Veterans poll: 91 percent back gun checks  —  The vast majority of veterans support universal background checks, a new poll shows.  —  According to a survey commissioned by the organization Vote Vets and the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund, 91 percent of veterans support requiring …

Obama: White House dinner with GOP senators ‘constructive’  —  President Obama “enjoyed a constructive and wide-ranging discussion” over dinner with Republican senators on Wednesday night, White House officials said.  —  During the dinner, which lasted two-and-half-hours …

Immigration, gun deals make Tea Party lawmakers restless  —  House conservatives are growing restless.  —  With bipartisan deals emerging on guns and immigration, Tea Party lawmakers in the lower chamber are warning their leaders to slow down.  —  Longtime immigration reform critic Rep. Steve King …

Top Republican Blasts Obama Budget As ‘Shocking Attack On Seniors’  —  Remember those warnings about how instead of welcoming President Obama's adoption of Chained CPI, Republicans would continue to deny him a budget deal and attack him for proposing to cut Social Security?

Daughter of former Obama pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright indicted … The daughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright — the controversial former pastor to President Barack Obama — was indicted today in an expanding federal probe of a state grant tied to a former suburban police chief.

Ben Carson steps down as Hopkins commencement speaker … Neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson stepped down Wednesday as commencement speaker at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine after complaints from students about controversial comments concerning same-sex marriage.

Exclusive: Blair warns Miliband: offer answers, not outrage  —  The former prime minister says Labour must be more than “fellow travellers in sympathy” and warns it not to “tack left on tax and spending”.  —  In his statement on Margaret Thatcher's death earlier this week …

Israel Detains Five Women For Wearing Prayer Shawls At Western Wall  —  JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police on Thursday detained five women at a Jerusalem holy site for performing religious rituals there that ultra-Orthodox Jews say are reserved for men.  —  The detentions come …

Gun Shop Where Lanza's Mother Bought Bushmaster Shut Down For Selling To A Felon, Background Check Violations  —  EAST WINDSOR, Conn. (AP) — Federal authorities say a Connecticut gun shop that legally sold weapons used in the Newtown school shootings lost its federal firearms license …

Facebook's Zuckerberg launches lobby group with push for immigration reform  —  A new lobby organization co-founded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and other tech executives launched on Thursday, focusing its efforts on rallying support for immigration reform.

Obamacare funds much in doubt  —  Here's today's billion-dollar question: Are Republicans going to allow the administration to spend more money on Obamacare?  —  Don't count on it.  —  The landmark health law may have survived the Supreme Court, countless repeal efforts and a presidential election …

Haley Barbour Leaves American Crossroads Amid Concerns Over Conservative Victory Project  —  The powerful fundraising team that American Crossroads deployed in 2012 to pull in more than $300 million has lost ace fundraiser Haley Barbour, according to three GOP operatives close to the super PAC.

Ken Cuccinelli Loses Petition To Uphold Anti-Sodomy Law  —  WASHINGTON — A court has denied Virginia Attorney General and 2013 gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli a full hearing to challenge a ruling that struck down the state's anti-sodomy statute as unconstitutional.

At Howard University, Rand Paul Falsely Claims He Never Opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act  —  Following an awkward, earnest speech to an audience at Howard University, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) insisted several times that he did not oppose the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Democrats pressing federal regulators for documents related to shoddy foreclosures  —  Two congressional Democrats are pressing federal regulators to reconsider their decision to withhold documents related shoddy foreclosures.  —  Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.) …