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 …

President Obama to announce executive action on immigration Thursday  —  This post has been updated.  —  President Obama will announce Thursday that he will use his executive authority to expand temporary protections to millions of undocumented immigrants, according to several individuals who have been briefed on the decision.

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 …

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.) …

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 …