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....

Bill could reduce illegal immigration 25 percent
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supporters of far-reaching immigration legislation rejected a challenge Wednesday from Senate conservatives demanding evidence that the nation's borders are secure before millions living in the United States unlawfully can gain legal status....

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....

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....

Oversight board concerned about NSA surveillance
WASHINGTON (AP) -- In an interview this week with television talk show host Charlie Rose, Obama said he planned to meet with the oversight board and "set up and structure a national conversation" about the NSA's surveillance programs and also "about the general problem of these big data sets because this is not going to be restricted to government entities."...

Bipartisan proposal on student loans circulating
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Students applying for financial aid for the coming school year could find some comfort in a bipartisan student loan compromise taking shape in the Senate that would prevent interest rates from doubling and set a single rate each year for undergraduate students, rich or poor....

US calls out China, Russia over human trafficking
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. accused China and Russia of failing to meet minimum standards in fighting human trafficking, ranking them on a par with North Korea and Syria....

Pruitt: DOJ broke rules in phone records seizure
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Justice Department violated its own rules when it secretly seized records for thousands of phone calls to and from journalists for The Associated Press as part of a leak investigation, the head of the company said Wednesday....

Biden calls for DC voting rights during tribute
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday used a tribute to 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass to renew the call for equal voting rights for people who live in the nation's capital....