Challenging presidential power, a defiant U.S. House voted overwhelmingly Friday to deny President Barack Obama the authority to wage war against Libya.

In the waning days of the lame duck congressional session, Democrats controlling the Senate - in collaboration with a handful of old school Republicans - are pushing to wrap $1.27 trillion worth of unfinished budget work into a single "omnibus" appropriations bill.

Democratic leaders secured the support of Sen. Ben Nelson to provide the 60th and deciding vote for sweeping health care legislation in the Senate, capping a year of struggle and a final burst of deadline bargaining on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

Nicknamed "county payments," the timber program was supposed to assist counties shortchanged when national forests limited logging to protect the northern spotted owl and other endangered species.

A federal program that began as a safety net for Pacific Northwest logging communities hard-hit by battles over the spotted owl in the 1990s has morphed into a sprawling entitlement that ships vast amounts of money to states with little or no...

Nicknamed "county payments," the timber program was supposed to assist counties shortchanged when national forests limited logging to protect the northern spotted owl and other endangered species. Oregon alone has received nearly $2 billion since 2000.

Might that Midas magic be dulling for President Barack Obama, even among fellow Democrats? Conservative House Democrats are balking at the cost of Obama's health care overhaul, and one Democratic congressman says Obama is "very unpopular" in his Oklahoma district.

Calling it an "imperfect" bill, President Barack Obama signed a $410 billion spending package Wednesday that includes billions in earmarks. You can search a database of the earmarks to find out who asked for what >>>

With the presidential election less than a month away and the economy reeling, House Democratic leaders on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to reduce the gases blamed for global warming from power plants, transportation and factories by 80 percent come 2050.

After a two-day cliffhanger over whether their first debate would take place, John McCain and Barack Obama take aim at the ultimate record: most-watched presidential debate ever.

With gloomy new estimates predicting that the government's budget deficit will surge past a half-trillion dollars next year, lawmakers and budget experts predicted that the winner of the presidential race will have to dramatically alter his economic agenda.

The administration actually underestimates the deficit, however, since it leaves out about $80 billion in war costs. In a break from tradition - and in violation of new mandates from Congress - the White House did not include its full estimate of war costs.

An international report giving greater certainty to global warming will shift the debate in Congress from what's causing climate change to the economics of who will pay to confront it.