(CNN) - For all the stalemate in the fiscal cliff negotiations, there were some heated moments, too.

A Democratic source familiar with one particular exchange told CNN that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell were sitting on a sofa in the White House.
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Washington (CNN) - Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) made a triumphant return to the Senate Thursday, following a year's recuperation from a stroke.

Kirk, 53, emerged from a Capitol doorway to cheers and applause from fellow senators lined up to watch their colleague mount the steps leading the Senate chamber. He walked a little stiffly and with a cane, but was otherwise confident in negotiating the long set of stairs leading into the Capitol building.
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(CNN) - After a firestorm of criticism from Northeast Republicans, the House of Representatives is expected to take up an aid package on Friday meant to address those still reeling in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

Lawmakers will consider $9 billion in immediate assistance for flood insurance and will weigh another $51 billion in broader aid on January 15.

Washington (CNN) – House Speaker John Boehner said Thursday he was confident the House would re-elect him speaker, but conceded a few fellow Republicans would likely vote against him.

Some conservative activists have called on the House to oust Boehner following the passage of a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. The deal raised tax rates for American households earning more than $450,000 per year. While Boehner made a list-minute effort to include spending cuts in the deal, the measure passed without them.
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Editor's note: Gloria Borger is CNN's chief political analyst, appearing regularly on shows such as "AC360˚," "The Situation Room" and "State of the Union."

Washington (CNN) - So I remember thinking, when Congress and President Obama concocted the supercommittee on the deficit - and the fiscal cliff as a last resort if all else failed - that it was a generally boneheaded, albeit necessary, idea.

Conceived in desperation as a way to come up with a deal to raise the debt ceiling (and pay our bills) in the summer of 2011, it seemed like the only way out: a way to agree to do what needed to be done in the short term and to force action in the long term on the bigger picture.

Honolulu, Hawaii (CNN) - If you are a president who desperately wants to salvage your Hawaiian vacation, why stick around Washington to sign a bill when an automatic pen can do it for you?

That’s what happened Wednesday when the long-haggled over bill to avert the fiscal cliff was delivered to the White House for the president’s signature. With Obama 5,000 miles away in Hawaii, aides decided to prepare the president with an electronic version of the document for his review rather than commission a special flight to currier over the document.

(CNN) - Prominent tea party voices are calling for action following the fiscal cliff votes this week in Washington.

Amy Kremer, leader of the group Tea Party Express, said Thursday she is "outraged" over the deal, which was struck between Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Joe Biden. It allows tax rates on wealthy earners - families earning over $450,000 and individuals earning over $400,000 - expire while extending the tax breaks passed under President George W. Bush for earners below those thresholds.
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Washington (CNN) - It was a common refrain during the House and Senate late-night votes to avert the fiscal cliff. Senator after senator, congressman after congressman lamented the fact that the legislation didn't "do more," "go bigger" or that it was "far from perfect."

Political watchers believed the fiscal cliff negotiations were the perfect time for President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner to hatch a "grand bargain" - a deal that would have included both large increases in tax revenue and major cuts in government spending. At the time, both men looked better positioned to deliver a bipartisan plan. Boehner seemed to have a firmer hand on his caucus leading up to the talks, and the president was coming off a hard-fought re-election win.

(CNN) - The 113th Congress will be sworn in Thursday, including more than 90 freshmen lawmakers. Read more on the challenges the new Congress will face.

After the jump, see a list of all freshmen senators and representatives.
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(CNNMoney) - The Pacific Palisades, Calif., home where Ronald and Nancy Reagan lived just before they moved to the White House is on the market.

In the 1950s Ronald Reagan's best movies were behind him, but he still had enough charm to be asked to host "General Electric Theater," an early television anthology show.

New York (CNNMoney) – For the near term? Good. For the long term? Oh, puh-leeze.

That, in a nutshell, summarizes how independent deficit hawks view the fiscal cliff compromise that Congress passed on Tuesday and which President Obama signed into law Wednesday.