Mark Sanford completes comeback, wins Congress seat

Two years after Mark Sanford left the South Carolina governor's office tarred by an adultery scandal, he completed an unlikely political comeback to win a special congressional election Tuesday. Sanford defeated Democratic neophyte Elizabeth Colbert Busch, sister of the late-night satirist S…

Budget cuts embolden some in GOP to pursue a voucherlike Medicare

WASHINGTON - Fired up as once-unimaginable spending cuts start to slice the federal budget, Republicans are launching a new phase in their austerity campaign - resurrecting the party's cost-cutting plan to turn Medicare into a voucherlike system for future seniors.

15 GOP senators: Withdraw Hagel as Defense nominee

WASHINGTON - Fifteen GOP senators called on President Obama to withdraw Chuck Hagel's nomination to lead the Pentagon, even as support from another Republican increased the likelihood he will be confirmed when Congress returns from recess next week.

Obama campaign surveys supporters on next steps

WASHINGTON - The man who managed Barack Obama's successful re-election campaign said Tuesday that the Chicago-based operation will carry on in some form to advocate the president's second-term agenda, and may even engage in the debate over how to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.

Sharp exchange diverges on scope of world threats

BOCA RATON, Fla. - A pugnacious President Obama cast Mitt Romney on Monday night as a defense and foreign policy amateur, accusing him of naiveté and shifting positions that would undermine the country's well-being at home and its security abroad.

New blow to Dems: Moderate senator won't run in 2012

WASHINGTON - Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson announced Tuesday that he will not seek a third term in 2012, another setback for Democrats in their effort to retain control of the Senate.

Leaders of debt panel see little chance of agreement

WASHINGTON - The co-chairs of the congressional debt-reduction committee seemed doubtful on Sunday that the panel would reach a deficit-reduction accord by today's deadline, each blaming the other party's unwillingness to budge on the issues of taxes and entitlement spending.