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.

House prepares to vote on budget deal  —  House Republicans are planning a Thursday vote on a bipartisan budget deal, one of their last legislative acts before leaving Washington for the rest of 2013.  —  Despite some conservative opposition inside and outside the Capitol …

RSC fires executive director  —  The conservative Republican Study Committee, the bastion of right-wing strategy on Capitol Hill, has fired its longtime executive director Paul Teller, accusing him of leaking conversations with lawmakers.  —  Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the chairman of the RSC …

Hill staffers warned not to rely on info from ObamaCare exchange  —  Capitol Hill staffers who signed up for ObamaCare through the Washington, D.C., healthcare exchange, called DC Health Link (DCHL), are being told to confirm their enrollments in person, and not to rely on data provided by the website.

‘Fake’ sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela memorial provokes anger  —  Nelson Mandela's body is to lie in state for three days in Pretoria.  NBC News' Ron Allen reports on the thousands lining up to view Mandela's body and on a sign language interpreter at the Mandela memorial.

The media's Michelle Obama problem: What a selfie says about our biases  —  The overanalysis of the first lady's expression speaks volumes about America's expectations of black women  —  Not even President Obama is above taking a selfie in the least appropriate selfie-taking venue possible.

Obama's Orwellian Image Control  —  THE Internet has been abuzz over the spectacle of President Obama and the prime ministers of Britain and Denmark snapping a photo of themselves — a “selfie,” to use the mot du jour — with a smartphone at the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in South Africa on Tuesday.

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 …

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.

Republicans will face intense pressure over unemployment benefits  —  On the morning after lawmakers reached a budget deal that doesn't include an extension in unemployment benefits, chief GOP budget architect Paul Ryan awoke to a raft of home-state headlines that were all about the nearly 100,000 Wisconsinites who stand to get cut off.

Republicans plan 30-hour talkathon to protest ‘nuclear option’ use in Senate  —  Senate Republicans will stage a more than 30-hour talkathon on the Senate floor to protest Democrats' triggering of the “nuclear option” last month.  —  The GOP protest, which could extend into the weekend …

The key Obamacare deadline few are talking about  —  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced this morning that nearly 365,000 Americans had signed up for private health insurance under Obamacare.  The vast majority came from 14 states running their own insurance exchanges …

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 …

Sen. Lamar Alexander's Chief of Staff Put on Leave Following Child Pornography Allegations  —  The Tennessee Republican is “stunned” about his staffer, Ryan Loskarn.  —  Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) speaks to members of the media at the Capitol October 11, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

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 …