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Lawmakers begin push for more sanctions on North Korea U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Thursday to broaden sanctions against North Korea by imposing stiffer punishments on international companies that do business with Pyongyang."In the wake of the state-sponsored cyber-attack on Sony Pictures, the bipartisan legislation targets North Korea’s access to the hard currency and other goods that help keep the regime in power," the bill's co-sponsor, U.S. Republican Representative Ed Royce said."Additionally, it presses the Administration to use all available tools to impose sanctions against North Korea and on countries and companies that assist North Korea in bolstering its nuclear weapons program," Royce, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, said in a statement.Current sanctions are focused largely on Americans and U.S. companies. The initiative responds to concern in Congress about last year's cyberattack on Sony Pictures, which was blamed on Pyongyang, as well as what lawmakers see as the international failure to rein in the reclusive state's nuclear weapons program.The measure is co-sponsored by Republicans and Democrats, including the leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Royce, and Democrat Eliot Engel, which handles sanctions legislation in the chamber.A similar bill is likely in the U.S. Senate. It is expected to enjoy strong bipartisan support in both chambers.The bill would authorize U.S. officials to freeze assets held in the United States of those found to have direct ties to illicit North Korean activities like its nuclear program, as well as those that do business with North Korea, providing its government with hard currency.It would also target banks that facilitate North Korean proliferation, smuggling, money laundering, and human rights abuses, and target people who helped in the cyber attacks against the United States, Royce said.North Korea is already heavily sanctioned by the United States and United Nations for its arms programs and nuclear tests. President Barack Obama imposed new sanctions last year aimed at cutting the country's remaining links to the international financial system. The vast majority of North Korea's business dealings are with companies in neighboring China. The bill is intended to push the Obama administration, which contends the president already has sufficient authority to punish Pyongyang."The activities of the Kim Regime threaten regional security through reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons, irresponsibly deploying offensive cyber capabilities, and a range of other illicit activities," Engel said.He added that effectively enforcing sanctions against North Korea "is not something that the United States can do alone - it requires our allies, our partners, and the rest of the global community to join in this effort.” Sony said on Thursday that Amy Pascal would step down as co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment after the hackers, angry about a movie she championed mocking North Korea's leader, exposed a raft of embarrassing emails between her and other Hollywood figures.

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Republicans will not give up on stalled security funding bill Republican congressional leaders refused to give up on a Homeland Security funding bill that seeks to block President Barack Obama's immigration actions, even though it failed to clear a Senate procedural hurdle for the third consecutive day.After Democrats prevented the bill from gaining the 60 votes needed to advance on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell moved to keep the bill alive and bring it up for more votes in coming days.Congress faces a Feb. 27 deadline to renew the spending authority for Homeland Security, which spearheads domestic counterterrorism efforts and secures U.S. borders, airports and coastal waters. Although many of its critical protective functions would continue even if funding lapses, the agency would be forced to idle about 30,000 employees, or 15 percent of the workforce, at a time of heightened worries about terrorist attacks.The inability of the Senate's new Republican majority to pass the measure has frustrated Republicans in the House of Representatives, who approved the bill last month with provisions blocking spending to implement Obama's orders lifting the threat of deportation for thousands of undocumented immigrants.Obama, who has threatened to veto the House-passed measure, and Democrats are insisting on a "clean" Homeland Security bill with no immigration restrictions.Republican Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, a state with a large immigrant population, again voted with Democrats and two independents against the measure on Thursday."They're not going to win this fight, so they may as well pass a clean bill and move forward," said Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat. "You can see they're flummoxed."Republican aides said the repeated Senate votes were designed to illustrate for the public that Democrats are blocking the $39.7 billion funding bill, including potential amendments that could improve it.The votes also demonstrate McConnell's support of the agenda of Republican conservatives, while making clear to those conservatives that the restrictions on Obama's immigration order do not have enough votes to pass the Senate.Republican House Speaker John Boehner said he did not know if McConnell has "an end game" for passing a bill. He called for Senate Republicans and Democrats "to hold the president accountable" for his executive immigration actions. "He's got a tough job over there," Boehner said of McConnell. "I've got a tough job over here. God bless him and good luck."

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Florida governor embroiled in scandal at start of second term Republican Governor Rick Scott, off to a rocky start in his second term in office, faced an extraordinary meeting on Thursday with Florida's Cabinet in which he admitted botching the ouster of the state’s top police administrator.Since his narrow victory over former Governor Charlie Crist in November, Scott has run into a series of controversies.In the past month, Scott was rebuked by the state Republican Party, which rejected his choice to lead the party and instead elected state Representative Blaise Ingoglia in an unheard-of snub for a newly re-elected governor. Last week, former state prisons director Michael Crews, who had been ousted by Scott, accused the governor of neglecting staff shortages and crumbling facilities in the Department of Corrections.Scott, a wealthy former hospital executive with no prior political experience, previously experienced fairly placid relations with the three independently elected Cabinet officers, all fellow Republicans.But his decision to oust Gerald Bailey, the head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), has dogged him since his Jan. 6 inauguration.Bailey said he had been led to believe that the three Cabinet members, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, concurred in his ouster, but all three said afterward they were told that Bailey had wanted to retire.   The FDLE is overseen by the governor and Cabinet together, not by Scott alone. In the furor over Bailey’s firing, Scott and the Cabinet agreed on Thursday to better manage executive performance review."While I wanted to bring in new leadership at FDLE as we transitioned to a second term in office, it is clear, in hindsight, that I could have handled it better," Scott said at the start of the Cabinet’s annual opening-day visit to the Florida State Fair in Tampa.   After his firing, Bailey said he had spurned attempts by the Scott campaign last year to misuse FDLE employees in the governor’s re-election. Scott’s office declined comment on that allegation.This week, a consortium of news media organizations and a Florida lawyer filed suit in state Circuit Court, claiming Scott violated the state's "Government in the Sunshine" public transparency law by working through aides to get rid of Bailey.

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Obama, at prayer event, calls Dalai Lama 'good friend' U.S. President Barack Obama warmly acknowledged the Dalai Lama but did not meet directly with him at a religious event in Washington closely watched by Beijing, which has warned against any exchange with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.Obama, who greeted the Buddhist monk with a bow-like gesture, called him "a good friend" and "a powerful example of what it means to practice compassion and who inspires us to speak up for the freedom and dignity of all human beings."Both figures were at an annual prayer breakfast in Washington where Obama spoke about the importance of religious freedom. The Dalai Lama was in the audience at a table in the front row across from the president along with senior Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, a signal of White House support. Obama nodded and smiled at the Dalai Lama, waving after clasping his hands to greet the spiritual leader as the event began. Organizers also recognized the monk, prompting applause.  The exchange may still rile China, which bristles at politicians meeting with the Dalai Lama. After the breakfast event was announced, Beijing said it opposed any country meeting with him under any circumstances. Before the event, an English-language commentary issued by the state-run Xinhua news agency, which while not a formal statement offers a reflection of Beijing’s thinking, warned against any encounter. "Chumming with a secessionist is playing with fire," it said. Any meeting would "dampen the hard-won positive momentum in China-U.S. relations."Outside the hotel hosting the event, nearly 100 supporters of the Dalai Lama waved Tibetan flags while across the street, about 50 people protested his presence.The Dalai Lama fled to India after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959 and has infuriated Beijing, which denounces him as a dangerous "splittist" seeking to establish an independent Tibet. He has said he simply wants autonomy for Tibet and does not advocate violence.Obama and the spiritual leader are both Nobel Peace Prize laureates and have met previously three times, most recently in February 2014.At the event, Obama echoed some of the monk's own teachings, calling for religious tolerance and noting that too often faith is twisted to justify violence."We see faith driving us to do right but we also see faith being twisted and distorted, used as a wedge or, worse, sometimes used as a weapon," he said, citing recent attacks in Pakistan and Paris.

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U.S. lawmakers begin push for more sanctions on North Korea U.S. lawmakers introduced legislation on Thursday to broaden sanctions against North Korea by imposing stiffer punishments on foreign companies doing business with Pyongyang, a measure that could impact mostly on Chinese firms."In the wake of the state-sponsored cyber-attack on Sony Pictures, the bipartisan legislation targets North Korea's access to the hard currency and other goods that help keep the regime in power," said the bill's co-sponsor, U.S. Republican Representative Ed Royce."Additionally, it presses the Administration to use all available tools to impose sanctions against North Korea and on countries and companies that assist North Korea in bolstering its nuclear weapons program," Royce, the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, said in a statement. The vast majority of North Korea's business dealings are with neighboring China, which bought 90 percent of the isolated country's exports in 2013, according to data compiled by South Korea's International Trade Association. The bill responds to concern in Congress about last year's cyber attack on Sony Pictures, which was blamed on Pyongyang, as well as what lawmakers see as the international failure to rein in the reclusive state's nuclear weapons program.The measure is co-sponsored by Republicans and Democrats, including the leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Royce, and Democrat Eliot Engel.A similar bill is likely in the U.S. Senate. It is expected to enjoy strong bipartisan support in both chambers.The bill would authorize U.S. officials to freeze assets held in the United States of those found to have direct ties to illicit North Korean activities like its nuclear program, as well as those that do business with North Korea, providing its government with hard currency.It would also target banks that facilitate North Korean proliferation, smuggling, money laundering, and human rights abuses, and target people who helped in the cyber attacks against the United States, Royce said.A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hong Lei, said frequent sanctions would not help resolve the North Korean issue.Gareth Johnson, owner of China-based Young Pioneer Tours, which takes tourists into North Korea, criticized the bill."Whilst we personally do not hold any accounts in the U.S., this is obviously not a great move ... (This) will just create a siege mentality when those of us involved in the country are trying to open things further."SANCTIONS NOT SO STRONG - LAWYERNorth Korea is already heavily sanctioned by the United States and United Nations for its arms programs and nuclear tests. President Barack Obama imposed new sanctions last year aimed at cutting the country's remaining links to the international financial system."Contrary to a common misconception, current U.S. sanctions against North Korea are weaker than our sanctions against Belarus and Zimbabwe," said Joshua Stanton, a Washington D.C. attorney and blogger who assisted with the drafting of the legislation."Other than some pin-prick, whack-a-mole sanctions against low and mid-level arms dealers and just one major North Korean bank, their strength is mostly a figment of the academic imagination."Critics view the flow of hard currency into North Korea as potentially funding North Korea's nuclear weapons program, but it was not clear to what extent companies engaged in legal businesses would be affected by the proposed measures. Such connections are difficult to track in China, and separating legal business from illicit can be even harder. Bank of China, China's fourth biggest bank, said in May 2013 that it had shut the account of North Korea's main foreign exchange bank, Foreign Trade Bank, in the wake of international pressure to punish Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs.The bill is intended to push the Obama administration, which contends the president already has sufficient authority to punish Pyongyang.Sony said on Thursday that Amy Pascal would step down as co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment after the hackers, angry about a movie she championed mocking North Korea's leader, exposed a raft of embarrassing emails between her and other Hollywood figures.

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U.S. House leader says State Department stonewalling on Keystone U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Thursday accused the State Department of stonewalling its review of the long-pending Keystone XL pipeline, saying Secretary of State John Kerry must address the issue to make the department's actions more transparent."The Democrats are dragging their feet," Boehner, the top House Republican, told reporters, referring to the TransCanada Corp's project to bring 830,000 barrels per day of mostly Canadian oil sands petroleum to refineries and ports on the Gulf Coast."Now the State Department is stonewalling and is refusing to answer basic questions about its review. I'm calling on Secretary Kerry to address this issue," Boehner said. The State Department, which is assessing the project because it crosses the national border, received comments from eight federal agencies this week on whether the pipeline is in the country's interest. The project has been pending for more than six years.One of the bureaus, the Environmental Protection Agency, separately urged the State Department to consider whether low crude prices mean the pipeline would play a bigger role in developing Canada's oil sands and, as a consequence, raise emissions linked to climate change.President Barack Obama has said the project should not be approved if it significantly raises the emissions.

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Republican budget advances in the House, but GOP divides remain The GOP-led House Budget Committee Thursday gave party-line approval to a sweeping balanced budget, but without resolving a battle between the party's defense and deficit hawks. The 22-13 vote advances the measure for a House floor debate next week. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Thursday that producing a budget is "one of the toughest jobs we have all year. But there is overwhelming support in our conference for providing additional resources to protect our national security." The measure adds $36 billion to President Obama's request for overseas war funds in an effort to get around tight limits on the Pentagon budget. Technically, funds for overseas contingency operations (OCO funds) are not counted as part of the budget -- a concern for congressmen worried about the deficit. Boehner said the measure would be amended on the House floor to lift restrictions that deficit hawks have placed on accessing that additional funding. The vote came after Chairman Tom Price, R-Georgia, abruptly adjourned the committee Wednesday night after panel conservatives insisted that more than $20 billion of the additional Pentagon spending be offset by spending cuts elsewhere in the $3.8 trillion budget. Across the Capitol, the Senate Budget Committee kicked off debate on its companion measure, which contains slightly milder cuts to programs like Medicaid than the House plan. Both plans rely on deep but often unspecified cuts to the social safety net that advocates for the poor say could force millions of people off programs like Medicaid and food stamps. Republicans counter that balancing the budget is a moral imperative and that controlling Washington's spiraling spending will strengthen the economy and preserve retirement programs like Medicare for decades. "We know that a balanced budget will mean more opportunity and a healthier economy for hard-working American families," Price said. In the Senate, Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, was hoping to rewrite the budget to add war funding in hopes of matching Obama's request for a $38 billion Pentagon increase. The original GOP plan, written by new Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming, and released Wednesday afternoon, stuck to Mr. Obama's war funding request and immediately came under attack. The cuts aren't going anywhere so long as Obama occupies the Oval Office. And Republicans aren't showing much interest in advancing them beyond the hypothetical confines of Congress' arcane budget process, which involves first passing a nonbinding budget measure and then following up with binding legislation to implement it. Senate Republicans, already eyeing the 2016 elections, balked at a politically sensitive House plan to turn health care coverage for seniors into a voucher-like program for those who enroll beginning in 2024. But most of the focus behind the scenes was on efforts by defense hawks to add to the Pentagon's budget, whose core would essentially be frozen for the third year in a row in the fiscal year beginning in October unless lawmakers intervene. Procedural obstacles prevent Republicans from simply increasing the budget for defense as Obama recommended in his budget, financed by tax increases and spending cuts elsewhere. The GOP solution is to pad war accounts that aren't bound by tight budget limits set by the return of automatic cuts known as sequestration. The House plan, which has stalled because of the fight between defense hawks and tea party forces, would add $36 billion to Obama's $58 billion request for overseas military and diplomatic efforts in the war against terror. "The Senate budget as introduced fails to prioritize our national defense after years of damaging cuts to our nation's military," said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, a potential presidential candidate. But the House panel is loaded with fiscal hard-liners who rejected the leadership's bid to increase the war funding by another $2 billion - to $38 billion - and remove limits on accessing the funds. "Our responsibility, as a defense hawk myself, is to fund the military but also to pay for it by offsets," said Budget panel member Marlin Stutzman, R-Indiana. "We can find a way to pay for $20 billion." Successful action on the budget would pave the way for a veto confrontation over Obama's signature health care law, since a filibuster-proof measure to repeal much of it could make its way through the Senate.

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Pentagon nominee supports increased spending on defense Ashton Carter, President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Pentagon, said on Wednesday he would work hard to remove congressional budget caps on military spending and supported further increases in the U.S. defense budget.Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee the caps, known as 'sequestration,' caused risk, turbulence and waste, adding:"I would like to see more spending on defense. I think we're having to accept risk in the execution of our strategy as a result of our funding problems, which I would rather see us not accept."Carter said he was not familiar with the Pentagon budget submitted to Congress on Monday but would return to answer questions about it if confirmed as defense secretary.

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Four U.S. lawmakers begin second effort at biofuels reform bill A group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers will begin their second attempt on Wednesday to introduce a bill that would reform the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) program in the United States, targeting an end to ethanol fuel-blending mandates.The lawmakers said the bill would eliminate requirements for corn-based ethanol blending and cap blending levels for other biofuels at actual production levels. They hope the latest move will garner support now after months of disputes over how much biofuel should be blended with oil-based fuels and growing concerns that the program drives up agriculture and food costs.The RFS Reform Act is the latest bid in recent years by Republican Representatives Bob Goodlatte of Virginia and Steve Womack of Arkansas and Democrats Peter Welch of Vermont and Jim Costa of California to change a government program that Welch described as a "well-intended flop" in an interview this week. The same bill failed to pass in the House when the group of four introduced it in 2013. Supporters of the RFS say that the policy reduces greenhouse gas emissions and creates jobs in the U.S. farm belt."We're going full bore again with this Congress," said Goodlatte, who also plans to introduce an even tougher bill on Wednesday that would repeal the RFS altogether.The reform would effectively do away with a mandate that corn-based ethanol be blended in gasoline and repeal the waiver that raised the cap on ethanol content at 15 percent from 10 percent after Congress expanded the RFS policy in 2007. Aside from the bill, Goodlatte says the group will also continue lobbying the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the government body that regulates the RFS program created in 2005, for changes. The agency is under increased scrutiny for its handling of the RFS after it delayed setting blend mandates for 2014. The EPA has not yet set target levels for 2015 and 2016. The issue has also garnered some attention in the Senate, where Democrat Dianne Feinstein and Republican Patrick Toomey introduced a similar proposal to repeal the corn ethanol mandate that never made it to a vote.

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New Jersey Governor Christie ducks media after vaccination comments New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a possible 2016 presidential contender, canceled three scheduled media appearances in the UK on Tuesday, amid a controversy over his comments on measles vaccinations.The Republican governor said on Monday parents needed some choice on whether to vaccinate their children, drawing criticism from political opponents who said such a policy could threaten public health.His comments came a few hours after President Barack Obama said parents should have their children vaccinated, saying the science was "pretty indisputable." Christie canceled two question-and-answer sessions and a press statement he was due to make after meeting UK finance minister George Osborne."We just decided we're not going to have availability today," said Maria Comella, Christie's head of communications, after the last scheduled appearance was canceled.The 52-year-old governor, known for his occasionally combative relations with the media, formed a political action committee in January, a prelude to a possible bid for the presidency in 2016.ACTION ON ADDICTIONThe governor visited a drug treatment center in south London, where he called for fellow Republicans to adopt a more compassionate approach to drug addiction, saying addicts needed treatment rather than jail.Christie met recovering addicts at the center run by Action on Addiction, and said addiction should be treated like a disease rather than a personal failure. He said taking a hard line on drug addicts was the "easy" policy to take."All too often in both of our societies we have people who go for the lay-up, the easy stories," said Christie. "None of the people walking in here are easy stories."The governor and his wife, who was with him for the visit, have made a priority of tackling drug abuse in New Jersey, where heroin use has skyrocketed in recent years.He said those in his party who were opposed to abortion, on the principle that life is sacred, should be more sympathetic to those who had made mistakes."When I talk to folks in my party, being pro-life, I say it's easy to be pro-life when they're in the womb, they haven't done anything wrong yet, you know, they haven't made any bad judgments," he said."Tell me that you're pro-life with a kid who's lying on the floor of a jail cell basement, addicted to drugs."The governor signed a bill in 2013 making medical marijuana available in some circumstances, but has been a staunch opponent of legalizing the drug.

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Top Obama adviser Dan Pfeiffer to step down: White House U.S. President Barack Obama's top communications adviser and a longtime member of his inner circle, Dan Pfeiffer, is stepping down from his post in March, the White House said on Wednesday.Pfeiffer has advised Obama since the 2008 presidential campaign and is one of the last of the president's close confidants from that period to be leaving his immediate orbit."Like everyone else in the White House, I’ve benefited from his political savvy and his advocacy for working people," Obama said in a statement. "He’s a good man and a good friend, and I’m going to miss having him just down the hall from me." Pfeiffer served as White House deputy communications director and communications director before taking on the title of senior adviser. He is fond of sparring with reporters on Twitter and has spearheaded the administration's effort to use social media to spread its message, sometimes seeking to bypass traditional news organizations in the process.Obama has been criticized routinely for relying too much on an insular group of advisers, many of whom stemmed from his Chicago-based campaign. But communication gurus such as David Axelrod and David Plouffe, who both spent stints in the White House after helping get him elected, have long since moved on.Pfeiffer has experienced some health difficulties in recent years, including stroke-like symptoms.He informed the president about his decision to leave last month, a White House official said, and had been thinking about it for a long time.

