A bruising debate on health care awaits the Senate after Thanksgiving now that the legislation has cleared a hurdle over Republicans eager to inflict a defeat on President Barack Obama.

No sooner had Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln promised to deliver one crucial vote in support of a health care overhaul than she threatened to withhold the next one.

In his weekly Saturday address, President Obama says his trip through Asia could help create thousands of job and open new markets for American goods in the future.

Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Tobin has banned Rep. Patrick Kennedy from receiving Communion in Rhode Island because of the congressman's support for abortion rights, Kennedy says.

U.S. Sen. John McCain says that he enjoyed reading running mate Sarah Palin's new memoir and downplays any tension between their campaign aides as "no big deal."

The Senate ethics committee admonished Roland Burris for making "inconsistent, misleading or incomplete" statements about the circumstances surrounding his appointment, but did not recommend any punishment.

The White House is on a collision course with Catholic bishops in an intractable dispute over abortion that could blow up the fragile political coalition behind President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

A billboard showing President Barack Obama wearing a turban has sparked a lot of attention at the suburban Denver used car dealership that put it up.

The U.S. Army has reversed itself and says it will open former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's appearance on Fort Bragg to media.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is an "unworthy partner" who does not deserve a big boost either in U.S. troops or civilian aid, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is leaning toward running for the U.S. Senate rather than making a bid for governor, two Republican advisers say.

Many political observers surmised that with Barack Obama's election, self-anointed and often polarizing black leader Rev. Jesse Jackson would retreat into obscurity but he hasn't.

Republican senators and governors assail the Democrats' newly minted health care legislation as a collection of tax increases, Medicare cuts and new burdens for deficit-ridden states.

A key House committee voted to assess upfront fees on large financial firms to pay for the failure of their peers and to require a congressional audit of the secretive Federal Reserve.