Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is a rising Republican power in House, as well as a whip  —  The beginning of the collapse of House Speaker John A. Boehner's border bill came Wednesday evening, when Texas Sen. Ted Cruz gathered more than a dozen House Republicans at his office in the Dirksen building on Capitol Hill.

For Jobs, 2014 Has Been the Best Year of the Recovery—By Far  —  Here's a graph to make you feel better about the direction of the economy  —  Today's jobs report fits my Boring Economy theory that month-to-month gyrations have obscured a safely cruising, slow-and-steady recovery.

Ginsburg: High Court Won't ‘Duck’ Gay Marriage  —  The Supreme Court won't duck the issue of same-sex marriage the next time a case comes to the court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says.  —  The 81-year-old Ginsburg said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday that she expects …

The C.I.A.'s Reckless Breach of Trust  —  In March, John Brennan, the C.I.A. director, was indignant when Senator Dianne Feinstein charged that the agency had broken into computers used by staff investigators from the Senate Intelligence Committee, which she leads.

Vice President Biden loves to skinny dip, says tell-all book  —  Naked from head to Joe?  In ‘The First Family Detail,’ author Robert Kessler quotes unnamed Secret Service agents dishing about the private lives of Presidents and those they protect.  —  It's the Joe Biden you didn't know — and might not want to see.

Senate blocks aid to Israel  —  In the end, the Senate couldn't even agree to deliver emergency aid to one of the United States' closest allies.  —  A last-ditch effort to deliver aid to Israel during its war with Hamas died on the Senate floor, as Republicans blocked the proposal over concerns that it would increase the debt.

Ebola-Stricken Doc Gives ‘Experimental Serum’ to Coworker … An American doctor being treated for Ebola in Liberia has “taken a slight turn for the worse overnight,” according to Samaritan's Purse, an evangelical Christian Charity based in North Carolina.  —  An “experimental serum” …

Gaza Cease-Fire Collapses; Israeli Soldier Is Captured  —  JERUSALEM — A newly agreed cease-fire in the Gaza conflict collapsed hours after it came into effect on Friday with the Israeli military announcing that a soldier appeared to have been captured by Palestinian militants who emerged …

Don Young sorry for grabbing aide's arm  —  Rep. Don Young has apologized for grabbing the arm of a congressional staffer at the Capitol.  —  His response came after a photo and video surfaced of the Alaska Republican forcefully holding the arm of a congressional aide on Thursday.

Eric Cantor quitting Congress Aug. 18  —  Cantor previously said he would serve his full term.  Getty

IDF soldier feared kidnapped  —  Second Lt. Hadar Goldin named as captured officer; terrorists emerged from a tunnel shaft, and a suicide bomber detonated near soldiers prior to the suspected kidnapping.  —  A Hamas attack on IDF soldiers in southern Gaza, which occurred an hour and a half …

Clueless in Gaza  —  alestinian Hamas supporters shout slogans against Israel during a protest to support Hamas and against the Israeli attack to Gaza strip in the west bank city of Nablus, 31 July 2014.  Two weeks after starting its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, Israel has mobilized 16,000 more reserve troops.

California Is Now Experiencing Its Most Severe Drought Ever Recorded  —  Irrigation water runs along a dried-up ditch between rice farms in Richvale, Calif.  —  California's drought has reached levels so high and widespread that it's now the most severe drought ever recorded by the federal government …