Senators near a deal on background checks for most private gun sales  —  A bipartisan group of senators is on the verge of a deal that would expand background checks to all private firearms sales with limited exemptions, but significant disagreements remain on the issue of keeping records …

The big sequester gamble: How badly will the cuts hurt?  —  Evan Vucci/AP - President Barack Obama speaks in Chicago Feb. 15, 2013.  The president and congressional Republicans each seem content with the political ground they hold and are prepared to let across-the-board spending cuts take effect on March 1.

On the sequester, the American people ‘moved the goalposts’  —  I don't agree with my colleague Bob Woodward, who says the Obama administration is “moving the goalposts” when they insist on a sequester replacement that includes revenues.  I remember talking to both members of the Obama administration …

Political movies look to win big at Oscars  —  Political movies are expected to rake in the trophies at Sunday night's Academy Awards ceremony.  —  “Argo,” a film about the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, is favored to win the biggest prize of the night: Best Picture.

McCain: Backing immigration reform won't hurt GOP lawmakers in primaries  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that he didn't think Republican lawmakers would be hurt in GOP primaries if they supported a comprehensive immigration overhaul.  —  McCain said he thought that GOP office holders …

Violent, Drunk and Holding a Gun  —  Multiple mass shootings by deranged young men have made keeping firearms out of the hands of mentally ill people a big part of the gun debate.  —  Given the enormity of those crimes, that is understandable.  Federal law does, in fact …

Court Finds No Right to Conceal a Firearm  —  DENVER (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that permits allowing people to carry concealed weapons are not protected by the Second Amendment.  —  The ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit was issued Friday …

UK's top cardinal accused of ‘inappropriate acts’ by priests  —  Three priests and former priest report Cardinal Keith O'Brien to Vatican over claims stretching back 33 years  —  Three priests and a former priest in Scotland have reported the most senior Catholic clergyman in Britain …

Michael Goldfarb Gleeful Provocateur at Intersection of Many Worlds  —  At 11:42 a.m. on Feb. 14, a conservative online magazine called The Washington Free Beacon posted a dispatch about a speech Chuck Hagel gave in 2007 in which it said he called the State Department “an adjunct to the Israeli foreign minister's office.”

Proposed design of NC illegal immigrant licenses sparks concern  —  RALEIGH, N.C. - A new driver's license expected to be issued to some illegal immigrants in North Carolina has prompted state lawmakers and immigrant rights groups to voice concerns over the proposal.

McCain predicts Hagel likely to get up-or-down Senate vote this week  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that he expected President Obama's nominee for Defense secretary, Chuck Hagel, to get an up-or-down vote in the coming days.  —  “I think it will happen, barring …

Rick Perry: Texas Will Never Go Blue  —  For many, it's the country's ultimate over-the-horizon electoral question: Could Texas become a blue state?  —  To which Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry emits a hearty guffaw.  Texas going blue, he says, “is the biggest pipedream I have ever heard.”