Boehner: The Nation Will Be On ‘The Path’ To Default If Obama Doesn't Accept GOP Demands  —  House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said the nation would default on its debt later this month if President Obama does not agree to GOP's demands to cut spending and change parts of the Affordable Care Act.

Cruz calls on lawmakers to tie debt ceiling to ObamaCare  —  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Sunday said changes to President Obama's signature healthcare law should be tied to a debt ceiling increase.  —  The Texas Republican said any deal on raising the nation's borrowing authority should include some …

U.S. forces strike in Libya, Somalia, capture al Qaeda operative  —  (CNN) — In two operations in Africa nearly 3,000 miles apart, U.S. military forces went after two high-value targets over the weekend.  —  One operation took place early Saturday in the Libyan capital of Tripoli …

A Federal Budget Crisis Months in the Planning  —  WASHINGTON — Shortly after President Obama started his second term, a loose-knit coalition of conservative activists led by former Attorney General Edwin Meese III gathered in the capital to plot strategy.  Their push to repeal …

Cuccinelli shuns Cruz limelight  —  RICHMOND, Va.— That was awkward.  —  In the clearest sign yet of the potent effect of the government shutdown on the Virginia governor's race, Republican Ken Cuccinelli avoided being photographed with Ted Cruz at a gala they headlined here Saturday night …

Welcome to Ted Cruz's Thunderdome  —  AN ape sits where Abe sat.  —  The year is 2084, in the capital of the land formerly called North America.  —  The peeling columns of the Lincoln Memorial, and Abe's majestic head, elegant hands and big feet are partially submerged in sludge.

The rise of the New Confederacy  —  It took on new force with fears of the federal government in Washington interfering with their cherished way of life.  It gathered steam with the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860.  And it all came into full flower when shore batteries fired on Fort Sumter.

Shutdown Crisis: We Need a Hostage Negotiator  —  With Washington held hostage by the far-right, the shutdown crisis is stuck in stalemate.  John Avlon talks to a former FBI hostage negotiator about how to break the deadlock.  Yes, it's come to this.  —  With the government shutdown entering …

Shutdown's roots lie in deeply embedded divisions in America's politics  —  The government shutdown did not happen by accident.  It is the latest manifestation — an extreme one by any measure — of divisions long in the making and now deeply embedded in the country's politics.

In Obama's war on leaks, reporters fight back  —  Leonard Downie, a former executive editor of The Washington Post, is the Weil family professor of journalism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University.  This article is based on his report “The Obama Administration and the Press …