In Iowa, tea party defender Ted Cruz says he knows how to unite the GOP  —  Conservative purist Ted Cruz addressed the concerns of any Iowa Republicans who reject him as too rigid, arguing he knows exactly how to unify the GOP and how to turn the country around.  —  The answer: “Restore historic economic growth,” he said.

Michelle Obama's Princeton classmate is executive at company that built Obamacare website  —  First Lady Michelle Obama's Princeton classmate is a top executive at the company that earned the no-bid contract to build the failed Obamacare website.  —  Toni Townes-Whitley, Princeton class of '85 …

Xia Yeliang: The China Americans Don't See  —  A Peking University economics professor who was sacked for his political views explains the underside of elite Chinese higher education.  —  The 21st-century romance between America's universities and China continues to blossom …

GOP Civil War  —  Oh, it's on: … RINO hunt!  This is astonishing, and can only be driven by an ideological mindset so impervious to reality that it would rather destroy political conservatism's chances of actually running the country than succumb to the least impurity in the ranks.

ObamaCare rollout casts cloud over 2014 Dems, despite GOP's budget fight bruises  —  Photo taken July 23, 2013 of the Capitol Dome in Washington, DC.  —  The Affordable Care Act's rocky rollout has put Democrats and the White House back on defense — allowing Republicans who were deeply divided over …

After Year of Working Around Federal Cuts, Agencies Face Fewer Options  —  WASHINGTON — In the weeks that led to the huge across-the-board cuts to federal spending early this year, Obama administration officials warned of dire consequences for the Justice Department: F.B.I. agents dropped …

Marty Sullivan figured out how the world's biggest companies avoided billions in taxes.  Here's how he wants to stop them.  —  Marty Sullivan in the Arlington garage where he parses filings to figure out how multi-national corporations avoid taxes.  (Photo by Matt McClain/ The Washington Post)

Obamacare Website Flaws Imperil President's Activist Agenda  —  The rocky debut of the insurance exchanges at the heart of President Barack Obama's health-care law poses risks to his political agenda and the activist role for government that he has championed for his second term.

Immigration Poses Threat of Another Republican Rift  —  WASHINGTON — A push to bring immigration legislation to the House floor, led by an unusual coalition of business executives, prominent conservatives and evangelical leaders, threatens to create another schism in the Republican Party …

NSA critics rally, ‘Stop watching us’  —  Critics of U.S. surveillance activities will rally Saturday in Washington, D.C. in a sign of growing furor over the practice.  —  The “Stop Watching Us” rally and march is scheduled to take place Saturday morning, the 12th anniversary of the signing of the Patriot Act.

Cindy McCain petitions husband to back gay rights bill  —  Call it a bold canvassing move that paid off: An organizer for the Human Rights Campaign asked Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) wife Cindy to sign a postcard Thursday urging the senator to back legislation barring workplace discrimination …

Obama's Valerie Jarrett: Often Whispered about, But Never Challenged  —  President Obama's aides went to extraordinary lengths to uncover the identity of a senior official who was using Twitter to make snarky comments about White House staffers.  Suspicion gradually centered on Jofi Joseph …

NSA Blames ‘Internal Error,’ Not Hackers, For Website Crash  —  The shadowy National Security Agency said late Friday that it was a glitch that brought down its public website for a few hours, not hackers as some claimed online.  —  “NSA.gov was not accessible for several hours tonight …