AP Politics

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he's denying an application for a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline because a GOP-mandated deadline didn't allow time for a full review.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is preparing a series of new initiatives to try to curb sexual assaults in the military — a problem that officials think could be six times greater than reported.

WASHINGTON — In a debate laced with politics, the GOP-controlled House on Wednesday kicked off another session by slating a futile vote against raising the government's borrowing cap by $1.2 trillion as permitted under last summer's bipartisan debt and budget pact.

WASHINGTON — A senior Obama administration official says the White House will reject a Canadian company's plan to build an oil pipeline from Canada to Texas.

WASHINGTON — The White House tried to make its case Wednesday for rejecting a Canadian company's plan to build an oil pipeline from Canada to Texas, saying a February deadline set by Congress was "purely political" and did not allow for a proper review of the project.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is on track in many states, the White House asserted Wednesday. But officials said the administration is preparing a federal backstop anyway for states in which opposition to the new law has blocked planning.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration's Race to the Top education competition is getting a facelift.

WASHINGTON — Gov. Chris Christie is urging political ally Mitt Romney to immediately release his tax returns rather than waiting until April.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is providing senior state and local police officials with its analysis of homegrown terrorism incidents, including common signs law enforcement can use to identify violent extremists.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is welcoming 15 ambassadors to the White House on Wednesday and later meeting with the Treasury secretary and the nation's mayors.

WASHINGTON — With television lights glaring, 20 lawmakers will gather next week to revisit the fight that consumed Congress before Christmas over renewing a Social Security payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits.

WASHINGTON — An apparent smoke bomb was thrown over the fence of the White House as hundreds of Occupy protesters massed outside the gates.

WASHINGTON — The House Republican campaign chairman, Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, has been notified that he received a discounted mortgage from the former Countrywide Financial Corp.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Sarah Palin says that if she lived in South Carolina, she would vote for Newt Gingrich in the state's presidential primary.

WASHINGTON — The United States said Tuesday it will hold talks with the European Union to set informal rules aimed at limiting debris in space that threatens satellites.