Obama calls plans to burn Qurans 'bonanza' for al Qaida

Obama said the plans by a Florida pastor to mark the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks Saturday by burning the Muslim holy book could encourage violence in Muslim countries. Meanwhile, the State Department warned Americans overseas that anti-U.S. demonstrations are likely, and Iraq's prime minister urged the U.S. to stop the proposed burnings. | 09/09/10 12:38:16 By - Margaret Talev

Daley won't run in Chicago, opening way for Rahm Emanuel

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley said Tuesday he won't run for re-election, a move that almost certainly will prompt White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to head home to seek the job himself. | 09/07/10 15:53:13 By - Steven Thomma

Following tradition, Obama redecorates Oval Office

When President Barack Obama moved into the White House last year, he didn't rush into the presidential tradition of redecorating the Oval Office. | 08/31/10 22:32:52 By - Margaret Talev

Text of President Obama's remarks on Iraq

This is the prepared text of President Obama's speech Tuesday, Aug. 31, marking the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq. | 08/31/10 20:00:00 By -

Obama's Iraq speech will come from a redone Oval Office

The White House didn't release the tab for the renovation of the president's office, but called it "a comparable level of redesign" to what Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton spent to redo the office. The cost was paid through the White House Historical Association with funds from the Presidential Inaugural Committee. In other words, not by taxpayers. | 08/31/10 12:43:28 By - Margaret Talev

Poll: Majority now disapproves of Obama's job performance

More than half of Americans now disapprove of President Barack Obama's job performance, new polling found, but it's unclear what that means to the political future. Presidents Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter all had job approval numbers as low or lower in the Augusts of their second year in office. | 08/17/10 19:08:02 By - Margaret Talev

Supreme Court rejects plea from 'birther' attorney Orly Taitz

Taitz wanted the court to toss out a $20,000 fine that was levied against her by a judge in Georgia who said she was filing baseless lawsuits questioning Obama's citizenship. On Monday, the court rejected her request. | 08/16/10 17:47:29 By - Alan Riquemy

Obama courts GOP's McConnell — a vision of life after November?

Is President Barack Obama preparing for a new political balance in Washington if Democrats lose or significantly narrow their congressional majorities in November's elections and he'll need more Republicans to get anything done? | 08/06/10 16:51:25 By - Margaret Talev and David Lightman

Obama won't campaign for Democrats when he visits Texas

When President Obama visits Texas on Aug. 9, the state's top-tier Democratic candidate, gubernatorial nominee Bill White, will likely be miles away, reaching out to voters in Johnson County near Fort Worth. Another Democratic hopeful for statewide office, Austin attorney Hector Uribe, says he'll be elsewhere, and Barbara Radnofsky, the Democrats' nominee for attorney general, says she too has no plans to attend an Obama event. | 08/01/10 09:36:12 By - Dave Montgomery

Senate likely to break deadlock on jobless benefits

President Barack Obama escalated his attacks on Republicans Monday, blasting them for opposing an extension of benefits for the out-of-work while pushing tax cuts for the wealthy. | 07/19/10 06:00:00 By - David Lightman and Steven Thomma

Obama calls for immigration overhaul, but prospects bleak

President Barack Obama on Thursday once again urged Congress to tackle comprehensive legislation to overhaul immigration law, citing the urgency of Arizona passing its own punitive statute in the absence of federal action. | 07/03/10 18:04:53 By - William Douglas

Obama, Europeans split on economic policy

President Barack Obama and European leaders failed Saturday to bridge a fast growing divide over government spending and will emerge from a weekend summit on Sunday charting different courses for ending the global recession. But the G8 leaders were united on North Korea, Iran's nuclear program, Afghanistan, and Israel's blockade of Gaza. | 06/26/10 17:59:39 By - Steven Thomma

BP defense: Palin pushes article comparing Obama to Hitler

Sarah Palin is urging her followers to read an article likening President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler in the way Obama pressured BP to set aside $20 billion for oil spill damage claims. "This is about the rule of law vs. an unconstitutional power grab. Read Thomas Sowell's article," Palin tweeted. | 06/26/10 14:09:42 By - Steven Thomma

Obama will skip next month's NAACP convention

President Barack Obama will not be attending the NAACP convention in Kansas City next month as its supporters had hoped. Michelle Obama will instead. The first lady, who had been invited along with the president, will be the headliner at the July 10-15 gathering. | 06/24/10 18:39:13 By - David Goldstein and Dave Helling

BP's oil recovery stats show how wrong leak estimates were

BP recovered 18,600 barrels of oil from its gushing Deepwater Horizon well on Wednesday, the most so far, but still just a fraction of what is spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. The amount serves as a reminder of the weeks-long reluctance of both BP and the Obama administration to recognize the full extent of the disaster. | 06/17/10 13:19:45 By -

From Oval Office, Obama vows to restore Gulf Coast

President Barack Obama on Tuesday night used his first Oval Office address to try to change Americans' perceptions of his handling of the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that's gushed out of control for nearly two months and to make the case that he and his team are finally in the driver's seat. | 06/15/10 21:49:54 By - Margaret Talev

Obama tells Florida he'll do "whatever it takes"

Hours before President Barack Obama was to address the nation, he came to Florida's ground zero on the Gulf oil spill crisis and pledged that his administration would do "whatever it takes" to deal with the mess. | 06/15/10 21:49:36 By - Jennifer Lebovich, Niala Boodhoo and Carol Rosenberg

Poll: Obama's doing OK overall, but not on the Gulf spill

While 50 percent of the American people approve of how President Barack Obama is doing his job overall, a 41 percent plurality disapproves of how he's handling the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and only 33 percent approve, according to a new Ipsos-McClatchy poll. | 06/15/10 21:49:18 By - Robert A. Rankin

Transcript of Adm. Thad Allen's Tuesday BP oil leak briefing

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the National Incident Commander for the Deepwater BP Oil Spill response, and Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, briefed reporters Tuesday. This transcript was provided by the White House. | 06/08/10 19:02:25 By -

Obama's comments Monday on the BP Gulf oil spill

This is the White House transcript of President Obama's comments after meeting with Cabinet secretaries on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. | 06/07/10 21:03:53 By -

Transcript of Thad Allen's White House briefing Monday

This is the transcript of the White House briefing Monday with Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen on the BP-Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. | 06/07/10 14:28:05 By -

With oil spill in patches, Coast Guard cuts use of dispersants

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Monday that the Gulf oil spill has broken into "hundreds or thousands" of oil patches, forcing federal officials to adapt their plans to keep up. He also made clear that the amount of oil flowing from the Deepwater Horizon well is far greater than previously acknowledged. | 06/07/10 14:11:03 By - Steven Thomma

Helen Thomas, under siege about Israel comments, retires

Helen Thomas, the longest serving White House correspondent, retired Monday after White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called her anti-Israel comments reprehensible, and the White House Correspondents Association called them indefensible. | 06/07/10 12:40:07 By - Steven Thomma

Muslim praise for Obama dries up a year after Cairo speech

A year ago Friday, President Barack Obama stood in Cairo and vowed "a new beginning" in a speech about how he'd change U.S. relations with the Muslim world. Egyptian vendors sold T-shirts portraying Obama in King Tut regalia, and Muslims throughout the region thrilled at his middle name: Hussein. | 06/03/10 21:44:40 By - Miret el Naggar and Margaret Talev

Obama orders firms to change drill plans that mimic BP's

The Obama administration ordered oil companies to resubmit dozens of exploration plans that were virtually identical to BP's and that also called major spills and environmental damage "unlikely." The action came after McClatchy informed the White House and Interior officials that it had reviewed 31 deepwater exploration and development plans approved for the Gulf under the Obama administration and found that all of them downplayed the threat of spills to marine life and fisheries. | 06/02/10 20:24:20 By - Shashank Bengali

Obama's remarks after meeting with oil spill study chairmen

Obama met with former Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and former EPA administrator Bill Reilly on Tuesday. They are the co-chairs of a presidential commission investigating the cause of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the official transcript of Obama's remarks. | 06/01/10 15:11:13 By -

Thunderstorm forces Obama to cut Memorial Day appearance

A violent, fast-developing thunderstorm Monday forced President Barack Obama to cut short his Memorial Day remarks at a national cemetery outside Chicago and urge guests to take shelter in their cars until the storm passed. | 05/31/10 14:07:31 By - Steven Thomma

White House: Appointment offer to Sestak was proper

The Obama administration said Friday that it used the promise of a presidential appointment to try to get a Pennsylvania congressman to abandon a planned primary challenge to White House favorite Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., and that it used former President Bill Clinton as the middleman. | 05/28/10 12:03:21 By - Steven Thomma

A frustrated White House press corps bites the hand that feeds it

President Barack Obama Thursday grudgingly faced his first full-blown East Room news conference at the White House in almost a year, and it was no love-fest. A press corps that's been accused of treating him with kid gloves has grown increasingly critical, and the result was more aggressive and skeptical questioning. | 05/27/10 20:28:49 By - Margaret Talev

Rahm Emanuel travels in Israel, and right-wing protesters follow

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's visit to Israel with his family was meant to smooth over tensions between the two countries, but right-wing Jewish activists cursing him as a "hater of Israel" did their best Thursday to disrupt the visit. | 05/27/10 17:50:37 By - Sheera Frenkel

NCAA champ Duke evens the score at White House

The Rose Garden ceremony honoring the 2010 NCAA men's basketball champions was Krzyzewski's fourth trip to the White House. It was his first chance to personally remind the current leader of the free world that Duke shouldn't be counted out of anyone's bracket, even the president's. | 05/27/10 17:50:15 By - Barbara Barrett

Obama concedes mistakes in oil spill as he halts drilling

President Barack Obama on Thursday tried to regain Americans' sinking confidence in his response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, saying "from the moment this disaster began the federal government has been in charge of the response effort." He also formally announced his administration is suspending the planned exploration of two locations off the Alaskan coast and halting other drilling operations. | 05/27/10 14:04:14 By - Steven Thomma and Margaret Talev

An Obama win: Senate passes financial reform bill, 59-39

The bill would be the most sweeping changes in government regulation of the nation's financial institutions since the Great Depression, including strong new consumer and investor protections and provisions that seek to shine a bright light on the dark corners of Wall Street. The bill must still be reconciled with a House version passed six months ago. | 05/20/10 21:02:28 By - David Lightman and Kevin G. Hall

