The chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee has joined in the concerns on Capitol Hill about the proposed sale of Smithfield Farms to a Chinese company resulting in potential food-safety and national-security issues.

As the Senate begins its full, weeks-long debate on a wide-ranging immigration bill, both sides are expected stick to several key, battle-tested points -- with supporters arguing no easy path to citizenship and critics warning the plan is really amnesty and an open door to welfare.   

Newark Mayor Cory Booker on Saturday formally announced he's in the race to finish the U.S. Senate term of the late Frank Lautenberg.

A senior U.S. intelligence official says the federal government’s tracking of phone calls and Internet activity helped foil a 2009 terror plot on New York City subways, amid calls on Capitol Hill and across the country to rein in the surveillance programs.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers already are plotting ways to rein in the Obama administration's mass collection of phone and Internet data, after a rapid-fire series of disclosures about the program set off privacy alarms. 

Dozens of Republican lawmakers have joined in accusing the Environmental Protection Agency of "apparent bias" against conservative groups following a claim that it routinely showed favoritism to liberal organizations. 

The leader of Syria's main opposition group warned Friday that rebel fighters had been weakened and demoralized after a string of recent tactical setbacks and that the aid Iran, Russia and Hezbollah are providing President Bashar al-Assad's army is quickly overpowering opposition forces.

With a warm handshake, President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping opened a two-day summit at a California desert estate Friday, aiming for closer personal ties as they took on high-stakes issues including cybersecurity and North Korea's nuclear threats.

The leader of Syria's main opposition group warned Friday that rebel fighters had been weakened and demoralized after a string of recent tactical setbacks and that the aid Iran, Russia and Hezbollah are providing President Bashar al-Assad's army is quickly overpowering opposition forces.

Sen. Joe Manchin said Friday he thinks Attorney General Eric Holder should resign in the wake of a series of scandals involving surveillance of reporters for Fox News and The Associated Press.

Dozens of Republican lawmakers have joined in accusing the Environmental Protection Agency of "apparent bias" against conservative groups following a claim that it routinely showed favoritism to liberal organizations. 

The Air Force is putting a female two-star general in charge of a reorganized sexual assault prevention office.

The White House says the administration is refining its use of offensive cyber operations to counter evolving threats of electronic assaults against the United States.

An IRS agent in the embattled Cincinnati office is lashing out at the agency's managers for pinning the blame on them for the targeting of conservative groups, describing one official's attempt to pass the blame as a "nuclear strike on us." 

Prosecutors are recommending four years in prison for former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., following his guilty plea this year on criminal charges that he engaged in a scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items.

For as long as dogs have been trained as police officers, they've been helping make drug busts. But now that the recreational use of marijuana is legal in those two states, officers are in a K-9 quandary.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers already are plotting ways to rein in the Obama administration's mass collection of phone and Internet data, after a rapid-fire series of disclosures about the program set off privacy alarms. 

A member of Newark Mayor Cory Booker's campaign staff says Booker is planning to enter the special election to fill the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Frank Lautenberg.

President Obama, speaking publicly for the first time about his administration's mass collection of phone and Internet data, said Friday that the programs have made a difference in tracking terrorists and are not tantamount to "Big Brother." 

A U.S. senator remains steadfast in blocking the nomination of Air Force Lt. Gen. Susan Helms, tapped to serve as vice commander of the U.S. Space Command, over serious concerns with Helms' decision to overturn a jury conviction in a sexual assault case.