Revealed: NSA collecting phone records of millions of Americans daily  —  Exclusive: Top secret court order requiring Verizon to hand over all call data shows scale of domestic surveillance under Obama  —  • Read the Verizon court order in full here  —  • Obama administration justifies surveillance

Christie Picks Chiesa, New Jersey's Attorney General, to Be Interim Senator  —  Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey on Thursday announced the appointment of Jeffrey S. Chiesa, the state's attorney general, to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Frank R. Lautenberg.

Manhunt over, Deval Patrick tied one on  —  Candid gov discusses attacks  —  By:  —  Gov. Deval Patrick gave a candid, behind-the-scenes look at the horrific days after the Boston Marathon bombings, telling employees at a Cambridge marketing firm yesterday he got “quite drunk” the day after the intense manhunt finally ended.

Gay Marriage Gains Ground in Poll as Court Readies Ruling  —  More than half of Americans support allowing same-sex couples to marry, endorsing the goal of gay-rights activists as the U.S. Supreme Court this month prepares to rule on the issue for the first time.

IRS Staff Cite Washington Link  —  Two Workers Tell Congress That Agency Officials Helped Direct Tea-Party Reviews  —  Two Internal Revenue Service employees in the agency's Cincinnati office told congressional investigators that IRS officials in Washington helped direct the probe of tea-party groups that began in 2010.

GOP to Darrell Issa: Cool it  —  Shortly after Darrell Issa dubbed Jay Carney a “paid liar” on CNN last Sunday, House Republican leadership staffers called the California Republican's aides with a message: Cool it.  —  Issa's aides promptly responded: The remark was over the top, they agreed …

House votes to defund Obama's ‘administrative amnesty’ for immigrants  —  The House voted Thursday morning to defund President Obama's orders that allow officials to focus deportation efforts on illegal immigrants who have been convicted of crimes.  —  Republicans have argued that these orders amount …

Kirk to Eric Holder: Is DOJ spying on Congress? … Attorney General Eric Holder refused to answer when asked if the Justice Department is spying on Members of Congress, citing the need for a classified conversation, which lawmakers accepted while asking him to make sure that evidence of such surveillance is not destroyed.

Virginia candidate E.W. Jackson: Yoga leads to Satan  —  E.W. Jackson, the Virginia GOP candidate for lieutenant governor, suggested that yoga could open individuals to Satan, according to a report.  —  Accompanying a profile of Jackson, who has been a thorn in the side …

Mass. pair sues New York Post over Marathon bombing portrayal  —  A Massachusetts teenager and his 24-year-old friend filed a defamation lawsuit against the New York Post Wednesday in Boston, accusing the tabloid of falsely portraying them as suspects in the deadly Marathon bombings by plastering …

‘War on women’ returns  —  Still, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is cooking up state-by-state releases calling on possible GOP Senate candidates to condemn remarks from GOP leaders.  —  “These comments make Todd Akin look moderate.  Republicans have offended women across the country,” said DSCC spokeswoman Regan Page.