americans.

It's budget time again: Lawmakers from the House and Senate are trying to nail down an agreement to keep the government funded before they leave for the holidays on Dec. 13. And, while nothing's final just yet, a deal to avert another shutdown may be in reach.

Former U.S. Republican Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on March 15, 2013.

As millions of people shop online for new insurance plans under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, about 10 percent of applications to the main website are not being accurately transmitted, a government spokeswoman said on Friday.

Wreaths Across America, the group behind the annual holiday wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, will lay an evergreen wreath at the Capitol on Dec. 9, with a Civil Air Patrol honor guard standing over it all day.

U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran will run for re-election in 2014, setting the stage for a bruising primary fight that will pit the six-term senator against the more conservative wing of his party.

Speaker John Boehner's decision to hire a well-known advocate of immigration reform is raising concerns among the House's most ardent opponents of legislation.

U.S. officials say efforts have stalled to capture about a dozen people secretly charged in the 2012 attack on the American compound in Benghazi that claimed the lives of U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

President Barack Obama said on Thursday he expects a blue-ribbon panel to soon propose reforms that both parties can back to address concerns over the long waiting times some American voters experienced at the polls in 2012.

Counting himself among the millions influenced by Nelson Mandela, President Barack Obama on Thursday mourned the death of the anti-apartheid icon with whom he shares the distinction of being his nation's first black president.

House Speaker John Boehner, in his gloomiest assessment yet, lamented the lack of "real progress" toward a compromise $500 billion farm bill and said on Thursday the House would try to head off a potential doubling of milk prices in January.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill aimed at reining in "patent trolls," companies that buy or license patents from others, then extract licensing fees or file infringement lawsuits viewed by many as frivolous.

U.S. congressional negotiators on Thursday aimed to put the finishing touches on a two-year budget deal that would avoid another federal shutdown next month and suspend some across-the-board spending cuts set to hit military and other domestic programs, congressional sources said.

Republican Rep. Tom Cotton is pushing back against an "offensive" attack from his own party's Senate campaign committee against the Democratic senator he is challenging in Arkansas.

The U.S. military could wait months for a political decision on whether troops stay or leave Afghanistan, but delaying a security pact would damage the confidence of Afghan forces and undermine NATO's plans, the top U.S. military officer said on Wednesday.

Prognostications about the upcoming midterm election are coming fast and furious.

U.S. lawmakers in the House of Representatives said on Wednesday they are concerned about Iran's ability to continue enriching uranium under the interim agreement on Tehran's disputed nuclear program, an issue they are likely to press as global powers attempt to reach a final agreement.

With the Obamacare website performing better, congressional Republicans on Wednesday returned to their broader attack on President Barack Obama's healthcare law, warning that it would harm the quality of medical care and drive up costs.