Why I made the right call  —  View Photo Gallery — What you need to know about Susan Rice: The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has withdrawn from consideration for secretary of state  —  On Thursday I asked that President Obama no longer consider me for the job of secretary of state.

Marijuana Not High Obama Priority  —  President Obama says recreational users of marijuana in states that have legalized the substance should not be a “top priority” of federal law enforcement officials prosecuting the war on drugs.  —  “We've got bigger fish to fry,” Obama said of pot users …

The End of Birth-Control Politics  —  Over-the-counter sales of oral contraceptives will cut off a disingenuous attack line.  —  The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists announced its support last month for selling oral contraceptives over the counter without a prescription in the United States.

The G.O.P.'s Existential Crisis  —  We are not having a debt crisis.  —  It's important to make this point, because I keep seeing articles about the “fiscal cliff” that do, in fact, describe it — often in the headline — as a debt crisis.  But it isn't.  The U.S. government is having no trouble borrowing to cover its deficit.

House GOP Secretly Authorized $500,000 To Defend Unconstitutional Anti-Gay Law  —  It has come to light that House Administration Committee Chairman Dan Lungren (R-CA) secretly approved a $500,000 increase to a contract with a private law firm to defend the unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in federal court.

One Confirmed Dead In School Shooting In Newtown  —  State police responding to a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.  —  At least one person is dead after a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dickinson Drive.  —  Police said there are multiple shooting victims.

US says it won't ratify UN telecom treaty  —  The United States said Thursday that it will not sign a United Nations telecommunications treaty that U.S. technology companies warn would disrupt governance of the Internet and open the door to online censorship.

Man in Apparent Mitt Romney Mask Robs Sterling Bank  —  Robber took cash from all five tellers  —  A man who appeared to be wearing a Mitt Romney mask held up a bank in Sterling, Va., Thursday morning, and that's not all that had the FBI calling the robbery “unusual.”  News4's Pat Collins reports.

Promise vs. Reality in Newark on Mayor's Watch  —  NEWARK — When snow blanketed this city two Christmases ago, Mayor Cory A. Booker was celebrated around the nation for personally shoveling out residents who had appealed for help on Twitter.  But here, his administration was scorned …

With Gap Wide and Time Short, Obama and Boehner Meet  —  WASHINGTON — With time running short to work out a deal to avert a year-end fiscal crisis, Speaker John A. Boehner met with President Obama at the White House on Thursday evening to try to bridge a vast gap between the parties on taxes …

The Hagel Haters  —  Why Israel's supporters can't stand the man who might be the next secretary of defense.  Eli Lake reports.  —  Chuck Hagel, who is reportedly the frontrunner to be the next Pentagon chief, has made a lot of friends in the U.S. foreign-policy establishment and at the top levels of Obama's inner circle.

Only 15 States Opt to Run Obamacare Exchanges  —  Only 15 states have told the federal government they plan to operate health insurance exchanges under President Barack Obama's reform law, leaving Washington with the daunting task of creating online marketplaces for two-thirds of the country.

Building a Showcase Campus, Using an I.O.U.  —  Some call it the Edifice Complex.  Others have named it the Law of More, or the Taj Mahal syndrome.  —  A decade-long spending binge to build academic buildings, dormitories and recreational facilities — some of them inordinately lavish …

A Frigid Launch for iPhone 5 in Beijing … Apple's flagship store in Beijing's upscale Sanlitun shopping district began selling the iPhone 5 for the first time on Friday in what was arguably the least eventful launch of an Apple device in the company's four-year history in the Chinese capital.

Inouye is pressed to give up his gavel  —  Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) is coming under pressure to relinquish his chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee.  —  Critics say the Senate panel has lost power in recent years under the 88-year-old Inouye, who took over the committee …