U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss to announce retirement  —  U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss will announce this morning that he's dropping plans to run for a third term in 2014, a decision certain to set off an avalanche of Republican candidates who will seek to replace him.

Haley Barbour: ‘Stupid’ comments hurt GOP  —  Former Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour said on Friday that “stupid” and “offensive” comments made by one candidate can have a negative affect on others in the same political party.  —  “The comments they made were stupid comments …

Jeb Bush and Clint Bolick: Solving the Immigration Puzzle  —  Some want illegals to return to their native countries and ‘wait in line’ like everyone else.  There is no line.  —  The nation's capital is awash with ideas about how to fix America's immigration policy.

Obama, Clinton to appear in joint ‘60 Minutes’ interview  —  The president and Clinton, who is expected to leave the State Department within days, will tape the interview Friday at the White House with “60 Minutes” anchor Steve Kroft.  It will be the president's first dual interview with anyone other than First Lady Michelle Obama.

Three Winners And Three Losers In Today's Filibuster Deal … The Huffington Post reports that Senate Leaders Harry Reid (D-NV) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reached a deal today to support minor — and in some cases, temporary — changes to the Senate Rules, rather than push through …

Is Hillary seeing double?  Daily News analysis points out the Secretary of State may suffer from vision impairments following a concussion and blood clot near her brain  —  A close inspection of Hillary Clinton's glasses worn during her Wednesday testimony on Benghazi shows an adhesive Fresnel prism …

My God, Could This Be True?  —  Much like with Mitt Romney, it seems that Benjamin Netanyahu had no idea of the electoral drubbing headed his way, despite the fact that independent pollsters very much did see it coming.  Yes, you guessed it: Netanyahu's pollsters were apparently skewing his poll data.

Feinstein: Reinstate assault weapons ban  —  Proposal stricter than original, faces opposition  —  Sen. Dianne Feinstein rolled out sweeping legislation that would ban more than 150 types of military-style semiautomatic rifles on Thursday, kicking off the congressional debate …

Britain heading for triple-dip recession as GDP shrinks 0.3% in fourth quarter  —  UK economy not expected to regain peak level for another two years - marking slowest recovery in a century  —  Britain could be on course for its third recession in four years after the economy shrank 0.3% in the last three months of 2012.

Allen West Slams Women In Combat ‘Social Experiment,’ Suggests They Should Also Join NHL And NBA  —  Former Republican Congressman and Army veteran Allen West made his views about the recent decision to allow women to serve in combat roles known this morning on Twitter and Facebook.

Republicans in Virginia, other states seeking electoral college changes  —  Republicans in Virginia and a handful of other battleground states are pushing for far-reaching changes to the electoral college in an attempt to counter recent success by Democrats.

Deficit Hawks Down  —  President Obama's second Inaugural Address offered a lot for progressives to like.  There was the spirited defense of gay rights; there was the equally spirited defense of the role of government, and, in particular, of the safety net provided by Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Obama Brings Pollster Into White House  —  A staff reshuffle as the campaign comes in from the cold.  —  Source: whitehouse.gov  —  President Barack Obama is bringing his campaign pollster into White House, according to an official, part of a broader migration of political staff into government …

Exiting Timothy Geithner talks fiscal future  —  Republicans have effectively ceded the debt ceiling as a political weapon, opening what could be a more productive and less economically dangerous period of fiscal debate, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in an exit interview with POLITICO.

Senators not in ‘millionaires’ club' would be hurt by lost paychecks  —  The Senate is often called the “millionaires' club,” but some of its members would feel the pain if a blown budget deadline costs them their paychecks.  —  Provisions in the “No Budget, No Pay” debt ceiling bill …

Rahm Emanuel presses banks on guns  —  Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, moving to take a lead role in the gun control debate, is turning up the pressure on banks that do business with firearms manufacturers.  —  Emanuel is sending letters to two major financial institutions, TD Bank and Bank of America …

UN opens probe into US armed drone strikes  —  The United Nations has begun an investigation into the use of armed aerial drone strikes by the United States and others to see if those attacks violate international human-rights laws.  —  The investigation will be led by Ben Emmerson …

CONGRESS: Baca to challenge Negrete McLeod in 2014  —  Longtime Inland Congressman Joe Baca, who lost his seat last November, plans to challenge the woman who took it in 2014.  —  “If you get knocked down, you've got to stand up,” he said Thursday, Jan. 24.