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U.S. official: Guantanamo 'not on table' in Cuba talks The U.S. State Department official leading negotiations with the Cuban government said on Wednesday the United States is not considering returning the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay to Havana as it discusses improved ties."The issue of Guantanamo is not on the table in these conversations," Roberta Jacobson, the assistant secretary of State for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, testified during a House of Representatives hearing.Cuban President Raul Castro said last week that Havana's demands in talks with the United States toward normalizing diplomatic relations had included the return of the base. Lawmakers raised the Guantanamo issue repeatedly in a hearing that occasionally turned contentious. Republicans and some of President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats questioned whether his shift to end the U.S. isolation of Cuba would do enough to improve human rights on the Communist-ruled island."The administration may have given a 50-year-old failed regime a new lease on life to continue its repression at home and militant support for Marxist regimes abroad," said Republican Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee."I might have been more favorably impressed by the policy if it hadn't been such a complete shock and if Congress had been involved," said Democratic Representative Brad Sherman of California, one of several lawmakers - including some who support the new policy - who criticized the administration for not consulting Congress.Jacobson also said there were no plans to shut down the U.S. government-funded Radio and TV Marti. The two media outlets are directed by the Office of Cuba Broadcasting agency and aimed at supporting opposition to the Cuban government.The Havana government has long opposed the media outlets, but current moves toward normalizing relations are unlikely to be stopped by the differences over the broadcasters or Guantanamo. More bilateral talks are scheduled later this month.Republican and Democratic lawmakers who back Obama's policy shift have introduced legislation seeking to repeal U.S. restrictions on Americans' travel to Cuba, and are writing more that they intend to introduce in the coming weeks seeking to ease the half-century-long embargo.But stiff opposition in Congress, which must approve ending the embargo, make it unlikely that such measures will come up for votes in the House or the Senate any time soon.

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Illinois governor lays out controversial agenda Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner laid out on Wednesday an ambitious and controversial agenda that includes constitutional fixes for the state's public pension system and budget.In his inaugural state of the state address, the Republican, who holds political office for the first time, also took aim at public labor unions."It's make-or-break time for the Land of Lincoln," Rauner told state lawmakers.  Illinois has a chronic structural budget deficit, as well as the lowest credit ratings and the worst-funded pension system among the 50 states. The fiscal crisis is the worst the state has seen for decades, according to budget experts.State pension payments are squeezing spending on essential state services and a 2013 law aimed at easing a $105 billion unfunded liability is being challenged in court by unions and others. Rauner's policy agenda calls for "permanent pension relief" by amending the Illinois Constitution, which prohibits the impairment or diminishment of public worker retirement benefits.The governor also wants to change the constitution to prohibit the carryover of unpaid bills between fiscal years, a practice that has fed Illinois' structural deficit.Rauner called for banning political donations by unions representing government workers. He repeated a campaign pledge to create local “empowerment zones” in which workers would have a right to work, even if their employer has a collective bargaining agreement with workers. And he proposed that Illinois give employees of local governments the right to work even in communities where government workers are represented by unions. “Local communities, local voters, deserve this option so that they can compete with other states and other nations for new businesses and new investment,” he said in his speech.FACING A BATTLERauner's proposals will face a battle in the Democrat-controlled General Assembly. House Speaker Michael Madigan told reporters after the speech that some of Rauner's proposals will get a favorable reception in the legislature, while some will not."I wouldn't characterize anything as a nonstarter," Madigan said, adding that the top priority should be addressing a $1.5 billion deficit in the current budget with a mix of cuts and revenue.Senate President John Cullerton, who is a Chicago Democrat like Madigan, said in a statement the new governor "has a lot to learn if he is to build on our successes in Medicaid reform, workers compensation, pension reform, cutting the bill backlog and meeting our obligations.""The people of this state elected a divided government, but the governor will soon learn that it doesn’t mean that he needs to be divisive." Cullerton said. Roberta Lynch, executive director of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, the biggest public labor union for state workers, criticized many of Rauner's proposals, including a ban on political contributions by unions."But while seeking to shut working people out of the halls of power, he leaves free access to the scores of corporations that have secured for themselves tax breaks costing Illinois taxpayers some $2 billion annually," Lynch said in a statement.Despite the fact Illinois is facing big budget shortfalls in its current and upcoming budgets, Rauner called for higher funding for public school districts, particularly in disadvantaged areas of the state, while also expanding public charter schools to give parents choices.The governor, who took office on Jan. 12 and is due to release his fiscal 2016 budget plan on Feb. 18, did not disclose where that money would come from.Laurence Msall, president of Chicago-based government finance watchdog The Civic Federation, lauded the governor's plan to curtail the state's pile of unpaid bills, which is expected to total $6.4 billion when fiscal 2015 ends on June 30.Rauner reiterated campaign initiatives that called for extending the Illinois sales tax to some services and freezing local property taxes for two years. On the pension front, he also repeated a call to protect state workers' accrued retirement benefits, while moving them into a less generous pension program or a 401k-type plan for future work.His policy agenda also included seeking a state law providing bankruptcy protections to municipalities and launching an effort to reduce the number of governmental units in Illinois, which has nearly 7,000, the most among states.

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U.S. official says telecommunications firms interested in Cuba A top U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday that "quite a few" telecommunications companies had been in touch with the government about the possibility of doing business in Cuba."Telecommunications firms are just looking at this. We've been in touch with quite a few," Roberta Jacobson, the Assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, said at a U.S. Senate hearing.The United States is moving to ease restrictions on U.S. telecommunications companies doing business with Cuba as part of its moves toward eventually normalizing U.S. relations with the Communist-ruled island after half a century.

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U.S. House passes bill that limits 2016 consumer bureau budget The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would add extra hurdles for government agencies writing new rules and limit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding next year.The House voted 250 to 173 to pass the bill, sending the legislation to the U.S. Senate. The bill from Representative Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican, would require regulatory agencies to disclose more information about the costs to local governments and businesses of any new federal rules."Americans are better served when regulators are required to measure and consider the costs of the rules they create," Foxx said in a statement after the vote. "Transparency and accountability are not partisan issues."Republicans have criticized rules ranging from the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial law aimed at Wall Street to environmental regulations, which they say impose unfair costs on businesses and hurt economic growth. Wednesday's bill is the latest effort by the Republican-controlled House to change the way U.S. agencies write new regulations. Opponents, including most Democrats, said the bill would make it easier for businesses to challenge regulations in court.Foxx's bill also would cap the U.S. consumer bureau's budget for fiscal year 2016 at $550 million, $36 million below its current expected funding.Republicans have sought more control over the agency's budget since it was created as part of the Dodd-Frank reform law. The consumer bureau is currently funded by the U.S. Federal Reserve, not by congressional appropriations.Sheridan Watson, a spokeswoman for Foxx, said the budget limit was included in the bill passed on Wednesday to ensure the overall legislation created no new spending, a procedural requirement under Republican rules.The bill, however, is unlikely to become law as Republicans hold a slimmer majority in the U.S. Senate than they have in the House. The White House also said on Tuesday that President Barack Obama would veto the bill if it reaches his desk.

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Pentagon nominee supports increased spending on defense Ashton Carter, President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Pentagon, on Wednesday underscored his determination to boost the U.S. defense budget, drive down the cost of new weapons and make sure new technologies are delivered to troops more quickly.Carter, who served as the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer and the No. 2 official before leaving for a stint in the private sector, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that there was no "silver bullet" to fix the way the Pentagon buys weapons.But he said he had canceled programs in the past and would keep close watch on current efforts. This includes a new aircraft carrier being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII.N), growth of which he said had not been dealt with satisfactorily.Carter, who restructured Lockheed Martin Corp's (LMT.N) $400 billion F-35 fighter jet program while he was the chief arms buyer, said he also remained concerned about the longer-term cost to operate and maintain the new stealthy warplanes. "We've got a lot of work to do," Carter told the committee. "The taxpayer cannot comprehend it, let alone support the defense budget when they read ... of cost overruns, lack of accounting and accountability, needless overhead, and the like. This must stop."Carter said the department also needed to develop and field weapons far more quickly than it does now or risk being overtaken by competitors and potential foes.The hearing was closely watched by Lockheed and other arms makers, which have been waiting for clues about Carter's priorities and his commitment to new procurement programs.Carter threw his support behind the Air Force program to build 80 to 100 new long-range strike bombers at a cost of $550 million each. A contract award is expected this spring.Northrop Grumman (NOC.N), maker of the B-2 bomber, is competing with a team made up of Boeing (B.N) and Lockheed for the new contract, which could be worth well over $50 billion.He said he supported the U.S. Navy's efforts to buy more ships and submarines and expand the size of its fleet. And he backed continued spending on U.S. missile defense systems, given threats from North Korea and Iran.Carter also urged lawmakers to reverse congressional budget caps on military spending known as sequestration, warning that the cuts were endangering the U.S. military's ability to execute the president's national security strategy.

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Defense of Pentagon networks 'not where it should be': nominee The U.S. military's ability to defend its own computer networks is "not where it should be," Ashton Carter, President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Pentagon, said on Wednesday.Carter said the U.S. military needed to increase protection of its networks, but the government could also do more to help protect private networks against cyberattacks without jeopardizing Americans' privacy."Not only is our civilian infrastructure susceptible to cyberattack, but we have to be concerned about our military infrastructure," Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "There’s no point in having planes and ships and armored vehicles in today’s world if the network is itself vulnerable."He said he hoped to work with the committee to increase cybersecurity for the U.S. military, and said the U.S. government could also share more information with the private sector, as long as certain legal safeguards were in place. He said the government could also sponsor technology and research on better technologies and practices to better protect the networks of private companies.

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Video showing Secret Service bumping into barrier released Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are showing for the first time surveillance video of a March 4 incident at the White House involving Secret Service agents. The video shows a government vehicle driving through a secured area at the White House and nudging a temporary barrier while on-duty agents and officers were investigating a suspicious item left in the area. The House Oversight Committee showed it for the first time publicly Tuesday at a hearing. Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy is testifying for the third time about the incident. Two senior agents are accused of drinking before driving into the White House complex and pushing the barrier with the SUV's bumper.Several members were dismayed that Secret Service surveillance tapes are routinely destroyed 72 hours after they're recorded. Clancy said he shared their concern, and recently implemented an extension of that retention period to seven days.Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Massachusetts, told Clancy retention laws in Massachusetts considerably longer. "My local Piggly Wiggly holds surveillance tapes for 30 days," Lynch told him. In the hearing Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, demanded that Clancy turn over all available video of the incident. Clancy said repeatedly that members could view the video any time. But heresisted the call to turn the video over to the committee, citing the Homeland Security Department inspector general's own investigation into the allegations against the agents.

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Pentagon nominee urges NATO members to boost defense spending NATO members should increase military spending to live up to their commitments under the trans-Atlantic military alliance, Ashton Carter, President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Pentagon, said on Wednesday."They need to spend more on their own defense because their own defense is also our defense," Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee during a hearing on his nomination."I’d like to see them carry their full weight of being an ally," he said.

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Pentagon nominee Carter says open to review Afghan drawdown plan President Barack Obama's pick to lead the Pentagon told Congress on Wednesday he supported the existing drawdown plan for Afghanistan but he would be open to reviewing it if necessary, in comments that could appeal to opposition Republicans."The president has a plan. I support that plan. At the same time, it's a plan," Ash Carter said at his Senate confirmation hearing."And If I’m confirmed and I ascertain as the years go by that we need to change that plan, I will recommend those changes to the president."

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U.S. lawmaker says Japan and Canada must cut farm tariffs Canada and Japan must open their markets to farm imports under a Pacific trade pact, the chairman of a congressional committee responsible for trade said on Thursday, adding that any country that cannot meet the deal's ambitious goals should drop out.In prepared remarks, House Ways and Means Committee Paul Ryan said his main condition for backing trade deals was for them to "go for the gold."Negotiators from 12 Pacific countries hope to wrap up talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) within months, but Ryan said some countries might have to wait for the second round. "For TPP, Japan and Canada just have to lower their agricultural tariffs," he said in his comments prepared for an event hosted by the Washington International Trade Association. "Those have to go. And if any of the 12 countries currently in the talks think our standards are too high, well, I’d complete the agreement without them and invite them to join it later."

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Obama reform of spy agency access to phone metadata in question President Barack Obama's pledge to reform the way U.S. spy agencies access vast amounts of metadata on Americans' telephone calls is facing increasing obstacles, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. Obama promised to act after revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that the NSA had been collecting and storing the data, including numbers called and the time and length of calls but not their content.The administration has said it no longer wants agencies such as the NSA to hold the data and last year quietly abandoned one alternative to have such data held by a non-governmental third party. The remaining option is for telecommunications companies to gather and store the data themselves. But according to two U.S. officials, the companies have privately told Congress they will not do so unless they are ordered to by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which needs new powers from Congress to issue such orders. Last year, Congress failed to pass a bill to create such powers, and a Congressional aide said that no such legislation was now pending. The aide and an executive branch official said that prospects for passing such legislation before a June deadline were uncertain.Robert Litt, legal adviser to the Director of National Intelligence, confirmed that the government's current legal authority to handle telephone metadata expires on June 1. "I'm hoping we will be able to get legislation passed. Everybody recognizes that there is utility to this," he said in a conference call with reporters on Tuesday. Former NSA and CIA Director Michael Hayden, however, said he saw "no administration plan for going ahead" with telephone metadata collection. Asked what spy agencies would do if no new law was passed to authorize collection of the metadata, Litt said: "I don't think we're making those kinds of contingency plans at this point."

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Obama administration pushes business tax reform in Congress The Obama administration on Tuesday said it saw room for compromise with Congress on a potential overhaul of the business tax code, but a top Republican lawmaker said the two sides remained at loggerheads over taxes on small companies.Treasury Secretary Jack Lew appeared before lawmakers to explain a White House budget proposal that would raise taxes on the wealthy and create new taxes on international companies to increase spending in areas like highways and education.Much of that agenda has little chance of approval in this Congress, whose Republican majority is generally opposed to tax increases. But Lew said business tax reform was an area ripe for a bipartisan deal. "I believe, as does the president, that there is plenty of opportunity for bipartisan cooperation, ... starting with business tax reform," Lew said in testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee.Paul Ryan, the Republican who chairs the committee, said the administration's budget proposals to simplify tax filing were "a step in the right direction."He also said there was room for compromise on a measure to extend tax credits to low-income childless adults. But Ryan said the administration's proposals would not do enough to help small companies, particularly those that pay taxes through their owners' individual returns. "It just doesn't cut it," Ryan said.The Obama administration proposes lowering corporate tax rates by eliminating a range of deductions, but it does not want to reduce rates for companies that pay via individual returns, a class of businesses known as "pass throughs." Ryan did not say Republican support for business tax reform hinged on lower rates for pass throughs, but he said any deal must carve out more benefits for this group."This committee is not going to leave them behind," Ryan said.

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Most New Jersey residents think Gov. Christie focused on own ambitions: poll New Jersey residents are becoming increasingly skeptical of the motives of Governor Chris Christie and think he is more focused on his own political future than governing the state, according to a poll on Wednesday.Two-thirds of adults polled by Monmouth University said Christie put his political ambitions ahead of running New Jersey, up from 56 percent in a poll in September. Christie, a Republican who is likely to seek his party's 2016 presidential nomination, is scheduled to return on Wednesday morning from a trade mission to London. It was the latest of many trips overseas and across the United States, which have prompted questions about who has paid for his travel. The state's economy is struggling more than most to recover from the recession. The poll showed that 65 percent thought his trip to the United Kingdom was designed mainly to boost his presidential prospects.The trip was described by Christie's administration as a way to promote his state's life sciences industry. He also took in a soccer match and met the prime minister.A large portion of the shift in thinking about Christie's focus comes from members of his own party. More than half of Republicans told Monmouth pollsters that they think Christie's ambitions are his paramount concern. In September, only a third believed that."Even New Jersey Republicans are starting to wonder whether Governor Christie is treating his day job as an afterthought," said Patrick Murray, director of the New Jersey-based Monmouth University Polling Institute, in a statement.Christie canceled three scheduled press appearances on Tuesday amid a controversy over his comments that parents needed some choice on whether to vaccinate their children. Monmouth's poll also showed that Democrat Hillary Clinton would handily beat Christie in a presidential election 58 percent to 32 percent among New Jersey voters.Against former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, another likely 2016 Republican candidate, Christie would fare better at 40 percent versus 36 percent, according to the poll.The telephone poll of 805 New Jersey adults was conducted from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2. The sample has a margin of error of 3.5 percent.

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U.S. must warn Russia: Arms treaty a 'two-way street' - Ashton Carter President Barack Obama's nominee to become the next U.S. defense secretary said on Wednesday that Russia needed to be reminded that a Cold War-era arms control agreement was a "two-way street" and that Washington could respond to any violations.Washington and Moscow have long questioned each other's commitment to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty. It eliminated nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of 500-5,500 km (300-3,400 miles) near the end of the Cold War.Ashton Carter, a former Pentagon No. 2 who is expected to win swift Senate confirmation, said the United States has a range of actions it could take, including defensive and deterrent steps, if Russia violates the treaty."I think you have to remind Russia that this was a two-way street," Carter said at his Senate confirmation hearing.  "If you don't want to have that treaty, well then you're absolved from your restrictions in that treaty, and we are too." The United States has said Moscow's testing of a ground-launched cruise missile violated the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty. Russia argues that Washington's use of drones and other intermediate-range arms amounts to a violation.Relations between the two countries are at their lowest since the Cold War because of Russia's role in the crisis in Ukraine. Carter also said at the hearing he was leaning in favor of arming Ukraine to help it defend itself against Russia-backed separatists, in what would be a shift in U.S. policy.He later cautioned, however, that the focus must remain on pressuring Russia economically and politically.

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U.S. plans to boost aid to Jordan to $1 billion per year The United States on Tuesday announced plans to increase annual aid to Jordan to $1 billion from $660 million to help it pay for the cost of housing refugees from Iraq and Syria and of fighting Islamic State militants.An agreement on the aid, which is subject to the approval of the U.S. Congress, was signed before the wide release of a video that appeared to show Islamic State militants burning a captured Jordanian pilot alive.Jordan is one of a handful of Arab states that have taken part in a U.S.-led air campaign against the Islamic State group, which last year seized swaths of Iraq and Syria. The pilot, Mouath al-Kasaesbeh, was captured in December after his F-16 crashed in territory controlled by the militants in Syria. In a brief statement, the U.S. State Department said it planned to provide $1 billion per year to Jordan for each of the U.S. fiscal years for 2015, 2016 and 2017. The U.S. fiscal year ends on Sept. 30."The United States recognizes Jordan’s increased immediate needs resulting from regional unrest, the efforts Jordan is undertaking at the forefront of the fight against ISIL and other extremist ideology and terrorism, the influx of refugees from Syria and Iraq, the disruption of foreign energy supplies, and other unprecedented strains," the State Department said.The Islamic State group is also know as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)."The increase for the period of FY 2015 to FY 2017 is designed to address Jordan’s short-term, extraordinary needs, including those related to regional instability and rising energy costs," the State Department added.

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White House issues veto threat for House bill on regulatory process The White House issued a formal veto threat on Tuesday for a U.S. House of Representatives bill called the Unfunded Mandates Information and Transparency Act that would create new judicial reviews of regulations.The bill in the Republican-controlled House would "introduce needless uncertainty into agency decision-making and undermine the ability of agencies to provide critical public health and safety protections," the White House said.

