WASHINGTON -- It's a little unusual to see the Obama administration singing the praises of Doctors Without Borders, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning nonprofit that is shipping doctors, drugs and supplies to West Africa to combat the Ebola outbreak.

When President Barack Obama lauded the "incredible heroism" of American doctors who...

WASHINGTON -- The top government infectious disease specialist warned politicians against Ebola quarantines on Sunday, saying aggressive protocols targeting all health workers who fight the disease are not backed up by good science and could ultimately threaten public health in the United States.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National...

WASHINGTON -- If Republicans take control of the Senate in the November elections, the repercussions for the Supreme Court could thwart Democratic Party policy priorities for decades, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told NBC on Sunday.

"Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd asked Schumer why voters should care about the prospect...

WASHINGTON -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Sunday defended his abrupt Ebola quarantine policy, dismissing concerns that the aggressive treatment of health care workers would prevent American doctors from going overseas to combat the disease.

"The government's job is to protect safety and health of our citizens," Christie...

WASHINGTON -- Congress is out of session and won't be back until Nov. 12. But that isn't stopping House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) from demanding that consumer watchdogs cough up an ocean of paperwork while he's out of town.

Issa has been waging a minor year-long crusade against...

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve was aware of risky practices at JPMorgan Chase as early as 2008 but failed to follow up for more than three years until those risks had snowballed into the company's $6.2 billion London Whale scandal, according to a new report from the central...

So, that happened: Another week of Ebola panic ends with the virus failing to jump outside the community of medical responders, but the opportunity for calm was nevertheless lost due to some slip-ups from health professionals. Meanwhile, as the midterms draw near, one of the most critical races -- between...

WASHINGTON -- Recent attacks by a Democratic outside group blame congressional Republicans for exacerbating the Ebola epidemic by continuously seeking to cut funds for government health agencies.

But the charge leaves out a critical point. President Barack Obama hasn't been consistent on funding the Centers for Disease Control and...

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates essentially concurs with French economist Thomas Piketty's landmark book on income inequality, according to a review Gates published on his own blog Monday.

"I agree with his most important conclusions, and I hope his work will draw more smart people into the study of...

So, that happened: The long-promised airstrikes on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria began this week as uninterested members of Congress crossed their fingers and left town. But not before they held hearings on whether the Secret Service could have done a better job protecting the White House from...

During an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, former President Bill Clinton called to cut corporate taxes and give companies a break on money stashed overseas, dinging President Barack Obama's latest effort to combat corporate tax-dodging.

When asked what should be done about corporate inversion transactions, Clinton responded with a host...

So, that happened: The NFL's scandals reminded lawmakers how much they love showering benefits on rich people who don't need help. Newt Gingrich took a break from paying down all his campaign debt. And U.S. poverty declined by 0.5 percent, prompting policymakers to break out the champagne.

Listen to this...

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to audit the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, a broadly bipartisan call for financial reform that accompanied two other bipartisan votes providing government perks to Wall Street on everything from higher mortgage fees to speculation in securities markets.

The...

WASHINGTON -- There's something disconcerting about watching Newt Gingrich take the stage to deliver a policy speech in 2014.

To most Americans, Gingrich is a charming curiosity: His latest stint with public relevancy was a quixotic 2012 presidential bid in which he visited many of the nation's

WASHINGTON -- Lobbyists for the Free Syrian Army will meet with members of Congress and staffers from both political parties in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday morning in an effort to persuade the U.S. government to provide weapons and training to the rebel group, according to emails from House staffers...

So, that happened: Fresh off polls indicating that a majority of Americans now believe that the Islamic State (or, if you prefer, ISIS or ISIL) poses a threat to the United States, the Obama administration has embarked on the third chapter of the Iraq War trilogy -- with the president...

WASHINGTON -- America's flagship corporate lobbying group seems to have a problem with math.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is a reliable backer of the Republican Party. So it was unusual to see the organization invoke a narrative straight out of the Democratic Party playbook last week, calling for the...

WASHINGTON -- As Congress reconvenes after its August recess, a major source of political drama is the Export-Import Bank and whether a deep divide in the House GOP over renewing the government agency will lead to a shutdown.

But there's another rift in the Ex-Im ether underscored by a new...

WASHINGTON -- An awful lot of important issues are not likely to get a vote from House Republicans in the final two-week congressional session before the November elections. If all goes well, Congress will declare victory over the term by passing a bill to avoid a government shutdown. But House...

WASHINGTON -- Congress was on the verge of another big mess in early March of 2013. After months of posturing and negotiating, a self-inflicted shutdown seemed all too probable, with funding for the federal government expiring in just a few weeks.

That time, lawmakers managed to accomplish what just about...