Investors look for answers on economy from Fed

In this Wednesday, May 22, 2013 photo, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Federal Reserve ends a policy meeting Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Investors have been nervously speculating that the Fed will soon scale back its economic stimulus and send…

Milk money: Farm bill could hinge on dairy vote

FILE - In a June 12, 2013 file photo House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. An overhaul of dairy policy and a new insurance program for dairy farmers included in the farm bill has caused a rift between House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and the …

NSA director defends programs' effectiveness

Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, told senators the public needs to know more about how the agency's formerly secret programs operate to ease concerns about loss of civil liberties.

State-by-state look at Iowa to Mid-Atlantic storm

FILE - In this June 30, 2012, file photo, an American Beech tree is down on Capitol Hill grounds in Washington across from the U.S. Supreme Court after a powerful storm swept across the Washington region. A gigantic line of powerful thunderstorms with tree-toppling winds is likely to threate…

Bloomberg pressures donors over gun control votes

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., right, meets with Sandy Hook, Conn. Elementary School, families and friends of victims on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 12, 2013. The group joined policymakers and advocates on Capitol Building for a day-long event to remember the 26 children and educ…

Bloomberg pressures donors over gun control votes

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., right, meets with Sandy Hook, Conn. Elementary School, families and friends of victims on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 12, 2013. The group joined policymakers and advocates on Capitol Building for a day-long event to remember the 26 children and educ…

Bloomberg pressures donors over gun control votes

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., right, meets with Sandy Hook, Conn. Elementary School, families and friends of victims on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 12, 2013. The group joined policymakers and advocates on Capitol Building for a day-long event to remember the 26 children and educ…

Storms pelt Midwest with rain, winds, hail

FILE - In this June 30, 2012, file photo, an American Beech tree is down on Capitol Hill grounds in Washington across from the U.S. Supreme Court after a powerful storm swept across the Washington region. A gigantic line of powerful thunderstorms with tree-toppling winds is likely to threate…

NSA director: Programs disrupted dozens of attacks

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., is followed by reporters as he arrives for a closed all-member briefing on the NSA on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

NSA director: Programs disrupted dozens of attacks

House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D- Md., is followed by reporters following a closed all-member briefing on the NSA on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

NSA director: Programs disrupted dozens of attacks

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., arrives with staff member Javier Sanchez, right, for a closed all-member briefing on the NSA on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Storms pelt Midwest with rain, winds, hail

FILE - In this June 30, 2012, file photo, an American Beech tree is down on Capitol Hill grounds in Washington across from the U.S. Supreme Court after a powerful storm swept across the Washington region. A gigantic line of powerful thunderstorms with tree-toppling winds is likely to threate…

Border security at issue in immigration bill

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, center, accompanied by House Republican Conference Vice Chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., left, and Rep. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., leaves a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

NSA director: Programs disrupted dozens of attacks

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., leaves a closed all-member briefing on the NSA on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

NSA director: Programs disrupted dozens of attacks

Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., arrives for a closed all-member briefing on the NSA on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

NSA director: Programs disrupted dozens of attacks

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., arrives for a closed all-member briefing on the NSA on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

NSA director: Programs disrupted dozens of attacks

Rep. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., leaves a closed all-member briefing on the NSA on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

NSA director: Programs disrupted dozens of attacks

Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., center, speaks to reporters as he arrives for a closed all-member briefing on the NSA on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

NSA director: Programs disrupted dozens of attacks

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., is followed by reporters as he arrives for a closed all-member briefing on the NSA on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

NSA director: Programs disrupted dozens of attacks

House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D- Md., is followed by reporters following a closed all-member briefing on the NSA on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

NSA director: Programs disrupted dozens of attacks

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., arrives with staff member Javier Sanchez, right, for a closed all-member briefing on the NSA on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Voice-operated dashboard technology still risky

Russ Martin of American Automobile Association (AAA), is seen on a monitor in a research vehicle skull cap to the research vehicle during a demonstrations in support of their new study on distracted driving in Landover, Md., Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Voice-operated dashboard technology still risky

Russ Martin of American Automobile Association (AAA), is hooked to an electroencephalographic (EEG)-configured skull cap, during a demonstrations in support of their new study on distracted driving in Landover, Md., Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Voice-operated dashboard technology still risky

Dr. Eric Strayer of University of Utah, speaks to reporters , during a demonstrations in support of their new study on distracted driving in Landover, Md., Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Voice-operated dashboard technology still risky

Russ Martin of American Automobile Association (AAA), is hooked to an electroencephalographic (EEG)-configured skull cap, during a demonstrations in support of their new study on distracted driving in Landover, Md., Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Voice-operated dashboard technology still risky

Russ Martin of triple A, is assisted by Joel Cooper, left, hooking the electroencephalographic (EEG)-configured skull cap to the research vehicle during a demonstrations in support of their new study on distracted driving in Landover, Md., Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Congress briefed on US surveillance programs

House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D- Md., is followed by reporters following a closed all-member briefing on the NSA on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Congress briefed on US surveillance programs

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., is followed by reporters as he arrives for a closed all-member briefing on the NSA on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 11, 2013. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Business briefs