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U.S. taking 'fresh look' at weapons for Ukraine: officials The United States is reconsidering whether to provide weapons to Ukraine in its fight against Russian-backed separatists, senior administration officials said on Monday, adding that no decision had been made."It's getting a fresh look," a senior administration official said of deliberations among Obama administration officials on whether to send defensive weapons to prop up Ukrainian forces. "Where things will end up, we don’t know."U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry travels to Kiev on Thursday for talks with Ukraine's government, the same day NATO defense ministers meet in Brussels.The policy rethink reflects what U.S. officials say is a frustration with Moscow's continued support for rebels despite months of international economic sanctions, and the collapse of the latest attempt at peace talks at the weekend.  Washington already provides military equipment to Ukraine, such as counter-mortar detection units, body armor, binoculars, small boats and other gear. But it has delayed any decision for months on providing arms, from rifles to anti-tank weapons, as it sought a diplomatic solution.However, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States was particularly concerned with mounting violence after months of fighting close to the Russian border.Separatists pounded positions of Ukrainian government troops holding a strategic rail town as both sides mobilized more forces. Five Ukrainian soldiers were killed in clashes at the weekend and 15 civilians died on Saturday.While the United States and Western allies pursue a diplomatic solution, the administration was constantly reviewing how to help Ukraine, Psaki said. "We haven't taken options on or off the table."The West says the rebels are armed by Russia and supported by several thousand Russian troops, a claim Moscow denies. Both the EU and United States have imposed sanctions against Russia."I don’t think anybody wants to get into a proxy war with Russia," Psaki said, "Our objective here is to change the behavior of Russia. That’s the reason we have put the sanctions in place."U.S. President Barack Obama will host German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House on Monday. She has said Germany would not supply weapons to Kiev's military but has not objected to Washington doing so.White House national security adviser Ben Rhodes, however, told CNN the best way to influence Russia was through economic sanctions.A report by the Washington-based Atlantic Council on Monday said the U.S. should immediately authorize $1 billion in military assistance to Kiev and coordinate it with Poland, Baltic States, Canada and Britain."Should we delay action, the West should expect that the price will only grow," according to the report, which said military aid should include light anti-armor missiles, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV's) and armored Humvees.Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John Herbst, one of the authors of the report, said it was clear diplomatic efforts had failed and Moscow believed it could have its way on the battlefield."We are not arguing for a military solution, we believe the Ukrainian military cannot beat the Russian military, and right now the Russian government has shown no interest in a diplomatic settlement," Herbst said: "For there to be a real diplomatic settlement the military solution has to be denied to the Kremlin."

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Ted Cruz: I'd "tell the truth" if elected president Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has a simple pitch when telling people why he should be president: "I'll tell the truth and I'll do what I said I would do." Cruz appeared on "CBS This Morning" Tuesday, one day after he became the first major candidate to announce that he will run for president in 2016. And while he represents one of most conservative Republicans in the expected field of those making a White House bid, Cruz said his campaign won't be all about proving he's the most conservative. "My plan is to speak the truth and to defend the common-sense conservative values. I think millions of Americans recognize the path we're on, it isn't working, and they're looking for a change that they want to get back to free-market principles," Cruz said. He added that the "basic values" he espouses - living within your means, working not to bankrupt the next generation and following the Constitution - aren't necessarily the most conservative values. "(It's) only in Washington that those are viewed as radical or extreme propositions," he remarked.If he becomes the next president, Cruz would face a host of foreign policy challenges, including the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). He said the U.S. still needs "seriousness" to destroy the group, and must do whatever it takes militarily. "Part of the problem is that this is debated as political matter in Washington," Cruz said. He argued that a serious strategy could include U.S. boots on the ground, but that the Kurdish Peshmerga forces should be the principle combat group being relied on. "They're effective. They have been allies of the United States for decades, even though America has not been terribly consistent allies to the Kurds. The Kurds have stood with us," Cruz said. He also said the U.S. should use "overwhelming air power" to defeat ISIS. Cruz hinted at a broader guiding principle for his foreign policy when addressing why the U.S. should focus its attention on ISIS rather than Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has waged a brutal civil war against hundreds of thousands of people in Syria. "I think ISIS is the far greater threat," Cruz said. "The touchstone for our foreign policy should be vital U.S. national security interests. Assad is a monster, he is murdering his own people, but I don't believe he poses a clear and present danger to America." He also talked about how he would replace the Affordable Care Act, a sentiment that is widely shared among the GOP. "Five years ago, maybe good faith reasonable minds could have differed on whether Obamacare might have worked. At this point, it is the single largest job killer in this country," Cruz said. "We need health insurance reform but reform should expand competition, it should empower you, the consumer and patient, keep the government (from) getting between you and your doctor, and we need health insurance that's personal, that's portable and affordable. I think that's what most people want."

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Iran nuclear talks break off Friday, set to resume next week Nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran are set to go down to the wire, with direct talks breaking off Friday afternoon and scheduled to restart next Thursday in Switzerland. With both the U.S. and Iran divided over the terms of an agreement to freeze the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, President Obama made a plea via video to the Iranian people in an attempt to inject momentum into these highly-sensitive negotiations. Referring to the emerging deal as the "best opportunity in decades," he acknowledged the start of the Persian New Year as a chance to reset the relationship between the two long-time foes. The next days and weeks, he said, would be critical to peacefully resolving questions about Iran's atomic program. "This moment may not come again soon," Obama said. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif - Iran's top nuclear negotiator - gave a swift response to the appeal from his own Twitter account. He emphasized that Iran was ready to cut a deal, and said it is up to the U.S. to make a decision. "Iranians have already made their choice: Engage with dignity. It's high time for the US and its allies to chose (sic): pressure or agreement," he tweeted. Zarif later told reporters that he hoped to reach an agreement by next week. He and Iran's top atomic scientist have been locked in five days' worth of marathon meetings with Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, and their top advisors.They are all racing to meet a Mar. 31 deadline. If the diplomats and scientists working here in Lausanne are not able to agree on a political understanding by that time, President Obama has said the U.S. will walk away. That sense of urgency is not felt by all of the U.S.'s negotiating partners, particularly France, which is willing to continue to negotiate alongside Russia, China, U.K., Germany and the European Union. That alliance, known as the P5+1, is made up of the U.N. Security Council members plus Germany. Zarif told reporters that he hoped to reach a deal next week, but needed to fly back to Tehran on Friday night. The break at the end of the week also coincided with the death of Sekineh Payvandi, the mother of Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. Zarif and other members of the Iranian negotiating team plan to pay their respects back home. President Rouhani's own brother, Hossein Fereydoun, who is part of the Iranian nuclear negotiating team, skipped Friday's meetings to mourn his mother in Tehran. A U.S. official confirmed that Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and other U.S. negotiators privately visited with Fereydoun before his departure in order to extend their condolences. Images of that outreach were broadcast across Iranian news platforms, and seemingly underscored how far the two sides have come in the past two years. Before that, U.S. officials were prohibited from even meeting with members of the Iranian government. Yet the two sides still have far to go. John Kerry is expected to meet on Saturday in London with his German, British and French counterparts to discuss their strategy to broker this deal with Iran. He then plans to return to Washington before launching back into the talks next week.

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Obama's Pentagon nominee suggests support for arming Ukraine President Barack Obama's pick to become defense secretary told Congress on Wednesday he was leaning in favor of providing arms to Ukraine but later cautioned that the focus must remain on pressuring Russia economically and politically.Ashton Carter, a former Pentagon No. 2, told the Senate Armed Services Committee he would "very much incline" toward supplying defensive arms to Ukraine, adding the United States needed to support the country's efforts to defend itself against Russian-backed separatists. U.S. officials are taking a fresh look at providing weapons, which advocates say could help end the conflict in Ukraine but opponents warn might escalate the war.  "The nature of those arms, I can't say right now," Carter said at his Senate confirmation hearing. "But I incline in the direction of providing them with arms, including, to get to what I'm sure your question is, lethal arms."After a break in the hearing, Carter was pressed about the risks of escalation. He said: "I think the economic and political pressure on Russia has to remain the main center of gravity of our effort in pushing back."Washington is keen to maintain solidarity on Russia with Europe, some of whose leaders, including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, strongly oppose arming Ukraine. The United States has provided some non-lethal military equipment to Ukraine but has not sent arms, saying it does not want to be drawn into a proxy war with the Russians.White House spokesman Josh Earnest, in a comment to reporters during the hearing break, stressed the decision would ultimately fall to Obama as commander in chief, but added the president would listen to his advisors.Carter, 60, would succeed Chuck Hagel, who resigned under pressure last year after struggling to break into Obama's tight-knit inner circle of security aides. BROAD SUPPORT FOR CONFIRMATIONThe Senate is expected to swiftly confirm Carter, a veteran defense policy insider who is broadly supported by both Republicans and Democrats.Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, an outspoken Obama critic, questioned how much influence Carter will have. "I sincerely hope the president who nominated you will empower you to lead and contribute to the fullest extent of your abilities," McCain said. "Because at a time of multiplying threats to our security, America needs a strong secretary of defense now more than ever."Carter vowed to cut through any "red tape" slowing U.S. arms deliveries to Jordan, which plans to step up its fight against Islamic State after the killing of a captured Jordanian pilot.All 26 members of the Senate committee signed a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Hagel asking that the United States quickly send Jordan aircraft parts, precision munitions and other equipment. On Afghanistan, Carter said he supported Obama's plans for drawing down forces there but added that he would be willing to review future U.S. troop withdrawals if needed. Carter was deputy defense secretary from 2011 to 2013 and was the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer from 2009 to 2011 when he led a major restructuring of the F-35 fighter jet program.Carter said he favored increased military spending, including continued funding for a new long-range bomber, and would fight to end congressional budget caps. But he vowed to accelerate reforms aimed at ending wasteful cost overruns.His comments were good news for Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), Boeing Co (BA.N) and other big weapons makers, which have been waiting to hear from Carter on his priorities and his commitment to new procurement programs.

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U.S. leaders, 2016 hopefuls back inoculations amid debate U.S. congressional leaders and several possible 2016 presidential hopefuls said on Tuesday all children should be vaccinated, joining a debate that has become a national flashpoint as a measles outbreak rekindles a discussion on parents' right to forgo inoculation of their children. "There is absolutely no medical science or data whatsoever that links those vaccinations to onset of autism or anything of that nature," U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said."So absolutely, all children in American should be vaccinated," Rubio, a potential Republican presidential candidate, told reporters on Tuesday. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, told reporters that he did not know if additional laws were needed but that children should be vaccinated. President Barack Obama this week urged parents to have their children vaccinated against preventable diseases such as the measles. But Republicans are more divided as to whether parents should have more leeway.Measles was declared eliminated from the United States in 2000, but an outbreak that began in California in December has shone a spotlight on the so-called anti-vaccination movement. Debunked theories that once suggested a link between vaccines and autism have led some parents to refuse to have their children inoculated. Even though doctors say those fears are unfounded, many parents want to decide for themselves whether to vaccinate their children.Republicans who are thought to be weighing 2016 runs leaped into the debate this week.Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, an ophthalmologist, said in an interview with CNBC on Monday that he had heard of instances where vaccines caused "mental disorders."New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican and potential 2016 presidential candidate, said parents needed a "measure of choice." His spokesman later said the governor believed kids should be vaccinated against measles.But other possible contenders on Tuesday urged parents to make sure their children get the necessary vaccines."I have no reservations about whether or not it is a good idea and desirable for all children to be vaccinated," Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said in a statement. "There is a lot of fear mongering out there on this."Indiana Governor Mike Pence said his administration urges families to get their children vaccinated.Hillary Clinton, widely seen as the front runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, was perhaps the most blunt. On Monday, she wrote on Twitter, "The science is clear: The earth is round, the sky is blue, and #vaccineswork."

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Obama believes no law needed for parents to vaccinate children U.S. President Barack Obama believes there should not need to be a law to get parents to vaccinate their children, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said on Tuesday. More than 100 people have been infected by the measles as parents have opted not to vaccinate their children from the virus.

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In annual speech, mayor vows to make New York City more affordable New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to make it compulsory for developers to include cheaper, affordable apartments if they build in six newly rezoned parts of the city, he said in his second annual State of the City speech on Tuesday.De Blasio also said the city will triple the money it spends on legal services for tenants to $36 million in the hope of making it harder for landlords to force out older, poorer tenants in favor of new ones willing to pay more."New York risks taking on the qualities of a gated community, a place defined by exclusivity rather than opportunity," de Blasio said at Baruch College in Manhattan in remarks he sometimes paused to repeat in Spanish. He said 56 percent of rental households in New York City, one of the costliest cities in the United States, spent more than 30 percent of their income on rent last year.De Blasio, a liberal Democrat, took office 13 months ago after criticizing his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, for dividing the city by allowing inequality to grow over his 12 years in power. Bloomberg also offered tax incentives to developers to include affordable homes in their plans, but it was generally optional.De Blasio has pledged to build 80,000 new affordable homes in the coming decade and "preserve" another 120,000, and he said on Tuesday that taller, denser construction was one answer. Under Bloomberg, who used similar language in his promises to "create or preserve" 165,000 affordable homes over his tenure, about 50,000 new ones were built.Perhaps the loudest audience applause was reserved for the announcement of a new ferry service for the riverine metropolis by 2017, with trips costing the same as a subway ride. Setting up the service would cost an estimated $55 million, officials said later. The city would subsidize the service by $10 million to $20 million a year.At least one of de Blasio's new ideas was being shot down by a powerful opponent. The mayor proposed burying a 200-acre (80-hectare) rail yard in Sunnyside, Queens, and building affordable housing on top."The MTA uses Sunnyside Yards as an important facility for our transportation system," Melissa DeRosa, a spokeswoman for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, said in a statement, referring to the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority, "and it is not available for any other use in the near term."

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Security showdown looms as Democrats defend Obama on immigration Congressional Republicans regrouped on Tuesday to search for a new plan for Department of Homeland Security funding after Senate Democrats blocked their bid to derail President Barack Obama's executive immigration orders.A Republican-authored DHS spending bill with immigration restrictions failed to win the 60 votes needed to advance in the Senate, setting up a showdown over the Feb. 27 expiration of funding for the agency.No clear path forward had emerged by late on Tuesday afternoon. Some House Republicans were discussing a proposal to fund parts of the agency, except for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said Arizona Representative Matt Salmon, a conservative.USCIS is the key department charged with implementing Obama's November order to lift the threat of deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants.  Salmon and other House Republicans said they want their party, which now also controls the Senate, to keep fighting for the House-passed DHS funding plan and bring public pressure to bear on Democrats. "I hope the Senate has the ability to keep bringing it up," he said. "They can do Chinese water torture on them (the Democrats) and keep bringing it up."Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell switched to "no" on the 51-48 vote in a maneuver that keeps the bill alive for further votes this week. Republican Senator Dean Heller of Nevada, a state with a large immigrant population, voted with Democrats to block the bill.Obama and Democrats demanded a DHS funding bill devoid of immigration restrictions, citing heightened terrorist threats."We’ll wind up passing a clean bill," said Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid. "Why do we wait, why do we agonize?"House Speaker John Boehner told Republican lawmakers in a closed-door meeting earlier on Tuesday that "this is the fight, so now let's fight," said Republican Representative John Carter.Boehner declined to say how Republicans would proceed if the Senate cannot pass the House bill."The goal here is not to run DHS out of money. The goal is to stop the president's overreach," Boehner told a news briefing.Some Republicans are willing to accept a lapse in funding for DHS. Representative Raul Labrador of Idaho said Obama would take the blame, not Republicans. While much of DHS' security functions have been deemed essential and will continue to operate if funding lapses, the agency has said it would be forced to furlough about 30,000 employees, or 15 percent of its workforce.

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Pentagon nominee sees great potential in U.S.-India defense ties India is destined to be a strong defense partner of the United States and there is great potential for military cooperation between the two countries, President Barack Obama's nominee as defense secretary Ashton Carter said on Wednesday."India is destined to be a strategic partner of the United States. It's a large democracy, shares a lot of our political values and values of pluralism," Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing.He said he favored hastening moves to strengthening ties between the two countries and saw great potential for more cooperation in the military-to-military and defense technologies areas. He said he would take a strong interest in expanding U.S.-India ties if confirmed as defense secretary.

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House votes to repeal and eventually replace Obamacare The U.S. House of Representatives added another notch to its lengthy record of Obamacare repeal votes on Tuesday by approving a new measure that would scrap the healthcare law and direct oversight committees to come up with a replacement.

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Obama to announce data collection modifications: NYT The Obama administration on Tuesday will announce new rules offering slight adjustments to how U.S. intelligence agencies handle data collected on Americans and foreigners, the New York Times reported.National Security Agency analysts now will be required to delete information accidentally collected about U.S. citizens "that has no intelligence purpose," the newspaper said. Similar information about non-citizens also will have to be deleted within five years.The new rules will formalize the White House's review of the NSA's monitoring of foreign leaders, the report said. The White House will announce the rules, which the Times called modest, on Tuesday. White House representatives could not be reached immediately to confirm the report. President Barack Obama's expected adjustments to the NSA data collection come nearly two years after former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden's explosive revelations that the U.S. government was collecting and storing bulk electronic data.Snowden revealed the government was gathering metadata on telephone calls to and from U.S. citizens. It also conducted mass surveillance on allies, including eavesdropping on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone.The disclosures sparked a scandal and led Germany to cut ties with U.S. telecommunications firms because of how they handled the data with the American government.Obama ordered a halt to the monitoring of Merkel, who is scheduled to meet with Obama in Washington next week.The New York Times said the rules will include modest changes to national security letters, which the FBI uses to obtain data in national security cases without judges' orders and often on the condition that the letters are never disclosed by the recipients. While exceptions can be made, new requirement will call for the FBI to "presumptively terminate" such non-disclosure orders three years after launching an investigation or at the end of the probe, the newspaper said, citing the administration's announcement.The Times said the changes affecting foreigners were fairly small. While content from a telephone or email conversation of a U.S. citizen must be immediately deleted if it is not relevant to security, such data from a non-citizen can be held for five years unless other rules are invoked to hold it longer. Foreigners also will not be able to seek action from U.S. courts if their data were collected by the NSA, although they could do so if their private information was transferred from a foreign government to the United States, the newspaper said.

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Sending arms to Kiev would be big gamble for U.S. By considering giving weapons to Kiev, the United States could be contemplating a risky venture which advocates say would help end the conflict in Ukraine but opponents warn might fan the flames of war. A senior U.S. administration official said on Monday no decision had been made on whether to send arms to help Ukrainian forces fight Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. Considering such a move stems from frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin's refusal to blink over Ukraine, despite Western sanctions and a financial crisis in Russia, and concern over a surge in violence in past weeks.It also reflects a dilemma: What can the West do if sanctions don't work, or don't work quickly? "A stronger Ukrainian military, with enhanced defensive capabilities, will increase the prospects for negotiation of a peaceful settlement," said a report by the Washington-based Atlantic Council, which suggested military aid should include light anti-armour missiles, drones and armoured Humvees.Such words are welcome to Kiev's pro-Western leaders, whose forces have suffered battlefield setbacks and who accuse Russia of sending troops and weapons to back the rebels.Speaking in the northern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday, President Petro Poroshenko expressed confidence that Kiev's Western allies would rally to its help if need be."I do not have the slightest doubt that a decision about the possibility of supplying arms to Ukraine will be made by both the United States and our other partners because we must have the means to defend ourselves," he was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.Right now, Ukrainian troops holding a rail hub near the city of Donetsk are under pressure from separatists, whose artillery and missile attacks are commanded by Russian military specialists. Russia denies the accusations of direct involvement. It says Washington has shown its true colours by backing what Moscow regards as Kiev's desire to end the crisis by crushing the rebels rather than though diplomacy.Sending arms to Kiev might not even have much effect on the conflict, critics say, and could encourage a full-scale Russian onslaught on Ukraine's army that might increase the possibility of direct Western intervention."Sending weapons is fanning the flame of this conflict and also actually grist to the mill for the Ukrainian government, which is doing everything it can to drag the United States and West further into this dispute," said Otfried Nassauer, head of the Berlin Information Centre for Transatlantic Security.WESTERN DILEMMAWestern governments have shown little appetite for the idea of sending in international peacekeepers, which would likely have to include Russians and would be unacceptable to Kiev.And a line of thinking may be developing in the West that Putin may only respect force and will only blink if his bluff is called. By that token, he may change tack if Ukraine is provided with defensive means to turn the conflict into a prolonged struggle which Russia may regret. On the eve of a visit to Kiev on Thursday by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, the stakes are rising, with the rebels and Kiev's forces mobilizing more forces.Fifteen U.S. senators from both parties wrote to President Barack Obama on Tuesday urging Washington and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to "rapidly" increase military assistance to Ukraine with equipment such as antitank weapons, counter-battery radars, armoured Humvees and increased training.A source in Poroshenko's administration said that Ukraine needed as much military help as possible from the West to defend both its border and that of Europe.Russian officials have rallied around Putin over the annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine last March and opinion polls show his popularity is high despite the impact of U.S. and European Union sanctions and a looming recession.Faced by such defiance, the West appears to have few options for increasing pressure on Russia apart from more sanctions, as it has ruled out military force.Providing arms, such as advanced radar systems to counter the rebels' multiple-rocket systems, is still not the preferred option although the U.S. Congress passed the Ukraine Freedom Support Act, providing $350 million in military assistance for Kiev."We're not going to bring the Ukrainian military into parity with Russia's military, certainly not in the near future," Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, told CNN television in an interview."We have to keep the perspective that the best tool that we have to apply pressure on Russia is that economic pressure through the sanctions." Ukraine's army of 200,000 would be unlikely to match Russian forces if Moscow threw in much larger numbers of troops, possibly backed by air power, to support the separatists."Individual supplies of Western arms are not capable of cardinally changing the situation. What is needed is long-term cooperation," said Ukrainian military analyst Serhiy Zgurets.Practical support is unlikely from the EU and NATO if Washington decides to send in arms. This is important as Washington and the EU are trying to avoid splits which Russia could jump on."Until now, the reason we haven't delivered lethal equipment is to avoid an escalation which would involve Russia even more directly," said an official at NATO.German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday her government did not support arming Ukraine with "deadly, lethal weapons" to fight the separatists.Military commentator Alexander Golts told Russia's Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper he did not believe Ukraine could use the weapons it needs without hundreds of U.S. instructors."You can imagine the reaction to this by Russia, in the eyes of which it would be NATO being deployed on our borders," he wrote.

