Government And Institutions

President Barack Obama said Wednesday he's ready to sign "good, bipartisan" legislation protecting physicians from steep cuts in Medicare reimbursements as Senate Democrats seemed to soften their opposition to the package.

President Barack Obama is meeting with mayors and business owners at the White House to highlight the benefits of trade on a broad swath of the economy.

Raising New York's minimum wage must be a part of negotiations over the state budget, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said Wednesday as the closed-door wrangling over the budget continued ahead of a deadline next week.

President Barack Obama wants to cut health care costs by reducing inefficiencies like unnecessarily long hospital stays and excessive paperwork for doctors that rack up big bills.

A Rhode Island lawmaker wants to make the state the first in the nation to raise the age for legal tobacco purchases to 21.

Promising to abolish the Internal Revenue Service is a good talking point for political candidates who are looking to fire up the Republicans' most conservative voters.

The 228-199 roll call Wednesday by which the House passed a conservative budget that relies on nearly $5 trillion in cuts to eliminate deficits over the next decade, calls for repealing the health care law and envisions transformations of the tax code and Medicare.

A divided House panel has passed a bill that would repeal the federal estate tax.

IRS workers would be prohibited from using private email to conduct official business under a bipartisan bill passed Wednesday by the House Ways and Means Committee.

Normally quarrelsome House Republicans are lining up to pass a boldly conservative budget that relies on nearly $5 trillion in spending cuts to eliminate deficits over the next decade.

The Republican-controlled House has approved a budget blueprint that projects balance by the end of the decade and includes trillions of dollars in savings from benefit programs.

Figures on government spending and debt (last six digits are eliminated).

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating the safety Lumber Liquidators laminate flooring made in China.

New rules for farmers aimed at helping cut down the toxic algae in Lake Erie are a step toward improving water quality while providing clear regulations for the agricultural industry, Ohio legislative leaders said Wednesday.

Likely presidential candidate Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday dismissed a report that he helped steer tax credits and eased up on environmental oversight to benefit national hardware chain Menards after its billionaire owner donated $1.5 million to a conservative group.

Responding to pressure from Congress and veterans groups, the Department of Veterans Affairs is relaxing a rule that makes it hard for some veterans in rural areas to prove they live at least 40 miles from a VA health site.

The number of uninsured U.S. residents fell by more than 11 million since President Barack Obama signed the health care overhaul five years ago, according to a pair of reports Tuesday from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

President Barack Obama's allies are recruiting high-profile Democrats to help combat liberal resistance to his bid for new trade agreements.

Promising to abolish the Internal Revenue Service is a good talking point for political candidates who are looking to fire up the Republicans' most conservative voters.

House and Senate Republicans are moving toward likely approval of balanced budget outlines, essential early steps along a path to send President Barack Obama legislation to wipe out the five-year-old health care law and eliminate deficits within a decade.