Statement On Michael Hastings  —  BuzzFeed is saddened to report that Michael Hastings died in a car accident early this morning in Los Angeles.  He was 33.  —  Ben Smith, BuzzFeed Editor-in-Chief, said in a statement:  —  We are shocked and devastated by the news that Michael Hastings is gone.

“What Part of ‘Politico’ Do You Not Understand?”  —  A conversation about the dark art of driving the conversation  —  The dominant mode of Washington journalism tends to both reflect and entrench the values of its era.  The eminent writers and editors of the immediate postwar age …

House passes late-term abortion ban  —  The House voted Tuesday to impose a nationwide ban on abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy over Democratic objections that the bill represents a dramatic attempt by Republicans to restrict abortion rights.  —  As expected, the vote fell …

Breaking: Full House committee transcripts shed new light on genesis of IRS targeting  —  Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have just released a full transcript of testimony from a key witness in the investigation of IRS targeting of conservatives — and it appears to confirm …

Google challenges U.S. gag order, citing First Amendment  —  Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government.

CBO score brings good news for Gang of Eight  —  The Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday that the Senate Gang of Eight immigration bill will significantly reduce the federal budget deficit in its first two decades if it becomes law.  —  Proponents of the bill are already claiming …

WAS JUSTICE ROBERTS INTIMIDATED INTO VOTING FOR ‘OBAMACARE’?  SENATOR MIKE LEE PRESENTS THE EVIDENCE  —  After Chief Supreme Court Justice John Roberts voted to uphold the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as “ObamaCare,” many wondered if there could be a yet-unknown reason …

Senate hopefuls charge into final week with a heated debate  —  (CNN) - The final debate showdown Tuesday between Massachusetts rivals Gabriel Gomez and Rep. Ed Markey was peppered with stinging attacks from the candidates, whose race for U.S. Senate culminates in one week.

Rubio calls Heritage study ‘flawed’  —  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Tuesday criticized a Heritage Foundation study on the immigration reform legislation introduced in the Senate, calling the think tank's report “flawed.”  —  “Their argument is based on a single premise, which I think is flawed …

Bill Ayers: Obama Presidency Gets ‘Failing Grade,’ He Should Be Tried For ‘War Crimes’  —  Bill Ayers believes President Obama gets a “failing grade” for his presidency, and should be tried for “war crimes,” along with all living presidents who have engaged in acts of “terrorism” abroad.

The GOP's clueless caucus  —  They've waxed philosophic about “legitimate rape,” reflected on the economic role of “wetbacks” and denounced the actions of “brazen, self-described illegal aliens.”  They've lamented that “mom got in the workplace” and called out the United States attorney general for casting “aspersions on my asparagus.”

Obama: ‘Lives have been saved’ by NSA surveillance programs  —  President Obama on Tuesday defended the National Security Agency's surveillance programs at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel Wednesday in Berlin, claiming “at least 50 threats have been averted” thanks to information gleaned from the programs.

Dissent Festers in States That Obama Forgot  —  WASHINGTON — You might call North Dakota the antithesis of President Obama's political base.  —  Whites make up 90 percent of its population, which is fewer than one million people and mostly in rural areas.  Its proportion of people 65 and over exceeds the national average.

University programs that train U.S. teachers get mediocre marks in first-ever ratings  —  The vast majority of the 1,430 education programs that prepare the nation's K-12 teachers are mediocre, according to a first-ever ranking that immediately touched off a firestorm.

Updated: Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: ‘I want to run for governor’  —  Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa speaks during a luncheon at the National Press Club ON January 14, 2013 in Washington.  Villaraigosa spoke about immigration reform, gun laws and other issues.  ; Credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images

Extending a Hand Abroad, Obama Often Finds a Cold Shoulder  —  WASHINGTON — Over porterhouse steak and cherry pie at a desert estate in California earlier this month, President Obama delivered a stern lecture to President Xi Jinping about China's disputes with its neighbors.

Postcard From Turkey  —  ISTANBUL — Having witnessed the Egyptian uprising in Tahrir Square in Cairo in 2011, I was eager to compare it with the protests by Turkish youths here in Taksim Square in 2013.  They are very different.  The Egyptians wanted to oust President Hosni Mubarak.