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Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili grimaces while listening to a question during his news conference after the high-level talks between world powers and Iranian officials in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Saturday, April 6, 2013. Iran and six world powers failed to reach agreement Saturday on a common approach to reducing fears that Tehran might misuse its nuclear technology to make weapons, with the EU’s foreign policy chief declaring that the to sides ‘’remain far apart on substance.’’ -
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili prepars to listen to a question during his news conference after the high-level talks between world powers and Iranian officials in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Saturday, April 6, 2013. Iran and six world powers failed to reach agreement Saturday on a common approach to reducing fears that Tehran might misuse its nuclear technology to make weapons, with the EU’s foreign policy chief declaring that the to sides ‘’remain far apart on substance.’’ -
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili listens to a question during his news conference after the high-level talks between world powers and Iranian officials in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Saturday, April 6, 2013. Iran and six world powers failed to reach agreement Saturday on a common approach to reducing fears that Tehran might misuse its nuclear technology to make weapons, with the EU’s foreign policy chief declaring that the to sides ‘’remain far apart on substance.’’ -
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton answers a question during her news conference after the high-level talks between world powers and Iranian officials in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Saturday, April 6, 2013. Iran and six world powers failed to reach agreement Saturday on a common approach to reducing fears that Tehran might misuse its nuclear technology to make weapons, with the EU’s foreign policy chief declaring that the to sides ‘’remain far apart on substance.’’ -
This image released by Women in the World shows former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaking at the Women in the World Conference on Friday, April 5, 2013, in New York. Clinton is getting plenty of encouragement to run for president in 2016. Her re-emergence this past week after a two-month break brought out cheering supporters when she gave speeches focused on the issues of women and girls around the world. -
FILE – In this Feb. 27, 2013, file photo Neil Heslin, the father of Jesse, a six-year-old boy who was slain in the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, carries a picture of his son prior to testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013. Families of the school shooting victims are making regular appearances with President Barack Obama and walking the halls of Congress to advocate for stricter gun regulations. They helped push through the nation's most restrictive firearms law in Connecticut this April. -
FILE – In this April 1, 2013, file photo President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Neil Heslin, left, whose six-year-old son Jesse Lewis was among the victims of the Newtown School shooting, pose for a photo with participates of the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. Families of the school shooting victims are making regular appearances with Obama and walking the halls of Congress to advocate for stricter gun regulations. They helped push through the nation's most restrictive firearms law in Connecticut this April. -
FILE – In this February 15, 2013, file photo President Barack Obama hugs Gilles Rousseau, father of slain Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher Lauren Rousseau, as her mother Terry Rousseau, watches at left during a White House ceremony in Washington to posthumously honor their daughter with the 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal. Families of the school shooting victims are making regular appearances with President Barack Obama and walking the halls of Congress to advocate for stricter gun regulations. They helped push through the nation's most restrictive firearms law in Connecticut this April. -
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks to reporters traveling abroad with him shortly after finding out their aircraft had a mechanical problem before take off Saturday, April 6, 2013, at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. A backup aircraft was brought in to replace the plane. -
Passengers traveling abroad with Secretary of State John Kerry disembark after a mechanical failure of the plane Saturday, April 6, 2013, at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. A backup aircraft was brought in to replace the plane. -
FILE – In this Jan. 21, 2010, file photo Citizens United President David Bossie talks on his cell phone outside the Supreme Court in Washington after the court's ruling on the campaign finance reform case. The emergence of super PACs and other outside groups, emboldened partly by the court's 2010 Citizens United decision, has done more than anything else to reshape the contours of campaign fundraising. Operating with few rules and limited oversight, outside groups spent a record-shattering $1 billion to influence political campaigns last fall. And the system faces further de-regulation as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case this year that could wipe away aggregate annual limits on direct contributions to candidates and official campaign committees. -
FILE - In this April 12, 2012 file photo, Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson speaks at a news conference in Macau. Adelson topped the list of political campaign mega donors, giving more than $90 million to Republican super PACs in all. That included more than $15 million to the organization backing former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's presidential bid and another $30 million to Romney's super PAC. -
