CNN exclusive: Feds investigating Christie's use of Sandy relief funds  —  Scandal is unfolding around New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie over lane closures on the George Washington Bridge as part of a political vendetta to punish a local mayor who wouldn't support him at the polls.

Hillary's hit list  —  The Clintons keep a favor file of saints and sinners, according to this excerpt from HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton.  —  Inside a cramped third-floor office of Hillary Clinton's once-bustling presidential campaign headquarters in the Ballston neighborhood …

Argument recap: An uneasy day for presidential power  —  Seeming a bit troubled about allowing the Senate to have an on-off switch on the president's power to temporarily fill vacant government posts, the Supreme Court on Monday indicated that it may yet allow just that.

Alex Sink rises to top in Florida special election  —  It's been framed as the clearest barometer of the public's mood heading into this year's midterms: a special election battle for a 50-50 congressional district in the famously 50-50 state of Florida.  —  But upon closer inspection …

Robert Gates: My memoir has been ‘hijacked’ by politics  —  Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates clarified claims he supposedly made about President Obama's commitment to the military surge in Afghanistan, saying Monday he “absolutely believed” the commander-in-chief supported the mission at the time.

Records Show Christie Administration Canceled Meetings After Jersey City Mayor Didn't Endorse  —  Documents released Monday indicate that meetings arranged between top commissioners to Gov. Chris Christie and Jersey City mayor Steve Fulop were abruptly canceled without reason last year …

Critics Say Chemical Spill Highlights Lax West Virginia Regulations  —  Last week's massive chemical spill into West Virginia's Elk River, which cut off water to more than 300,000 people, came in a state with a long and troubled history of regulating the coal and chemical companies that form the heart of its economy.

The reputation of Roger Ailes.  —  In the nineteen-thirties, one in four Americans got their news from William Randolph Hearst, who lived in a castle and owned twenty-eight newspapers in nineteen cities.  Hearst's papers were all alike: hot-blooded, with leggy headlines.

Enemies of the Poor  —  Suddenly it's O.K., even mandatory, for politicians with national ambitions to talk about helping the poor.  This is easy for Democrats, who can go back to being the party of F.D.R. and L.B.J. It's much more difficult for Republicans, who are having a hard time shaking …

Ted Cruz adds Katrina Pierson to his expanding list of the “utterly fearless”  —  Sen. Ted Cruz, hunting pheasant on Oct. 26 with Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa — one of a growing list of allies he has described as “utterly fearless.”  (AP/Nati Harnik)  —  WASHINGTON -It's pretty high praise to be called …

Veteran Dem George Miller to retire  —  California Rep. George Miller, Nancy Pelosi's strong right arm and one of the top Democratic legislators of his generation, is stepping down at the end of this year after four decades in Congress.  —  Miller informed Pelosi, the Democratic leader …

Supreme Court Won't Hear Arizona Appeal on Abortion Ban  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from Arizona officials seeking to revive a state law that barred most abortions after 20 weeks of fetal gestation.  The justices offered no reasons for turning down the appeal, as is their custom.

Christie Story Attracts Little Public Interest  —  Recent Opinions of New Jersey Governor Are Largely Unchanged  —  The public paid far more attention to last week's cold snap than to the controversy swirling around New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.  There also has been little short-term change …

Heroic Measures  —  LISA BONCHEK ADAMS has spent the last seven years in a fierce and very public cage fight with death.  Since a mammogram detected the first toxic seeds of cancer in her left breast when she was 37, she has blogged and tweeted copiously about her contest with the advancing disease.