Low estimate of oil spill's size could save BP millions in court

BP's estimate that only 5,000 barrels of oil are leaking daily from a well in the Gulf of Mexico, which the Obama administration hasn't disputed, could save the company millions of dollars in damages when the financial impact of the spill is resolved in court, legal experts say. | 05/20/10 19:53:26 By - Marisa Taylor, Renee Schoof and Erika Bolstad

Obama's state dinner guest list includes bank executives

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan was on the guest list for Wednesday's state dinner, along with a smorgasbord of other financial heavy-hitters. American Express CEO Ken Chenault, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Sen. Chris Dodd, head of the Senate banking committee, were also on the guest list. | 05/19/10 21:58:05 By - Rick Rothacker and Christina Rexrode

Change you can believe in? Secrecy still veils Guantanamo hearings

The military commission hearings on Canadian Omar Khadr's claim of abuse at Guantanamo and in Afghanistan opened with a new rule book and closed with the Pentagon banishing four veteran reporters. One of the witnesses was subpoened in secret, six testified under pseudonyms, and security officers closed the court to screen a video that's available on YouTube. Critics say the spectacle underscored that military commissions under Barack Obama are no more transparent than under George W. Bush. | 05/17/10 12:56:34 By - Carol Rosenberg

Here's what Obama said on the Gulf oil spill and regulation

This is a transcript of the president's remarks Friday on the Deepwater Horizon oil well disaster. | 05/14/10 21:35:25 By -

Obama calls BP, Transocean testimony 'ridiculous spectacle'

President Obama, usually calm, reserved and above the fray, dressed down BP and the other companies connected to the Gulf oil spill in remarks from the Rose Garden at the White House. He promised to end the cozy relationship between the oil industry and the government agency that oversees it. | 05/14/10 13:05:06 By - Margaret Talev

Obama administration recruits outside experts to help BP

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Energy Secretary Steven Chu said they'd recruited the experts to inject what Chu called "intellectual firepower" into BP's efforts to figure out how to stanch the flow from the Deepwater Horizon well. Salazar and Chu met with reporter briefly outside BP's headquarter in Houston. | 05/12/10 14:55:14 By - Dave Montgomery

Washington state's Gregoire on short list to replace Kagan

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire is on the short list to replace Solicitor General Elena Kagan, an administration official confirmed Wednesday. Gregoire, who has been one of Obama's favorite governors attending meetings at the White House on everything from health care to education, is a two-term incumbent and former state attorney general. She endorsed Obama early, before the 2008 Washington state caucuses. | 05/12/10 13:39:31 By - Les Blumenthal

National soda tax, regulation not part of Obama obesity plan

The White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity issued a blueprint Tuesday that's thick with ideas but doesn't put the hammer down yet on taxpayers or private industry. A national soda tax? Worth further study, but not this year. New regulatory authority over food marketing to children, or changes to agricultural subsidies to make fresh fruit and vegetables cheaper? Possibilities down the road, but why not first encourage more voluntary steps by the private sector? | 05/11/10 10:00:00 By - Margaret Talev

Obama to visit Gulf Coast as oil spill threatens Louisiana

President Barack Obama will travel to the Gulf Coast on Sunday as a massive oil spill lurked just off the Louisiana shore and could spread to other Gulf Coast states in the next several days. The well, 50 miles offshore in waters 5,000 feet deep, continued leaking more than 200,000 gallons of sweet crude oil a day, though some estimates were far higher. | 05/01/10 19:08:32 By - Les Blumenthal

U.S. may send Navy to oil spill as threat to environment grows

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Thursday designated a widening oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico as "a spill of national significance" as government officials acknowledged that the amount of oil spewing daily from the well is far more than earlier thought. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration may dispatch military ships to the area. | 04/29/10 12:50:55 By - Lesley Clark and Curtis Morgan

At Missouri ethanol plant, Obama touts biofuels

President Barack Obama visited Macon, Mo., Wednesday and told 200 people that green energy was a key to the country's future. Speaking at Missouri's first ethanol plant, which produces 46 million gallons a year, he said that the biofuel was important to the country's move to green energy. | 04/28/10 17:09:38 By - Steve Everly

White House, mountain resort mum about Obamas' getaway

No one at the White House, or in the city of Asheville, N.C., or at one of the nation's most posh resorts will talk much about what President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle might be doing on this weekend retreat to the mountains of western North Carolina. | 04/22/10 17:37:55 By - Barbara Barrett

Obama, mine safety head to discuss West Virginia disaster

President Barack Obama's scheduled meeting with federal mine regulators is being hailed as a refreshing change by mine safety advocates following the deadliest U.S mining disaster in 40 years. The bodies of four missing miners were found early Saturday in Montcoal, W. Va., bringing the death toll from the disaster to 29. | 04/09/10 19:38:23 By - Halimah Abdullah

2012 preview? Obama, Palin trade insults on nuclear policy

President Barack Obama and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin traded barbs over nuclear policy Friday, with each mocking the other's experience in an early look at what a 2012 presidential campaign might look like. | 04/09/10 15:35:17 By - Steven Thomma

Obama has plans for Asian-American judge: So does GOP

Goodwin Liu couldn't speak English until kindergarten, but he went on to become his high school's co-valedictorian, then a Rhodes Scholar and a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Now he's under attack on Capitol Hill, where Republicans are opposing his nomination to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. | 04/07/10 18:27:22 By - Rob Hotakainen

Obama hardens stance over Cuba's crackdown on dissent

President Barack Obama, in his harshest censure of Cuba's repression of dissent, Wednesday said Havana had used "a clenched fist" against "those who dare to give voice to the desires of their fellow Cubans." Obama also appeared to hint that his efforts to improve U.S. relations with the Raul Castro government have lost steam in the face of the recent string of tough actions by Havana. | 03/25/10 07:08:36 By - Juan O. Tamayo

House Democrats poised to enact sweeping health care overhaul

With Democrats increasingly confident they have enough support, the House of Representatives planned for an historic vote Sunday that would enact the most dramatic changes in the nation's health care system in decades. As a sign of that confidence — and to quiet concerns among Democrats as well as Republicans — House leaders Saturday abandoned a plan to approve the Senate's health care legislation without a direct vote. | 03/20/10 19:35:31 By - David Lightman and William Douglas

Obama's popularity declines in California, according to poll

President Barack Obama's popularity is declining in California, with slightly more than half of the state's voters still approving of his job performance, according to a Field Poll released Friday. The poll found 52 percent of Californians giving Obama good marks, down from 56 percent in January and 65 percent a year ago. At the same time, Californians gave a resounding thumbs-down to Congress, with only 12 percent of the state's voters approving of its performance. That's the lowest assessment since Field began tracking Congress two decades ago. | 03/20/10 06:40:40 By - Rob Hotakainen

House Democrats draw closer to having votes for health bill

Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives continued scouring for votes Friday among reluctant anti-abortion and conservative Democrats in search of enough "Yeas" to triumph in Sunday's historic vote on a $940 billion health care overhaul — and they appeared tantalizingly close to their goal. | 03/19/10 12:38:13 By - William Douglas, David Lightman and Margaret Talev

Idaho's Crapo will serve on Obama's debt commission

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, has been selected as one of six congressional Republicans for the debt-reduction commission created last month by President Barack Obama. The 18-member commission will be made up of 10 Democrats and 8 Republicans. | 03/13/10 19:02:33 By - Erika Bolstad

Obama expects health care vote by 21st, delays foreign trip

President Obama now expects Democrats can get the votes in Congress for final passage of the health care overhaul by March 21 — the calculation that triggered his announcement today that he will delay by three days his trip to Guam, Indonesia and Australia. The president's plan to expand coverage to 31 million more Americans and impose new regulations on the insurance industry is his biggest domestic policy promise. | 03/12/10 11:22:55 By - Margaret Talev

Haiti's Preval seeks renewal of direct U.S. aid to government

Haitian President Rene Preval said he lobbied both President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for direct payments to help support government services in Haiti. The U.S. had cut such payments in 2008 out of concerns about corruption in the Haitian government. But Preval said without money, the government will have to cut services, with dramatic consequences. | 03/10/10 15:15:19 By - Lesley Clark

Money hunt turns aid agencies into rivals in shaken Haiti

At an encampment on the outskirts of Haiti's capital, physicians from three international aid agencies provide identical services. On a charter flight to Miami, competing doctors get into a shouting match before takeoff. And at a search-and-rescue operation, one international team claiming ownership of the effort asks another to leave -- although the departing group has the equipment to do the job. The reason: a grab for cash. | 03/10/10 08:10:59 By - Jacqueline Charles

Robert Harding is named to take over the TSA

The last nominee to head the Transportation Security Agency withdrew after Sen. Jim DeMint put a hold on his appointment over concerns about union membership. The new nominee, retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert A. Harding, is a former operations director for the Defense Intelligence Agency. | 03/08/10 17:25:56 By - Margaret Talev

Obama: The future of Iraq belongs to the people of Iraq

President Barack Obama congratulated the people of Iraq for voting in the face of violence. He pledged to continue the U.S. withdrawal. "By the end of next year, all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq," he said. The White House released the full text of his remarks. | 03/07/10 18:11:55 By -

Text of Obama's speech on reconciliation and health care

The White House released this text of Obama's speech in which he called for Democratic leaders in Congress to use the controversial reconciliation procedure to pass health care legislation. | 03/03/10 14:47:53 By -

Obama still using nicotine replacement to fight smoking

The president underwent a physical on Sunday at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He was reported in good health, with slightly elevated cholesterol. He's still fighting a smoking habit. | 03/01/10 05:47:07 By - Margaret Talev

Few signs that Obama summit moved needle on health care

There was little evidence on Capitol Hill Friday that Obama's 7 1/2-hour bipartisan summit on health care had boosted momentum to pass a massive overhaul of the health care system. More likely, Congress will take up smaller issues for which there's consensus. | 02/26/10 17:48:17 By - David Lightman

No word on substance of White House meeting with atheists

A spokesman for the Secular Coalition for America, a group that includes atheists, said its representatives met for nearly 90 minutes with Obama administration officials. Paul Fidalgo, however, said he couldn't offer any details about what Obama aides said in the meeting because of an agreement that their discussion be kept private. | 02/26/10 15:18:02 By - Margaret Talev

You can watch the White House health care summit here

This is the live stream from the White House of today's health care conference. The summit runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST. | 02/25/10 09:58:20 By -

Conservatives hail DeMint as he slams Obama for 'selling socialism'

More than 1,000 delegates to the annual convention sponsored by the American Conservative Union gave Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., a rousing hero's welcome, urging him to run for president and delivering a sustained standing ovation. | 02/18/10 18:13:26 By - James Rosen

Can Obama's debt commission overcome Congress' politics?