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Key to 'soon' retake Iraq territory from Islamic State: Carter President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Pentagon said on Wednesday retaking territory in Iraq from the Islamic State soon was strategically important but added he did not know the timing for upcoming offensives or when Iraqi forces would be ready."It's important to get that territory back soon because you don't want (Islamic State militants) to settle in and you don't want the population to settle into having ISIL rule them in their barbaric way," Ashton Carter said at his Senate confirmation hearing, using an acronym for the group.

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CIA Director: Iran general "destabilizing" efforts in Iraq Having the leader of Iran's elite Quds Force direct Iraqi forces battling the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is complicating the U.S. mission against terrorism and contributing to destabilization in Iraq, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency said Sunday. The comments by John Brennan on "Fox News Sunday" are among the strongest yet voiced by American officials about the involvement of shadowy Gen. Qassem Soleimani in the war against the extremist group.Brennan described Soleimani as being "very aggressive and active" as he advises Shiite militias battling the extremists, mostly recently in the ongoing offensive targeting Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown. Brennan said he "wouldn't consider Iran an ally right now inside Iraq." The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, testifying at a congressional hearing this past week, said that the U.S. worries that Shiite militiamen eventually might turn against Sunni and Kurdish Iraqis, further destabilizing the country.But Brennan said he didn't believe the presence of Soleimani and his advisers pointed to Iran having a larger role in Iraq and its future. However, he acknowledged it's not for lack of trying. Baghdad's Shiite-led government has forged closer ties with Iran, its adversary in a 1980s war. "We're not letting them play that role. I think they're working with the Iraqis to play that role," the CIA head said. "We're working with the Iraqis, as well." Brennan pointed to the Iraqis themselves for the country's instability, rather than the pullout of U.S. troops. Iraqi security forces crumbled in ISIS' lightning offensive last summer. The militants now hold a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria in their self-declared caliphate. "I think the fault really lies with a number of the Iraqis who wasted and squandered the opportunity they had after the government was reconstituted not to put at rest some of these sectarian tensions and not to be more inclusive as far as bringing the Sunni community in," Brennan said.

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House to take up Senate's Keystone bill next week: top GOP leader The House of Representatives next week will take up the Senate's bill on the long-pending Keystone XL pipeline "and send it to the presidents desk," House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said on Tuesday.The Senate passed its legislation on Thursday. Obama is expected to veto the bill.

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White House communications director Palmieri to step down White House Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri will step down from her post this spring, the second senior aide to President Barack Obama to announce a departure on Wednesday, a White House official said.Palmieri has been reported to be in the running for a top communications position in the presidential campaign of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton if she decides to run.

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Jeb Bush, looking to 2016, tackles questions about Bush name Republican Jeb Bush made clear on Wednesday he realizes his famous last name could be a hindrance in a 2016 presidential campaign, and said he would work hard to connect with people and "do it on my own."In a speech designed to lay the foundation for a potential White House run, the former Florida governor mixed attacks against President Barack Obama's Middle East policy with promises to run an optimistic campaign based on conservative principles.But he hewed closely to the mainstream, in a sign that he would try to expand the appeal of the Republican Party in order to make it competitive again in presidential races after losses to Obama in 2008 and 2012. Bush declared that "parents ought to make sure that their children are vaccinated," separating himself from conservatives in his party in the debate over the reach of government. And he did not shy away from his support for immigration reform, despite conservative criticism that he is too liberal on the issue.He did, however, avoid antagonizing conservatives by not mentioning his support for Common Core, an education policy they oppose. But he spoke at length on the need for higher education standards.Bush, who has been out of office since 2007, looked a little rusty on the stump, rapidly reading his prepared remarks to the Detroit Economic Club. But he was more relaxed during the question-and-answer session that followed.As the brother of former President George W. Bush and son of former President George H.W. Bush, he is facing questions about why a third Bush should live in the White House. It was one of the first questions posed to him at the Detroit event."It's an interesting challenge for me," Bush said. "If I were to go beyond the consideration of running, I would have to deal with this, turn this fact into an opportunity to connect on a human level," he said.He would seek to convince people that "I'm on their side" on the issues they care about, he said, and that while he loves his father and brother, he knows that "I'll have to do it on my own."His comments suggested he might not rely heavily on the former presidents to help him in a campaign, other than to tap into the vast donor network the Bushes established.Jeb Bush threaded a fine line over the Middle East. He criticized Obama's handling of the threat posed by Islamic State militants, calling it a result of a U.S. pullback from the region.But he was careful to say U.S. troops should not be deployed every time there is a global challenge, a position that could be intended to put some space between him and his brother's Iraq war."We have to be engaged. And that doesn't necessarily mean boots on the ground in every occurrence," Bush said."Ask Israel today if the United States has their back. Ask Eastern European countries, does the United States have your back. There is a growing concern that we've pulled back," he said.Bush's speech was the first in a series aimed at defining why he is considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination and what policies he would pursue if elected.The former Florida governor leaped into the debate over how to lift middle-class Americans' income without offering specifics on what he would do. He blamed a "progressive and liberal mindset" in Washington for creating "a spiderweb that traps people in perpetual dependence."

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California lawmakers seek to end 'personal belief' vaccine exemptions Responding to an outbreak of measles that has infected more than 100 people, two California lawmakers said on Wednesday they would introduce legislation to end the right of parents in the state to exempt their children from school vaccinations based on personal beliefs.California public health officials say 92 people have been diagnosed with measles in the state, many of them linked to an outbreak that they believe began when an infected person from outside the country visited Disneyland in late December.More than a dozen other cases have been confirmed in 19 other U.S. states and Mexico, renewing a debate over the so-called anti-vaccination movement in which fears about potential side effects of vaccines, fueled by now-debunked science, have led a small minority of parents to refuse to allow their children to be vaccinated."The high number of unvaccinated students is jeopardizing public health not only in schools but in the broader community. We need to take steps to keep our schools safe and our students healthy,” state Senator Ben Allen said in a written statement announcing the legislation he is co-sponsoring with fellow Democrat Richard Pan. The measure would make California the 33rd state to bar parents from opting out of vaccinations based on personal beliefs.Also on Wednesday, a top Los Angeles County health official said that a total of 21 cases have been recorded in the county but that after the initial wave of reports, the number has fallen to four in the latest two-week period. “We're getting to a number of cases that’s manageable, and I'm hopeful that within weeks or a couple of months we will be able to turn the corner on this particular outbreak,” Interim Health Officer Dr. Jeffrey Gunzenhauser told a press conference, although he cautioned that a lag in reporting could still add a few more cases.A day care center at a high school in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica closed earlier this week and more than a dozen infants placed under a three-week quarantine after a baby enrolled in the program was diagnosed with measles.Measles was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 after decades of intensive childhood vaccine efforts. But last year the nation had its highest number of measles cases in two decades.Most people recover from measles within a few weeks, although it can be fatal in some cases.

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Romney's exit boosts Walker's odds in 2016 New Hampshire presidential primary Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's decision not to make a third White House run in 2016 has boosted Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's chances with Republican voters in New Hampshire, home to the first presidential primary, according to a poll released on Wednesday.Some 21.2 percent of Republican voters and independents polled by Reach Communications for NH1 News who said they would likely vote in the state's presidential nominating primary said they would vote for Walker. That gave Walker a solid lead over former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who had the support of 14.4 percent of likely voters.The finding from the Feb. 2-3 poll of 1,012 respondents, conducted days after Romney said he would not make a third run at the White House, marked a sharp change from a poll two weeks earlier that showed Romney favored by about 29 percent of likely voters, a commanding lead. This week's poll, which had a 3.1 percentage point margin of error, showed Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, retired surgeon and Tea Party favorite Ben Carson and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie rounding out the top five candidates.Walker, who has commanded national attention for taking on powerful unions in his home state, plans to make his first visit of the 2016 campaign season to New Hampshire next month. He will speak at a Republican organizing meeting.

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New Jersey Governor Christie ducks media after vaccination comments New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a possible 2016 presidential contender, cancelled three scheduled media appearances in the UK on Tuesday, amid a controversy over his comments on measles vaccinations.The Republican governor said on Monday parents needed some choice on whether to vaccinate their children, drawing criticism from political opponents who said such a policy could threaten public health.His comments came a few hours after President Barack Obama said parents should have their children vaccinated, saying the science was "pretty indisputable." Christie cancelled two question-and-answer sessions and a press statement he was due to make after meeting UK finance minister George Osborne."We just decided we're not going to have availability today," said Maria Comella, Christie's head of communications, after the last scheduled appearance was cancelled.The 52-year-old governor, known for his occasionally combative relations with the media, formed a political action committee in January, a prelude to a possible bid for the presidency in 2016.ACTION ON ADDICTIONThe governor visited a drug treatment centre in south London, where he called for fellow Republicans to adopt a more compassionate approach to drug addiction, saying addicts needed treatment rather than jail.Christie met recovering addicts at the centre run by Action on Addiction, and said addiction should be treated like a disease rather than a personal failure. He said taking a hard line on drug addicts was the "easy" policy to take."All too often in both of our societies we have people who go for the lay-up, the easy stories," said Christie. "None of the people walking in here are easy stories."The governor and his wife, who was with him for the visit, have made a priority of tackling drug abuse in New Jersey, where heroin use has skyrocketed in recent years.He said those in his party who were opposed to abortion, on the principle that life is sacred, should be more sympathetic to those who had made mistakes."When I talk to folks in my party, being pro-life, I say it's easy to be pro-life when they're in the womb, they haven't done anything wrong yet, you know, they haven't made any bad judgements," he said."Tell me that you're pro-life with a kid who's lying on the floor of a jail cell basement, addicted to drugs."The governor signed a bill in 2013 making medical marijuana available in some circumstances, but has been a staunch opponent of legalizing the drug.

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House speaker awaiting Senate vote on Homeland Security funding U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner urged the Senate on Tuesday to approve a House-passed measure that would provide funding for the Department of Homeland Security and block President Barack Obama's executive action on immigration."We won this fight in the House," Boehner told reporters. "Now the fight must be won in the United States Senate.""It's time for ... Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats to stand with the American people and to block the president's actions," he said. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration, is funded through Feb. 27, and Boehner said Republicans do not want to shut it down.Obama has said he would veto a Department of Homeland Security funding bill if it reaches his desk with wording that would undo the executive action he took in November to lift the threat of deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants.

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Number two U.S. diplomat to discuss North Korea on inaugural Asia trip New U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit South Korea, China, and Japan next week in his first trip in the position for talks that will focus on North Korea and other regional issues, the State Department said on Wednesday.Blinken, the second-ranking U.S. diplomat after Secretary of State John Kerry, will be in Seoul from Feb. 9-10, Beijing from Feb. 10-12, and Tokyo from Feb. 12-14. In Tokyo, he will make a speech highlighting U.S. economic policy in East Asia and the Pacific, the department said in a statement.The Seoul talks will aim at continuing close coordination on North Korea issues, while the Beijing stop "reflects continuing high-level U.S. engagement with China and the importance of strengthening our bilateral relationship," the statement said.  Blinken's trip follows one to the region by Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, who last month said in Beijing he was open to talks with North Korea but stressed the need for Pyongyang to show it was willing to have serious discussions about ending its nuclear weapons program.North Korea said on Wednesday it saw no more need to negotiate with the United States. It accused Washington of plotting to "bring down" its regime, and threatened to strike back using all its military resources.The angry response by North Korea's defense commission came after its foreign ministry said on Sunday that Washington had rejected its invitation for Sung Kim to visit for talks.

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Oil's price plunge could raise Keystone carbon footprint -EPA Oil prices have dropped so low that the Keystone XL pipeline could play a bigger role in the development of Canada's oil sands and raise greenhouse gas emissions, Obama administration environmental regulators said. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's comments in a letter to the State Department give weight to President Barack Obama's view that the controversial pipeline should not be approved if it significantly increases carbon pollution. The letter, sent on Monday, was released on Tuesday.The EPA implied that oil prices, which have more than halved since the summer, mean that shipping Canadian oil to the United States would not be economical unless the pipeline was built.  The State Department, which is evaluating the project because the TransCanada Corp pipeline would carry oil from a foreign country, is expected to make a recommendation to Obama soon, after reviewing comments from the EPA and other federal agencies.Obama will make the final decision on Keystone, which has been pending for more than six years. He has said the project should not be approved if it substantially raises emissions linked to climate change. The EPA said more attention should be paid to the "potential implications of lower oil prices on project impacts, especially greenhouse gas emissions." The White House had no comment on whether the letter shows the project fails Obama's climate test, noting the State Department's approval process was ongoing. In January 2014, the State Department's environmental review of Keystone XL concluded that it would not affect the rate of oil sands development or significantly raise emissions because rail cars would carry the oil to U.S. markets even if the pipeline was not built.The EPA urged the State Department to "revisit" its conclusions from last year that the pipeline would not lead to a rise in emissions. Transporting oil by rail is more expensive than shipping it by pipeline. So, the lower oil prices go, the more likely a new pipeline would speed up the rate of oil sands development. Keystone XL would ship 830,000 barrels per day of crude, mostly from Alberta's oil sands, to refineries and ports on the Gulf Coast. Last year's State Department review found that oil sands production is expected to be most sensitive to transport costs when prices are $65 to $75 per barrel. If prices fell to that level, "higher transportation costs could have a substantial impact on oil sands production levels," the review said. On Tuesday, U.S. oil futures were trading at about $51 a barrel <O/R>.The EPA also said the State Department's final review showed that until efforts to cut emissions from oil sands production are widespread, development of the resource "represents a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions." Lawmakers are trying to push through the Keystone project on their own. Next week, the House of Representatives will take up a Senate bill passed last week to approve Keystone. Obama is expected to veto the bill. Environmental groups seized on the EPA letter, saying it paves the way for Obama to reject the pipeline."Keystone XL continues to be a step backwards and simply does not make sense given low oil prices and the high carbon content of tar sands," said Jane Kleeb, president of activist group Bold Nebraska. Energy company interests slammed the EPA comments, saying that the crude price drop was likely temporary. A TransCanada spokesman said emissions from Canada's oil sands are falling as technology improves, while emissions from similar oil deposits in countries that export to the United States are going up.

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White House issues veto threat for House small business bill The White House on Tuesday issued a veto threat for a U.S. House of Representatives bill called the Small Business Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act that it said would add new costly requirements for regulations affecting small businesses.

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Florida Rep. Patrick Murphy announces bid for Senate Florida Rep. Patrick Murphy announced his campaign Monday to seek the Senate seat expected to be left vacant by Marco Rubio's likely presidential bid. The second-term Democrat - who won national exposure and the affection of many in his own party when he unseated firebrand tea party Rep. Allen West in 2012 - confirmed his candidacy to The Associated Press, making him the first to formalize a bid for the seat. Murphy, 31, will run regardless of Rubio's decision, and though he could face tough competition, he focused his initial attention squarely on the first-term senator. "For years, Sen. Rubio has put the needs of Floridians behind his presidential ambitions," Murphy said in a statement. "We need a leader in the Senate whose eyes are firmly fixed on the people of Florida by working together to get things done." Murphy immediately becomes a formidable candidate, regardless of who else runs. He defeated West as a 29-year-old political novice in a district that tilts slightly Republican. Two years later, in a re-election bid many anticipated would be close, he easily turned away his challenger.A prolific fundraiser who has won many voters with his moderation, Murphy has never faced much in the way of a primary. His aisle-crossing, likely an asset in a general election, could become a target for a Democratic primary opponent. He was previously a Republican who donated to the 2008 campaign of Mitt Romney, among others. And he has parted ways with the Democratic leadership, voting to create a House committee to investigate the Benghazi, Libya, attack that killed four Americans; voting in favor of the Keystone pipeline; and co-sponsoring the GOP-led "Keep Your Health Plan Act," which would have allowed insurers to continue offering plans that didn't meet Affordable Care Act rules. In a written statement, Murphy called himself "a consensus-builder" and "an independent voice." "Washington is full of hyper-partisan politicians who can't or won't get anything done and Florida deserves better," he said. Murphy's announcement comes after two higher-profile Democrats - former Gov. Charlie Crist and Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz - said they wouldn't run. Among others who have expressed interest in the race is Rep. Alan Grayson, posing the chance of a primary matchup between a controversial liberal and the much more moderate Murphy. Rubio has said he would not seek re-election to the Senate while pursuing the presidency, and a number of Republicans are said to be eyeing his seat, including Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera and Jeff Atwater, the state's chief financial officer. The National Republican Senatorial Committee welcomed Murphy to the race by launching an attack website and a statement deriding him for "already asking Floridians for a promotion" after just one term in the House. "Patrick Murphy is an overly ambitious Washington politician who needs to grow up and the United States Senate doesn't have a kids table," said NRSC spokeswoman Andrea Bozek. Murphy, a native Floridian, was an accountant before working for his family's construction company. In launching his political career, he targeted West, who he said was "an embarrassment to the country." When redrawn boundaries made West's district far less favorable to the GOP, the Republican bolted for one further north and Murphy followed. The resulting contest was epic, culminating in weeks of recounts and court appearances before West finally conceded. It still ranks as the most expensive House race in U.S. history, and made Murphy the youngest member of the 113th Congress.

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Jeb Bush stumbles on Yemen in speech Republican Jeb Bush stumbled on foreign policy in a big speech on Wednesday, telling a crowd that American diplomats have been withdrawn from Yemen, when in fact not all of them have been.Pressure from Islamic militants in the country has led to a diplomatic drawdown in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. While the U.S. embassy has stayed open, routine consular services to the public were halted.Bush, at the Detroit Economic Club, criticized President Barack Obama's handling of the Islamic State threat and cited the case of Yemen. "As we pull back from the Middle East, look what happened. Look what happened with ISIS in Syria. Look what happened with ISIS in Iraq. The big, huge victory in Yemen that the president has talked about lasted about six months. Now we've closed the ... there are no embassy personnel in Yemen's capital. So we have to be engaged. And that doesn't necessarily mean boots on the ground in every occurrence," Bush said.The speech was the first in a series aimed at defining why he is considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination and what policies he would pursue if elected.Bush is viewed as a front runner in the Republican race now that 2012 nominee Mitt Romney has decided against a third White House run. Bush leads national polls over a crowded field of potential rivals, including Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

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Non-military pressure on Russia main 'center of gravity': Carter President Barack Obama's pick to lead the Pentagon appeared to qualify his support for the idea of providing arms to Ukraine, saying on Wednesday economic and political pressure on Russia "has to remain the main center of our effort in pushing back."Carter was pressed by a lawmaker at his Senate confirmation hearing to address concerns about escalation with Russia. "Much as I incline in the direction I indicated this morning, I think the economic and political pressure on Russia has to remain the main center of gravity of our effort in pushing back," Carter said."And the Europeans are critical to that. So European solidarity and NATO solidarity are critical in this regard."

