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President Obama speaks at the Brandenburg Gate on June 19, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Will Obama declassify secret court opinions?

President Obama on Wednesday said he was “trying to find ways to declassify” more information about government surveillance programs. But will he declassify secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court opinions so that Americans can know just how the law is being interpreted? Read More

Afghan security forces escort a captured suspected Taliban insurgent during an operation in Sorkhrod district of Jalalabad province, June 19, 2013. (Photo by Parwiz/REUTERS)

Afghan government to shun US talks with Taliban

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday his government would not join U.S. peace talks with the Taliban until they were led by Afghans and would suspend negotiations with the United States on a troop pact. Read More

(Press Association via AP Images)

Obesity recognized as disease by American Medical Association

“Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately one in three Americans,” AMA board member Dr. Patrice Harris said in a statement. Read More

The CBO report may be a boon to the chances of the Gang of 8's immigration reform bill.
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

CBO report: Immigration bill cuts deficit by $197 billion over 10 years

A newly released CBO report bolsters the arguments in favor of the Senate's immigration reform bill. Read More

Image: Activists Protest House Farm Bill Plan To Cut Food Assistance Program

House debates $20.5 billion cuts to food stamps

Nearly two million people could lose food stamp eligibility, and as many as 210,000 children could lose free school meals. President Obama has threatened a veto of the legislation. Read More

File photo: Pro-choice activists hold placards during a rally outside of the Supreme Court on January 23, 2012 in Washington, DC.  (Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP Photo)

House passes go-nowhere bill to limit abortions after 20 weeks

The House voted Tuesday, 228-196, to pass a bill that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Read More

A vacant Housing and Urban Development (HUD) home is pictured in North Las Vegas, Nevada April 2, 2013. (Photo by Steve Marcus/Reuters)

Same-sex couples face significant housing bias, study finds

A report released Tuesday found that same-sex couples experience less favorable treatment than heterosexual couples in the online rental housing market. Read More

The US flag flutters in front of the US consulate in Hong Kong on June 10, 2013.  Edward Snowden, a 29-year-old US government contractor and the source who leaked details of a vast secret US program to monitor Internet users was reported to be in Hong Kong and remained there ever since, holed up in a hotel room. (Photo by Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images)

Poll: Opinions on government spying programs are changing

There is now almost an even split on Americans’ approval of the programs as part of the fight against terrorism, 48% approve and 47% disapprove. Read More

Drill Instructor speaks to her female Marine recruits during boot camp February 27, 2013 at Parris Island, South Carolina. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

‘Days of Rambo are over’ as women to enter combat roles

The Pentagon outlined its schedule for women to enter combat roles in the military, breaking through a decades-old gender barrier on the front lines. Read More

A sign announcing the acceptence of electronic Benefit Transfer cards is seen at the Denios Farmers market in Roseville, Calif., Saturday,  Feb. 6, 2010.   (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Drug testing for food stamps, and 10 other GOP amendments to the farm bill

A proposed $20.5 billion cut to the food stamp program is estimated to end benefits for about 2 million people, but some of the amendments proposed by Republicans in Congress could make it harder for many more Americans to get access to the assistance they need. Read More

This handout image provided by the White House shows a copy of the long form of President Barack Obama's birth certificate from Hawaii. (Photo by J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Republican congressman questions Obama’s ‘validity’

Another Republican is jumping on the birther bandwagon by saying Congress should "revisit" the issue of "the president's validity." Read More

File Photo: Brooke Amabile, 15, of Kansas City, Missouri, joined thousands of anti-abortion demonstrators participating in the "March for Life" in front of the Supreme Court building January 22, 2008 in Washington, DC. The march marked the 35th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States.  (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, File)

Republicans claim science on their side in abortion wars

“What we’re saying is science is on our side on this; public opinion is on our side on this,” said Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee in an interview Tuesday on MSNBC. Read More

File Photo: People line up to vote at the Albright United Methodist Church November 4, 2008 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images, File)

Did Scalia add ‘virus’ to Arizona voting opinion?

A Supreme Court decision Monday that struck down an Arizona law requiring people to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote was hailed by voting-rights advocates as a big win. But could the ruling in fact have a dark underside for access to the ballot box? Read More

Deputy FBI Director Sean Joyce testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013, before the House Intelligence Committee hearing regarding NSA surveillance. (Photo by Charles Dharapak/AP Photo)

FBI: Snooping programs helped thwart more than 50 terror plots

The post-leak offer of additional information from one of the government’s most secretive organizations seems to signal a White House effort to shore up the public’s confidence and trust. Read More

File Photo: A pro-abortion rights protester holds a sign as he confronts an anti-abortion demonstration organized by local church Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Queens, New York October 20, 2012. The protest was held outside the Choices Women's Medical Center, a center whose services include abortion operations. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters File)

GOP Congressman takes abortion debate to new low

Republican Congressman Michael Burgess of Texas, a former OB/GYN, said that male fetuses can feel pleasure in the womb when they masturbate and can therefore also feel pain. Read More

(FILE) This NASA file photo dated June 1983 shows America's first woman astronaut Sally Ride, as she communicates with ground controllers from the flight deck during the six-day space mission of the Challenger. (AFP PHOTO/NASA)

Sally Ride’s historic space mission turns 30 years old

Ride, who died last year at age 61, was also the first-known LGBT astronaut. Read More

An Afghan army soldier stands guard in the destroyed courthouse in Farah, western Afghanistan, Thursday, April 4, 2013. Suicide bombers disguised as Afghan soldiers stormed a courthouse Wednesday in a failed bid to free more than a dozen Taliban prisoners in western Afghanistan, officials said. Tens of people, including the nine attackers were reported killed in the fighting. The assault in Farah province was the latest example of the Taliban's ability to strike official institutions despite tight security measures. (Photo by Hoshang Hashimi/AP)

US and Taliban to begin peace talks

Representatives of the United States and the Taliban are expected to meet over the next few days in Doha, Qatar, to discuss an end to the 12 year old war in Afghanistan directly with that country's government. Read More

NJ Gov. Chris Christie appears at a groundbreaking ceremony on May 7, 2013 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

Chris Christie: Presidential aspirations can wait ‘till 2015’

Gov. Chris Christie says he 'probably' won't decide on whether to run for president until 2015. Read More

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives on stage to address the Vital Voices Global Awards ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington on April 2, 2013. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)

McCaskill jumps on Hillary Clinton 2016 bandwagon

Hillary Clinton is still playing coy about her presidential ambitions, but she nabbed her first congressional endorsement Tuesday morning, with Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill announcing she is on board with a Clinton White House bid. Read More

Vice President Biden speaks about gun legislation at the White House in Washington on April 9, 2013. (File photo by Charles Dharapak/AP)

Biden warns opponents of gun legislation ‘will pay a political price’

Looking to revive the stalled gun control movement, Vice President Biden hosted an event at the White House on Tuesday with gun safety groups in attendance. Read More