Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, center, accompanied by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., left, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, right, express their frustration after the Senate passed a bill to fund the government, but stripped it of the defund "Obamacare" language as crafted by House Republicans, Friday, Sept. 27, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (CNN) -- Our Congress sucks. This is truly one of the few things we agree on. In fact, a new CNN poll released earlier this week found that Congress has only a 10% approval rating. When you think that 10% of Americans believe Congress is doing a good job, you have to ask yourself one question: Who are these people?! (Imagine this asked with true Jerry Seinfeld-esque exasperation.)
MIRIAM CAREY WASHINGTON (AP) - A Connecticut woman shot to death by police after she tried to drive through barricades outside the White House held the delusional belief that the president was communicating with her, a federal law enforcement official said Friday.
A National Park Service employee posts a sign reading "Because of the Federal Government SHUTDOWN All National Parks are Closed" on a barricade closing access to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) by David Espo and Donna CassataAssociated Press Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — First slowed, then stalled by political gridlock, the vast machinery of government clanged into partial shutdown mode on Tuesday and President Barack Obama warned the longer it goes "the more families will be hurt." Republicans said it was his fault, not theirs. Ominously, there were suggestions from leaders in both parties that the shutdown, heading for its second day, could last for weeks and grow to encompass a possible default by the Treasury if Congress fails to raise the nation's debt ceiling. "This is now all together," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill..
In this June 25, 2009 photo, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. watches as President Barack Obama meets with members of Congress to discuss immigration, in the State Dinning Room of the White House in Washington. Obama and McCain, the Republican he defeated in his first White House campaign, have become one of Washington's most talked about odd-couple pairings. And like any successful business deal in the nation's capital, the relationship works because it has benefits for both men. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — There was no conciliatory phone call, no heart-to-heart talk to soothe the tensions. No one knows exactly when President Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain went from bitter rivals in the 2008 presidential campaign and foes over health care and national security to bipartisan partners.
Demonstrators hold flags and chant in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on the second day of gay marriage cases before the court. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) by Sam Hananel Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court's landmark ruling on same-sex marriage has private employers around the country scrambling to make sure their employee benefit plans comply with the law.
WILLIAM HERBERT GRAY, III (1941–2013) by Ron Todt PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. William H. Gray III, who rose to influential positions in Congress and was the first black to become majority whip, died Monday at 71. Gray passed away suddenly Monday while in London with one of his sons to attend the Wimbledon tennis championships, said William Epstein, a former aide to Gray.
NBA veteran Jason Collins, left, the first active player in one of four major U.S. professional sports leagues to come out as gay, marches in Boston's gay pride parade alongside U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, a college roommate, Saturday, June 8, 2013, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) BOSTON (AP) — NBA veteran center Jason Collins, the first active athlete in one of the four U.S. major professional sports leagues to come out as being gay, marched Saturday for nearly three miles in Boston's gay pride parade with U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, his onetime roommate at Stanford University.
President Barack Obama announces his nominee for the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., Wednesday, May 1, in the State Dining of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) WASHINGTON (AP) —President Barack Obama on Wednesday tapped a veteran Democratic congressman to lead the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a top fundraiser and former lobbyist to head up the Federal Communications Commission.
MADE AMENDS-- In this March 4, 2009, file photo, Elwin Hope Wilson holds a framed photo he kept showing a mob he participated in during one of local civil rights "sit-ins" that took place in the early 1960s, in Rock Hill, S.C. (AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain) by Martha Waggoner Raleigh, N.C. (AP) --Elwin Wilson, the former Ku Klux Klan supporter who publicly apologized for years of violent racism, including the beating of John Lewis, a Black Freedom Rider who went on to become a Georgia congressman, has died. He was 76.
NEW CONGRESWOMAN--Robin Kelly celebrates her special primary election win in Matteson, Ill., for Illinois' 2nd Congressional District seat, once held by Jesse Jackson Jr. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File) by Sophia Tareen CHICAGO (AP) — Former Illinois state Rep. Robin Kelly, whose campaign received a $2 million boost from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, easily captured Tuesday's special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.
