Political News from Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A long-growing backlog of U.S. military veterans' disability claims, which has stoked congressional anger, has dipped in recent weeks, however tentatively.

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged the future leaders of the U.S. military on Friday to stamp out sexual assault from their ranks, warning that a few individuals could undermine the strongest military in the world.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Justice Department said on Friday that senior officials including Attorney General Eric Holder vetted a decision to search an email account belonging to a Fox News reporter whose story on North Korea prompted a leak investigation.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama wants to roll back some of the most controversial aspects of the U.S. "war on terror," but efforts to alter the global fight against Islamist militants will face the usual hurdle at home: staunch opposition from Republicans in Congress.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Across-the-board budget cuts have created Furlough Friday in Washington and elsewhere, as the one-day closing of four federal agencies forced an unpaid day off for 115,000 workers.

CONCORD, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Seeking to raise money for the New Hampshire Republican Party, state chairwoman Jennifer Horn recently called the party's national boss, Reince Priebus, with a question: Could he get Rand Paul to visit?

LONDON (Reuters) - A top Federal Reserve official said on Friday U.S. inflation would have to pick up before he voted to scale back monetary policy stimulus and that this was unlikely to happen in the coming month.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama nominated two U.S. Senate aides on Thursday to serve as members of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the agency tasked with policing Wall Street.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Thursday told Congress that a recent restructuring of its heavy rocket launch program to add 60 more launches and extend the schedule for a decade would more than double the program's projected cost to $70.7 billion.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The woman who interrupted President Barack Obama's speech on counterterrorism policy on Thursday is well-known around Washington as a perennial protester on national security issues.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lois Lerner, an Internal Revenue Service official at the center of the scandal over the agency's extra scrutiny of conservative groups, was put on administrative leave on Thursday after she refused to resign, a senator said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Thursday shifted the United States away from a "boundless global war on terror," restricting deadly drone strikes abroad and signaling that America's long struggle against al Qaeda will one day end.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The wealthiest 20,000 U.S. farmers should pay more for taxpayer subsidized crop insurance, the Senate voted on Thursday, adopting a measure that blended deficit reduction, populism and farm program reform.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he directed Attorney General Eric Holder to conduct a review of Department of Justice guidelines for investigations that involve journalists and report back by early July.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chicago billionaire Penny Pritzker on Thursday appeared on her way to becoming U.S. commerce secretary, after a top Republican lawmaker said she had answered most of his questions about her role in the failure of an Illinois bank and her family's use of an offshore tax haven.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday his chamber would chart its own path on immigration rather than simply considering a Senate-passed measure, quashing hopes some Democrats had for quickly enacting the landmark legislation.

BOWDOINHAM, Maine (Reuters) - Maine's Democratic-controlled legislature on Thursday passed a bill to expand access to its Medicaid program as outlined by the Affordable Care Act, setting up a showdown with the state's Republican governor, who immediately began veto procedures.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - For New York City mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner, the road to City Hall leads through Pittsburgh.

MILFORD, Connecticut (Reuters) - Leaders of Connecticut gun advocacy groups said on Thursday they had sued to knock down a strict new gun-control law passed in April because they believed the measure would not improve public safety.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers introduced fresh legislation on Thursday seeking to address the problem of sexual assault in the military and summoned the nation's top commanders to testify about the crisis, which has become an embarrassment to the armed forces.