Defense

Defense secretary possibility made name opposing global warming accord

Forget about his Israel comments. Chuck Hagel's record on the environment is the real problem.

Oversight

Poll shows ambivalence on fiscal cliff, support for Rice

Public is OK with raising taxes on the wealthy and against entitlement reform, survey finds

Oversight

The new Congress: Nine things to know

Congress is still the same bundle of dysfunction and dyspepsia that it was on Tuesday.

Management

Postal Service defaults on payment to Treasury

Congress has punted on the question of a solution until after the election.

Tech

Meteorologists ask lawmakers for a weather commission

Proposed center would advise policymakers on setting priorities.

Management

Analysis: Why Republicans need to get FEMA right

Americans have come to see the federal government as essential to disaster relief.

Management

Is Ryan really a fiscal hawk?

He's voted to cut, but also to spend lavishly.

Management

How Biden and Ryan stack up

The Oct. 11 debate in Kentucky will be key.

Pay & Benefits

Tax cut deal boosts retirement contributions for new feds

Democrats stave off proposal that would have required all employees to contribute more to their pensions to pay for unemployment insurance extension.

Oversight

Capital relieved as payroll measure clears House

Differences remain large over how to pay for the deal, with Republicans looking to areas liking freezing wages of federal workers.

Oversight

Senate leaders hopeful spending deal can be worked out

Tax and spending issues still dog lawmakers as deadline to prevent much of government from shutting down looms.

News

How could Rick Perry get rid of the Commerce Department?

The agency was founded in 1913 at the end of the Taft administration to be the business counterpart to the Department of Labor.

Oversight

Obama to name former utility executive as Commerce chief

John Bryson would inherit a department expected to be at the center of efforts to overhaul government.

Defense

Obama thanks troops involved in bin Laden raid

The president met with members of SEAL Team 6, before addressing 2,500 soldiers in a Fort Campbell aircraft hangar.

Defense

U.S. forces kill Osama bin Laden

American military operation takes out "mass murderer" inside Pakistan, President Obama tells nation in stunning late-evening announcement.

Oversight

Obama unveils deficit reduction framework

Administration claims $4 trillion through spending cuts, calls for repeal of Bush tax cuts.

Oversight

Brink of a shutdown: How did it get to this point?

Those Americans who disdain government in the abstract are about to have their contempt put to the test.

News

The budget skirmish ends, the war begins

The House, Senate and White House kept agencies open. Now come the real battles.

News

Obama: No radiation risk to America

President orders study of nuclear plant safety in the United States.