Government - Nation

WASHINGTON (AP) — The economy is recovering, the White House is dealing with multiple controversies, and President Barack Obama appears generally unaffected either way.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Is the tea party getting its groove back? Shouts of vindication from around the country suggest the movement’s leaders certainly think so.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – First lady Michelle Obama has some advice for some Tennessee high school graduates: Strike your own path in college and life and work to overcome inevitable failures with determination and grit.

WASHINGTON – There’s an irony in the Internal Revenue Service’s crackdown on conservative groups.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Friday ordered the military to recertify every person involved in programs designed to prevent and respond to sexual assault, an acknowledgement that assaults have escalated beyond the Pentagon's control.

WASHINGTON – The White House on Wednesday released 100 pages of emails and notes related to the Obama administration’s response to the attack on a diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, last September.

WASHINGTON – Congressional Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday challenged Attorney General Eric Holder over the Justice Department’s handling of the investigation of national security leaks and its failure to talk to The Associated Press before issuing subpoenas for the news service’s telephone records.

WASHINGTON – Then CIA-Director David Petraeus objected to the final talking points that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice used five days after the deadly assault on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, because he wanted to see more detail publicly released, including a warning issued from the CIA about plans for a break-in at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, a newly released email shows.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama seemed to lose control of his second-term agenda even before he was sworn in, when a school massacre led him to lift gun control to the fore. Now, as he tries to pivot from a stinging defeat on that issue and push forward on others, the president finds himself rocked by multiple controversies that are demoralizing his allies, emboldening his political foes and posing huge distractions for all.

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department is investigating the Internal Revenue Service for targeting tea party groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax exempt status, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday, widening a probe that includes investigations by three committees in Congress.

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama tried to swat down a pair of brewing controversies Monday, denouncing as “outrageous” the targeting of conservative political groups by the federal IRS but angrily denying any administration cover-up after last year’s deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday defended the Justice Department's secret examination of Associated Press phone records though he declared he had played no role in it, saying it was justified as part of an investigation into a grave national security leak.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans pushed ahead Monday with their investigation of the deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, last year as President Barack Obama asserted that GOP charges of a cover-up are baseless.

CARY – Since its start in 2005, Michael Ginsberg’s Cary-based Internet retailer has grown to bring in about $4 million in sales a year.

WASHINGTON – Beyond the Air Force’s embarrassing suspension of 17 nuclear missile launch officers lie two broader questions.