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U.S. must improve defenses, cyberattack response: Pentagon nominee The U.S. government must improve its ability to defend against and respond to escalating cyberattacks on its computer networks, President Barack Obama's nominee for defense secretary Ashton Carter told Congress on Wednesday."We need to improve our defenses but we also need to improve our abilities to respond," Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing. "Those responses can be in cyberspace or in other ways, but certainly they should include the option to respond in cyberspace."Obama last year blamed North Korea for a cyberattack on Sony Pictures (6758.T) and imposed new sanctions to cut its remaining links to the international financial system. The White House on Monday proposed a 10 percent boost to spending on cybersecurity to $14 billion to better protect federal and private networks from growing hacking threats.  Carter said being transparent about Washington's views on cyberattacks served an important deterrent effect."Deterrence requires that a potential aggressor know that you have the capability to respond ... and would respond," he said. He did not elaborate.U.S. officials have said for years cyberattacks from another country can constitute an act of war and that they reserve the right to respond with the full spectrum of U.S. capabilities, but they remain tight-lipped about offensive cyber-capabilities.NATO leaders last year agreed a large-scale cyberattack on a member country could be considered an attack on the entire U.S.-led alliance, potentially triggering a military response.

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Attorney General: Final Report On IRS Probe To Come Out Soon Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday he expects the Justice Department to soon release a list of final recommendations stemming from its probe into whether the Internal Revenue Service wrongfully targeted conservative groups."I am satisfied with the progress that the criminal division has done; the civil rights division as well," Holder told reporters at a press conference. "I expect that we will have some final recommendations coming up relatively soon."The IRS has been under scrutiny since May 2013 when senior IRS official Lois Lerner publicly apologized for applying extra scrutiny to conservative groups who were seeking tax-exempt status.

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Obama defense nominee vows to fight sexual assault in military President Barack Obama's nominee for U.S. defense secretary, Ashton Carter, pledged on Wednesday to work to end sexual assault in the military and combat retaliation against victims who speak up."This problem with sexual assault is something that persists in our military. It's widespread in our society. It's particularly offensive in the military community because the military ethos is one of honor and trust," Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee.He said some aspects of military life such as austere deployments and command hierarchy "also provide opportunities... for predators. So it is more offensive in military life than civilian life." The Senate is expected to swiftly confirm Carter, who would become Obama's fourth defense secretary. According to a biennial Defense Department report released in December, there were 19,000 thousand cases of unwanted sexual contact in the military in 2014, a decrease of 25 percent in total cases from 2012. The report also found 60 percent of those who reported an assault "perceived some kind of retaliation, often in the form of social retaliation by co-workers or peers."When asked about retaliation by New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, Carter said it is becoming more apparent "and the idea that victims are retaliated against, not only by the hierarchy above them but by their peers, is something that is unacceptable and is something that we need to combat."Women account for about 15 percent of active duty U.S. military, but their representation could increase as more front-line combat jobs are opened to them beginning in 2016. The Pentagon has recently increased efforts to end assault in the military.

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Obama's Pentagon nominee suggests support for arming Ukraine President Barack Obama's pick to become defense secretary told Congress on Wednesday he was leaning in favor of providing arms to Ukraine but later cautioned that the focus must remain on pressuring Russia economically and politically.Ashton Carter, a former Pentagon No. 2, told the Senate Armed Services Committee he would "very much incline" toward supplying defensive arms to Ukraine, adding the United States needed to support the country's efforts to defend itself against Russian-backed separatists. U.S. officials are taking a fresh look at providing weapons, which advocates say could help end the conflict in Ukraine but opponents warn might escalate the war.  "The nature of those arms, I can't say right now," Carter said at his Senate confirmation hearing. "But I incline in the direction of providing them with arms, including, to get to what I'm sure your question is, lethal arms."After a break in the hearing, Carter was pressed about the risks of escalation. He said: "I think the economic and political pressure on Russia has to remain the main center of gravity of our effort in pushing back."Washington is keen to maintain solidarity on Russia with Europe, some of whose leaders, including Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, strongly oppose arming Ukraine. The United States has provided some non-lethal military equipment to Ukraine but has not sent arms, saying it does not want to be drawn into a proxy war with the Russians.White House spokesman Josh Earnest, in a comment to reporters during the hearing break, stressed the decision would ultimately fall to Obama as commander in chief, but added the president would listen to his advisors.Carter, 60, would succeed Chuck Hagel, who resigned under pressure last year after struggling to break into Obama's tight-knit inner circle of security aides. BROAD SUPPORT FOR CONFIRMATIONThe Senate is expected to swiftly confirm Carter, a veteran defense policy insider who is broadly supported by both Republicans and Democrats.Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, an outspoken Obama critic, questioned how much influence Carter will have. "I sincerely hope the president who nominated you will empower you to lead and contribute to the fullest extent of your abilities," McCain said. "Because at a time of multiplying threats to our security, America needs a strong secretary of defense now more than ever."Carter vowed to cut through any "red tape" slowing U.S. arms deliveries to Jordan, which plans to step up its fight against Islamic State after the killing of a captured Jordanian pilot.All 26 members of the Senate committee signed a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Hagel asking that the United States quickly send Jordan aircraft parts, precision munitions and other equipment. On Afghanistan, Carter said he supported Obama's plans for drawing down forces there but added that he would be willing to review future U.S. troop withdrawals if needed. Carter was deputy defense secretary from 2011 to 2013 and was the Pentagon's chief weapons buyer from 2009 to 2011 when he led a major restructuring of the F-35 fighter jet program.Carter said he favored increased military spending, including continued funding for a new long-range bomber, and would fight to end congressional budget caps. But he vowed to accelerate reforms aimed at ending wasteful cost overruns.His comments were good news for Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), Boeing Co (BA.N) and other big weapons makers, which have been waiting to hear from Carter on his priorities and his commitment to new procurement programs.

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Security showdown looms as Democrats defend Obama on immigration U.S. Senate Democrats on Tuesday sank Republicans' plans to block President Barack Obama's immigration action through a Department of Homeland Security funding bill, setting up a month-end showdown that could put the agency at risk.The DHS bill failed to get the 60 Senate votes needed to move past a procedural hurdle, forcing Republicans to regroup to consider how to fund the agency while meeting demands from conservatives to press the fight against Obama on immigration.Obama and Senate Democrats are demanding a "clean" DHS funding bill that strips out the immigration restrictions passed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives last month.Current spending authority for the DHS, which spearheads domestic counterterrorism efforts and secures U.S. borders, airports and coastal waters, will expire on Feb. 27. Fifty-one Republicans voted in favor of the plan, and 48 voted against. Republican Dean Heller of Nevada joined Democrats in blocking the plan, while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell switched his vote to "no" at the last minute in a procedural maneuver to keep the bill alive for further votes."We’ll wind up passing a clean bill," said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. "Why do we wait, why do we agonize?"Earlier, House Speaker John Boehner declined to say how Republicans would proceed if the plan stalled in the Senate."The goal here is not to run DHS out of money. The goal is to stop the president's overreach," Boehner told a news briefing.Republicans were divided on their response. Some, including Representative John Carter of Texas, who chairs the House Appropriations Homeland Security subcommittee, said they would prefer a "clean" DHS bill to leaving the agency short of funds. But conservative Raul Labrador of Idaho said it was important to continue the fight against Obama on immigration, even if it means a lapse in DHS funds. He said Obama would take the blame, not Republicans. "If the president's willing to do that, that would be on the president," Labrador said.While much of DHS' security functions have been deemed essential and will continue to operate if funding lapses, the agency has said it would be forced to furlough about 30,000 employees, or 15 percent of its total.

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U.S. offers $5 million for missing American, appeals to Iran The United States offered $5 million on Monday for help in finding an American who disappeared in Iran eight years ago and appealed to Tehran to cooperate in the search for the former FBI agent, Robert Levinson."We ask the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to work cooperatively with us on the investigation into Robert Levinson’s disappearance so we can ensure his safe return," Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement.The White House National Security Council said it was "committed to the safe return of Bob Levinson to his family."Levinson disappeared from Kish Island, an Iranian resort in the Gulf, on March 9, 2007, while on a business trip as a private investigator. His friends said he had been investigating illicit trafficking in cigarettes, mainly in Latin America.Levinson traveled to Kish to meet Daoud Salahuddin, an American wanted in the murder of an Iranian diplomat in a Washington suburb in 1980. Levinson's friends have said he believed Salahuddin had information on corruption in Iran. Salahuddin has denied knowing what happened to Levinson.Levinson's wife, Christine, told Reuters on Monday she had no new details about her husband's status.She said the last hard information she received indicating he was alive were pictures emailed to her in April 2011 and a video sent in November 2010.In the 2010 video, Levinson asked for help but did not say who was holding him or where he was. Iranian authorities have repeatedly denied knowing Levinson's whereabouts. "All I know is that I want Bob home safely," Christine Levinson said.The FBI has been investigating Levinson's disappearance, offering a rare $1 million reward in 2012 for information that could lead to his safe return before increasing it on Monday.In December 2013, the Associated Press and Washington Post reported Levinson was working for a rogue CIA operation when he disappeared. Current and former U.S. officials acknowledged to Reuters that Levinson was a source for the CIA at that time. However, officials said his arrangement with the CIA's analysis division, which is not authorized to handle informants, violated agency rules. Some CIA officers faced discipline following an internal investigation, officials familiar with the matter said.The CIA declined to comment.The latest U.S. plea for Iran's help in finding Levinson comes as world powers try to reach a deal with Iran over its nuclear program.

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Obama administration asks judge to speed up immigration decision The Obama administration asked a federal judge in Texas to decide by Monday whether he will put on hold his prior decision to block the White House's executive orders on immigration, or at least limit the impact to Texas.U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, a city along the border with Mexico, issued a temporary court order last month halting President Barack Obama's orders that would have shielded millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.The administration asked Hanen for a stay on his order last month and late on Wednesday requested a decision by Monday.Hanen on Thursday declined to comment while the case is ongoing.Hanen, who had previously criticized U.S. immigration enforcement as too lax, based his ruling on an administrative law question, faulting Obama for not giving public notice of his plans. He also cited ways that Texas would be harmed by the action but used no other states as examples. Anne O'Connell, a professor at University of California Berkeley School of Law, said it is doubtful that Hanen will grant even the partial stay, but said the administration's move appears designed to force Hanen to defend his argument. "If all the harm is about Texas, it does seem like a bit of overreaching by the judge to keep the preliminary injunction in place everywhere," O'Connell said.The case in Texas is the latest in a series of challenges to Obama's immigration action. Hanen's decision on Feb. 17 was an initial victory for 26 states that brought the case alleging Obama had exceeded his powers with executive orders that would let up to 4.7 million illegal immigrants stay without threat of deportation.Obama's orders bypassed Congress, which has not been able to agree on immigration reform.On Feb. 23, the U.S. Justice Department requested an emergency stay of Hanen's decision.It also directly appealed to Hanen, asking that he at the very least limit his decision to Texas, because Hanen has not pointed to any specific harm the president's immigration action would cause beyond that state.If Hanen does not issue a full stay by Monday, the Justice Department will take its request to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, according to the court filing released late Wednesday. It was unclear whether they will do so if Hanen grants the partial stay.A stay would reverse, or partially reverse, the injunction and allow eligible immigrants to apply for benefits, including work permits, while the appeals process plays out in higher courts over the next several months. Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, an immigration advocacy organization based in Los Angeles, said a stay that excludes Texas would be better than no stay at all.Obama and White House Counsel Neil Eggleston last week briefed Hincapie and other immigration advocates on their legal strategy."We are definitely worried for immigrants in Texas," Hincapie said. "We want everybody across the country to be able to benefit."

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Senate Democrats step up pressure for vote on attorney general Senate Democrats on Thursday wrote a formal letter to Republicans urging them to hold a vote to confirm Loretta Lynch as the next U.S. attorney general.There is still no date set by the Republican majority for a vote to be held on the Senate floor for Lynch's nomination, despite the Senate judiciary committee's endorsing her a week ago.The nomination of Lynch, who is currently the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, New York, to be the nation's top law enforcement official has been pending for 117 days, longer than any other attorney general in the last 30 years.The letter, circulated by Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Patrick Leahy, urged the Republicans to schedule a floor vote as soon as possible. "Although a narrow minority of the Senate may want to use Ms. Lynch's floor vote to protest the immigration enforcement priorities announced last year by the administration, there is simply no credible reason for further delay," said the letter, which was addressed to Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

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Ted Cruz announces presidential campaign in midnight tweet Sen. Ted Cruz has become the first major candidate for president with a midnight announcement of his 2016 run for the White House."I believe in America and her people," Cruz said in a 30-second video to accompany his tweet. "And I believe we can stand up and restore her promise." The Texas Republicankicked off what's expected to be a rush over the next few weeks of more than a dozen White House hopefuls into the 2016 campaign. Cruz will formally get into the race during a morning speech at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, choosing to begin his campaign at the Christian college founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell. It's a fitting setting for Cruz, a 44-year-old tea party darling whose father is a pastor. While Cruz is the first Republican to declare his candidacy, he's all but certain to be followed by several big names in the GOP, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and two Senate colleagues, Kentucky's Rand Paul and Florida's Marco Rubio.

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Wisconsin Governor Walker signs bill limiting union heft Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a Republican presidential hopeful, signed a bill into law on Monday that stops private sector workers from being required to join a union or pay dues as a condition of employment.The law takes effect immediately, making Wisconsin the 25th state to approve a so-called right-to-work law and marking the latest victory for Republicans targeting labor unions, following adoption of similar laws in Michigan and Indiana in 2012. "It sends a powerful message across the country and around the world," Walker said, adding that what he called freedom to work is one of the three or four things that people ask about when he is on trade and investment tours for Wisconsin.Walker became a hero to conservatives when he pushed for a law to limit the collective bargaining rights of public-sector employees shortly after taking office in 2011. His stature grew when he survived a union-backed recall election in 2012."This is one more tool that will help grow good paying, family supporting jobs here in the state of Wisconsin, particularly in the areas where you need them in manufacturing," Walker said.Wisconsin's Republican-led legislature approved the bill in an extraordinary session, with representatives voting on Friday along party lines for the measure just two weeks after the Senate majority leader said the bill would be introduced.Supporters said the law would attract businesses and jobs, while opponents said it was a thinly disguised assault on organized labor that will drive down wages and leave workers vulnerable.Thousands of workers demonstrated at the capitol in Madison as lawmakers debated the bill, but crowds were far thinner than four years ago, when tens of thousands of people protested the push for changes to public sector collective bargaining rights.About 8 percent of private-sector workers in Wisconsin are union members, down from about 22 percent three decades ago, according to the Unionstats.com website that tracks membership.

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U.S. Representative Van Hollen of Maryland announces Senate run U.S. Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said on Wednesday he would run in 2016 for the U.S. Senate seat held by fellow Democrat Barbara Mikulski, who is retiring."I am very much looking forward to the upcoming campaign and a healthy exchange of ideas," Van Hollen said on his Facebook page.Mikulski, the longest-serving female senator in U.S. history with nearly 30 years in the chamber, said on Monday that she would leave office at the end of her fifth term in 2017. Political observers have floated several Maryland Democrats, including Van Hollen, as possible contenders to succeed the 78-year-old senator.Fellow Democratic U.S. Representative Donna Edwards said she was also "seriously considering" a run for the seat.”I think it’s important to follow on a legacy of leadership for women and leadership in the Congress for Senator Mikulski and I think I could fill that bill," Edwards, 56, a House of Representatives member since 2008, told MSNBC. Van Hollen, 56, has served in the House since 2003 and is the top Democrat on the Republican-controlled House Budget Committee.He was seen as trying to move up the leadership ladder. Van Hollen is an ally of Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House's top Democrat, and had been mentioned as a possible speaker at some point if his party regained control of the House.The congressman would bring considerable fundraising power to a Senate run. Van Hollen is a former head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which works to get more party members elected to Congress. Van Hollen said a formal announcement would follow. The Baltimore Sun first reported that he had told supporters by email that he planned to run.Other Democratic members of Maryland's House delegation, including Dutch Ruppersberger and John Delaney, have said they are considering runs.A spokesman for Delaney, Will McDonald, said in an email on Wednesday the lawmaker was still strongly considering running despite Van Hollen's announcement.

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Republicans warn Iran against nuclear deal with Obama Republican senators warned Iran on Monday that any nuclear deal made with U.S. President Barack Obama could last only as long as he remains in office, in an unusual intervention into U.S. foreign policy-making.The letter, signed by 47 U.S. senators, says Congress plays a role in ratifying international agreements and points out that Obama will leave office in January 2017, while many in Congress will remain in Washington long after that."We will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear-weapons program that is not approved by the Congress as nothing more than an executive agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei," the letter read."The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of an agreement at any time," it read.The letter, first reported by Bloomberg News, followed a speech to a joint meeting of Congress last week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who warned that the United States was negotiating a "bad deal" with Tehran. It comes as world powers have been negotiating with Iran to try to reach some form of understanding by the end of March before a final deal in June that could ease crippling sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy.The U.S. Constitution divides foreign policy powers between the president and Congress. The executive branch is responsible for negotiating international agreements and lawmakers rarely intervene directly with the leaders of another nation while the president's administration is negotiating a pact.Republicans want any U.S. nuclear agreement with Iran to be approved by Congress. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who signed the letter released on Monday, agreed to postpone a vote on a bill requiring Obama to submit any deal for congressional approval amid outcry from Democrats.Along with McConnell, Republican signers include Tom Cotton, Orrin Hatch, John Cornyn, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, John Thune and Mark Kirk. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, two possible 2016 presidential contenders, also signed.

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Hillary Clinton's focus on women's pay may resonate broadly: poll A Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that about two-thirds of Americans believe men are generally paid more than women, a finding that suggests that Democrat Hillary Clinton's message on pay inequality could resonate broadly with Americans should she run for president in 2016.Fifty-one percent of respondents said the U.S. government should be doing more to encourage equal pay, the online poll of 2,348 adults from Feb. 27 to March 3 showed.Broken down by political party, 67 percent of Democrats and 36 percent of Republicans said the federal government should be playing a more active role, according to the poll.The broad interest in pay equality may indicate why Clinton, the presumed Democratic presidential front-runner, has chosen to highlight gender during recent appearances.Clinton has championed the economic advancement of women as a former secretary of state, U.S. senator and first lady. If Clinton is elected to the White House, she would be the first female U.S. president.In speeches to women's groups in Silicon Valley and Washington, Clinton has argued for addressing pay disparity, bolstering family leave policies and helping families afford childcare."We're not just standing up for women, but for all people - for our families, our communities, our country, and indeed, the kind of world we want for our children," Clinton told a crowd of 1,600 at the Tuesday night dinner for Emily's List, a political group that works to elect Democratic women who support abortion access.Women helped fuel the country's economic growth over the past 40 years, and without them, the average family would be earning $14,000 less and the gross domestic product would be $2 trillion smaller, Clinton said.Most of the speakers at Emily's List touched on similar economic themes such as minimum wage and healthcare, filtered through the lens of gender.Democrats, including President Barack Obama, often cite the statistic that women earn 77 cents for every dollar a man earns.The 77-cent figure comes from recent U.S. Census Bureau reports based on the annual median salaries for men and women and is not controlled for other factors.Of 111 occupations for which the government received enough data to determine 2010 pay disparities, women out-earned men in only four categories - food preparation, bill and account collections, stock clerks and order fillers, and counselors.These figures were also based on median wages and were not adjusted for variables such as education or career interruptions to care for children and family.The Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that adults believe there are a variety of factors that lead to discrepancies between the pay earned by men and women.Fifty-one percent, including 42 percent of men and 60 percent of women, said that employers perceive men and women differently.Forty-two percent agreed that intentional or unintentional sexism affects how employers pay women.About 30 percent of all adults said that men and women make different choices about balancing work and family that could account for unequal pay. Twenty-three percent of adults said it was "essential" that one parent stay at home with children and not work and 52 percent said that it was important but not essential.Of those who said it was essential or important, 24 percent it should be the mother who remains at home and 2 percent said it should be the father. Seventy-three percent said it did not matter which parent was the primary caregiver.The poll revealed political differences about how to handle equal pay. Eighty-two percent of Democrats and 62 percent of Republicans thought employers should do more to ensure equal pay.Among Republicans, who typically favor less government intervention, 30 percent said the federal government should do less, compared to the 36 percent who thought it could play a more active role. Only 10 percent of Democrats believed the federal government should be doing less.The poll had a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 2.3 percentage points.

