Agonizingly close to a New Year's Eve compromise, the White House and congressional Republicans agreed Monday to block across-the-board tax increases set for midnight, but held up a final deal as they haggled away the final hours of 2012 in a dispute over spending cuts.
President Barack Obama says "the hour for immediate action is here" on a deal to avert the fiscal cliff.
President Barack Obama was preparing to present a limited fiscal proposal to congressional leaders at a White House meeting Friday, a make-or-break moment for negotiations to avoid across-the-board tax increases and deep spending cuts at the first of the year.
The publication of the names and addresses of handgun permit holders in two New York counties has sparked outrage that is spreading across the Internet.
Starbucks is using its coffee cups to jump into the political fray in Washington.
The economic threat that's kept many Americans on edge for months is nearing reality - unless the White House and Republicans cut a budget deal by New Year's Day.
Senators bickered Sunday over who's to blame for lurching the country toward a year-end "fiscal cliff," bemoaning the lack of a deal days before the deadline but bridging no differences in the debate.
Will the Marlboro Man light up a joint soon? The states of Washington and Colorado legalized possession of small amounts of marijuana in the November elections, but it is unclear if any cigarette makers plan to supply either market.
President Barack Obama says he won't go after Washington state and Colorado for legalizing marijuana.
Susan Rice, the embattled U.N. ambassador, abruptly withdrew from consideration to be the next secretary of state on Thursday after a bitter, weekslong standoff with Republican senators who declared they would vigorously fight her nomination.
The head of the U.N. drug watchdog agency is urging U.S. federal officials to challenge ballot measures in Colorado and Washington that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults 21 and over.
Some Democrats, including Washington Senator Patty Murray, are pushing an unorthodox idea for coping with the "fiscal cliff": Let the government go over, temporarily at least, to give their party more bargaining leverage for changes later on.
Gov. Chris Gregoire said Tuesday the federal government still hasn't decided whether to take action to block new laws legalizing marijuana in her state and Colorado.
Two U.S. state decisions to legalize marijuana will have important implications for international efforts to quash drug smuggling, four Latin American leaders declared on Monday.
President Barack Obama, laying down his marker for grueling budget and tax negotiations, said Friday he won't accept any approach to deficit reduction that doesn't ask the wealthy to pay more in taxes.
Obama: Fiscal cliff deal close, not done as deadline looms
