Posted: 3:29 PM The nation's top military leaders are warning Congress in unusually stark terms that its failure to pass a 2013 defense budget - coupled with the threat of automatic budget cuts - has pushed the Pentagon to the brink of a crisis.

Posted: 11:48 AM A statement from the National Rifle Association in response to President Obama's gun control proposals.

Posted: 10:36 AM Complete transcribed remarks by President Obama and Vice President Biden on gun violence.

Posted: 9:26 AM House Democrats are pushing legislation to repeal the federal debt ceiling, saying the borrowing limit has no practical purpose and has come to be used for political maneuvering that can have devastating economic repercussions.

Posted: 8:55 AM The White House says a National Rifle Association video referencing President Barack Obama's daughters is "repugnant and cowardly."

Updated: 8:23 AM An administration official says Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will leave the Obama administration in March.

Updated: 4:54 PM The House has approved a $50.7 billion measure for Superstorm Sandy victims.

Posted: 1:26 PM New York's Legislature has passed the nation's toughest gun control law and the first since the Newtown, Conn., school shooting. The bill calls for a tougher assault weapons ban and provisions to try to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill who make threats.

Updated: 3:59 PM Nevada Sen. Mo Denis of Las Vegas will give the Democratic response to Gov. Brian Sandoval's State of the State address.

Posted: 11:31 AM As New York state lawmakers prepare to approve the toughest gun control law in the nation, some Republicans are complaining that the bill is being rushed through, with no time for review or debate.

Updated: 5:15 PM Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will testify Jan. 23 before the House Foreign Affairs Committee about the deadly Sept. 11 assault on the US mission in Libya.

Posted: 12:15 PM Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office says the senator was never involved in a deal to have a Utah businessman pay Reid to make a federal investigation disappear.

Updated: 12:31 PM President Obama's complete speech Monday in Washington transcribed.

Posted: 11:08 AM He's acknowledging an uphill fight in Congress -- so President Barack Obama says he's looking at actions he can take on his own to confront gun violence.

Updated: 10:58 AM President Barack Obama is demanding that Congress quickly raise the nation's $16.4 trillion debt limit, telling reporters, "we are not a deadbeat nation."

Posted: 9:37 AM A key New York senator says he expects the New York Legislature to pass a "comprehensive" gun control bill Monday with the support of Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Updated: 10:40 AM President Barack Obama says Congress' failure to raise the government's borrowing authority would delay payments of benefits to veterans and Social Security recipients. He again warned that he will not negotiate on raising the debt ceiling, aiming to pin the burden of an unprecedented default on congressional Republicans.

Posted: 10:45 AM Spokesman: Ex-President George H.W. Bush released from Houston hospital after nearly 2 months

Posted: 2:22 PM The White House has ruled out minting a coin worth $1 trillion to pay the government's bills and avoid a nasty battle with Congress over the debt ceiling.

Updated: 10:45 AM President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai say in a statement that the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan is expected to shift to a support role later this spring - a few months earlier than expected.

Posted: 8:34 AM House Speaker John Boehner (BAY'-nur) has invited President Barack Obama to deliver the State of the Union speech on Feb. 12.

Updated: 12:22 PM President Barack Obama is joking that Jack Lew's nomination as treasury secretary nearly fell through because of Lew's loopy signature.

Posted: 9:03 AM Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is hailing what he calls "the last chapter" of a long and costly struggle to ensure that Afghanistan can govern itself and avoid reverting to a haven for terrorists.

Posted: 8:55 AM Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is launching an effort to defeat the nomination of Chuck Hagel to head the Defense Department.

Updated: 2:28 PM Labor Secretary Hilda Solis is resigning, saying she plans to return to her native California. She is expected to run for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.