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Congress' backing of Netanyahu on Iran more show than substance While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to the U.S. Congress generated loud applause and worldwide headlines, it is unlikely to lead to new legislation or a shift in U.S. policy toward Iran.Although Netanyahu won praise from the Republicans who invited him to speak on Tuesday and who control the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, he faced fierce criticism from Democrats including Barack Obama whose support is crucial to pushing new legislation through, U.S. lawmakers said."He came, he spoke, but he didn't conquer," said Daniel Kurtzer, who served as ambassador to Israel under Republican President George W. Bush and ambassador to Egypt under Democratic President Bill Clinton. He is now at Princeton University.After Netanyahu's address, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would rush to a vote as soon as next week on a bill that would require Obama to submit any nuclear agreement with Iran for congressional approval.The White House has threatened to veto the measure. Many Democrats dismissed McConnell's announcement as political theater. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Republicans' "partisan tactics" could mean the bill might never get to Obama's desk."It may be a situation where the president doesn't even have to veto it because there are now legitimate questions that are being raised about whether or not it's actually going to even pass the Senate," he told reporters on Wednesday.The bill was introduced last week by Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat, and Senator Robert Corker, a Republican.On Wednesday, Menendez and nine other Democratic senators released a letter to McConnell saying they objected to his plan to bring the bill directly to the Senate floor for debate and would not support it at least until after March 24."There is no reason to rush this to the floor unless you are worried about political points," Menendez told reporters, accusing McConnell of "hijacking" the bill. Iran and international negotiators have set deadlines of late March to reach a framework agreement and June for a comprehensive final settlement to curb Iran's nuclear program to ensure it cannot develop an atomic bomb. In exchange, Iran wants crippling economic sanctions to be lifted.Obama has said the legislation and another proposed bill that seeks to tighten sanctions could endanger the delicate nuclear negotiations if they are passed now. Republicans have a 54-seat majority in the 100-member Senate but would need 60 votes to move ahead with the bill. If a nuclear agreement is reached with Iran, Congress will eventually have to approve any permanent end to sanctions.The laws were written to let the president waive them temporarily if necessary for national security, so Obama could back up a nuclear deal with some immediate sanctions relief.A final deal would have to spell out exactly when sanctions could be lifted permanently. Congressional aides said that could be in one or two years after an agreement was reached.

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Lawmaker becomes first Republican to enter California's U.S. Senate race California state lawmaker Rocky Chavez on Thursday became the first Republican to jump into the race for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated next year by Democrat Barbara Boxer.Chavez, a retired Marine colonel who represents part of San Diego County in the State Assembly, faces an uphill battle against Democratic state Attorney General Kamala Harris in the heavily blue state.But Chavez predicted he would win support from Californians concerned about national security, the economy and the state's troubled public education system."If things get worse overseas, who would Californians want representing them in the Senate? A lawyer from San Francisco or a Marine colonel who knows how lives can be protected?" Chavez said, citing the threat from the Islamic State militant group.Chavez has charted a mostly centrist course since winning election to the Legislature in 2012, backing immigration reform and same-sex marriage while saying that as a Catholic, he opposes abortion. He has also supported education reform, introducing a bill to loosen some job protections for teachers.Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa flirted for weeks with a run after Boxer announced her retirement in January. The Democrat said last week he would not seek the job.Harris' spokesman, Brian Brokaw, said on Thursday she "welcomes Assemblyman Chavez to the race and believes anyone should run for office if that's how he or she believes California can be best served."A Field poll released last month showed 46 percent of likely voters were inclined to support Harris, compared with 20 percent for Chavez among a list of potential candidates. Forty-nine percent of respondents said they would support former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, a Republican, if she sought the seat.Rice has not said if she would consider a run.

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Supreme Court rejects cases on Guantanamo detainee treatment The Supreme Court on Monday spurned two appeals involving U.S. treatment of Guantanamo Bay detainees, barring a Syrian man from suing the United States over alleged torture and blocking the release of images purported to show evidence of a Saudi man's mistreatment.The justices in both cases left intact lower-court rulings in favor of the U.S. government.In one case, the court left in place a January 2014 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit against a Syrian former detainee, Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak al Janko. He had sought to sue the United States for damages stemming from his treatment during seven years at the U.S. facility in Cuba. Janko says he was tortured and suffered physical and psychological degradation at Guantanamo from 2002 to 2009 after being detained in Afghanistan in 2001. Janko was seeking damages for the way he was treated.The appeals court said that based on what Congress has directed, courts do not have the authority to hear lawsuits like the one filed by Janko. Separately, the court handed a victory to the CIA by declining to take up a case in which a Washington-based civil liberties group, the Center for Constitutional Rights, was seeking access to videos and photographs of another detainee, Saudi citizen Mohammed al-Qahtani.The justices left in place a September 2014 decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled the images are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, a law intended to facilitate the release of information held by the government.The appeals court said releasing the images could harm U.S. national security by inciting anti-American sentiment.Al-Qahtani is known as the "20th hijacker" over his alleged intention to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The Center for Constitutional Rights said the images would show evidence that al-Qahtani was tortured.He is still in being held at Guantanamo.Janko was released from Guantanamo in October 2009 after a successful legal challenge to his detention. Prior to his detention by U.S. forces, Janko had been imprisoned and tortured by the then-Taliban-led Afghan government as a suspected U.S. spy.The United States opened the Guantanamo detention facility in 2002 to hold what it described as foreign terrorism suspects. The treatment of detainees there has drawn international criticism.The cases are Janko v. Gates, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 14-650 and Center for Constitutional Rights v. CIA, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 14-658.

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Review of Hillary Clinton emails to take months: U.S. official A growing controversy over Democrat Hillary Clinton's use of personal email for work while she was U.S. secretary of state could drag on for months, threatening to cloud the expected launch of her 2016 presidential campaign.Clinton tried to cool the brewing firestorm late on Wednesday, saying she wanted the State Department to release the emails quickly. But a senior State Department official told Reuters on Thursday the task would take time."The review is likely to take several months given the sheer volume of the document set," the official said.That could dash any Clinton hopes of putting the controversy to rest quickly, and give her Republican foes plenty of time to hit her with allegations that the use of personal email for official duties while secretary of state from 2009 to 2013 was inappropriate."I want the public to see my email," Clinton said in a tweet. "I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible."The controversy landed Clinton in trouble just as she prepares to launch a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. It has prompted some Democrats to wonder whether someone else should be their candidate in the bid to succeed President Barack Obama.A total of 55,000 pages of documents covering the time Clinton was in office has been turned over, according to the State Department. But Clinton and her aides controlled that process, and the emails were not archived on government servers.Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters during a visit to Saudi Arabia that the State Department would review the documents "as rapidly as possible.""We'll conclude it as soon as we can and get those released publicly," Kerry said.Clinton's tweeted statement came hours after a congressional committee investigating the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, issued subpoenas for her emails.The U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Benghazi demanded all Clinton communications related to the incident, in which a U.S. ambassador was killed, and sent letters to internet companies telling them to protect relevant documents.The panel's Republican chairman, Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, told reporters he wanted the documents within two weeks or a "really good explanation" for why not. Republicans have scrutinized Clinton's actions regarding the Benghazi attack in which Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others were killed during an assault on a U.S. facility. Republican lawmakers believe she did not do enough to ensure the safety of Americans in Libya.The email controversy could intensify long-standing Republican criticism of Clinton's transparency and ethics. The former first lady and U.S. senator has been a lightning rod for Republican critics dating back to the administration of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.Clinton is the prohibitive favorite for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, and there was no sign the controversy was forcing a change of plans. A Democratic source familiar with campaign planning said to expect a Clinton announcement on her intentions in the spring.The State Department has defended Clinton, saying there was no prohibition at the time on using personal email for official business as long as it was preserved.But experts have called her use of personal email highly unusual and said it could have left her communications vulnerable to hacking.On Thursday, the Republican National Committee's top lawyer asked the State Department's inspector general to investigate Clinton's email use. "The American public deserves to know whether one of its top-ranking public official’s actions violated federal law," RNC Chief Counsel John Phillippe wrote in a letter urging the probe.

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Boehner, other top House members urge weapons for Ukraine U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and other senior Republican and Democratic House members urged U.S. President Barack Obama to quickly authorize lethal weapons for Ukraine as it battles Russian-backed separatists, according to a letter released on Thursday."We urge you to quickly approve additional efforts to support Ukraine’s efforts to defend its sovereign territory, including through the transfer of lethal, defensive weapons systems to the Ukrainian military," they wrote in a letter, dated Wednesday and signed by eight Republicans and three Democrats.The letter followed up on a meeting between Boehner, other members of Congress and Ukrainian lawmakers last week. Obama along with European leaders are weighing their next steps in dealing with the conflict in eastern Ukraine, including possibly providing weapons as well as additional sanctions against Moscow over its role in supporting rebels. U.S. officials have said they are concerned about the risk of escalating the level of fighting and getting sucked into a proxy war with Russia. Victoria Nuland, U.S. assistant secretary of state for European affairs, told a congressional hearing on Wednesday that the United States had provided $118 million in security aid in the past 14 months. Last month, the State Department pledged nearly $17 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine.U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed frustration with what many see as the Obama administration's resistance to providing weapons despite what they see as increased Russian aggression."In the face of Russian aggression, the lack of clarity on our overall strategy thus far has done little to reassure our friends and allies in the region who, understandably, feel vulnerable. This needs to change," the lawmakers wrote in the letter.The House and U.S. Senate voted unanimously late last year for a bill authorizing Obama to provide weapons to Kiev but he has yet to decide whether to send any. Wednesday's letter was signed by Boehner, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and top Republicans and Democrats from the House Foreign Affairs, Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, as well as the Republican chairs of the House Appropriations Committee and Defense and State and Foreign Operations Appropriations subcommittees.

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Factbox: Obamacare case focuses on tax subsidies, insurance exchanges The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a second major challenge to President Barack Obama's healthcare law on Wednesday, focusing on the issue of tax subsidies available through insurance exchanges set up under the statute.Here is a look at the exchanges and subsidies.HEALTH INSURANCE EXCHANGESThe Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, requires people who do not get health insurance through their employer, or the government programs Medicare and Medicaid to buy their own insurance. To make that easier, it created health insurance exchanges, which are centralized online marketplaces that allow consumers to shop among competing insurance plans. WHO RUNS THE EXCHANGES?The law requires states to establish their own exchanges, but it allows the federal government to do so instead when states are unwilling or unable. So far, 13 of the 50 states as well as the District of Columbia have established their own exchanges, and another three have state-federal hybrid exchanges, according to the U.S. government's brief in the case.SUBSIDIESBecause of the high cost of health insurance, the exchanges depend upon another key part of the law: subsidies. The federal government gives people who buy insurance on the exchanges subsidies in the form of tax credits.The subsidies are meant to help low- and middle-income Americans buy health insurance on the exchanges, and are based on income. For example, a family of four may qualify for subsidies in 2015 if its estimated income for the year is less than $95,400.HOW MANY QUALIFY FOR SUBSIDIES?The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that of the people who bought insurance through the federal government's health exchange website as of Jan. 30, nearly nine in 10 qualified for subsidies. On average, the department said, those subsidies covered 72 percent of their premiums, or $268 per month.Wednesday's arguments before the Supreme Court focus upon whether people who buy insurance through federal exchanges can get subsidies.

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Ted Cruz announces he's running for president Ted Cruz is running for president.The Texas GOP senator sent a tweet after midnight saying, "I'm running for President and I hope to earn your support!" Attached to the tweet is his first presidential web ad, 30 seconds long, declaring, "It's a time for truth, a time to rise to the challenge, just as Americans have always done. I believe in America and her people, and I believe we can stand up and restore our promise. It's going to take a new generation of courageous conservatives to make America great again, and I'm ready to stand with you to lead the fight."Cruz, whose midnight Tweet landed on the fifth anniversary of the signing of Obamacare into law, will reprise his announcement Monday morning at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He hinted at his midnight Twitter announcement in an earlier tweet Sunday evening.The 44-year-old Cruz is the first high-profile candidate to formally launch a White House bid, although several GOP contenders are expected to enter the race in the coming weeks. The Republican firebrand has been touring the country, making stops at states pivotal in a general election campaign, in preparation for a reported 2016 run. Cruz, who was elected to the Senate in 2012, soon established himself as an uncompromising conservative willing to take on Democrats and Republicans alike. He promises to repeal the federal health care law, abolish the Internal Revenue Service and scrap the Education Department.His antics in the upper chamber, which included a 21-hour floor speech opposing Obamacare in 2013, have earned him notoriety. And though his appeal to the hyper-conservative wing of Republicans -- and to tea party hardliners in particular -- has given him a high profile since his election to the Senate, some remain skeptical about his electability to national office.

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Wisconsin Assembly debate begins on right-to-work bill Wisconsin lawmakers on Thursday began a final debate on a measure supported by Republican Governor Scott Walker that would prohibit private-sector workers from being required to join a union or pay dues when working under union contracts.Walker, a presidential hopeful, is expected to sign the right-to-work bill on Monday if it gets to his desk after what could be a 24-hour session in the state Assembly.Protesters shouting "right-to-work is wrong for Wisconsin" from the Assembly gallery brought a temporary halt to the session on Thursday afternoon, drawing an order for security to clear the viewing area.Dozens of demonstrators who tried to get onto the Assembly floor were blocked by capitol security officers.The state Senate approved the bill last week, and the Assembly, where Republicans hold a 63-36 majority, is expected to follow suit to make Wisconsin the 25th state to enact a right-to-work law.Supporters cast the measure as an incentive for keeping and attracting businesses and jobs, while opponents call it a thinly disguised assault on organized labor."Today is a great day for individual liberty," Republican Representative Daniel Knodl said before the debate began.Thousands of workers demonstrated last week when senators debated the bill, but capitol crowds have been far thinner than four years ago, when tens of thousands of people protested a push for a law limiting the powers of public sector unions.A few hundred demonstrators opposed to the bill rallied outside the capitol on Thursday."There is really not much we can do. It's done," said Kanita Hunter, 35, a union member from Milwaukee. Walker's push for the bill covering public-sector workers raised his profile among Republicans, and his support grew when he survived a union-backed recall election in 2012. He has emerged as an early favorite in the battle for the Republican nomination in the November 2016 presidential election."This is a very destructive bill for the middle class," Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca said before the debate.About 8 percent of private-sector workers in Wisconsin are union members, down from about 22 percent three decades ago, according to Unionstats.com, a website that tracks U.S. union membership and labor statistics. "A law like this would have never been entertained two decades ago," University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist John Ahlquist said. "The law is a symbol of the weakness of unions."

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Former health secretary to head up Clinton Foundation Donna Shalala, a former U.S. secretary of health and human services, will lead the nonprofit Clinton Foundation after its previous chief executive resigned in January, former President Bill Clinton announced on Friday.Shalala, who has a decades-long friendship with the Clintons and served in Bill Clinton's cabinet, will become the foundation's president and chief executive officer in the coming months. Last year, she announced she would soon be ending her 14-year tenure as president of the University of Miami."I don't know in my long life that I ever worked with anybody that has quite the combination of policy knowledge and concern, political skills, of a personal touch with people, and a sense of innate fairness that inspires confidence," Clinton said, as Shalala stood smiling alongside him. The announcement was made onstage at a youth conference for the Clinton Global Initiative, an offshoot of the foundation, at the University of Miami.Shalala, who jokingly introduced Clinton as "the supreme guardian of the galaxy," did not comment on her appointment during her remarks onstage.Hiring her puts the family's philanthropy in the hands of a trusted ally at a time when Hillary Clinton, who oversees the foundation alongside Bill Clinton and their daughter, Chelsea, is mulling a run for president as a Democrat in 2016.Bill Clinton set up the foundation in 2001 to focus on global issues such as climate change and healthcare. It has since helped markedly reduce the cost of drugs for people with HIV in the developing world.Hillary Clinton's political opponents have recently criticized the foundation for once again accepting new donations from foreign governments, which are disclosed on its website, after she stepped down from her role as U.S. secretary of state in 2013. Her critics warn the donations could create a conflict of interest should she end up in the White House. The foundation says disclosing of its donors and its refusal to accept anonymous donations should allay those worries, and that they would reconsider its donation policy if Clinton runs. Green groups have been troubled by the foundation's ties to energy companies.In January, former foundation head Eric Braverman stepped down after about a year and a half in the job and was replaced temporarily with a longtime Hillary Clinton aide. Shalala led the Department of Health and Human Services for eight years, and before that was chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.George W. Bush awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008.

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U.S. Senate leader McConnell promises no default on debt The U.S. Congress will be in no hurry to raise the federal government's borrowing limit, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday, but will act in time to avoid Washington defaulting on its debt."The debt ceiling will be handled over a period of months," McConnell said during an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation" broadcast.On Friday, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew asked Congress to raise the statutory cap on borrowing "as soon as possible."The government is expected to exhaust its borrowing authority around March 15, but it can take emergency steps to continue paying its bills. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates such steps will be exhausted sometime in October or November."I made it very clear after the November (2014) election we're certainly not going to shut down the government or default on the national debt," McConnell said.Even so, Congress is emerging from a contentious fight that at one point brought the Department of Homeland Security within hours of having to shut down some of its operations, as Republicans tied the agency's funding to an attempt to block new immigration policies by President Barack Obama.Several Republican lawmakers have already predicted the battle over the debt limit could become even more difficult than the DHS funding fight.Small-government Tea Party activists, who make up a vocal part of Republican ranks, could try to link the debt limit to legislation that Obama and his fellow Democrats in Congress might balk at.In the CBS interview, McConnell said he hoped a debt limit extension "might carry some other important legislation that we can agree on in connection with it."He did not provide specifics during the interview, nor did a spokesman after the broadcast.Since 2011, when Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives, Obama and Congress have tangled over the debt limit, flirting with a possible default.

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Kentucky officials wary of senator's EPA warning Officials in Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's home state of Kentucky rejected the senator's plea to states this week to ignore federal deadlines to comply with proposed carbon limits for power plants, warning it could cause more economic harm in the long run.McConnell, leader of the Senate Republican majority, urged governors and state officials Tuesday to "think twice" before submitting state plans to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to comply with its Clean Power Plan, a federal rule that requires each state to slash the carbon emission rate of its power plants. The op-ed in the Lexington Herald-Leader was the latest statement the coal state senator has made in his fight to topple the EPA's proposal, which he said is on "legally shaky ground."He warned that submitting plans to the EPA locks states into federal enforcement and exposes them to lawsuits. Kentucky is one of 12 states that has already sued the EPA over its Clean Power Plan, which has yet to be finalized.But Kentucky state officials said Thursday that halting work to craft a tailored plan to comply with the EPA proposal is a risky proposition, and could result in Kentucky facing more rigid restrictions on its power plants if legal challenges fail.States have until June 2016 to submit a compliance plan that outlines how it will meet its targets. Failure to submit a plan would result in states having to adopt a federal default plan that would offer less flexibility in meeting the targets."Failing to follow through with creation of that plan means Kentucky would most likely have to abide by a Federal Implementation Plan that would cause harm to Kentucky’s economic future and burden the next administration with challenges not of its making,” said Dick Brown, a spokesman for Kentucky's Energy and Environment Cabinet.Democratic Governor Steve Beshear's energy and environment cabinet has been working with utilities to map out a strategy to meet the EPA rules while trying to keep electric rates low. His cabinet hopes to pass that on to Beshear's successor after his term ends in December.One industry lawyer said risking a federal plan would cost coal states more because it would offer them fewer cost-effective options to comply, and legal challenges may fail."Just saying no isn't the best approach if a state is really concerned about the plan’s costs," said Brian Potts, a lawyer with Foley & Lardner.

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Wisconsin Assembly slogs through debate on right-to-work bill; unions cry foul Weary Wisconsin lawmakers debated into the early hours of Friday a measure supported by Republican Governor Scott Walker that would stop private-sector workers from having to join a union or pay dues as a condition of employment.Opponents call the draft law a thinly disguised assault on organized labor that will drive down wages, and security staff had to clear the Assembly gallery on Thursday after protesters temporarily halted the debate with chants. Walker, a presidential hopeful, is expected to sign the so-called right-to-work bill on Monday if it gets to his desk after the marathon debate, which could end up lasting 24 hours.Wisconsin would be the 25th state to enact such a law and Walker's history of pushing back against union rights has bolstered his credentials as an early favorite in the battle for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election.The state Senate approved the text last week, and the Assembly, where Republicans hold a 63-36 majority, is expected to follow suit.Supporters cast the measure as an incentive for attracting businesses and jobs, saying it is wrong to allow unions to force workers to pay dues if they don't want to."This is about freedom ... it's time for right-to-work in Wisconsin," said Republican Representative Dean Knudson. Opponents say the law will leave workers vulnerable, arguing that so-called collective bargaining, where unions negotiate on behalf of all their members, helps maintain better pay and conditions."I rise today to stand with labor, the mighty force that built this state," Democrat Rep. JoCasta Zamaripa said.Tired lawmakers rubbed their eyes as coffee cups and soda bottles gathered on their Assembly floor desks, as the Democrats elongated the debate with winding speeches about the history of organized labor in Wisconsin and the state's economy. Three hundred demonstrators opposed to the bill rallied outside the capitol on Thursday and dozens of demonstrators who tried to get onto the Assembly floor were blocked by capitol security officers. Two people were arrested, police said. Thousands of workers demonstrated last week when senators debated the bill, but capitol crowds have been far thinner than four years ago, when tens of thousands of people protested a push for a law limiting the powers of public sector unions. Walker's push for the 2011 bill covering public-sector workers raised his profile among Republicans, and his support grew when he survived a union-backed recall election in 2012. About 8 percent of private-sector workers in Wisconsin are union members, down from about 22 percent three decades ago, according to Unionstats.com, a website that tracks U.S. union membership. "The law is a symbol of the weakness of unions," University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist John Ahlquist said.

