COURT: OBAMA APPOINTMENTS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama violated the Constitution when he bypassed the Senate to fill vacancies on a labor relations panel, a federal appeals court panel ruled Friday.  —  A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals …

U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss: Frustration with Washington drove him out  —  U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the leader of a bipartisan effort to address the federal deficit, this morning pointed to gridlock in Washington for his decision not to seek a third term in 2014.  —  A statement just released by his office includes this:

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 …

Full text: Bobby Jindal's dynamite speech to the Republican National Committee in Charlotte … Below is the text of Gov. Bobby Jindal's full speech to the Republican National Committee in Charlotte, N.C. delivered Thursday night.  —  Thank you all for having me here tonight.

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.

GOP Sen. Smith opposes bill to allocate presidential electoral votes by congressional district  —  If a bill to reapportion Virginia's presidential electoral votes by congressional district is a Republican plot, someone forgot to tell state Sen. Ralph Smith, R-Bedford County.

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.

Filibuster Reform Ends With A Whimper: How It Fell Apart  —  For true believers, filibuster reform was about making it painful, if not impossible, for a Senate minority to obstruct governance by the majority.  But it didn't come anywhere near that, leaving reformers deeply disappointed.

Reaffirmed: 4 Pinocchios for a misleading Mitt Romney ad on Chrysler and China  —  “Who will do more for the auto industry?  Not Barack Obama.  Fact checkers confirm that his attacks on Mitt Romney are false.  The truth?  Mitt Romney has a plan to help the auto industry.

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 polling director into White House, according to an official, part of a broader migration of political staff …

Kerry vows to combat climate change  —  WASHINGTON — In a confirmation hearing unusual for its bipartisan comity, Secretary of State-designate John F. Kerry pledged Thursday to pursue a different brand of foreign policy — one rooted in greater cultural understanding of the developing world …

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.

Press Briefing by Secretary Panetta and General Dempsey from the Pentagon  —  SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LEON E. PANETTA: Good afternoon.  One of my priorities as secretary of defense has been to remove as many barriers as possible for talented and qualified people to be able to serve this country in uniform.

Comic book hero Judge Dredd ‘might be gay’  —  First picture of the latest edition of comic 2000 AD, titled Closet, shows Dredd kissing another man  —  NOTE: WE DO NOT STORE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS(ES) BUT YOUR IP ADDRESS WILL BE LOGGED TO PREVENT ABUSE OF THIS FEATURE.  PLEASE READ OUR LEGAL TERMS & POLICIES

Exclusive: Billionaires secretly fund attacks on climate science  —  Audit trail reveals that donors linked to fossil fuel industry are backing global warming sceptics  —  NOTE: WE DO NOT STORE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS(ES) BUT YOUR IP ADDRESS WILL BE LOGGED TO PREVENT ABUSE OF THIS FEATURE.

Ex-Officer for C.I.A. Sentenced to 30 Months in Leak Case  —  ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The first Central Intelligence Agency officer to face prison for disclosing classified information, was sentenced on Friday to 30 months in prison by a judge at the federal courthouse here.

Mitt Romney in D.C. for weekend  —  Mitt Romney is in Washington for the weekend to attend a private luncheon with campaign supporters and the Alfalfa Club's annual dinner.  —  A senior aide from the campaign said: “Gov. Romney will attend a private lunch Friday at the J.W. Marriott co-hosted …