Experts think the chances are not good. Republicans won't consider tax hikes and Democrats won't cut programs, so the likelihood is that Congress will still be gridlocked, whatever the commission proposes. That's especially true with the GOP expecting big gains in November's elections. | 02/17/10 17:29:00 By - David Lightman and William Douglas

Obama sidesteps Congress to create bipartisan debt panel

University of North Carolina President Erskine Bowles, a Democrat, and former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson, a Republican, will lead a bipartisan commission to recommend ways to rein in the nation's escalating federal debt under an executive order that President Barack Obama plans to sign on Thursday. | 02/16/10 19:23:00 By - Margaret Talev and David Lightman

Obama grants loan guarantee to build new nuclear reactors

President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced his administration's first nuclear energy loan guarantee — $8.33 billion to build the first new U.S. reactors in nearly 30 years. | 02/16/10 18:08:00 By - Renee Schoof

GOP hopes to capitalize on Latino disappointment with Obama

As one of the first Latinos in the nation to endorse Barack Obama, Democratic state Sen. Gilbert Cedillo of Los Angeles campaigned hard for the president, but he's disappointed now. | 02/15/10 15:31:00 By - Rob Hotakainen

U.S. begins Mideast push for ideas on Iranian solution

The top U.S. military officer and the secretary of state kicked off a series of visits throughout the Middle East Sunday, reaching out to the Arab world as the Obama administration pushes for tougher sanctions against Iran and its nuclear ambitions. | 02/14/10 16:42:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef

U.S. apologizes for killing of 12 Afghan civilians

Twelve Afghan civilians died Sunday after U.S. rockets mistakenly hit a house during the much-trumpeted offensive to clear the last Taliban stronghold in Helmand province, a loss of life that is likely to seriously undermine the operation and the renewed American-led mission to win the trust of the population. | 02/14/10 14:53:00 By - Saeed Shah

Surprise tactic in Afghanistan offensive befuddles Taliban

U.S. Marines and Afghan forces airlifted over Taliban-laid minefields into the center of Marjah town Saturday, apparently surprising the insurgents and taking strategic positions from them, according to military officials. The first day of the offensive saw only sporadic fighting. | 02/13/10 17:04:00 By - Saeed Shah and Janan Zerak

Casualties mount in Afghan campaign against Taliban

The massive Marine-led offensive in southern Afghanistan against the last remaining Taliban stronghold in Helmand province claimed the first two casualties from coalition forces. | 02/13/10 11:17:00 By - Saeed Shah

White House predicts weak job growth for rest of year

President Barack Obama's top economic advisers offered a cautious forecast on Thursday that U.S. job gains for 2010 will average 95,000 a month, with analysts expecting hiring to expand by spring. | 02/11/10 06:00:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

Job talks between Obama, black leaders focused on region, not race

President Barack Obama met with three prominent African-American leaders Wednesday on how to improve economic and employment opportunities for all Americans — not just minorities. | 02/10/10 17:32:00 By - William Douglas

When Washington freezes over: Work with me, Obama asks GOP

President Barack Obama urged Republicans Tuesday to work with him and Democratic lawmakers on ways to create jobs, saying that it's critical to agree on something even if neither side gets all it wants. Republicans countered that they've yet to see the Democrats' complete jobs proposal or its price tag. | 02/09/10 18:26:00 By - Steven Thomma and David Lightman

Obama's remarks at CIA memorial service

The following transcript of President Barack Obama's remarks at a memorial service for seven CIA workers killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan was released by the White House on Friday. | 02/05/10 16:41:14 By -

Obama tells CIA 'win this war' at service for 7 killed in Afghanistan

Security was tight this morning around the CIA's suburban Washington headquarters as President Barack Obama joined agency leaders and personnel for a memorial service for the five CIA officers and two contractors who were killed by a suicide bomber in Khost, Afghanistan, on Dec. 30. | 02/05/10 11:20:41 By - Jonathan S. Landay

Democrats in Congress balk at Obama's debt outlook

President Barack Obama's 2011 budget got a cool — at times frosty — reception Tuesday from the lawmakers he needs most, as congressional Democrats offered a host of reasons they're skeptical of the White House plan. | 02/02/10 18:00:00 By - David Lightman

Did Obama tackle too much? Poll finds divided views

Americans hold mixed views of President Barack Obama's first year in office, with 41 percent saying that he tried to do too much, 35 percent concluding that he did about the right amount and 19 percent saying that he didn't do enough, according to a new McClatchy-Ipsos poll. | 02/02/10 16:20:00 By - William Douglas

Obama's budget would boost funds for health research

The Obama administration, in an effort to forge ahead with its controversial effort to compare various medical treatments, is proposing a big boost in funding for the agency that oversees the research. | 02/02/10 14:35:00 By - Mary Agnes Carey and Julie Appleby

Obama's budget sober on jobs, optimistic on growth

The Obama administration projects rosier economic-growth prospects than most mainstream economists do but a sobering jobless recovery, according to documents released Monday about underlying assumptions in the government's $3.83 trillion federal budget for 2011. | 02/01/10 18:50:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

Obama's budget deficits to rise from wars, recession

Fighting wars and lingering effects from a deep recession, President Barack Obama will run up a record $1.56 trillion budget deficit this year and is proposing a 2011 federal budget that would spend $1.27 trillion more than the government takes in next year. | 02/01/10 17:05:00 By - Steven Thomma

Obama budget foresees deficits for a decade

President Obama's proposed 2011 budget, which will be officially unveiled today, calls for spending $1.3 trillion more than the government takes in — then continue with deficits of more than $700 billion a year for at least a decade. The proposal would keep in place Bush-era tax breaks for those earning under $250,000, but let them expire for those making more. | 02/01/10 06:00:00 By - Steven Thomma

Obama budget aims at solidifying women's support

With women's advocacy groups voicing growing unease with administration policy, President Barack Obama will propose a $3.8 trillion budget on Monday that would exempt programs for women and girls from spending restrictions he's proposed for other programs. | 01/31/10 19:44:00 By - James Rosen

China responds angrily to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan

China curtailed military exchanges with the United States on Saturday and threatened to sanction U.S. firms in retaliation for proposed American weapon sales to Taiwan. China has cut off U.S. military exchanges before, but threatening sanctions on U.S. companies is new and may signal China's willing to use its growing economic power in diplomatic disputes. | 01/30/10 16:13:00 By - Warren P. Strobel

Obama outlines plan to boost small business hiring

Two days after he announced that job creation is his administration's top priority, President Barack Obama detailed a proposal, which he unveiled Friday in Baltimore, to encourage small businesses to start hiring. | 01/30/10 09:10:08 By - Allison Stice

Bipartisanship? Well, at least Obama and House GOP talked

In a session that was intended to foster bipartisanship with Republicans in the House of Representatives, President Barack Obama blasted them Friday for distorting his health care plan to the point that "you'd think that this thing was some Bolshevik plot." | 01/29/10 18:09:00 By - William Douglas

Moving 9-11 trial could have wide repercussions for Obama

President Barack Obama's willingness to consider moving the trial of self-professed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed out of New York reflects the trouble that Obama's facing in Congress, not just from Republicans but also from Democrats in this tough midterm election year. | 01/29/10 17:36:00 By - Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor

2010: Analysis: Obama channels Reagan, 'Stay the course'

Despite the stinging defeat his party suffered in Massachusetts, the erosion of his own political support and calls from Republicans and moderate Democrats to change his agenda, Obama signaled that he'll make no abrupt turn from the path he set more than a year ago. | 01/27/10 22:26:00 By - Steven Thomma

2010: Obama: 'I will not give up,' and neither should lawmakers

Acknowledging Americans' frustration with the slow pace of the nation's economic recovery, President Barack Obama dedicated more than half of his first State of the Union address Wednesday night to pocketbook themes, from jobs to tax breaks to taming the national debt. He revived his campaign theme that Republicans and Democrats must work together for the nation's good — as he said previous generations did for centuries, to do "what's best for the next generation." | 01/27/10 19:59:00 By - Margaret Talev

Geithner, predecessor and Fed defend AIG payments

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, his predecessor Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke denied Wednesday any wrongdoing in secretive decisions surrounding the September 2008 bailout of failing insurance giant American International Group. | 01/27/10 11:46:00 By - Kevin G. Hall and Greg Gordon

Obama to emphasize jobs, economy in State of the Union

The Barack Obama who'll deliver the State of the Union address Wednesday night faces a grimmer, more dubious audience than the popular new president who was riding high when he first addressed Congress last February did. | 01/26/10 17:55:00 By - Margaret Talev and Steven Thomma

Obama thanks Kentucky basketball team for Haiti fundraiser

What started as an effort to raise money for Haiti earthquake relief led to the University of Kentucky basketball team being thanked via telephone by President Barack Obama Tuesday in Columbia, S.C. And it was clear the nation's No. 1 ranking basketball fan knows the nation's top-ranked team well. | 01/26/10 16:57:04 By - Seth Emerson

Aspiring teacher to watch speech from first lady's box

Should the television camera pan to the first lady's box at the State of the Union address Wednesday night and find a young former Marine in a dark blue suit, viewers can expect to see a smile. Julia Frost, an aspiring teacher who left the military on disability, tends to find the good in life. | 01/26/10 13:25:00 By - Barbara Barrett

Obama quietly continues to defend Bush's terror policies

Although the FBI has acknowledged it improperly obtained thousands of Americans' phone records for years, the Obama administration continues to assert that the bureau can obtain them without any formal legal process or court oversight. | 01/22/10 17:45:00 By - Marisa Taylor

Obama moves to restrict banks, takes on Wall Street

Obama's proposal is designed to limit the size of the nation's largest commercial banks and reduce the risks they take in complex and exotic investments. It stopped short of a return to the days when commercial banks just lent money and were completely locked out of investment activities, but the shares of the largest banks declined in trading. | 01/21/10 13:07:00 By - Kevin G. Hall and Steven Thomma

How will Obama adjust, and will it save his presidency?