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Delayed trade bill no impediment to Pacific deal: U.S. official A delay in finalizing legislation to streamline the passage of trade deals through the U.S. Congress should not push back the timetable for completing a Pacific trade deal, a senior State Department official said on Friday.Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Catherine Novelli said even if lawmakers do not vote on so-called fast track legislation until April, it will not stop negotiators from pressing ahead with the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)."I don't think that would impede in any way being able to complete the TPP," Novelli told Reuters."We are very optimistic that these issues can be ironed out and that a bill can be brought forward, even if it's not being voted on the floor in March, the bill itself can be brought forward."Senate Committee on Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, a Republican, said this week that talks with Democrats on the legislation were "stuck" and he did not see the bill, which would give Congress a yes-or-no vote on trade deals, coming up on the legislative schedule before next month. New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said on Feb. 26 the deal had to be finished by mid-year. The United States is also negotiating a trade deal with the European Union, which is keen for Washington to commit to exports of oil and natural gas.Novelli said the United States' 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports was not up for discussion as part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), while talks were continuing on natural gas. "We have not normally had energy be part of our agreements, we have not put down a hard foot on that though with the EU, and that remains to be worked out," Novelli said.

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U.S. begins measures to buy time under debt limit The Obama administration on Friday said it would start using emergency cash measures to allow the government to keep paying the nation's bills once it hits the legal debt limit in about a week.Congress is expected to face another contentious debate over raising the U.S. legal borrowing authority, which is due to expire on March 15. If it stretches to the final deadline, the timing would coincide with the debate over government agency funding for the new fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.The Congressional Budget Office said this week that if Congress does not raise the federal debt limit, the Treasury Department will exhaust all of its borrowing capacity and run out of cash in October or November, slightly later than a previous forecast.To avoid running out of room to borrow, Treasury said it will suspend issuance of state and local government series securities, known as "slugs," next Friday.In a letter to congressional leaders on Friday, U.S. Treasury Jack Lew urged Congress to raise the borrowing cap "as soon as possible."In 2011, a debt limit standoff in Congress brought the United States close to an unprecedented debt default before it was resolved with a budget deal that put in place automatic spending constraints that last through 2021.

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Democratic Representative Donna Edwards to seek Maryland U.S. Senate seat: Washington Post U.S. Democratic Representative Donna Edwards is expected to announce on Tuesday she will seek Maryland's U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Democrat Barbara Mikulski, the Washington Post reported, citing two Democrats familiar with her plans.Fellow Democratic Representative Chris Van Hollen said last week he was running to succeed Mikulski in next year's election. On Friday, he won the endorsement of U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid.Edwards, 56, the first black woman to serve in Congress from Maryland, said last week she was "seriously considering" a run for the seat.Other Democratic members of Maryland's House of Representatives delegation, including Dutch Ruppersberger and John Delaney, have said they are considering runs.

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CIA to make sweeping changes, focus more on cyber ops: agency chief The Central Intelligence Agency will make one of the biggest overhauls in its nearly 70-year history, aimed in part at sharpening its focus on cyber operations and incorporating digital innovations, CIA director John Brennan said.Brennan said he is creating new units within the CIA, called "mission centers," intended to concentrate the agency's focus on specific challenges or geographic areas, such as weapons proliferation or Africa.The CIA director said he also is establishing a new "Directorate of Digital Innovation" to lead efforts to track and take advantage of advances in cyber technology to gather intelligence.Historically, electronic eavesdroppers at the National Security Agency have been at the cutting edge of digital innovation within the U.S. government. But the CIA felt that it had to reorganize to keep up with the technological "pace of change," as one official put it.Brennan said the new digital directorate will have equal status within the agency with four other directorates which have existed for years."Our ability to carry out our responsibilities for human intelligence and national security responsibilities has become more challenging" in today's digital world, Brennan said. "And so what we need to do as an agency is make sure we’re able to understand all of the aspects of that digital environment."Brennan briefed a small group of reporters on the changes on Wednesday, on the condition they did not publish until he told CIA employees on Friday.Stepping up the CIA's expertise in cyberspace may help it counter technological innovations and sophisticated use of social media by militant groups such as Islamic State. It could also mitigate what U.S. officials have said is damage to intelligence gathering caused by former NSA and CIA contractor Edward Snowden.The 10 new "mission centers" will bring together CIA officers with expertise from across the agency's range of disciplines to concentrate on specific intelligence target areas or subject matter, Brennan said.Competition between spy agencies and between units within agencies has led to "stove piping" of information that should have been widely shared and to critical information falling through bureaucratic cracks, Brennan and other U.S. intelligence officials said."I know there are seams right now, but what we’ve tried to do with these mission centers is cover the entire universe, regionally and functionally, and so something that’s going on in the world falls into one of those buckets," Brennan said.The CIA currently operates at least two such interdisciplinary centers, covering counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence.Reaction to the CIA reorganization was mostly positive, although some veterans acknowledged it will likely prompt bureaucratic friction within the spy agency."I think that this will strengthen the CIA significantly over time," former CIA acting director and deputy director Michael Morell said."There are short term costs...A lot of things to work out," Morell added. "And there are going to be...senior people with heartburn."Sen. Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, praised Brennan's moves."This reorganization was driven not by any institutional failure, but by the realization that the world has changed over the course of the last 70 years. In many ways, the Director’s proposal is long overdue," Burr said in a statement.Created in 1947, the CIA is divided into four major directorates. Two - the Directorate of Science and Technology, which among other activities invents spy gadgets, and the Directorate of Support, which handles administrative and logistical tasks - will retain their names.The Directorate of Intelligence will be renamed "Directorate of Analysis" to reflect its function as the home of agency experts who collate and analyze information from secret and open sources, Brennan said.The National Clandestine Service, home of front-line agency undercover "case officers," who recruit spies and conduct covert actions, will be renamed Directorate of Operations, which is what it had been called for most of the agency's history.

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Obama notes concerns over 'dirty' Keystone oil extraction U.S. President Barack Obama amplified the concerns of environmentalists about the Keystone XL oil pipeline on Friday and repeated his own reservations the project would have few benefits, but said he has not made a decision on the project.Obama, explaining the debate over the pipeline to a group of students, described concerns about the "extraordinarily dirty" extraction methods for Canadian oilsands - a description the Canadian government has long argued is unfair."The reason that a lot of environmentalists are concerned about it is the way that you get the oil out in Canada is an extraordinarily dirty way of extracting oil, and obviously there are always risks in piping a lot of oil through Nebraska farmland and other parts of the country," Obama told students at the town hall event.Green groups said the comments showed Obama is likely to decide against TransCanada Corp's project that has been pending for more than six years.Jim Murphy, senior counsel for the National Wildlife Federation, said Obama's comments "are the strongest indication yet that points the needle to the president rejecting the pipeline." Obama has downplayed the jobs the pipeline would create since late last year, and the relief it would give to U.S. drivers. On Friday, he reiterated the project will only create "about 300" permanent jobs and would mainly benefit Canada.An energy policy analyst said Obama's comments are either a proxy for the way the president feels about the pipeline or an explanation of why its such a hard decision for him to make. "If indeed he is criticizing the extraction process itself, it does seem a step more negative," said Kevin Book, an energy policy analyst at ClearView Energy Partners. Obama, who has said the project should not be approved if it significantly impacts climate change, is expected to make a final decision in coming weeks or months."I haven't made a final determination on it, but what I've said is, 'we're not going to authorize a pipeline that benefits largely a foreign company if it can't be shown that it is safe and if it can't be shown that overall it would not contribute to climate change,'" Obama said on Friday.

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Iran president on nuke talks: "Achieving a deal is possible" With 10 days to a nuclear deal deadline, top U.S. and Iranian officials spoke Saturday of substantial headway, and Iran's president proclaimed that an agreement was within reach. But America's top diplomat said it was up to Tehran to make the decisions needed to get there. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said "achieving a deal is possible" by a March 31 target date for a preliminary accord that is meant to lead to a final deal by the end of June that would crimp Tehran's nuclear programs in exchange for sanctions relief.Secretary of State John Kerry was more circumspect as he spoke to reporters after six days of negotiations in the Swiss city of Lausanne.The talks made "substantial progress," he said, but "important gaps remain. "We have an opportunity to get this right," Kerry said, as he urged Iran to make "fundamental decisions" that prove to the world it has no interest in atomic weapons. But Iran's supreme leader warned against expectations that even a done deal would mend the more than three-decade freeze between the two nations in place since the Iranian revolution and siege of the American Embassy, proclaiming that Washington and Tehran remained on opposite sides on most issues. "Negotiations with America are solely on the nuclear issue and nothing else. Everyone has to know that," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told a crowd in northeastern Iran on the first day of the Persian new year. "We do not talk with U.S. over regional issues. In the regional issues, America's goals are completely opposed to our goals."Among the major hurdles to tackle when the negotiations resume next week is whether Iran will allow snap inspections of all nuclear sites, not just its five known atomic plants, CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan reports. The U.S. is also trying to curb Iran's ability to build an intercontinental ballistic missile. With talks at a critical point, President Obama took his case directly to the Iranian people, urging them to seize a deal. "This year we have the best opportunity in decades," Mr. Obama said in a YouTube video. "This moment may not come again soon.I believe that our nations have a historic opportunity to resolve this issue peacefully -- an opportunity we should not miss."After Rouhani's mother died, Kerry paid his respects to Rouhani's brother, a member of the Iranian negotiating team.Reza Marashi of the National Iranian American Council told CBS News the gesture speaks volumes. "Eighteen months ago, not only would that have been impossible, it would have been illegal under American law because of the no-contact policy," Marashi said. "So this is just a small point that shows the tremendous progress that has been made."In a reflection of the delicate state of negotiations, other officials differed on how close the sides were to a deal. Top Russian negotiator Sergey Ryabkov and Iran's atomic energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi said in recent days that technical work was nearly done. But French officials insisted the sides were far from any agreement. Kerry was meeting Saturday with European allies in London, in part to ensure unity, before returning to Washington. Kerry said the U.S. and its five negotiating partners -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia -- are "united in our goal, our approach, our resolve and our determination."In London, Kerry and the European ministers said in a joint statement that any "solution must be comprehensive, durable and verifiable." "None of our countries can subscribe to a deal that does not meet these terms," said the statement, which was read out by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. Kerry said earlier in the day the U.S. wasn't rushing into a pact, stressing that the latest stab at a diplomatic settlement with Iran has gone on for 2 1/2 years. "We don't want just any deal," he said. "If we had, we could have announced something a long time ago." But, he added, decisions "don't get any easier as time goes by." "It's time to make hard decisions," Kerry emphasized. "We want the right deal that would make the world, including the United States and our closest allies and partners, safer and more secure. And that is our test." But France, which raised last minute objections to an interim agreement reached with Iran in 2013, could threaten a deal again. It is particularly opposed to providing Iran with quick relief from international sanctions and wants a longer timeframe for restrictions on Iran's nuclear activity."France wants an agreement, but a robust agreement," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told French radio. "That is to say, an accord that really guarantees that Iran can obviously have access to the civil nuclear (program)." "But to the atomic bomb? No." On Twitter on Friday, France's ambassador to the U.S. called talk about needing a deal by March 31 a "bad tactic" that is "counterproductive and dangerous." Gerard Araud called it an "artificial deadline" and said negotiators should focus instead on the next phase -- reaching a complete agreement by the end of June. One encouraging sign is the apparent narrowing of differences on Iran's uranium enrichment program. Tehran insists it wants to enrich only for energy, medical and research purposes, but much of the world fears it could turn the process toward making the fissile core of a nuclear warhead. As the current round wound down this week, officials told Brennan that the United States and Iran are drafting elements of a deal that commits the Iranians to a 40 percent cut in the number of machines they use to enrich uranium. The U.S. and Europe would lift some economic sanctions much sooner than initially planned, and the length of a possible deal has also grown to at least 20 years. For Washington, the stakes are high if the talks miss the March deadline. The Obama administration has warned that a diplomatic failure could lead to an ever tougher dilemma: Whether to launch a military attack on Iran or allow it to reach nuclear weapons capacity. A more immediate challenge may be intervention from Congress. If American lawmakers pass new sanctions, the Islamic Republic could respond by busting through the interim limits on its nuclear program it agreed to 16 months ago. Thus far, it has stuck to that agreement.

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Supreme Court revives Notre Dame's Obamacare contraception objections The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday revived the University of Notre Dame's religious objections to the requirement for contraception coverage under President Barack Obama's healthcare law, throwing out a lower court decision in favor of the federal government.The justices asked the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision against the South Bend, Indiana-based Roman Catholic university in light of the June 2014 Supreme Court ruling that allowed certain privately owned corporations to seek exemptions from the provision.The case is part of national litigation concerning religious objections to the contraception provision of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, known widely as Obamacare. The law requires employers to provide health insurance policies that cover preventive services for women including access to contraception and sterilization.Various challengers, including family-owned companies and religious affiliated nonprofits that oppose abortion and sometimes the use of contraceptives, say the requirement infringes on their religious beliefs.Mark Rienzi, a lawyer with the religious rights group Becket Fund for Religious Liberty who has been involved in similar cases, said Monday's action was "a strong signal that the Supreme Court will ultimately reject the government's narrow view of religious liberty."The court threw out a February 2014 appeals court ruling denying Notre Dame an injunction against the requirement.The appeals court ruling pre-dated the Supreme Court's June 2014 ruling saying family-owned Hobby Lobby Stores Ltd could seek exemptions on religious grounds from the contraception provision.Days later, in a case similar to the Notre Dame dispute, the justices allowed an Illinois college a temporary exemption while litigation continues.Last August, the government amended its compromise plan for nonprofits with religious affiliations, meaning the legal landscape has changed substantially since the appeals court ruled against Notre Dame.Courts that have ruled on the issue since the Supreme Court decision have all decided in favor of the government, finding the compromise does not impose a substantial burden on the plaintiffs' religious beliefs. Religious rights are protected under a law called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.The compromise allows the groups to certify they are opting out, which then forces insurers to pick up the tab.Notre Dame says the certification process still essentially forces the groups to authorize the coverage for employees even if they are not technically paying for it. Religious institutions are exempt from the contraception coverage requirement.The case is Notre Dame v. Burwell, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 14-392.

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Menendez's spokeswoman: U.S. senator's actions were lawful A spokeswoman for U.S. Senator Robert Menendez said on Friday that the New Jersey Democrat's actions have all been "appropriate and lawful," after reports that the U.S. Department of Justice was preparing corruption charges against him.CNN said the charges involve allegations that Menendez used his office to help a donor's business in exchange for gifts. Spokeswoman Tricia Enright said in an emailed statement that she could not address anonymous allegations because "the official investigation of this matter is ongoing."

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Senator Menendez says 'not going anywhere' after reports of possible charges U.S. Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey said on Friday he was "not going anywhere" after CNN reported the Justice Department is preparing criminal corruption charges against him."I am not going anywhere," Menendez said in a statement he read to reporters.

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'Huge gaps' in Clinton email record, Benghazi probe chief says Huge gaps exist in the emails former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has provided to a congressional committee investigating the 2012 attack on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, the panel's chairman said on Sunday.Republican Representative Trey Gowdy said his committee lacked documentation from Clinton's trip to Libya after the attack despite a popular photo image of her using a handheld device during a flight to that country."We have no emails from that day. In fact we have no emails from that trip," said Gowdy, who heads the committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. "There are huge gaps." Widely considered the frontrunner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, Clinton used a private email account for all official business as President Barack Obama's secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.Republicans have scrutinized Clinton's actions over the Benghazi attack in which Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other people were killed. The private email disclosure, published in The New York Times last week, raised Republican concerns about Clinton's commitment to transparency. She has since asked the State Department to release her emails but a State Department official said the review would take some time.Clinton gave the committee eight emails last August and 300 in February related to the attack, Gowdy said on CBS's Face the Nation. Last week, the committee subpoenaed the State Department for other emails. Gowdy said that in fairness the committee would not release the emails' content selectively.The State Department has requested email records from all former secretaries of state, and Clinton has given it 50,000 pages of records to review. Speaking separately on Sunday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, responding to reports he too had a private email account rather than a government one, said he did not have emails to give the department. "I retained none of those emails and we are working with the State Department to see if there's anything else they want to discuss with me about those emails," he said on ABC's This Week.Powell said that when he started as secretary of state under Republican President George W. Bush, the State Department computer systems were antiquated and he strove to update them. In November, its unclassified email system was hacked and had to be shut down temporarily. Obama said on Saturday he only recently learned of Clinton's private email account.

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U.S. Supreme Court split over Obamacare challenge The U.S. Supreme Court appeared sharply divided on ideological lines on Wednesday as it tackled a second major challenge to President Barack Obama's healthcare law, with Justice Anthony Kennedy emerging as a likely swing vote in a ruling.The nine justices heard 85 minutes of arguments in the case brought by conservative opponents of the law who contend its tax credits aimed at helping people afford medical insurance should not be available in most states. A ruling favoring the challengers could cripple the law dubbed Obamacare, the president's signature domestic policy achievement.Kennedy, a conservative who often casts the deciding vote in close cases, raised concerns to lawyers on both sides about the possible negative impact on states if the government loses the case, suggesting he could back the Obama administration. But he did not commit to supporting either side.Chief Justice John Roberts, who supplied the key vote in a 5-4 ruling in 2012 upholding the law in the previous challenge, said little to signal how he might vote.The court's four liberals appeared supportive of the government. Conservatives Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito asked questions sympathetic to the challengers. Fellow conservative Clarence Thomas, following his usual practice, asked nothing.If the court rules against the Obama administration, up to 7.5 million people in at least 34 states would lose the tax subsidies that help low- and moderate-income people buy private health insurance, according to consulting firm Avalere Health.The court challenge was financed by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a libertarian Washington group. The legal question is whether a four-word phrase in the expansive law saying subsidies are available to those buying insurance on exchanges "established by the state" has been correctly interpreted by the administration to allow subsidies to be available nationwide.Exchanges are online marketplaces that allow consumers to shop among competing insurance plans.Kennedy’s concerns focused on the possibility that if the law allows subsidies only for states that set up their own insurance exchanges, it would raise a new, more serious question about whether the law is unconstitutionally coercive by essentially punishing states that fail to establish exchanges.“There’s a serious constitutional problem if we adopt your argument,” Kennedy told the challengers’ lawyer, Michael Carvin.Kennedy said throwing out subsidies would potentially unlawfully pressure states and cause an insurance "death spiral" because premiums would increase. But Kennedy indicated he had an open mind over the challengers' interpretation of the law."It may well be that you're correct as to these words, and there's nothing we can do," Kennedy said.Alito disputed Obama administration lawyer Donald Verrilli’s assertions about the disruptive impact of a ruling allowing subsidies only in states maintaining their own exchanges. Alito said states could simply establish new exchanges.“Going forward, there would be no harm," Alito said.Most of the 50 states have not created exchanges. Thirteen states and the District of Columbia have them, with another 34 run by the federal government and three operating as state-federal hybrids.When Verrilli said people would lose tax credits immediately if the government loses, Alito suggested delaying the ruling's effective date to the end of the tax year.Scalia said Congress could potentially amend the law to avoid disruption if the government loses. Verrilli expressed skepticism the Republican-led House of Representatives and Senate would do so.'CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE'Asked about Alito's comments, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said there are "no contingency plans that could be implemented that would prevent the catastrophic damage" to the law from a ruling favoring the challengers. Earnest doubted a legislative remedy, saying Republicans who control Congress "struggle mightily to do even the simplest, most politically popular things" and have fought Obamacare "tooth and nail."One possible outcome is the court could find the law ambiguous and defer to the government's interpretation. In one of his few remarks, Roberts said that would allow a future president to reverse course. One Kennedy remark indicated he would not support resolving the case that way.On a chilly, damp, cloudy day, a couple hundred demonstrators mostly from pro-Obamacare forces gathered outside the white marble columned courthouse. A couple dozen demonstrators from the conservative Tea Party movement rallied against the law.The Democratic-backed Affordable Care Act, narrowly passed by Congress in 2010 over unified Republican opposition, aimed to help millions of Americans without health insurance obtain coverage. Conservatives call Obamacare a government overreach. Hospitals have benefited financially from customers newly insured via exchanges. Their shares have been under pressure amid the risk Obamacare insurance would disappear if the subsidies are dismantled as the challengers demand.During Wednesday's arguments, Community Health Systems Inc shares rose 5.6 percent, HCA Holdings rose 7.7 percent and Tenet Healthcare Corp rose 6 percent as investors saw Kennedy's comments as an indication he would side with the government, analysts said.The case is King v. Burwell, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 14-114.