Doug Parker

American, US Airways name post-merger leadership

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 19, 2013 file photo, US Airways Group Chairman and CEO Douglas Parker testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights hearing on "The American Airlines/US Airways Merger

American, US Airways name post-merger leadership

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 19, 2013 file photo, US Airways Group Chairman and CEO Douglas Parker testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights hearing on "The American Airlines/US Airways Merger

Gun control advocates mark 6 months since shooting

FILE - In this April 17, 2013 file photo President Barack Obama hugs Nicole Hockley, who lost her son Dylan in the Sandy Hook elementary school shootings, after he spoke in the White House Rose Garden in Washington about the defeat in the Senate of a bill to expand background checks on guns.…

NSA claims know-how to ensure no illegal spying

FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2010, file photo Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander, then-commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, testifies about cyberspace operations during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. “More times than we can count, we've made history, without history even knowing we were ther…

NSA claims know-how to ensure no illegal spying

FILE - In this Sept. 23, 2010, file photo Army Gen. Keith B. Alexander, then-commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, center right, arrives at a Capitol Hill committee hearing in Washington to testify about cyberspace operations. Alexander now directs the National Security Agency, whose job it i…

Female general will direct Air Force efforts to combat sexual assualt

Margaret Woodward

Female 2-star heads Air Force sex abuse prevention

FILE - In this Aug. 4, 2008 file photo, then-Brig. Gen. Margaret Woodward is seen at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. The Air Force is putting a female two-star general in charge of a reorganized sexual assault prevention office. That elevates the status of a group whose previous leader was a lie…

Judge tosses lawsuit by Pa. governor against NCAA

FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2013 file photo, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett participates in the National Governors Association 2013 Winter Meeting in Washington. A federal judge on Thursday, June 6, 2013 threw out the governor's lawsuit against the NCAA over sanctions against Penn State related t…

US, Venezuela on way to better ties, Kerry says

John Kerry

Defense report: Post-bin Laden raid security lapse

FILE - In this June 9, 2011 file photo, then-CIA Director nominee Leon Panetta testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Several weeks after overseeing the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, then-CIA Director Leon Panetta violated security rules by revealing the name of the raid commander in t…

NJ Sen. Lautenberg remembered for tenacious rise

FILE -In a Dec. 5, 2012, file photo Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., speaks to witnesses, during a hearing on Superstorm Sandy on Capitol Hill in Washington. Lautenberg, a multimillionaire New Jersey businessman and liberal who was called out of retirement for a second tour of duty in Congress…

Sen. Lautenberg of NJ to be eulogized by Biden

FILE -In a Dec. 5, 2012, file photo Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., speaks to witnesses, during a hearing on Superstorm Sandy on Capitol Hill in Washington. Lautenberg, a multimillionaire New Jersey businessman and liberal who was called out of retirement for a second tour of duty in Congress…

Michelle Obama gardens at the White House

First lady Michelle Obama, second from left, joins, from left, school children Madisyn Goias, 10, from Union Beach Memorial School in Union Beach, N.J., and Jordan Leeds, 11, and Joshua Styler-Tracy, 11, from Long Beach Island Grade School, in Ship Bottom, N.J., to harvest the summer crop fr…

Michelle Obama gardens at the White House

First lady Michelle Obama joins, from left, Joshua Styler-Tracy, 11, and Jordan Leeds, 11, from Long Beach Island Grade School, in Ship Bottom, N.J., and Madisyn Goias, 10, from Union Beach Memorial School in Union Beach, NJ, and other school children from around the country, to harvest the …

Michelle Obama gardens at the White House

First lady Michelle Obama, second from left, joins, from left, Madisyn Goias, 10, from Union Beach Memorial School in Union Beach, N.J., Jordan Leeds, 11, and Joshua Styler-Tracy, 11, from Long Beach Island Grade School, in Ship Bottom, N.J., and other school children from around the country…

Michelle Obama gardens at the White House

First lady Michelle Obama joins school children from Long Beach Island Grade School in Ship Bottom, N.J., from left, and second from left: Jordan Leeds, age 11, Joshua Styler-Tracy, age 11, and Madisyn Goias, age 10, to harvest the summer crop from the White House kitchen garden, Tuesday, Ma…

Michelle Obama gardens at the White House

First lady Michelle Obama serves salad and pizza to school children from across the country who helped harvest the summer crop from the White House kitchen garden, Tuesday, May 28, 2013, at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Michelle Obama gardens at the White House

First lady Michelle Obama joins school children from Long Beach Island Grade School in Ship Bottom, N.J., from left, and second from left: Jordan Leeds, age 11, Joshua Styler-Tracy, age 11, and Madisyn Goias, age 10, to harvest the summer crop from the White House kitchen garden, Tuesday, Ma…

Obama's promises proving tough to fulfill

Caption unavailable

O'Connor: Bush v. Gore ruling hurt court's reputation

Sandra Day O'Connor

Gun control legislation defeated

President Barack Obama, right, puts his arm around former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., before he speaks in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 17, 2013, about measures to reduce gun violence. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)