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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday passed and sent to President George W. Bush legislation to extend jobless benefits for those who have been unemployed for a prolonged period in an economy that has been shedding jobs.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman, a California liberal, won the chairmanship of a key energy committee on Thursday and promised to work closely with President-elect Barack Obama to promote alternative energy, ease global warming and expand health care.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama is considering Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano to be U.S. Homeland Security secretary, heading a sprawling agency formed to bolster civil defense in the wake of the September 11 attacks, a senior Democrat said.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker said on Thursday she was not a candidate to serve as commerce secretary in President-Barack Obama's administration.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush will meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday to review Middle East peace efforts that the U.S. leader had once hoped would produce an agreement before he left office.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Exasperated U.S. lawmakers criticized Federal Reserve and Treasury Department efforts to shore up the faltering economy on Thursday, telling officials that their financial rescue efforts have not reached small businesses or homeowners.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met the son of Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi on Thursday and raised the case of a leading political dissident held in Tripoli, the State Department said.
ATLANTA (Reuters) - A contest for a U.S. Senate seat from Georgia has become a last stand for the Republican Party to block Democrats from gaining a majority big enough to push their legislation through the chamber almost at will.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four senators have reached a bipartisan agreement on a bill to assist the struggling automotive industry, the lawmakers announced in a joint statement on Thursday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates are recommending that President-elect Barack Obama boost overall defense spending for at least the next five years, the top U.S. arms buyer said on Thursday.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that President George W. Bush supported legislation that would extend unemployment benefits to ease the impact of the current economic crisis.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a legal challenge against the state's voter-approved ban on gay marriage and let the ban stand in the meantime.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's pick for White House chief of staff plans to meet with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Obama's transition team said in a statement.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's top choice to lead the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, CNN reported on Wednesday, citing multiple sources.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chances dimmed that a last-minute plan being crafted by Republican senators, with White House support, to provide $25 billion to bail out U.S. automakers would receive enough backing from Democrats to pass before the end of this week.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens, convicted last month of corruption charges, conceded defeat on Wednesday in his bid for an eighth term, a day after his Democratic opponent claimed victory.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama selected Tom Daschle, a heavyweight former senator, to be his health secretary on Wednesday, while former President Bill Clinton took steps to help secure his wife the nation's top diplomatic job.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dozens of U.S. foreign policy leaders, including Democratic and Republican ex-Cabinet members, urged an incoming Obama administration to strengthen ties with the United Nations.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Falling oil prices will take a bite out of Alaska's state budget and put a damper on oil-field investment, Gov. Sarah Palin told a conference of major North Slope oil operators on Wednesday.