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With a nod and a wink, Republicans build 2016 campaign machines Asked last week about his agenda if elected, presumptive Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker began: "Should I choose to be a candidate..."    Then he added with a grin: "My lawyers love it when I say that."    Like the other would-be Republican candidates who took the stage over three days in Washington at the Conservative Political Action Conference, the Wisconsin governor studiously avoided mentioning any plans for the 2016 presidential election.     The pantomime is crucial – it allows candidates to work closely with their funding organizations to rake in big money donations without breaking campaign finance laws. Once they launch their campaign or even say they are “testing the waters", they face far tighter restrictions on their fundraising.Such verbal coquetry is not new in the four-yearly battle for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations. But donors, campaign sources, and campaign finance reform advocates say it is having a much bigger payoff than in the 2012 election, allowing would-be candidates to delay their campaign launches, build up bigger war chests and forge close ties with their donor groups earlier than ever.In a new development that is adding to fundraising and organizational clout, presumptive candidates this year are setting up and working closely with so-called super-PACS and other funding vehicles before they launch official campaigns.     That promises an advantage to some big-name candidates who take an aggressive early approach, and to those who do not currently hold office, since they face fewer restrictions.“There’s a wealth primary underway and a clear sense that they have to maximize their own viability and the only way to maximize viability is money,” said David Donnelly, executive director of a non-profit group, Every Voice, which supports campaign finance reform efforts.Election watchdog groups say the would-be candidates are making a mockery of campaign finance rules by clearly "testing the waters" for a run even as they strenuously avoid saying so. The strategy has allowed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, for example, to embark on an undeclared national campaign that has vacuumed up what media reports have said is a huge sum, though his aides refuse to discuss how much he has raised. Some have characterized Bush’s fundraising push "shock and awe" offensive to deter his rivals.PACs are advocacy groups that pool campaign contributions. Traditionally, donors who contribute through PACs face limits on the amount they can give to help elect or defeat candidates. The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision gave rise to super-PACs, which can't contribute directly to candidates, but have no limit on their spending independent of the campaign.Under federal campaign rules, once candidates officially declare they are testing the waters or running, they must stop accepting "soft money" - donations from corporations and unions - and limit individual campaign donations to $2,700.    They must also stop any coordination of their public messages with the PACS, though the PACS can continue accepting unlimited donations from individuals and corporations.A spokeswoman for Bush, Kristy Campbell, said his "Right to Rise" super-PAC was not paying for any “testing the waters” expenses, which the Federal Election Commission (FEC) defines as a range of activities from travel to determine a candidate's viability to expenses for carrying out polling.A spokeswoman for Walker said he was not a candidate and that his PAC was only a vehicle to help him talk about his "bold reforms" as governor. A spokeswoman for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another presumed front-runner, declined comment.A spokeswoman for the FEC declined to comment. A TWINKLE IN HIS EYEFund-raising on the Democrat side has been less frenzied so far, with Hillary Clinton seen as the overwhelming favorite to become the nominee.    There is so far little public data on the amounts raised by the Republicans' "pre-campaigns", but anecdotal evidence and comments from campaign sources suggest the money is rolling in faster and earlier than usual.    Presumptive candidates, including Walker and Jeb Bush, have opened appearances one-on-one with big donors or before groups of donors – including at a $100,000 per plate Bush fundraising dinner - with a disclaimer saying they have not yet decided whether to run for president. A Bush PAC staff member told a conference call with wealthy Texas donors this week that fundraising totals were exceeding the Bush team’s expectations, according to a person familiar with the conversation.The current record for campaign funds raised in one quarter is $50 million by Jeb's brother George W. Bush in 2007, but many experts expect that to be outstripped this year by at least one candidate due to the broader use of PACs. Several other candidates are closely coordinating with their outside political groups. One example: all media inquiries about Walker's campaign are being handled by his PAC, Our American Revival. Christie's presidential press calls are being fielded by his PAC.    George Pataki, a former New York governor who launched his own super-PAC in late January, has been meeting with donors and collecting money, but won't call himself a candidate. He went so far as to deliver a theatrical wink to one big donor in New York City while reciting the disclaimer about how he is not running.    "Perhaps it was a twinkle in his eye," said his spokesman David Catalfamo. "but Governor Pataki has said stated clearly and repeatedly that, but for our nation's arcane campaign finance laws, he could very well be a candidate for president right now."

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A different sort of Bush: policy wonk Jeb faces campaign image test In Republican Jeb Bush, Americans are seeing a different sort of Bush on their TV screens: a policy wonk who wears horn-rimmed glasses and has neither his brother's famous Texas swagger nor his father's patrician air.The more introverted nature of Jeb, who admits he would rather stay home with a book than go out dancing, could be one challenge for his expected presidential campaign as he begins the kind of face-to-face interaction needed in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire. The former Florida governor will need to convince voters to elect another Bush in 2016 over other Republican stars, many of whom so far appear more at ease in the public glare, such as New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.Bush, who has not run for office for 12 years and who admits he lost the 1994 Florida governor race because people did not connect with him, has not always looked comfortable on stage in the early stages of the Republican nominee race. Bush's aides say he prefers question-and-answer formats to set-piece speeches because they plays to his strengths, such as a detailed knowledge of policy. Many Republicans say that all he needs to do is shake off some rust."Jeb's got substance," said Florida Republican strategist Rick Wilson. "He's got a lot of stories to tell as a successful governor and those things matter in the assessment people are going to make about the various candidates in the field."The brother of former President George W. Bush and son of former President George H.W. Bush is a practiced public speaker, but he tends to rush through prepared speeches and image experts say he has room to improve his body language.And Bush is downright nerdy when it comes to details of policy and prides himself on minutiae. While the folksy George W. Bush famously described al Qaeda militants as "evildoers," Jeb uses diplomat-speak to say the extremist Islamic State group is an "asymmetric threat."David Yepsen, a long-time Iowa watcher who is director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University, said presidential candidates need an electric and charismatic presence and Bush has a ways to go to get there."If he’s not exciting them with speeches and rhetoric the way Barack Obama did, he’s got to do that personally and spend time with caucus-goers and primary voters and really work to overcome some of the problems he has as a result of his being the third Bush to run," he said.WINNING THE IMAGE BATTLEImage can be a crucial factor in presidential races, as voters seek someone they can envision in the Oval Office and to whom they can relate. The 2012 Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, was seen as stiff and aloof, a perception that also dogged Democrat Al Gore in 2000.Image experts describe Bush's body language as a work in progress after reviewing videotapes of his recent appearances.They notice that he slumps his shoulders forward to look less than his six-foot-four-inch frame, and that he rubs his hands together, twists his wedding ring and thrusts a hand into a pocket, all signs suggesting some degree of public anxiety.Jane Seaman, owner of the Imagine Image consulting firm in Houston, said Bush "seems uncomfortable in his clothes."Image consultants say he will need to add passion to his obvious policy expertise."His words are very crafted. He's not yet personally passionate," said Patsy Cisneros, owner of West Coast-based Corporate Icon, an executive image specialist. Bush is not known to consult an image specialist. The Bush camp declined to comment on how he is prepared for public appearances. At an agricultural forum in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday, Bush appeared to be getting the hang of things. He praised the local food and reminisced warmly about his father's first, unsuccessful presidential bid in 1979. The 62-year-old Jeb admits that he's at heart an introvert, telling a crowd in San Francisco recently that he "would rather read a book than go out and get in a conga line or go dancing."When he ran again for Florida governor in 1998 and won, he did so by showing voters he cared about issues important to them. Vowing to improve education, for example, he visited 250 schools."I earned it by working hard to connect with people," he said in Detroit last month. "That experience on a national scale is going to be part of the strategy."

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Senate Democratic leader Reid endorses Rep. Van Hollen for Senate U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid on Friday endorsed Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland for the U.S. Senate, Van Hollen's press office announced."Not only would Chris Van Hollen be the best and most effective person for the job, I have no doubt that he is in the best and strongest position to make sure that this Senate seat remains in Democratic hands in a state that just elected a Republican governor," Reid, whose party is in the minority in the Senate, said in the statement. Van Hollen, 56, said earlier this week that he is running for the seat in 2016 to replace Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski, who is retiring. Van Hollen, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2003, is the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee. He has been seen as someone with a bright future in the House. As an ally of Representative Nancy Pelosi, the House's top Democrat, Van Hollen had been mentioned as a possible speaker at some point if his party regained control of the House. Reid's endorsement adds hefty top-tier support to Van Hollen's candidacy amid speculation that others may jump in the race. Other Democratic members of Maryland's House delegation, including Dutch Ruppersberger and John Delaney, have said they are considering runs, and some in the party's progressive wing are encouraging Representative Donna Edwards to get into the contest.Van Hollen, who represents Maryland's 8th District in the House, also brings considerable fund-raising power to a Senate run, as a former head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.Mikulski, 78, is the longest-serving female senator in U.S. history with nearly 30 years in the upper chamber.

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Obama declares Venezuela a threat to U.S. national security U.S. President Barack Obama issued an executive order on Monday declaring Venezuela a national security threat, sanctioning seven individuals and expressing concern about the Venezuelan government's treatment of political opponents."Venezuelan officials past and present who violate the human rights of Venezuelan citizens and engage in acts of public corruption will not be welcome here, and we now have the tools to block their assets and their use of U.S. financial systems," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement."We are deeply concerned by the Venezuelan government's efforts to escalate intimidation of its political opponents. Venezuela's problems cannot be solved by criminalizing dissent," he added.The White House said the executive order targeted people whose actions undermined democratic processes or institutions, had committed acts of violence or abuse of human rights, were involved in prohibiting or penalizing freedom of expression, or were government officials involved in public corruption.The seven individuals named in the order would have their property and interests in the United States blocked or frozen and they would be denied entry into the United States. U.S. citizens would also be prohibited from doing business with them.The White House called on Venezuela to release all political prisoners, including "dozens of students," and warned against blaming Washington for its problems."We've seen many times that the Venezuelan government tries to distract from its own actions by blaming the United States or other members of the international community for events inside Venezuela," Earnest said in the statement."These efforts reflect a lack of seriousness on the part of the Venezuelan government to deal with the grave situation it faces."

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Ex-local TV anchor Kathleen Matthews plans House run: Politico Kathleen Matthews, a former longtime television anchor in the Washington area turned Marriott International executive, plans to run for the congressional seat held by Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, according to Politico.Van Hollen announced on Wednesday that he would leave his spot in the U.S. House of Representatives and run in 2016 for the Senate seat of his fellow Maryland Democrat Barbara Mikulski, who is retiring.Matthews is Marriott's chief global communications officer. She was an anchor for a local ABC affiliate for 25 years, winning nine local Emmy awards, and is married to MSNBC host Chris Matthews, according to a biography on the hotel chain's website.She would run as a Democrat and has spoken to activists and political consultants, Politico reported on Thursday.Matthews did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for Marriott also did not immediately respond.

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Is the U.S. making too many concessions in Iran talks? Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Sunday that he believes the U.S. is "very close" to an agreement with Iran in negotiations over its nuclear program. Citing conversations with Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden, Corker said his understanding is that the U.S. and its international allies that make up the P5+1 nations are close to reaching a broad framework for a deal to limit Iran's nuclear development with the final details to be worked out by June. But in spite of his support for a good deal, Corker is raising concerns that the Obama administration hasn't actually achieved that. "I don't know of anyone that doesn't want a negotiated agreement with Iran that is a good deal, one that will stand the test of time.I think the concern has been from day one that we keep moving our initial position, the P5+1, towards Iran's position. And, so, there's a concern that the administration cares more about making a deal versus the right deal," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday. A bad deal, he said, could flood Iran with the monetary resources to continue spreading its influence across the Middle East in places like Yemen and Syria. He suggested it could also become a central issue in the 2016 presidential campaign if the administration doesn't rally the country around a deal."Instead of doing something that ends up resolving an issue, it becomes even more unresolved," he said. The nuclear talks have increasingly become a source of tension between the administration, which is working to reach a broad agreement by the end of the month, and members of Congress, who are fighting to ensure they are able to sign off on any agreement that has been reached. Earlier this month, 47 Republicans signed a letter to Iran's leaders warning that a deal would not be final until Congress gave its consent. Corker was one of the seven Republicans that did not sign the letter, and said on "Face the Nation," "I didn't think that it was something that was productive towards the end that I'm seeking" - that Congress have the ability to weigh in on the deal. "What we cannot do is let drama take us off our course of, again, Congress playing its appropriate role," he said. "If Congress were to embrace the deal with Iran, it has much better chance of standing the test of time." But he was critical of the administration for rebuffing his efforts to work with them. "I wake up every day trying to do everything I can to move foreign policy ahead, to work with everyone.And I've never seen such resistance by an administration towards a responsible role for Congress.And I think that's obviously created some of the drama," he said, calling it "unprecedented." While senators have been more vocal about weighing in on Iran talks, there are members of the House who are clamoring for a say as well. In early March, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to both chambers of Congress at the invitation of House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to lobby against the negotiations."I think the House should have some responsibility because, just as Senator Corker said, that the House was one of the individuals that passed the sanctions that brought Iran to the table," House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, said in a separate interview on "Face the Nation." "Regardless of what happens, we have a responsibility with whether lifting the sanctions or imposing greater sanctions, reviewing it, and we will be able to continue to review where we go forward."He criticized the administration for chafing at Netanyahu's speech - President Obama declined to meet with the Israeli prime minister because he visited just weeks before Israel's elections - saying, "This is about the mutual concern we have for Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon." If no deal is reached, Corker suggested that Congress "maintain the status quo for some period of time until Iran becomes more serious about allowing us to know that they're not conducting covert activity, that their research and development activities aren't moving to a place that accelerates their ability to create nuclear weapons." A previous version of this article incorrectly identified Bob Corker as a senator from Georgia.

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Senate leader McConnell promises no default on debt The U.S. Congress will be in no hurry to raise the federal government's borrowing limit, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday, but will act in time to avoid Washington defaulting on its debt."The debt ceiling will be handled over a period of months," McConnell said during an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation" broadcast.On Friday, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew asked Congress to raise the statutory cap on borrowing "as soon as possible."The government is expected to exhaust its borrowing authority around March 15, but it can take emergency steps to continue paying its bills. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates such steps will be exhausted sometime in October or November."I made it very clear after the November (2014) election we're certainly not going to shut down the government or default on the national debt," McConnell said.Even so, Congress is emerging from a contentious fight that at one point brought the Department of Homeland Security within hours of having to shut down some of its operations, as Republicans tied the agency's funding to an attempt to block new immigration policies by President Barack Obama.Several Republican lawmakers have already predicted the battle over the debt limit could become even more difficult than the DHS funding fight.Small-government Tea Party activists, who make up a vocal part of Republican ranks, could try to link the debt limit to legislation that Obama and his fellow Democrats in Congress might balk at.In the CBS interview, McConnell said he hoped a debt limit extension "might carry some other important legislation that we can agree on in connection with it."He did not provide specifics during the interview, nor did a spokesman after the broadcast.Since 2011, when Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives, Obama and Congress have tangled over the debt limit, flirting with a possible default.

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Wisconsin Assembly OKs right-to-work bill, governor supports Weary Wisconsin lawmakers on Friday approved a bill that stops private sector workers from being required to join a union or pay dues as a condition of employment and sent it to Republican Governor Scott Walker, who is expected to sign it on Monday.The Republican-led state Assembly voted 62-35 on party lines to make Wisconsin the 25th "right-to-work" state, a measure supported by Walker, an early favorite in the battle for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election.The final vote came after 24 hours of debate in the Assembly and two weeks after state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald announced plans to take up a "right-to-work" bill.Supporters cast the measure as an incentive for attracting businesses and jobs, saying it is wrong to force workers to pay dues if they don't want to."We stand today for a simple, but very powerful concept, the concept for worker freedom," Republican Representative Dean Knudson said.Opponents called it a thinly disguised assault on organized labor that will drive down wages and leave workers vulnerable."This has nothing to do with freedom, it has nothing to do with choice. It has everything to do with busting," said Representative Andy Jorgensen, a Democrat. Tired representatives rubbed their eyes while coffee cups and soda bottles collected on their desks as the debate carried through the night, elongated by winding speeches about the history of organized labor in Wisconsin and the state's economy.Thousands of workers demonstrated last week when senators debated the bill, but capitol crowds were far thinner than four years ago, when tens of thousands of people protested a push for a law limiting the powers of public sector unions.Walker's push for the 2011 bill covering public-sector workers raised his profile among Republicans, and his support grew when he survived a union-backed recall election in 2012.About 300 bill opponents demonstrated outside the capitol on Thursday. Inside, security staff cleared the Assembly gallery after protesters halted the debate with chants and capitol officers blocked dozens of demonstrators from the Assembly floor. Two people were arrested, police said. About 8 percent of private-sector workers in Wisconsin are union members, down from about 22 percent three decades ago, according to the Unionstats.com website that tracks membership. "The law is a symbol of the weakness of unions," University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist John Ahlquist said.

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Menendez, facing possible U.S. charges, says 'not going anywhere' Senator Robert Menendez denied any wrongdoing on Friday and said he was "not going anywhere" after CNN reported the U.S. Justice Department is preparing criminal corruption charges against the New Jersey Democrat.Citing unidentified sources briefed on the case, CNN said the charges center on allegations Menendez used his office to promote the business interests of a Democratic Party donor and friend in exchange for gifts."I have always conducted myself appropriately and in accordance with the law," Menendez said in a statement he read to reporters in Newark, New Jersey. "I am not going anywhere," the senator said. He did not take any questions.CNN said Attorney General Eric Holder has given the green light for prosecutors to proceed with charges and an announcement could arrive in coming weeks.Holder, who was traveling in South Carolina with President Barack Obama, said he could not comment.Justice Department officials declined to comment.Federal authorities have probed Menendez's relationship with Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, a Democratic donor who has been accused of over-billing the Medicare program.The senator said his friendship with Melgen had spanned decades and they "have given each other birthday, holiday and wedding presents - just as friends do."Two law enforcement officials told Reuters the Federal Bureau of Investigation had been conducting a major corruption investigation of Menendez for some time, and one said it was nearing completion.Menendez is the former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he is now the top Democrat. He has been a critic of the Obama administration's policy on Cuba and Iran, but he is a staunch supporter of the White House on other issues.Media reports over the past two years alleging wrongdoing by Menendez have not been substantiated. At least one, involving underage prostitutes, has been discredited.Menendez, who is Cuban-American, is among the most senior Hispanic politicians in the country. He was re-elected to a second Senate term in 2012, and spent 14 years in the House of Representatives.CNN said the government's case focuses on Melgen and, in part, on plane trips that Menendez took in 2010 to the Dominican Republic as a guest of Melgen.In 2013, Menendez's campaign repaid Melgen $11,250 for a flight on Melgen's private plane three years earlier.Prosecutors are focusing on whether Menendez promoted Melgen's business interest in a Dominican Republic government contract for port screening equipment, CNN said.

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White House says remains committed to safe return of Robert Levinson The White House remains committed to the safe return of missing American Robert Levinson and asked Iran to help investigate his disappearance, President Barack Obama's National Security Council said on Twitter on Monday. Levinson, a retired FBI agent who disappeared during a trip to Iran in March of 2007, has been missing for eight years as of Monday.

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