President Barack Obama grappled Wednesday with the fallout from the stunning Republican Senate election in Massachusetts, a stinging loss that could drive him to stay the course in tough times — a la Ronald Reagan in 1982 — or tack toward the center and work more with the Republicans — as Bill Clinton did after 1994. | 01/20/10 18:40:00 By - Steven Thomma and Margaret Talev

Obama tells Senate to wait on health care overhaul bill

Obama said Senate Democrats should wait on health care until after Republican Scott Brown, the victor in Tuesday's Massachusetts election, takes his Senate seat. "The Senate certainly shouldn't try to jam anything through," he told ABC News. He also said leaders should sift through recently passed legislation and find those elements on which there is wide agreement. | 01/20/10 18:19:00 By - David Lightman and William Douglas

Obama gets an 'incomplete' in foreign policy for first year

A year after he took office to global acclaim, President Barack Obama has yet to translate his mantra of "change" into foreign policy success or to define how he'll use America's clout to advance its security, economic and political interests. | 01/18/10 15:10:00 By - Warren P. Strobel

Obama: More than a Senate seat at stake in Massachusetts

President Barack Obama put it on the line Sunday for the people of Massachusetts — the entire Democratic agenda ranging from expanded health care to fighting big banks may rest on whether they vote Tuesday to send a Democrat to fill out the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's unexpired term.The president's stake in the outcome is huge, particularly for getting an overhaul of the nation's health insurance. The Democrats must keep the seat to maintain the 60 votes they need in the Senate to pass the health care proposal over Republican objections. | 01/17/10 19:58:38 By - Steven Thomma

Obama taps former Presidents Clinton and Bush for Haiti relief

President Barack Obama tapped former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton Saturday to head a fundraising effort to underwrite Haiti's long-term recovery. The three men said a Web site, www.clintonbushhaitifund.org, has been established to accept donations for the relief and reconstruction effort. | 01/16/10 14:08:00 By - Warren P. Strobel and Margaret Talev

It isn't going to get easier for Obama in the second year

There'll be no parade this time for President Barack Obama. No grand speech from the west front of the Capitol, no fireworks, no glittery balls to kick off the second year of his presidency on Wednesday, as there were for the first. | 01/15/10 18:23:00 By - Steven Thomma and Margaret Talev

Lawmakers, regulators have banks' bonuses in their sights

With public furor rising over big bonuses for bankers, the White House, Congress and financial regulators all suddenly say they want strong restrictions on executive pay. They're offering bold ideas, probing hearings and a pledge that something finally will get done. | 01/13/10 18:04:00 By - David Lightman and Kevin G. Hall

Senate leader Reid apologizes to Obama for racial remarks

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., apologized Saturday for newly revealed racial remarks he made about Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign. Obama accepted his apology, but Reid's comments could hurt his re-election hopes. | 01/09/10 18:01:47 By - Steven Thomma

Obama takes responsibility, won't order firings in bomb plot

President Barack Obama Thursday declined to fire anyone for the lapses that allowed a suspected terrorist carrying explosives to board a plane for Detroit on Christmas Day, and said for the first time that he bears the ultimate responsibility for any breach that endangers Americans. | 01/07/10 17:45:00 By - Steven Thomma and Margaret Talev

Obama: Feds knew more about terror suspect, but didn't act

President Barack Obama said Tuesday that U.S. intelligence officials had had more warnings about the alleged Christmas airplane attacker, including reports that al Qaida was working with him and the group was planning attacks on American targets in Yemen and the United States. | 01/05/10 19:01:00 By - Steven Thomma

Obama links al Qaida affiliate to Christmas bombing attempt

President Barack Obama on Saturday gave his most detailed comments to date on the failed attempt to bomb a Northwest Airlines plane on Christmas Day, blaming an al Qaida affiliate for training and equipping the man who allegedly smuggled explosives aboard a Detroit-bound airliner. | 01/02/10 17:18:00 By - Renee Schoof

Obama sets Tuesday meeting on air bomber security failures

In a statement released Thursday from Hawaii, where he's been vacationing with his family, Obama said he'd meet in Washington with multiple agency heads to address the investigation into how a 23-year-old Nigerian was able to board a Detroit-bound airliner with explosives on Christmas Day. In Washington, some federal agencies already were moving to improve their procedures. | 12/31/09 16:51:00 By - Margaret Talev

Text of White House briefing on investigation of Christmas Day attack

This is the transcript provided by the White House of a background briefing by a senior administration official Tuesday on what a preliminary investigation has found about intelligence failings in the Christmas Day attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253. | 12/29/09 22:44:09 By -

Obama calls airline security breach 'totally unacceptable'

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Tuesday blamed "systemic failure" in the nation's national security and anti-terror system for allowing a Nigerian man to board a Detroit-bound airliner with explosives, even after his father had warned the government of his extremist views. | 12/29/09 22:08:00 By - Margaret Talev

Obama's remarks on the 'systemic failure' that led to the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253

The White House provided this transcript of Obama's remarks Tuesday on the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner in which he blamed the intelligence community for missing signs that might have prevented the suspect, Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, from boarding the place. | 12/29/09 21:04:09 By -

Obama: 'Intelligence community' blew air bomber tip

Obama blamed the intelligence community for failing to share "bits of information" that would have resulted in Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab being placed on a no fly list after his father warned U.S. officials of his son's extremist views. "It now appears that weeks ago this information was passed to a component of our intelligence community but was not effectively distributed so as to get the suspect's name on a no-fly list," Obama said. | 12/29/09 17:52:00 By - Margaret Talev

Despite Obama's campaign vow, federal budget still a mess

2009 was supposed to be the year that federal budgeting was finally done smoothly and efficiently. It didn't happen. Spending on discretionary items, or those under White House and congressional control, is expected to run about 4 percent higher than last year, well above the rate of inflation. Still, that's less than the 7.5 percent annual average increase of the last 10 years. | 12/27/09 15:40:00 By - David Lightman

The lingering Bush legacy: What to do about those tax cuts

In the back of every Washington politician's mind is this sobering fact: Unless Congress acts, the temporary tax cuts it passed when George W. Bush was president will expire at the end of next year. If Democrats who control Congress do nothing and let the tax rates on the highest income brackets return to their pre-2001 levels, their Republican rivals and many Americans will slam them as tax hikers. | 12/25/09 14:42:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

Here's what Obama said about Senate health care vote

This is the official transcript from the White House of the president's remarks after passage by the Senate of health care overhaul bill. | 12/24/09 09:43:05 By -

Obama names conservatives to Legal Services board

Sacramento-based attorney Sharon L. Browne is a Republican and a principal attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, which promotes limited government. But she also voices support for the Legal Services Corp.'s goal of providing legal services to low-income Americans. Obama also named Victor B. Maddox, a former aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to the board. | 12/22/09 18:31:28 By - Michael Doyle

Obama's sleigh, er, motorcade, calls on Boys and Girls Club

He was dressed all in a suit from his head to his foot, but President Barack Obama was channeling Santa when he dropped in on a Boys and Girls Club in Northeast Washington Monday with a basket full of Christmas cookies and a copy of "The Polar Express" tucked under his arm. | 12/21/09 18:57:00 By - Margaret Talev

New turmoil in Pakistan threatens to stall Obama's Afghan strategy

WASHINGTON — Less than a month after he unveiled it, President Barack Obama's Afghanistan strategy is in trouble, overtaken by new political turmoil in Pakistan that threatens to distract its bickering leaders from the fight against al Qaida and its Afghan and Pakistani allies. | 12/20/09 17:54:00 By - Jonathan S. Landay

After Senate passage, compromise begins for a real health care law

WASHINGTON — The Senate began its final, frantic steps toward passage of historic health care legislation on Sunday, as lawmakers and interest groups began turning their attention to the difficult battles over abortion, taxes and the public option that lie ahead. | 12/20/09 16:38:00 By - David Lightman

Senate now poised to adopt historic health care bill

Senate passage of historic health care legislation seemed all but assured Saturday after Democratic leaders won the support of the final senator they needed to bring the measure to a vote. Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., announced he'd vote for the measure after changes that would put limits on federal abortion funding, increase Medicare taxes on the wealthy and create a federally supervised health care alternative. | 12/19/09 16:01:00 By - David Lightman and William Douglas

Frustrated liberals voice discontent with Obama

On health care, the war in Afghanistan, civil liberties and the economy, President Barack Obama is meeting growing resistance from the very group that propelled his election last year: liberal Democrats. | 12/18/09 18:20:00 By - Margaret Talev and David Lightman

Once the 'change' candidate, Obama now a changed man

Nearing the end of his first year in office, President Barack Obama is in many ways a changed man. Governing has proved to be far different from campaigning. The world looked different once elected. The economy raced even faster toward collapse and Afghanistan worsened. Congress turned out more difficult. The world proved resistant to his charms. | 12/18/09 17:55:00 By - Steven Thomma

Michelle Obama urges donating gifts for older children

First lady Michelle Obama is asking Americans who plan to donate to the Marines' Toys for Tots program but haven't yet to choose gifts for 11- to 14-year-olds, an age group for whom she said there was a dearth of gifts this year. | 12/16/09 17:51:00 By - Margaret Talev

Stimulus II: Congress ponders aid for cash-strapped states

Washington soon could come to the aid of California, New York and other cash-strapped states that face the need to raise taxes or cut spending again next year to balance their books. | 12/16/09 16:51:00 By - Rob Hotakainen

Pelosi: Obama's on his own to win money for Afghan buildup

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that it's up to President Barack Obama to persuade reluctant Democrats to fund his Afghanistan troop buildup — his most important foreign policy initiative — because she has no plans to do so herself. | 12/16/09 15:27:25 By - William Douglas and David Lightman

Obama might not get health care overhaul for Christmas

President Barack Obama tried mightily Tuesday to jolt the Senate's stalled health care overhaul effort, but after an hour-long closed-door meeting with Senate Democrats, the fate of his top 2009 domestic priority remains unclear. | 12/15/09 19:24:00 By - David Lightman

'Start lending,' Obama tells the bankers

President Barack Obama gave the nation's top bankers an earful Monday, telling them in no uncertain terms that it's time for them to start lending again to help boost the economy after being bailed out themselves by the nation's taxpayers. | 12/14/09 16:20:00 By - Steven Thomma

Unlikely support: GOP loved Obama's Nobel speech

By using his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech Thursday to justify expanding the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama won over some Republican critics at home, even as he preached messages of multilateralism, diplomacy and civil disobedience that resonate in anti-war circles around the world. | 12/10/09 08:37:15 By - Margaret Talev

Obama choice to head Alaska pipeline project wins bipartisan praise

President Barack Obama has nominated Larry Persily, a former journalist and political aide, to serve as the federal coordinator for the Alaska natural gas pipeline project, a multi-billion dollar project that would carry natural gas from Alaska to the Lower 48. Persily, who worked in Alaska's D.C. office when Sarah Palin was Alaska's governor, was recommended for the post by U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska. | 12/09/09 19:49:52 By - Erika Bolstad

