Cheers, a standing ovation and a gag gift of protective headgear greeted Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as she returned to work on Monday after a monthlong absence caused first by a stomach virus, then a fall and a concussion and finally a brief hospitalization for a blood clot near her brain.
Despite Republican misgivings, President Barack Obama announced Monday he will nominate former GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel as his next defense secretary, calling him “the leader our troops deserve.” He also chose White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to lead the Central Intelligence Agency.
Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal said Monday he backs the White House’s drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan slated for 2014, but added that the U.S. owes Afghans some sort of enduring security presence to support them.
It’s a health care change that President Barack Obama and Republicans both embrace: Expand a current, little-known law so more retirees the government considers well-off are required to pay higher Medicare premiums.
Conservatives wanted Robert H. Bork on the Supreme Court. They wound up with Anthony Kennedy, the key vote in reaffirming a woman’s right to an abortion.
One early focus of new gun regulations by President Barack Obama and some lawmakers would reinstate a federal ban on assault weapons, a law widely regarded as imperfect.
Sen. Joe Manchin, an avid hunter and lifelong member of the National Rifle Association, says it’s time for all sides in the gun policy debate to move beyond the political rhetoric and begin an honest discussion about reasonable restrictions on guns.
Just two weeks before the economy-threatening “fiscal cliff” is due to kick in, both President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner are making significant concessions, backing off what had once been ironclad positions on how to avoid the huge automatic spending cuts and tax increases.
The former leader of a tea party group says the Republican Party and stupid statements by some candidates are to blame for GOP losses in last month’s congressional elections.
Nearly two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities by 2030, with most people middle class, connected by technology, protected by advanced health care and linked by countries that work together, perhaps with the United States and China cooperating to lead the way.
