U.S. endorses limited gay marriage right  —  The Obama administration on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to rule in the case of California's Proposition 8 that same-sex marriage should be required in eight more states, beyond the nine that already permit it, although it stopped short …

House Republicans Cheer Boehner's Refusal to Negotiate on Cuts  —  WASHINGTON — Speaker John A. Boehner, the man who spent significant portions of the last Congress shuttling to and from the White House for fiscal talks with President Obama that ultimately failed twice to produce a grand bargain …

212 Members Of Congress Ask Court To Strike Down DOMA  —  “DOMA imposes a sweeping and unjustifiable federal disability on married same-sex couples,” the Democratic members of Congress write.  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, left, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Woodward vs. White House: Washington at its weirdest  —  Only in Washington does a tempest turn on the meaning of the word “regret.”  —  Only in Washington does the back and forth between a legendary journalist and a White House wonk turn into an epic talking-head fest and trending Twitter topic.

If you might want to insult Harvard down the line, go elsewhere  —  If you think Harvard is a revolutionary communist hotbed, don't apply.  If you think Harvard is full of “pinheaded” professors, don't enroll.  And if you think Harvard pollutes the minds of its students …

Irked lawmakers say Kerry left them in the dark on Syria aid  —  Lawmakers on Thursday said the State Department left Congress in the dark about the administration's decision to aid rebel forces in Syria.  —  The leaders of the panels that cover foreign policy told The Hill they weren't briefed ahead …

Ben Bernanke, Hippie  —  We're just a few weeks away from a milestone I suspect most of Washington would like to forget: the start of the Iraq war.  What I remember from that time is the utter impenetrability of the elite prowar consensus.  If you tried to point out that the Bush administration …

Romney likens 2012 race to ‘roller coaster,’ in exclusive ‘Fox News Sunday’ interview  —  Mitt Romney, in an exclusive interview with “Fox News Sunday,” said the end of the 2012 presidential race was like getting off a roller coaster.  —  “We were on a roller coaster, exciting and thrilling, ups and downs.

Why Scalia's ‘Racial Entitlement’ Quote Is Even Scarier Than You Think  —  Justice Antonin Scalia quite deservedly came under fire yesterday for his claim that a key provision of the Voting Rights Act is a “perpetuation of racial entitlement.”  If the justice were looking to confirm every suspicion …

10 best ‘sequestration’ anagrams  —  Any way you dice it, sequestration is roiling Washington as the Friday deadline for a deal looms — and it turns out you can dice it about 15,000 ways.  The website wordsmith.org turned up 15,080 results for a search of “sequestration” anagrams.

Many Steps to Be Taken When ‘Sequester’ Is Law  —  WASHINGTON — At some point on Friday (no one will say precisely when), President Obama will formally notify government agencies that an obscure process known as sequestration is in effect, triggering deep, across-the-board budget cuts that will force federal spending to shrink.

Consumer Spending in U.S. Climbs Even as Taxes Hurt Incomes  —  Consumer spending in the U.S. rose in January even as incomes dropped by the most in 20 years, showing households were weathering the payroll-tax increase by socking away less money in the bank.

Businessweek Warns That Minorities May Be Buying Houses Again  —  Bloomberg Businessweek is a genuinely great magazine that does an amazing job of making business and economics news accessible and interesting, but this way of illustrating a cover story about the return of aggressive mortgage lending products is really something else.