Poll: Obama, Democrats end the year politically weaker

President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party end the year far weaker than they started it, according to a McClatchy-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. | 12/08/09 17:28:00 By - Steven Thomma

Obama: Use leftover bank bailout money to create jobs

President Barack Obama's call Tuesday to spend much of the $200 billion in "extra" bank bailout funds on job creation efforts embodies Democrats' strategy to make a second economic stimulus more palatable to wary taxpayers. | 12/08/09 13:00:00 By - Margaret Talev Kevin G. Hall and David Lightman

Obama, Biden phoned Kurds to press Iraq election deal

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden intervened personally to save an agreement allowing Iraq's elections to proceed, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Monday, highlighting the stakes in the deal for an eventual American troop withdrawal. | 12/07/09 17:47:00 By - Warren P. Strobel

Jones: Obama still wants Guantanamo closed in 2010

President Barack Obama is insisting that his administration still close the prison camps at Guantanamo in 2010 despite the missed Jan. 22 deadline, National Security Adviser James Jones said Sunday, predicting closure by summer. CNN's John King could not get Jones to commit to a specific new deadline but, when pressed, Jones said he expected the camps emptied within six months. | 12/06/09 22:31:29 By -

U.S. action on climate policy is key to international treaty

Negotiators in Copenhagen will try to nail down all the main elements of a treaty to curb global warming in the next two weeks, but a final agreement won't be possible until the United States figures out what it will do to reduce emissions of heat-trapping pollution. | 12/04/09 17:56:00 By - Renee Schoof

Will Obama's heartland visits convince Americans he cares?

President Barack Obama traveled to small-town Pennsylvania Friday to tell Americans that he empathizes with their pain from the deep recession, that he's working hard all the time to create jobs and that his plans will work. It was the first stop of a campaign-like effort to connect to Americans at a time when they may not think he's paying enough attention to their top priority: jobs. | 12/04/09 16:57:00 By - Steven Thomma

Afghanistan was Tuesday. Now, what to do about jobs?

With the jobless rate rising and his approval ratings sinking, President Barack Obama hosted academics and leaders of business and labor at a White House jobs summit Thursday, seeking advice on how to boost employment. The White House gathering came a day before the Labor Department is expected to report that the 10.2 percent unemployment rate has risen further. | 12/03/09 19:08:00 By - Kevin G. Hall and David Lightman

U.S. steps up pressure on Iran over missing ex-FBI agent

The White House and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Thursday for Iran to divulge any information it has about Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent who went missing from a Persian Gulf island in March 2007. The statement from the White House came as the Coral Springs, Fla., man's family marked the 1,000th day of his disappearance with meetings at the State Department and the FBI. | 12/03/09 17:50:00 By - Lesley Clark

Fresno mayor face of economic woes at White House forum

Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin carried a heavy burden Thursday at a high-level White House jobs forum and brainstorming session. | 12/03/09 17:27:00 By - Michael Doyle

3 Secret Service officers placed on leave over party crashers

The head of the Secret Service accepted full responsibility Thursday for last week's security breach at President Barack Obama's first state dinner, but insisted that the president and Vice President Joe Biden were never in danger from a party-crashing couple who shook hands and posed for pictures with them. | 12/03/09 14:51:00 By - William Douglas

California woman helps decorate White House for Christmas

For Julie Reinking, this is a Christmas dream come true. After years of trying, the Carmichael nurse helped deck the White House halls. For five days in Washington, D.C., Reinking dutifully hot-glued decorations and hung handmade ornaments. With Secret Service hovering nearby, she fussed over intricate floral arrangements and straightened garlands under presidential portraits. | 12/03/09 06:55:31 By - Debbie Arrington

White House staff gets partial blame for party crashers

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs cited "separation of powers" in explaining why White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers won't talk to a congressional committee investigating how a Virginia couple crashed a state dinner last week. Meanwhile, a White House memo says that the White House staff did not do "everything we could have" to prevent the interlopers from being admitted to the event. | 12/02/09 15:36:14 By - Steven Thomma

Lawmakers confused, divided over Obama's Afghanistan plan

The Obama administration sent what many lawmakers saw as vague and sometimes confusing signals Wednesday about its intentions in Afghanistan, leaving members of Congress unsure how to proceed as they consider his plan to deploy 30,000 more American troops there. | 12/02/09 00:48:00 By - David Lightman and William Douglas

Congress casts wary eye on Obama's Afghanistan buildup

Obama's biggest challenge will be his fellow Democrats, who control 60 of the Senate's 100 seats and 258 of the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. Worried about retaining their majority in next November's elections at a time when polls show the public turning against them and the war in Afghanistan, they are by no means ready to throw their support behind Obama's plan to escalate the U.S. war effort. | 12/01/09 17:58:00 By - William Douglas and David Lightman

What the Salahis told the Today Show about their White House invite

| 12/01/09 16:06:21 By -

Obama faces steep challenges in new Afghan policy

With eight years of blood and treasure already spent and perhaps his presidency hanging in the balance, President Barack Obama will tell the world Tuesday how he'll escalate the war in Afghanistan — and how he hopes his risky decision will lead finally to a path home for U.S. forces. | 11/30/09 19:00:00 By - Steven Thomma and Nancy A. Youssef

As U.S. focus turns to Afghanistan, Iraq challenges remain

While President Barack Obama prepares to announce that he's sending tens of thousands more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, his problems in Iraq are far from over. The country's power struggles among Sunni and Shiite Muslim Arabs and between Arabs and Kurds are unfinished, and whether they will turn violent again remains uncertain. | 11/30/09 18:01:00 By - Warren P. Strobel

Secret Service takes blame for White House party crashers

The director of the Secret Service took the blame Friday for security failures that allowed a publicity-hungry couple from Virginia who weren't on the guest list for President Barack Obama's first state dinner to slip through security and directly encounter the president. | 11/27/09 19:01:00 By - Margaret Talev

White House says world moving toward new Iran sanctions

The United Nations nuclear agency Friday blasted Iran for obstructing investigations into its suspected nuclear weapons program and demanded that the Islamic Republic stop construction of a once-secret facility. | 11/27/09 14:12:00 By - Margaret Talev and Nancy A. Youssef

Obama vows to 'get the job done' in Afghanistan

In a preview of his speech next week announcing his plan to send more than 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, President Barack Obama Tuesday vowed that he'll "finish the job" of stabilizing the country and destroying the al Qaida terror network. | 11/24/09 19:50:00 By - Jonathan S. Landay, Steven Thomma and John Walcott

GOP senators, Holder clash over New York trials for 9/11 plot

Attorney General Eric Holder said he foresaw no judicial obstacles to convicting the five terrorism suspects and putting them to death, despite complaints from the Republican senators about the decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other accused terrorist conspirators in New York. Meanwhile, Obama said he was confident they'll be found guilty. | 11/18/09 18:42:00 By - James Rosen

Obama orders financial fraud task force beefed up

Citing a wide belief that "Wall Street does not play by the same rules as Main Street," Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday the creation of a sweeping state-federal task force to uncover crimes contributing to the recent financial crisis or threatening to cause one in the future. | 11/17/09 17:47:00 By - Greg Gordon

New president, same result on China currency flap

China's rebuff this week of President Barack Obama's call to stop controlling the price of its currency sparked renewed calls for legislation to allow U.S. retaliation against Chinese-made goods. | 11/17/09 19:08:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

China, U.S. announce they'll work together on clean energy

President Barack Obama and President Hu Jintao agreed Tuesday that U.S. and Chinese scientists and engineers will work together to speed the widespread use of electric cars, buildings that need far less energy and coal-fired power plants that don't pump out gases that cause global warming. | 11/17/09 15:28:00 By - Renee Schoof

Book: Edwards tried to trade Obama endorsement for VP nod

Democrat John Edwards tried to cut a secret deal with both Barack Obama and perhaps Hillary Clinton during last year's presidential primaries, offering his endorsement in exchange for the vice presidential nomination, according to a new book by Obama's campaign manager. Obama ruled out any deals, and Edwards' endorsement in May 2008 anyway. | 11/17/09 10:23:30 By - By Steven Thomma

Obama will huddle privately with China's President Hu

President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao will meet Tuesday in Beijing to talk privately about issues ranging from North Korea's nuclear threat to currency and trade disputes. U.S. policy advocates also expect the leaders to announce new joint projects on clean energy. | 11/16/09 06:58:25 By - Margaret Talev

Palin publicity tour part campaign, part Twitter- and Facebook-fest

By now, nearly everyone with a television has seen the teases for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's appearance Monday on Oprah Winfrey's show. (Will Levi come to Thanksgiving dinner? Stay tuned!) | 11/16/09 06:00:00 By - Erika Bolstad

Obama begins China visit with citizens' questions, a full agenda

President Barack Obama kicks off his visit to China with a town-hall meeting Monday in Shanghai, a rare chance for the Chinese people — university students in the audience and people of all ages who sent questions via the Internet — to communicate directly with a Western leader. | 11/15/09 13:07:00 By - Margaret Talev

Bill would boost money for literacy programs

There are zero-book children, 1,000-book children, the summer slide, Early Readers, Reading First, Striving Readers and programs, methods and studies with names and acronyms that won't quit. It's all part of the effort to teach the nation's children to read. | 11/15/09 00:01:00 By - Les Blumenthal

In China, Obama will glimpse world's new center of gravity

When President Barack Obama lands here Sunday night in China's largest city, he'll find many of its 20 million people intrigued by him and welcoming, but hardly deferential, and some openly skeptical of his promises of change. | 11/14/09 14:32:00 By - Margaret Talev

Within hours, Obama ordered intelligence review of Fort Hood shootings

Within 24 hours of a killing spree at Fort Hood, Texas, President Barack Obama, ordered a high-level review of how U.S. officials handled warning signs that might have pointed to last week's attack. The suspect, Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, has now been charged with murder. | 11/12/09 18:54:00 By - Steven Thomma and Leila Fadel

White House allies say Obama bungled Guantanamo closing

President Barack Obama's decision to close the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison by Jan. 22 was followed by a series of mistakes and missteps by his administration that will delay the prison's closure for months, according to a report from a policy organization with close ties to the White House. | 11/11/09 14:47:10 By - Steven Thomma

