Harry Reid escalates nuclear threat in a big way  —  An important moment on the Senate floor just now: Harry Reid said he would be filing cloture today on a whole bunch of executive nominations, and challenged Republicans to act on them — a major escalation of the threat to change the Senate rules …

House approves farm bill in big win for Boehner, GOP leaders  —  The House approved a stripped-down farm bill Thursday in a tight 216-208 vote, giving a huge boost to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other Republican leaders after the embarrassing failure of an earlier bill last month.

Republicans in House Resist Overhaul for Immigration  —  WASHINGTON — Meeting for the first time as a group to hash out their approach to immigration, House Republicans on Wednesday came down overwhelmingly against a comprehensive overhaul of the nation's immigration laws …

Republicans' Obamacare search-and-destroy mission  —  Watching House Republicans' latest complaint about Obamacare brings to mind the joke Woody Allen used to open “Annie Hall,” about two elderly women at a Catskills resort.  —  “Boy, the food at this place is really terrible,” says one.

Revealed: how Microsoft handed the NSA access to encrypted messages  —  • Secret files show scale of Silicon Valley co-operation on Prism  —  • Outlook.com encryption unlocked even before official launch  —  • Skype worked to enable Prism collection of video calls

Rand Paul Stands By His ‘Southern Avenger’  —  WASHINGTON — In an interview with The Huffington Post, Sen. Rand Paul stoutly defended an aide who, as a radio shock jock in South Carolina, praised John Wilkes Booth, heaped scorn on Abraham Lincoln and wore a ski mask emblazoned with the stars and bars of the Confederate Battle Flag.

Judge considers lesser charges for Zimmerman  —  George Zimmerman's defense team rested Wednesday.  The jury deliberations are expected to start Friday. … The judge in the George Zimmerman murder trial will decide Thursday if she will grant a prosecution request to allow the jury …

Obamacare's panicked Democrats  —  Why the employer mandate delay will backfire  —  Poor Democrats.  An election looms and their Obamacare train wreck is deservedly being called the worst law in American history.  Voters hate it, and why shouldn't they?  The Democrats' promises …

Sarah Palin  · 3,554,768 like this  —  Really, Mark?  Really?  —  Margaret Thatcher used to say, “I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think, well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.”

Wegmans cuts health benefits for part-time workers  —  Et tu, Wegmans?  —  The Rochester-based grocer that has been continually lauded for providing health insurance to its part-time workers will no longer offer that benefit.  —  Until recently, the company voluntarily offered health insurance …

Spitzer a no-show in 2012 election vote after writing column about voting for Obama  —  Eliot Spitzer failed to vote in last year's presidential election — just four days after penning a column proclaiming “Why I Am Voting for Barack Obama,” The Post has learned.

Hedge Funds Are for Suckers  —  At the height of the financial crisis in 2008, a group of famous hedge fund managers was made to stand before Congress like thieves in a stockade and defend their existence to an angry public.  The gilded five included George Soros, co-founder of the Quantum Fund …

Bill Clinton, the Original Sex Scandal Comeback Kid  —  Every politician who's bitten his lip and asked for a second chance after getting caught with his pants down owes a debt to Clinton, writes Russ Schriefer.  —  Without Bill Clinton there would be no second act for Eliot Spitzer, Anthony Weiner, or Mark Sanford.

Trapped: An air escape from Moscow unlikely for NSA leaker Snowden  —  WASHINGTON — Beginning a third week holed up in a Moscow airport's transit zone, Edward Snowden finds himself far enough away to evade U.S. authorities, but also too far from any of the sympathetic nations willing to shelter him.

Jay-Z: ‘I get texts from President Obama, of course’  —  Rapper opens up his relationships with Rihanna, Jack White and daughter Blue Ivy  —  Jay-Z has opened up about his life in a new radio interview, revealing that he texts President Obama as well as discussing his relationships with Rihanna, Jack White and daughter Blue Ivy.

D.C. Council approves ‘living wage’ bill over Wal-Mart ultimatum  —  D.C. lawmakers gave final approval Wednesday to a bill requiring some large retailers to pay their employees a 50 percent premium over the city's minimum wage, a day after Wal-Mart warned that the law would jeopardize its plans in the city.

Sudden Improvements in Egypt Suggest a Campaign to Undermine Morsi  —  CAIRO — The streets seethe with protests and government ministers are on the run or in jail, but since the military ousted President Mohamed Morsi, life has somehow gotten better for many people across Egypt …

Texas Threat to Abortion Clinics Dodged at Flea Markets  —  At an open-air flea market outside McAllen, Texas, near the Mexican border, shoppers can buy a goat and get their car windows tinted.  Tables with handwritten signs touting Viagra are stocked with herbal remedies promising to burn fat and boost breast size.