Republican leaders look for escape plan on immigration  —  Republican leaders in the House and Senate are boxed in on immigration and searching for a way out.  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) are struggling to find a way to fund the Department …

Michelle Obama forgoes a headscarf and sparks a backlash in Saudi Arabia  —  Barack Obama was in Riyadh on Tuesday to pay his respects to the late Saudi King Abdullah.  His visit, for which he cut short a much-hyped trip to India, underscores how important the U.S.-Saudi relationship remains to the American leadership.

A Note To My Readers  —  One of the things I've always tried to do at the Dish is to be up-front with readers.  This sometimes means grotesque over-sharing; sometimes it means I write imprudent arguments I have to withdraw; sometimes it just means a monthly update on our revenues and subscriptions …

What to call a president's husband?  Bill Clinton has ideas  —  Bill Clinton has an interesting suggestion for what to call him if his wife becomes president: “Adam.”  —  In an interview with Rachael Ray airing Thursday, the cook-turned-talk show host asked the former president …

Koch donors give Marco Rubio early nod  —  Straw poll at donor summit rates 5 GOP hopefuls.  —  Getty  —  The Koch brothers' conservative network is still debating whether it will spend any of its massive $889-million budget in the Republican presidential primaries, but the prospect …

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: January 2015  —  Bianca DiJulio, Jamie Firth, and Mollyann Brodie … The Public's Views Of King V. Burwell And Exchanges  —  The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case, King v. Burwell, in March about whether the health care law says people in all states …

Loretta Lynch defends Obama's immigration action  —  Attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch told key senators Wednesday that the Constitution will be her “lodestar” if she becomes the nation's chief law enforcement officer, as she pledged a fresh start with a Congress that's had rocky relations …

Anti-tank missile fired at Israeli military vehicle on Lebanon frontier: army  —  (Reuters) - An anti-tank missile was fired at an Israeli military vehicle near the Lebanon border on Wednesday, wounding four soldiers, a military source said.  —  The incident came several hours after Israel launched …

Testimony: ‘Ramifications upon my church,’ questions on bathroom use, ‘parading their genitalia’  —  The first four people to testify this morning at the HB 2 hearing all spoke against the bill, including Pastor Jeff Estes of Fellowship Baptist Church in Meridian, who said …

The importance of being Ernst  —  The just-elected Iowa senator aims to be a player in 2016.  —  DES MOINES, Iowa — Sen. Joni Ernst hasn't been in office a month, but she's already delivered the GOP response to the State of the Union.  And now the Iowa Republican is looking to parlay …

Sheldon Silver to resign as Assembly speaker  —  Scandal-scarred Sheldon Silver Tuesday night agreed to resign as the powerful Assembly speaker.  —  Silver's decision to quit — amid calls from fellow Democrats to do so — came less than a week after being busted by the feds for allegedly using …

GOP lawmakers confront Jim DeMint over ratings  —  Conservatives accuse his group of being too harsh on them.  —  Long-simmering tensions between the Heritage Foundation, its sister political arm and House Republicans erupted Tuesday during a weekly meeting of conservatives …

Judge: Marissa Alexander released to house arrest  —  Marissa Alexander must wear GPS ankle monitor for next 2 years  —  Author: Vic Micolucci, General assignment reporter, vic@wjxt.com … Marissa Alexander, a woman whose case helped bring national attention to Florida's stand your ground …

Tea Party lawmakers may take on McCain  —  A couple of Tea Party lawmakers are strongly considering challenging Sen. John McCain in 2016, but they won't both get in the race.  —  Arizona GOP Reps. Matt Salmon and David Schweikert, who are “best friends” on Capitol Hill …

Canada Casts Global Surveillance Dragnet Over File Downloads  —  Canada's leading surveillance agency is monitoring millions of Internet users' file downloads in a dragnet search to identify extremists, according to top-secret documents.  —  The covert operation, revealed Wednesday by CBC News …

New All-Female ‘Ghostbusters’ Cast Chosen  —  The Paul Feig-directed reboot is eyeing a summer shoot in New York.  —  Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, Melissa McCarthy  —  The all-new, all-female Ghostsbusters are here.  —  Melissa McCarthy, who was already in talks for one of the leads …