President Obama honors fallen troops at Fort Hood

President Barack Obama, on his first presidential visit to Fort Hood, the day before Veterans Day, memorialized 13 soldiers on Tuesday, all of them killed, authorities believe, by a fellow soldier Thursday afternoon. | 11/11/09 07:42:02 By - Chris Vaughn

Not so fast: House health care vote is just the first step

Democratic leaders were all smiles as they celebrated the passage of a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. health care system Saturday. But any momentum from Saturday's historic vote is likely to be short-lived as the focus moves to the Senate, where progress has been stalled for weeks. | 11/08/09 15:06:00 By - David Lightman

House passes historic health care bill, with one GOP vote

The House of Representatives Saturday passed, by a vote of 220 to 215, historic health care legislation that would require virtually all Americans to obtain health insurance and create a government-run health insurance plan to help them do so. If passed by the Senate, the bill would bring about the most sweeping change in the American health care system since Medicare was created 44 years ago. | 11/07/09 23:26:00 By - David Lightman

House OKs historic health care overhaul, with one GOP vote

The final 220-215 vote came after a day of rancorous debate and a personal push from President Barack Obama. The bill, if ulitmately adopted into law, would bring about the most sweeping health care revamp since Medicare was approved 44 years ago. Critical to the bill's success was a last-minute deal to ban government-subsidized health insurance policies from covering elective abortions. | 11/07/09 15:54:00 By - David Lightman

Obama leaning toward 34,000 more troops for Afghanistan

Administration officials have told McClatchy that the decision is likely to include the dispatch of 23,000 combat and support troops, 7,000 troops for a new headquarters in Kandahar, and 4,000 additional trainers for the Afghan army. Obama may not announce the decision for several weeks, as he talks with allies and it could change. The plan falls short of Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal's ultimate "low-risk" option of 80,000 more troops. | 11/07/09 14:22:00 By - Jonathan S. Landay, John Walcott and Nancy A. Youssef

Supreme Court seeks White House views on hiring illegals

The Obama administration will enter the politically tricky immigration arena, courtesy of the Supreme Court. On Monday, the court asked the administration for its views in a challenge to an Arizona law that punishes companies for hiring illegal aliens. Other states with large immigrant populations will watch the next steps closely, because their own laws and ballot measures could be on the line. | 11/02/09 15:50:00 By - Michael Doyle

Challenger's pullout leaves Afghan government of dubious legitimacy

The withdrawal of challenger Abdullah Abdullah from Afghanistan's presidential runoff leaves a major question about the legitimacy of President Hamid Karzai, who is certain to continue in power for five more years. U.S. officials say they will demand that Karzai address the alleged rampant corruption that plagues his government. | 11/01/09 17:35:00 By - Hal Bernton and Hashim Shukoor

Fearing fraud, challenger may quit Afghan presidential runoff

Abdullah Abdullah, the former foreign minister, couldn't persuade Afghan President Hamid Karzai to fire several top aides over the massive vote rigging that marred the first round presidential elections Aug. 20 and now is on the verge of withdrawing from the runoff set for next Saturday. | 10/31/09 17:59:00 By - Hal Bernton and Hashim Shukoor

Turns out Obama really did consider Hillary to be VP

A new book by the manager of Obama's presidential campaign says both he and Obama adviser David Axelrod were surprised by how seriously Obama was considering picking vanguished rival Hillary Clinton for the vice presidency. Hillary didn't make the final cut, David Plouffe writes, because of concerns about Bill Clinton. The nod went to Joe Biden after the other top contenders, Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana and Tim Kaine of Virginia, were rejected as not having the proper heft or experience. | 10/30/09 14:38:39 By - Steven Thomma

Obama honors fallen U.S. troops in predawn visit to Dover

President Barack Obama made an unscheduled visit in the predawn darkness Thursday to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where he paid respects to 18 U.S. soldiers and drug enforcement agents killed in Afghanistan. The president's unscheduled visit, for which he departed the White House just before midnight Wednesday, comes as he prepares to announce his decision on troop levels in Afghanistan. | 10/29/09 11:02:42 By - Margaret Talev

Obama's Florida trip agenda doesn't include Gov. Crist

President Barack Obama will make his second trip to Florida as president next week, but don't expect Gov. Charlie Crist to join him this time. Obama's last trip — to Fort Myers on Feb. 10 — came as he was pitching his economic stimulus plan. At the time, the Republican governor's embrace of the $787 billion spending plan earned him the wrath of fiscal conservatives. | 10/21/09 07:01:30 By - Lesley Clark and Beth Reinhard

Almost 40 years late, unit honored for bloody Vietnam battle

Pfc. Paul Evans was rocking and rolling on his M-16 on a long-ago afternoon in Vietnam, spraying fire toward an unseen enemy hidden deep within the jungle. He was a terrified 18-year-old who knew, as other men fell around him, that he was about to die. Then out of nowhere, American tanks thundered out of the jungle, Evans later recalled. Alpha Troop had arrived. Tuesday, nearly 40 years after the battle, President Barack Obama gave about 100 veterans of Alpha Troop the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest award for valor that a military unit can earn. | 10/20/09 18:01:00 By - Barbara Barrett

Senators ask Obama to review personality-disorder discharges

At issue is whether the Pentagon is avoiding treating soldiers for post-traumatic stress disorder by claiming they had a personality disorder before they were sent to Iraq or Afghanistan and discharging them from the military. Four senators wrote Obama this week, remding him that as a senator he fought for better mental-health care for troops. | 10/20/09 17:22:00 By - David Goldstein

House leaders urged to post legislation well before votes

As Congress prepares to consider historic changes to the nation's health care system, Democratic leaders are balking at supporting a change in the rules that would let the public see the bills' texts 72 hours before a vote. | 10/20/09 15:03:00 By - David Lightman

Obama adds a carrot for Sudan in addition to the stick

President Barack Obama announced a shift in strategy toward Sudan on Monday, saying he'll offer incentives to the government if it will end a humanitarian crisis in its Darfur region. His willingness to work with the government of President Omar al Bashir signaled a break from the previous hard-line approach. | 10/19/09 10:30:00 By - Steven Thomma and Shashank Bengali

Obama tells New Orleans: 'We won't forget you'

On his first presidential visit to this still-struggling city that was ravaged four years ago by Hurricane Katrina, President Barack Obama promised residents Thursday, "We will not forget about New Orleans." He also took the opportunity to bash insurance companies that he said are trying to block his health care plan to protect their profits. | 10/15/09 17:32:00 By - Margaret Talev

Michelle Obama visits Miami's Freedom Tower

First lady Michelle Obama will arrive at Miami's Freedom Tower to attend an education fundraiser today -- and will make history at one of the city's most iconic buildings. | 10/15/09 11:01:18 By - Luisa Yanez

Obama vows unqualified support for gay rights

President Barack Obama vowed his unwavering support for gay rights Saturday night, saying that he'll push Congress to repeal the ban on gays serving openly in the military and that he'll work to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as solely between a man and a woman. | 10/10/09 21:59:37 By - Steven Thomma

Obama to visit New Orleans for a post-Katrina survey

When President Barack Obama visits New Orleans this week to survey how its recovery is going four years after Hurricane Katrina, he'll have a lot to tout about the help his administration's given -- and plenty to worry about as the nation's top Democrat in a city quaking with political change. | 10/09/09 14:33:00 By - Margaret Talev

Obama's Nobel win is a reflection of hope

Like his campaign, President Barack Obama's surprising win of the Nobel Peace Prize can be summed up by one word: hope. It reflects not so much a record of accomplishment as the yearning of the prize committee that Obama is changing America's course in international affairs. | 10/09/09 08:10:07 By - Steven Thomma

Are Obama staffers divided over White House basketball?

The news media was barred from President Obama's pickup basketball game Thursday that featured four Cabinet members as well. There was no real explanation, but events seemed to indicate a rivalry over the game may be splitting the White House staff. | 10/08/09 19:39:30 By - Steven Thomma

Obama's No. 1 -- most foreign travel by first year president

With his visit to Denmark to pitch Chicago as the site for the 2016 summer Olympics, President Obama has now visited more countries in his first year in office than any other president did -- 16. The previous record holders: George H.W. Bush, who hit 15 countries in his first year, 1989, and Gerald Ford, who also jetted off to 15 nations after taking office midway through 1974. | 10/07/09 15:01:00 By - Steven Thomma

Republicans press Obama to send more troops to Afghanistan

Republican congressional leaders urged President Barack Obama on Tuesday to send more U.S. troops in Afghanistan, saying he should act quickly lest any delay endanger troops who already are there and are facing a deteriorating situation. | 10/06/09 19:00:00 By - Steven Thomma

Another faux issue: Obama's 'czars' are nothing new

Conservative talk show hosts and some Republican lawmakers have accused Obama of embarking on an unprecedented czar-appointment spree in a bid to circumvent Congress' authority over top executive appointments. But the allegations overlook the history of such appointments, experts told a Senate panel Tuesday. | 10/06/09 18:12:00 By - William Douglas

Democrats in Congress push Obama for Iran sanctions

Congressional Democrats pushed the Obama administration on Tuesday to get behind tough economic sanctions against Iran, and they voiced deep skepticism that direct negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear ambitions will prove fruitful. | 10/06/09 18:10:00 By - Kevin G. Hall and Warren P. Strobel

U.S. public backs Obama in dealing with Iran on nukes

When it comes to dealing with Iran as a nuclear threat, two polls out Tuesday find that Americans agree with President Barack Obama's approach of combining diplomacy and the threat of sanctions. | 10/06/09 18:07:00 By - Margaret Talev

Obama orders feds to cut energy use, emissions

President Barack Obama on Monday ordered the federal government -- the nation's largest energy user -- to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce its impact on the environment. Obama's edict is the first time a president is requiring the federal agencies to reduce their overall greenhouse gas emissions. | 10/05/09 19:32:00 By - Renee Schoof

Gates to Army: We'll follow Obama's orders on Afghanistan

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told a gathering of Army officers Monday that the Pentagon would follow any strategy that Obama orders. The comments, including what seemed to be a rebuke of Afghanistan commander Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, came amid growing Pentagon frustration with White House discussions of Afghan strategy. | 10/05/09 18:43:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef

With Olympics, Obama takes a hit along with Chicago

The International Olympic Committee's stinging first-round elimination of Chicago on Friday as the site of the 2016 Summer Games probably won't count much in how history judges Barack Obama's presidency. | 10/02/09 18:15:00 By - Margaret Talev

