WASHINGTON -  Republican lawmakers and fiscally conservative Tea Party leaders are vowing to keep up the pressure on the White House to see if it was involved with the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative Tea Party groups for extra scrutiny.  Tea Party leaders say the IRS scandal confirms their worst fears about a federal […]

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Monday nominated former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel to be his new secretary of defense. Obama also chose counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to head the CIA.  
 
Obama made his choices official in the White House East Room with Hagel and Brennan standing by his side.
The president noted that Hagel, a Vietnam […]

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Friday nominated Democratic Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to be the next U.S. Secretary of State.
 The nomination is subject to confirmation by the Senate. If confirmed, he will take over the secretary of state job from Hillary Clinton, who has said she would not […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and the Republican vice presidential candidate, Representative Paul Ryan, presented stark political differences in their only planned debate before the November election.
 
During the nationally televised event at a small college in Kentucky,  Ryan said Americans are watching the “absolute unraveling” of the Obama administration at a time when […]

TAMPA -  Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney took center-stage at his party’s national convention Thursday, promising to restore what he called “the promise of America” if elected in November. Romney made his case to be the next president before thousands inside the convention hall and millions more watching on television around the country.
It was the […]

TAMPA - U.S. Voters got their first real look at Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan Wednesday.  Ryan, a congressman from Wisconsin, delivered his acceptance speech before the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida, and a nationwide TV audience.
 
The 42-year old Congressman was little known nationally just a few weeks ago.  But he was thrust […]

TAMPA - Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney was officially nominated as the Republican Party’s presidential candidate Tuesday, ending a lengthy selection process that began with the Iowa caucus vote in early January.  Republican delegates attending the party’s national convention in Tampa, Florida, also heard a  rousing speech from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Although there was […]

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate has thrust the Wisconsin congressman from relative obscurity into the national spotlight.  Republicans are hoping the pick will boost Romney’s campaign.
Many political pundits were caught off guard when Mitt Romney named the Paul Ryan, 42, as his vice presidential choice.
 The […]

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has chosen Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate. The choice will push the issue of government spending to the top of the campaign agenda.
Romney made the announcement Saturday in Norfolk, Virginia, as he began a four-day bus trip through four states considered critical to winning […]

WASHINGTON - The Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate has approved legislation to extend tax cuts for middle-income Americans, while allowing them to expire for the wealthy.
The bill, approved Wednesday by a vote of 51-48, would maintain tax cuts passed during the tenure of former president George W. Bush on Americans making under $250,000.  The measure is sure […]

WASHINGTON - Foreign policy has taken center stage in the U.S. presidential election campaign as the presumptive Republican Party nominee, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, embarks on an overseas trip designed to bolster his foreign policy and defense credentials with American voters.
Much of this campaign has focused on President Barack Obama’s handling of the economy.  […]

WASHINGTON - More than a year-and-a-half after being elected governor of (the midwestern state of) Wisconsin, Republican Scott Walker has prevailed in a special election aimed at removing him from office.  He is the first governor in U.S. history to survive such a move.  Many observers believe will have implications for the November presidential election.
In […]

HOUSTON - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has clinched his party’s presidential nomination after winning the Texas primary Tuesday.  The primary drew little national attention, however, because Romney’s main rivals had dropped out of the contest.
Romney clinched the Republican presidential nomination with little fanfare in a contest that was really no contest at all.  The […]

WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney, the presumptive U.S. Republican presidential nominee, drew rousing support Saturday at a conservative Christian university as he defended traditional marriage between a man and a woman.
 
Romney, often viewed with skepticism by the most conservative ranks of the Republican party, stressed the importance of personal faith and commitment to families in a […]

WASHINGTON - Former U.S. presidential candidate Rick Santorum has endorsed Mitt Romney, his one-time bitter rival for the 2012 Republican Party nomination. 
In a letter e-mailed to his supporters late Monday night and posted on his campaign website, Santorum says he reached his decision after a face-to-face meeting with Romney last week in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Santorum […]

WASHINGTON - Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum left the U.S. presidential race on Tuesday, effectively conceding the Republican Party presidential nomination to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. 
Surrounded by family members, Rick Santorum told reporters in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania that after much discussion and reflection in recent days, he has decided to end his quest for the […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum has won Tuesday’s primary elections in the U.S. southern states of Alabama and Mississippi, solidifying his status as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney, the leading candidate in the race.
Santorum narrowly won both staunchly conservative states, with Newt Gingrich finishing second and Romney coming in third.  The […]

WASHINGTON - Rick Santorum’s campaign for the U.S. Republican Party’s presidential nomination received a major boost with victories in Tuesday’s nominating contests in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado.
 
With most of the returns counted, the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania won the Minnesota caucuses with 45 percent of the vote. U.S. Representative Ron Paul came in second […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. presidential contender Mitt Romney decisively won Republican Party caucuses in the western state of Nevada Saturday, confirming his lead in the race to choose his party’s nominee for the presidential election in November.
 
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich placed second in the Nevada race, and Texas Congressman Ron Paul […]

WASHINGTON - Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won a major victory Tuesday in Florida’s Republican presidential primary and in the process moved closer to securing his party’s presidential nomination. 
Mitt Romney cruised to victory in the Florida primary over three Republican rivals, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum and Texas Congressman Ron […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are battling for support in the southern state of Florida, which holds its primary in two days.
The two front-runners in the race to determine who will challenge President Barack Obama this year were campaigning around Florida Saturday.
Romney, a multimillionaire investor and former governor of […]

WASHINGTON - The four remaining candidates for the U.S. Republican Party’s presidential nomination met in a sometimes heated debate in Jacksonville, Florida, Thursday ahead of that state’s January 31 primary.
The debate quickly produced fireworks on issues like immigration and foreign bank accounts. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney reacted angrily to former Speaker of the House […]

WASHINGTON - As presidential contenders campaign for the Republican Party nomination, advertising that supports or attacks each of the candidates is already costing millions of dollars.
In an interview former President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat who defeated Republican President Gerald Ford in the 1976 election, but who lost to Republican Ronald Reagan in 1980, says negative […]

WASHINGTON - The four remaining candidates for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination met for a testy debate in Florida late Monday, just one week before a crucial primary vote in that southern state.
 
There were a number of heated exchanges during the NBC debate between the two top contenders, former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich and […]