J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Lois Lerner, head of the IRS unit that decides whether to grant tax-exempt status to groups, listens at the start of a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing to investigate the extra scrutiny the IRS gave to Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status.
The woman at the center of an IRS scandal gripping the nation’s capital invoked her constitutional right Wednesday and refused to answer questions before congressional investigators, but not before issuing a controversial opening statement that left some Republican lawmakers seething. » read more
Chuck Kennedy/MCT
The Pentagon in northern Virginia is headquarters of the Department of Defense.
A funny thing happened on the way to a predicted disaster: The Pentagon is learning to live with the automatic budget cuts its leaders had warned would threaten national security if they took effect. » read more
Complete coverage of the Boston Marathon attacks that killed three people and injured more than 200 others, including the manhunt that followed.
Top secret intelligence reports reveal that U.S. drones have targeted and killed hundreds of suspected lower-level Afghan, Pakistani and unidentified other militants in scores of strikes.
Technological advances might unlock vast natural gas deposits, increase domestic oil production and turn the U.S. into the next Middle East. But, it may not be enough.
One of the nation's most secretive intelligence agencies is pressuring polygraphers to push the ethical and legal boundaries of a program designed instead to catch spies and terrorists.
McClatchy found errors and embellishments in the Marine Corps' Medal of Honor nomination for Dakota Meyer, whose deeds have been retold in a book and numerous news reports.

Chris Terry, of Milwaukee, lands a largemouth bass while fishing on Okauchee Lake in Waukesha County (Paul A. Smith / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/MCT) | More top photos from McClatchy
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