Despite Iran progress, Obama faces a world of hard trouble

When Iran agreed Thursday to let inspectors into its previously secret nuclear plant, it appeared to be at least a small victory for the United States and the coalition trying to stop the rogue nation from getting nuclear weapons. But it was just one step on a long road with the Iranians. And it was just one spot on the globe. | 10/02/09 15:46:00 By - Steven Thomma

Now even an Olympics bid becomes fodder to knock Obama

When President Barack Obama decided to go to Denmark, he hoped to win international support Friday for the U.S. bid for the 2016 Olympics to be in Chicago. The moment he signed on, however, he also generated a storm of criticism from the right at home. | 10/01/09 16:28:00 By - Steven Thomma

80 percent agreement on health care? No way that's true

President Barack Obama has said this repeatedly: Members of Congress agree on "about 80 percent of what needs to be done" to overhaul America's health care system. Democratic congressional leaders have echoed that claim. No one, however, can offer specifics about what that 80 percent entails. | 09/30/09 17:31:00 By - David Lightman

Obama camp is optimistic Chicago will win 2016 Olympics

Team Obama starts arriving Wednesday in Copenhagen, the vanguard of a high-profile effort to win the 2016 Olympics for Chicago, the president's adopted hometown. | 09/29/09 17:10:00 By - Steven Thomma

Obama wins praise for orchestrating response to Iran

The revelation Friday that Iran has been building a secret nuclear facility capped a calculated effort by President Obama to assemble a unified international response to Iran's nuclear program ahead of a six-nation meeting next Thursday in Switzerland. | 09/25/09 18:38:00 By - Steven Thomma

Read transcript of White House background briefing on Iran's new nuclear site

This is the White House transcript of a briefing with senior administration officials on the Iranian nuclear facility that Obama and the leaders of France and Great Britain denounced Friday. | 09/25/09 13:30:01 By -

Supreme Court faces decisions on two key terror cases

The Supreme Court will meet Tuesday to consider two legal disputes that could become the highest-profile national security conflicts of the court term that begins Oct. 5. | 09/25/09 06:00:00 By - Michael Doyle and Marisa Taylor

U.N. unanimously backs Obama on nuclear disarmament goal

With President Barack Obama in the chair at the U.N. Security Council, world powers Thursday endorsed his goal of a nuclear weapons-free world and pledged to strengthen the shaky international system for preventing the spread of nuclear arms. | 09/24/09 17:31:00 By - Warren P. Strobel

Sebelius: Swine flu vaccine will be available in October

The first doses of vaccine for the H1N1 flu virus will be available the first week of October, federal officials said Thursday, with millions more shipped every week after that. | 09/24/09 16:32:00 By - Steven Thomma

U.S. alone can't solve world's problems, Obama tells U.N.

Making his inaugural address to the U.N. General Assembly, President Barack Obama pressed world leaders to abandon reflexive anti-Americanism and join the U.S. in solving pressing global problems. Obama's remarks betrayed frustration that after eight months in office in which he's changed the tone and substance of policies he inherited from his predecessor, he's received little favor in return. | 09/23/09 00:40:00 By - Warren P. Strobel

Branch's Bill Clinton book source materials go to UNC

On Jan. 4, a new window into Bill Clinton's presidency will open at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. That's when a trove of source material Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch used for his new book on the Clinton presidency will become publicly available at the Southern Historical Collection at UNC-CH. | 09/23/09 07:29:47 By - Eric Ferreri

More U.S. troops to Afghanistan? Obama's caught in a vise

With the military and Republicans publicly pressuring him to send more troops to Afghanistan soon and his own administration now deeply divided about how to proceed there, President Obama may be facing a defining moment of his presidency. He can escalate an unpopular and open-ended war and risk a backlash from his liberal base or refuse his commanders and risk being blamed for a military loss that could tar him and his party as weak on national security. | 09/22/09 19:20:34 By - Steven Thomma, Jonathan S. Landay and David Lightman

China, U.S. promise bold steps to protect climate

Presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao of China - the leaders of the two countries that emit the most greenhouse gases - pledged at a United Nations summit Tuesday that their countries would take bold actions to protect the Earth's future climate from irreversible damages. | 09/22/09 18:44:00 By - Warren P. Strobel and Renee Schoof

U.N. session will test whether Obama can deliver

President Barack Obama is about to make his first pilgrimage to the United Nations, where he'll be under scrutiny from fellow world leaders, much as he is domestically, to see whether he can deliver results as well as rhetoric. | 09/18/09 18:57:00 By - Warren P. Strobel

Military growing impatient with Obama on Afghanistan

Six months after it announced its strategy for Afghanistan, the Obama administration is sending mixed signals about its objectives there and how many troops are needed to achieve them. | 09/18/09 18:48:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef

There's no denying Obama's race plays a role in protests

While protests focusing on the president are an occupational hazard of living in the White House, some of the criticism of Obama has the unmistakable stench of racism. For example, a recent poster making the rounds shows Obama outfitted in full African witch doctor gear, complete with headdress, above the words "OBAMACARE coming to a clinic near you." But would it have been different had Hillary Clinton won? | 09/18/09 17:29:00 By - Tony Pugh

Obama scraps controversial long-range missile defense shield

President Barack Obama announced Thursday that he is scrapping the Bush administration's controversial missile defense shield, citing new intelligence showing a diminished threat from long-range Iranian missiles the system was supposed to guard against. | 09/17/09 11:01:00 By - Warren P. Strobel and Margaret Talev

Elephant in the room: Race also present in rebuke of Wilson

In their effort to admonish Rep. Joe Wilson, both white and black lawmakers in the House of Representatives voiced deep concern over a string of what they think are racially motivated attacks on the nation's first black president. The push, experts said, reflects growing anger in the black community over how President Barack Obama is being attacked with venomous and false charges that he's a socialist, born in Kenya, a Muslim, and somehow un-American. | 09/16/09 23:20:56 By - William Douglas

White House issues yardsticks for success in Afghanistan

The White House Wednesday presented Congress with eight general yardsticks to measure success in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but didn't say how they'd help the administration determine how well U.S. policy in the region is working. | 09/16/09 20:23:00 By - Nancy A. Youssef

U.S. military closes huge prison in southern Iraq

The U.S. military on Wednesday announced the closing of the sprawling Camp Bucca prison in southern Iraq, transferring $50 million in infrastructure and custody of all but 180 of the site's detainees to the Iraqi government. | 09/16/09 18:18:00 By - Hannah Allam

Obama challenges Wall Street to support his regulations

A year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers ushered in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, President Barack Obama said Monday that although the nation was "beginning to return to normalcy," Congress still must pass new regulations on the financial industry to avoid a repeat. | 09/14/09 17:14:00 By - Margaret Talev and Kevin G. Hall

Democrats in Congress growing antsy over Afghanistan

Congress will examine next week the future of American military involvement in Afghanistan, a future that many key lawmakers hope won't include sending more U.S. troops than President Barack Obama already has committed. | 09/11/09 18:38:05 By - David Lightman and Warren P. Strobel

Texas school district apologizes for snubbing Obama speech

Arlington, Texas, Schools Superintendent Jerry McCullough issued the apology on Friday, acknowledging that his decision not to show Obama's live speech to school children on Tuesday was particularly controversial because the district plans to bus 500 fifth-graders to a stadium later this month to listen to former President George W. Bush. | 09/11/09 17:00:08 By - Eva-Marie Ayala

Obama's speech fails to move many lawmakers' votes

If President Barack Obama was looking for a big bounce in support from lawmakers Thursday from his health care address to Congress on Wednesday night, he didn't get it. Moderate to conservative Democrats remained concerned about the cost of Obama's proposals. | 09/10/09 19:12:00 By - William Douglas and David Lightman

The highlights of Obama's health care plan

Here are the key points of the health care plan that President Barack Obama outlined in his speech Wednesday night to a joint session of Congress: | 09/09/09 21:00:00 By - McClatchy Newspapers

Obama offers compromises to get health care bill passed

President Barack Obama on Wednesday laid out a series of compromises he's willing to make to get a health care overhaul through a nervous Congress this year, including diluting his vision for a new public insurance program and embracing ideas floated by Republicans. In a rare evening address to a joint session of Congress, Obama tried to seize control of the Democratic Party's highest domestic priority after months of party disarray and raucous public debate across the country. | 09/09/09 20:25:00 By - Margaret Talev, David Lightman and William Douglas

Few students opt out of Obama's nationwide pep talk

The number of students who opted not to listen as President Barack Obama gave his controversial pep talk on studying hard and staying in school appears to have been minimal throughout the country. After days of controversy and pledges of boycotts, the speech seems to have caused little drama. | 09/09/09 19:13:46 By - Steve Lyttle and Ann Doss Helms

Obama unveils new ways to boost retirement savings

Obama announced the plans in his Saturday radio address. The new options will make it easier for more businesses to automatically enroll their employees in 401(k) accounts, allow people to invest tax refunds in savings bonds, and allow employees to direct payments for unused vacation to their 401(k) accounts. | 09/05/09 06:00:00 By - Steven Thomma

Obama blasts Israeli plan to keep on building settlements

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to approve the construction of hundreds of new homes in the occupied West Bank before he considers a freeze on building new Jewish settlements. The homes would be in addition to 2,500 houses that already are under construction in the West Bank. | 09/04/09 13:34:00 By - Cliff Churgin

Biden: Many stimulus projects happening ahead of schedule

Vice President Joe Biden claimed Thursday that the $787 billion stimulus plan "is doing more, faster, more efficiently, and more effectively than we had hoped." | 09/03/09 06:00:00 By - Steven Thomma

Obama summons Congress for primetime health-care pitch

Eager to turn the page after a politically damaging month, President Barack Obama will launch a new push next week to overhaul health care, highlighted by an evening address next Wednesday to a joint session of Congress. | 09/02/09 18:35:00 By - Steven Thomma and David Lightman

What a difference an election makes: GOP now likes polls

Republicans are using ammunition they scorned for years to attack Obama's proposed health care overhaul: polls. Over the August congressional break, House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio issued regular news releases about health care surveys. But that follows years of GOP disdain for opinion surveys when President Bush's approval ratings were tanking. | 09/02/09 14:35:00 By - James Rosen

What must Obama do to take control of drifting agenda?

