Posted: 9:21 AM The tax package negotiated by President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans and passed by Congress will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase. But that doesn't mean that most of them won't see their taxes rise.

Updated: 9:58 AM New York area-lawmakers in both parties are erupting in anger, saying the House Republican leadership has decided to let Congress adjourn without holding a vote on aid for victims of Superstorm Sandy.

Updated: 6:43 AM President Barack Obama says an effort to change the nation's tax code that is too skewed toward the wealthy has been achieved with the "fiscal cliff" deal approved in Congress.

Updated: 10:00 PM House Democratic leaders are pressing Speaker John Boehner to let the House vote on the Senate-approved bipartisan compromise that would avert much of the impact of the so-called fiscal cliff.

Posted: 10:28 PM The No. 2 Republican in the House leadership says he opposes a Senate-passed measure to avert the so-called fiscal cliff.

Updated: 1:44 AM Senate Democratic aide: White House and GOP Reach deal on Fiscal Cliff.

Posted: 1:35 PM The House will miss the midnight Monday deadline lawmakers set for voting to avoid the "fiscal cliff."

Updated: 3:04 PM Obama says deal to avert fiscal cliff is 'within sight' but not done yet.

Updated: 12:21 PM Democrats and Republicans say signs of progress are emerging in urgent negotiations to avert the looming 'fiscal cliff' ahead of a midnight deadline.

Posted: 11:53 PM Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been admitted to a New York hospital after the discovery of a blood clot stemming from the concussion she sustained earlier this month.

Updated: 12:16 AM President Barack Obama is voicing skepticism about proposals to place armed guards at schools in the aftermath of the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Updated: 12:05 AM President Barack Obama is applying pressure on Republicans to negotiate a fiscal deal, arguing that GOP leaders have rejected his past attempts to strike a bigger and more comprehensive bargain.

Posted: 12:26 AM A spokesman says former President George H.W. Bush's condition continues to improve and that he was moved Saturday out of intensive care and into a regular hospital room.

Posted: 3:12 PM President Barack Obama says "the hour for immediate action is here" on a deal to avert the fiscal cliff.

Posted: 8:25 AM A Senate Democrat says he believes "odds are better than people think" that a deal can be reached to avoid automatic tax increases and spending cuts next week.

Posted: 5:12 PM George H.W. Bush's chief of staff says the former president is getting excellent medical treatment in Houston and that he would ask that people "put the harps back in the closet."

Updated: 12:15 AM Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Edward Markey says he'll run for John Kerry's U.S. Senate seat if Kerry is confirmed as the nation's new secretary of state.

Updated: 6:08 PM Aides to President Barack Obama are disputing reports that he is sending lawmakers a scaled-down plan to avoid the "fiscal cliff."

Posted: 8:32 AM Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the government appears headed over the so-called fiscal cliff because of a lack of progress in bipartisan negotiations.

Posted: 8:32 AM President Obama and lawmakers are running out of time to work out an agreement to stave off the across-the-board tax increases and budget cuts that are set to take effect next week.

Updated: 4:34 PM Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz of Hawaii has been appointed to succeed the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye.

Updated: 6:11 PM A spokesman says former President George H.W. Bush is in the intensive care unit at a Houston hospital.

Updated: 6:21 PM A spokesman says the fever that kept former President George H.W. Bush in a Houston hospital over Christmas has worsened, and doctors have put him on a liquids-only diet.

Updated: 8:32 AM Starbucks is using its coffee cups to jump into the political fray in Washington.

Updated: 8:36 AM Ben Affleck is taking his name off the list of possible candidates for U.S. Sen. John Kerry's seat, which would be open if the Democratic senator from Massachusetts is confirmed as secretary of state.