Liberal ‘hell no’ caucus rises  —  The defeat of the Keystone XL pipeline in the Senate marked a major show of muscle for next year's new hell-no caucus: liberals.  —  Liberal Senate Democrats united to block the controversial project, even though their imperiled Democratic colleague Mary Landrieu …

Democrats to Obama: You broke the party, now fix it  —  Nancy Pelosi was reelected minority leader.  So was Harry Reid.  Getty  —  Enough, Donna Brazile told White House political director David Simas the day after the midterms.  —  Democrats are in worse shape than when President Barack Obama came …

Ready for Hillary begins to wind down  —  Some Obama advisers have publicly questioned the utility for Clinton, who is still formulating a message for a likely candidacy, in having an apparatus bearing her name so early in the cycle.  —  Eventually, Ready for Hillary and another pro-Clinton entity …

Libertarian Champion Rand Paul Helped Kill NSA Reform Bill  —  WASHINGTON — Rand Paul, a leader of the libertarian wing of the Republican Party, helped kill a bill meant to rein in the National Security Agency.  Huh?  —  The USA Freedom Act, sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) …

“God View:” Uber Investigates Its Top New York Executive For Privacy Violations  —  In the wake of a BuzzFeed News story, the transit company is looking into the official's tracking of a journalist's location.  —  BuzzFeed News  —  Uber said Tuesday that it is investigating its top …

Dem anger flares over pregnant lawmaker  —  A meeting of House Democrats flared up on Tuesday over the increasingly thorny issue of whether a pregnant member should be allowed to vote from afar in the party's leadership elections this week.  —  Democratic leaders, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi …

Why House Republicans Did Even Better Than They Expected  —  When the 114th Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3, House Republicans will boast their largest majority since Herbert Hoover was president.  If all leaders in the yet-to-be-called races hold their leads, Republicans will go from 234 seats to 247 …

House Republicans Just Picked 21 Committee Chairs.  20 Are Men.  —  Roster of chairmen is almost entirely white men, with Candice Miller staying on atop House Administration panel.  —  House Republicans have selected white men to chair all but one of their standing committees next year.

A Walker '16 boom: He looks great — on paper  —  Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wisc.  —  The Republican nomination for the presidency in 2016 may be Scott Walker's to lose.  If your response, as it might be, is “Scott Who?” then you're not paying attention yet.  —  I just spent a week among people who are …

White House prepares activists for Obama's immigration order  —  The White House held calls with activist groups on Tuesday to prepare them for President Obama's executive action on immigration, sources tell The Hill.  —  Administration officials didn't go into detail on what would be included …

Major media mostly giving Gruber ‘stupidity’ videos the silent treatment  —  (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)  —  OBAMACARE HEALTH CARE MEDIA JONATHAN GRUBER MEDIA DESK  —  Half a dozen videos have exploded online showing Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber calling the American people stupid …

Jason Carter on a potential comeback: 'I'm not ruling it out.'  —  If you expected Jason Carter to brood after this month's stinging election defeat, you'd be disappointed.  —  Two weeks after his loss to Gov. Nathan Deal, the Atlanta state senator talked of building upon the network …

Ryan gets prized gavel on taxes  —  Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the House GOP's lead budget guru, was selected as the next chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday.  —  Ryan was long seen as the favorite to replace the current Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) …

Gruber's Obamacare payday highlights ulterior motives behind ‘do something’ cry  —  WHITE HOUSE OBAMACARE JONATHAN GRUBER  —  For all the cursing of congressional gridlock, one of the greatest sources of Washington's evils may be the bias in favor of doing something.