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The Republicans who control the House are using cuts to food aid, health care and social services like Meals on Wheels to protect the Pentagon from a wave of budget cuts come January....

At a closed door meeting with rank-and-file Republicans, House Speaker John A. Boehner reiterated his concerns the party could lose control of the House majority this fall, giving his troops file a sober reminder of the challenge ahead.

The two top Republicans in Congress explicitly endorsed Mitt Romney on Tuesday to be their party's presidential nominee, as party leaders continued consolidating around their all-but-inevitable candidate in hopes of quickly focusing attention on ousting President Barack Obama in this fall's election.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio says Republican Mitt Romney will win the White House, but not with Rubio on the ticket.

The U.S. Senate's top Republican called on his party to unite behind leading presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Sunday as rival Rick Santorum vowed to stay in the race beyond a likely defeat in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary.

Republican Rep. Bob Turner, facing elimination of his New York City congressional district, says he'll seek the Senate seat held by Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand. Turner's announcement Tuesday came just three days before New York Republicans will choose among Senate candidates. There are already three other Republicans seeking the nomination.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) announced Wednesday morning that she will run for her fourth term in 2012. “I’m looking forward to coming back and bringing a strong, powerful voice to Washington, D.C.,” Bachmann told the Associated Press. The former presidential candidate’s future plans had been in some doubt. Redistricting could make her 6th district seat more competitive, and she spent much of the year in Iowa proclaiming herself “an Iowa girl” — not so helpful for winning an election in Minnesota.

The No Child Left Behind education law offered the promise of improved schools and better prepared students in a competitive world. Yet after a decade on the books, President George W. Bush's most hyped domestic accomplishment has become a symbol to many of federal overreach and Congress' inability to fix something that's clearly flawed.

House of Representatives Republican Speaker John Boehner has agreed to accept a bipartisan deal to extend a payroll tax cut, in an abrupt U-turn. He had refused a vote on the bill, which was passed by Republicans and Democrats in the Senate last Saturday. Correspondents say the move amounts to a cave-in by House Republicans, and victory for President Barack Obama.

House Speaker John Boehner and his team of GOP negotiators gathered around a conference table in the Capitol on Wednesday to show they were hard at work -- although they have no one to negotiate with, not even Senate Republicans.