As he retreats to Camp David for a final summer getaway, President Barack Obama is mapping out a post-Labor Day plan to regain the political offensive, including a private meeting next Tuesday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Advice from both Democrats and Republicans sounds similar. "It's time for the president to be the president," said former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, a Republican. | 09/01/09 18:55:00 By - Margaret Talev and David Lightman

Cheney condemns Obama's probe of CIA interrogations

CIA interrogators were justified in exceeding even the broad authorizations the Justice Department gave them to handle terrorist suspects, former Vice President Dick Cheney said in an interview for broadcast Sunday, suggesting that any aggressive tactic was justified in the goal of preventing another terrorist attack. | 08/28/09 18:46:00 By - Warren P. Strobel

Obama creates new agency to oversee terrorist interrogations

The Obama administration, moving to break with Bush-era interrogation policies, announced Monday that it would create a new interagency group to manage the questioning and transfers of terrorist detainees. The new High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group would be housed within the FBI, whose agents were among the most vocal opponents of harsh interrogation techniques used by the CIA during the Bush years. | 08/24/09 20:19:06 By - Margaret Talev, Marisa Taylor and Warren P. Strobel

If you liked health care brawls, you'll love CIA torture probe

By naming a special prosecutor to investigate whether CIA officers or contractors violated the Bush administration's interrogation policies, Attorney General Eric Holder has struck a middle course that isn't likely to satisfy anyone and could complicate President Barack Obama's broader political agenda. | 08/24/09 19:43:40 By - Margaret Talev

Obama welcomes NASCAR champ to White House

Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who can turn left about as well as anyone, was honored by President Barack Obama on Wednesday in a ceremony that praised NASCAR as a "uniquely American sport" filled with patriotic, dedicated drivers. | 08/19/09 19:16:00 By - Barbara Barrett

Fighting false health care claims, Obama repeats one of his own

President Barack Obama participated in a scripted online discussion of his health care overhaul with a friendly audience of religious voters and pastors Wednesday. It ended with him bemoaning those who bear "false witness" against his plans — and then making a claim of his own that's been widely shown to be false. | 08/19/09 18:49:00 By - Steven Thomma

Source: Congress has been told of 6 pending Guantanamo releases

The Obama administration has filed classified notices with Congress of plans to transfer six Guantanamo detainees to foreign countries under a new congressional reporting rule created to hamper the closure of the controversial detention center. All six so-called risk assessments and notification of transfers were filed Aug. 7, meaning the first transfers under the new notification bureaucracy could occur over the weekend. | 08/18/09 19:06:12 By - Carol Rosenberg

At White House, Mubarak urges speeding up Mideast peace talks

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak used a newfound welcome mat Tuesday at the White House to urge the United States to accelerate Mideast peace talks, skipping past temporary steps that he said have led nowhere and moving instead to a final negotiation about the status of Jerusalem, the status of refugees and borders. | 08/18/09 17:49:00 By - Steven Thomma

Nixon, Brazil dictator discussed overthrowing Castro, Allende

In 1971, President Richard Nixon and Brazil's military dictator discussed coordinating efforts to help Cubans and Chileans overthrow Fidel Castro and Salvador Allende respectively, according to a recently declassified White House memo on their meeting. | 08/18/09 07:03:59 By - Juan O. Tamayo

Huckabee slams Obama in pro-settlement Israel visit

Former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee slammed President Barack Obama's policies toward Israel on Monday in a visit here that underscored the tensions between the Obama administration and the Israeli government over Jewish settlements in what traditionally have been Palestinian areas. | 08/17/09 17:02:00 By - Cliff Churgin

How a GOP senator's proposal gave rise to 'death panels'

When U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican, takes the floor at a meeting at Vineville United Methodist Church in Macon on Thursday, he's expected to face tough questions about why President Barack Obama credits the Republican lawmaker as the inspiration behind the Democrats' push for end-of-life counseling efforts that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and some fellow conservatives call "death panels." | 08/12/09 18:14:00 By - Halimah Abdullah

Obama honors achievers — and shapes America's self-image

Every president has his rough-and-tumble or mundane days, but also some that float above the norm and compel him to take stock of society's changes. America's first black president took a breather from the health care fight to honor the first Hispanic to be confirmed to the Supreme Court. | 08/12/09 17:30:00 By - Margaret Talev

Survey finds Obama birthplace still an issue in N. Carolina

Public Policy Polling surveyed 749 North Carolina voters Aug. 4-10, and found that 54 percent believe that Obama was born in the United States. Twenty-six percent of those surveyed said they do not believe Obama was born in the U.S., and 20 percent said they were not sure. | 08/12/09 07:06:58 By - Raleigh News & Observer

Where did that bank bailout go? Watchdogs aren't sure

Although hundreds of well-trained eyes are watching over the $700 billion that Congress last year decided to spend bailing out the nation's financial sector, it's still difficult to answer some of the most basic questions about where the money went. | 08/09/09 06:00:00 By - Chris Adams

Obama heads to Mexico for North American summit

President Barack Obama will meet Sunday in Guadalajara, Mexico, with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts for a summit of North American leaders that will be long on vision and short on anything concrete. In the midst of a punishing global economic downturn, that's not bad. | 08/07/09 18:20:00 By - Kevin G. Hall

Science called key to economic, energy, health care challenges

Science and technology are key to solving the interconnected challenges of the economy, energy, climate change and health care, President Barack Obama's science advisers said this week. | 08/07/09 16:48:00 By - Robert S. Boyd

Republicans bet on attacking Democrats

Republicans are aggressively spreading a simple but tart message across the nation this summer: Democrats only want to tax and spend wildly and expand an already-bloated government. | 08/07/09 15:38:00 By - David Lightman

Clinton pledges more U.S. support for troubled Somalia

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged Thursday to send more help to Somalia's besieged interim government to prevent radical Islamist militias from turning that troubled country into "a future haven for global terrorism." She hinted that a recent U.S shipment of some 40 tons of weapons and ammunition to the Somali government had helped stave off an offensive by the well-armed radical group al Shabaab, which U.S. officials say is linked to al Qaida. | 08/06/09 00:14:00 By - Shashank Bengali

U.S. to spend $2.4 billion to boost use of electric vehicles

Declaring that electric cars could help put Americans to work and reduce dependence on oil, President Barack Obama said Wednesday that the federal government would spend $2.4 billion in stimulus money to build batteries and get the first batch of thousands of U.S.-made electric vehicles onto the roads. | 08/05/09 18:51:00 By - Renee Schoof

Poll: Americans a bit more optimistic than a month ago

Americans are growing slightly more optimistic about the path the country is on, according to a new Ipsos-McClatchy poll. | 08/05/09 16:12:00 By - William Douglas

McCain to vote 'no,' but Sotomayor confirmation certain

The Arizona senator said he could not accept what he saw as her activism as a federal judge. The Senate is expected to begin debate on Obama's first Supreme Court nominee Tuesday, with a final vote — and overwhelming confirmation — expected later in the week. | 08/03/09 18:12:45 By - David Lightman

Obama's 'beer summit' yields symbolic image, but little else

Each man's beer of choice was respectfully made available in glass mugs for their meeting at a table on the White House South Lawn Thursday evening: Bud Light for President Barack Obama, Sam Adams Light for Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, and Blue Moon for Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley. | 07/30/09 19:06:00 By - Margaret Talev

Lawmakers report health care progress in House, Senate

Four Democratic moderates in the House of Representatives brokered an agreement Wednesday to move ahead with a health care-overhaul plan, as the Obama administration and party leaders said they'd cut $100 billion from their initial proposal and postpone any floor votes until after Congress' August recess. | 07/29/09 14:39:00 By - David Lightman and William Douglas

Poll: Dissatisfaction growing with Obama, Democrats

According to a bipartisan poll released Wednesday, President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party may be putting themselves in political jeopardy with their expensive and ambitious agenda, which has yet to show benefits for the country. Overall, Obama and the Democrats still have popular support. But majorities in the poll think the administration is spending and doing too much. | 07/29/09 17:40:00 By - Steven Thomma

Democrats may drop public option from health bill

The idea — beloved by President Barack Obama and liberal Democrats — that any overhaul of the nation's health care system should include a government-run insurance option to compete with private insurers is losing important political momentum. | 07/28/09 17:55:00 By - David Lightman and William Douglas

Obama's beer with Crowley, Gates set for 6 p.m. Thursday

Weather permitting, President Obama will host Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates and Cambrdige Police Sgt. James Crowley at a picnic table at the White House. The White House said the get-together, intended to smooth over the controversy over Crowley's arrest of Gates, has no set agenda. | 07/28/09 18:46:36 By - Margaret Talev

Sotomayor clears judiciary panel; Senate to vote next week

The committee voted 13-6, with only one Republican, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, breaking ranks to join the 12 Democratic members in support of Sotomayor. Graham said that while he would not have chosen Sotomayor himself, President Barack Obama's decision to nominate the first Latina to the high court was "a big deal" and that "America has changed for the better with her selection." | 07/28/09 12:55:52 By -

Health care hard to revamp because big change is scary

Why is it so difficult to get an agreement on overhauling America's health care system? There's a simple answer: "It's going to affect everybody," said House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif. | 07/24/09 17:06:00 By - David Lightman

Distrust of government blunting Obama's pursuit of new programs

That's a major reason he's having such a hard time selling his plan to overhaul the nation's health care. Even if they like Obama himself, people just don't think that the government can handle anything big, let alone something as personal to them as their health care. | 07/24/09 17:59:00 By - Steven Thomma

Full text of Obama's remarks on his phone call to Cambridge, Mass., police officer

This is the White House transcript of Obama's remarks on his phone conversation with Sgt. James Crowley, the police officer who arrested Harvard University professior Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home last week. | 07/24/09 15:25:12 By -

Obama recants on Gates arrest: both probably overreacted

Obama made a surprise appearance at Friday's daily press briefing to personally announce that he'd spoken with Sgt. James Crowley. "I could have calibrated those words differently," Obama said. The president maintained that the arrest was "an overreaction" but said that "Professor Gates probably overreacted as well." | 07/24/09 15:11:36 By - Margaret Talev

Obama, police group clash over black scholar's arrest

The Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest law enforcement organization, chastised President Barack Obama Thursday for saying the Cambridge, Mass., police "acted stupidly" for arresting prominent African-American scholar Henry Louis Gates at his home last week. Sgt. James Crowley, who arrested Gates, defended his actions Thursday in a Boston radio interview. | 07/24/09 11:04:20 By - William Douglas

Federal official fired by Obama sues to get job back

Gerald Walpin, the Americorps inspector general fired by President Obama in the wake of Walpin's investigation of Sacramento, Calif., Mayor Kevin Johnson, has filed a federal lawsuit seeking his reinstatement. | 07/24/09 11:03:20 By - Sam Stanton

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