Pope Francis, The Choice  —  With a focus on compassion, the leader of the Catholic Church has become a new voice of conscience.  Managing Editor Nancy Gibbs explains why Francis is TIME's choice for Person of the Year 2013  —  Once there was a boy so meek and modest, he was awarded a Most Humble badge.

Here's what's in Paul Ryan and Patty Murray's mini-budget deal  —  1. The total deal is $85 billion.  About $45 billion of that replaces sequestration cuts in 2014.  About $20 billion replaces sequestration cuts in 2015.  About $20 billion is deficit reduction atop sequestration.

Lamar Alexander top aide investigated for child porn  —  Law enforcement agents have searched the home of GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander's chief of staff over allegations of child pornography, according to a statement released by the senator's office.  —  Jesse Ryan Loskarn, who goes by his middle name …

Cruz Says He Walked Out of Mandela Service When Raul Castro Spoke  —  Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, walked out of former South African President Nelson Mandela's memorial service Tuesday when Cuban President Raul Castro gave a speech, a spokeswoman for Cruz said.  —  “Sen. Cruz very much hopes …

NBC/WSJ poll: Obama ends year on low note  —  President Barak Obama attends Nelson Mandela's public memorial in Johannesburg, South Africa.  —  By Mark Murray, Senior Political Editor, NBC News  —  A year that began with President Barack Obama riding high after his re-election victory …

Building On Our Progress and Moving Forward: Three Initial Steps  —  As more Americans give HealthCare.gov a second look, they are finding that the consumer experience is night and day compared to what it was back in October.  While more work remains, HealthCare.gov is working smoothly for the vast majority of users.

Since October, 1.2 million have gained Obamacare coverage  —  Just about 1.2 million people have gained health coverage through Obamacare, according to new federal data released Wednesday morning.  —  Approximately 365,000 of those people have purchased private insurance and 803,000 …

GOP could shake up 2016 campaign  —  Washington (CNN) — A handful of Republican Party officials is quietly advancing a new batch of rules aimed at streamlining a chaotic presidential nominating process that many party insiders viewed as damaging to the their campaign for the White House in 2012, multiple GOP sources told CNN.

Cantor's Pediatric Research Bill Has Democrats Fuming  —  While the House ties up some legislative loose ends this week before adjourning for the year, there is one suspension bill the public — and House Republicans — might be surprised to find many Democrats opposing …

Clark wins special election for US House  —  Democrat Katherine M. Clark cruised to victory Tuesday, capturing the US House seat long held by Edward J. Markey, in a lightly contested special election.  —  She will become just the fifth woman to represent Massachusetts in the US House.

Six year old suspended for ‘sexual harassment’  —  CANON CITY, Colo. -  —  A six year old boy is suspended from school in Canon City for kissing a classmate on the cheek  —  His mother says it's a crush and the two children like each other.  But the school is calling it something else; sexual harassment.

Dems: Fixes not enough on O-Care  —  Senate Democrats facing tough reelections say President Obama has not done enough to fix the botched rollout of his healthcare law and are vowing to repair it themselves.  —  The Senate Democratic leadership is not on board with lawmaker plans …