FILE - In this June 15, 2012, file photo, President Barack Obama announces that the U.S. government will stop deporting and begin granting work permits to younger illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and have since led law-abiding lives in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington. Obama promised to overhaul immigration in his first term but never did. In his second term, he's making immigration a priority, and Republicans also appear ready to deal. -
FILE - In this Nov. 8, 2012, file photo, members of immigration rights organizations, including Casa in Action and Maryland Dream Act, demonstrate in front of the White House in Washington, calling on President Barack Obama to fulfill his promise of passing comprehensive immigration reform. Obama promised to overhaul immigration in his first term but never did. In his second term, he's making immigration a priority, and Republicans also appear ready to deal. -
Reyna Avila, who recently received a work permit and Social Security card under new Obama administration policy for young immigrants, is shown here at her place of work Tuesday, April 2, 2013, in Phoenix. President Barack Obama's decision last year to allow young people living in the U.S. illegally to stay and work marked the biggest shift in immigration policy in decades, hailed as a landmark step toward the American dream for a generation of immigrants. -
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses the Vital Voices Global Partnership 2013 Global Leadership Awards gala at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. Clinton is the group's founder. -
FILE - In this March 22, 2013, file photo, President Barack Obama, left, and Jordan's King Abdullah II, right, shake hands following their joint new conference at the King's Palace in Amman, Jordan. When Obama meets over the next month with leaders from Mideast and other regional nations, he will have a timely opportunity to try to rally the Syrian opposition's main backers around a unified strategy to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. Jordan, Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates _ whose Sunni Muslim leaders will meet separately with Obama starting April 16_ are all believed to be arming or training rebel forces seeking to overthrow Assad's regime. -
FILE - In this Nov. 3, 2011, file photo, President Barack Obama talks with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a family photo at the G20 Summit in Cannes, France. When Obama meets over the next month with leaders from Mideast and other regional nations, he will have a timely opportunity to try to rally the Syrian opposition's main backers around a unified strategy to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. Jordan, Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates _ whose Sunni Muslim leaders will meet separately with Obama starting April 16_ are all believed to be arming or training rebel forces seeking to overthrow Assad's regime. -
FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2012, file photo, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani waves to the crowd as he and and Gaza's Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, not pictured, arrive for corner-stone laying ceremony of a Qatari funded rehabilitation center in Gaza City. The emir of Qatar received a hero's welcome in Gaza on Tuesday, becoming the first head of state to visit the Palestinian territory since the Islamist militant Hamas seized control there in 2007. When President Barack Obama meets over the next month with leaders from Mideast and other regional nations, he will have a timely opportunity to try to rally the Syrian opposition's main backers around a unified strategy to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. Jordan, Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates _ whose Sunni Muslim leaders will meet separately with Obama starting April 16_ are all believed to be arming or training rebel forces seeking to overthrow Assad's regime. -
FILE - In this April 26, 2011, file photo, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates, meets with President Barack Obama, not shown, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. When Obama meets over the next month with leaders from Mideast and other regional nations, he will have a timely opportunity to try to rally the Syrian opposition's main backers around a unified strategy to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. Jordan, Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates _ whose Sunni Muslim leaders will meet separately with Obama starting April 16_ are all believed to be arming or training rebel forces seeking to overthrow Assad's regime. -
Outgoing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is interviewed by The Associated Press in his office at the Interior Department in Washington, Friday, April 5, 2013. -
Outgoing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gestures during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Interior Department in Washington, Friday, April 5, 2013. -
FILE - In this March 6, 2011 file photo, Denis McDonough speaks in Sterling, Va. President Barack Obama’s budget proposal will include an additional $2.5 billion to attack a growing backlog of veterans disability claims, a problem officials said is likely to worsen in coming months. White House chief of staff Denis McDonough told reporters Friday that more money for the VA in tight budgetary times reflects Obama's commitment to veterans. -
Outgoing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gestures during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Interior Department in Washington, Friday, April 5, 2013. -
Outgoing Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gestures during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Interior Department in Washington, Friday, April 5, 2013. -
FILE - In this March 12, 2013 file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee accused their GOP colleagues working on a bipartisan immigration bill of operating in secret, saying in a letter Friday, April 5, 2013, that "the time for transparency has come" and pushing for briefings and full hearings before any votes. In response, Rubio, a member of the Senate group developing a sweeping bill that could be released as early as next week, said he agreed on the need for hearings and planned to brief all Senate Republicans next week. -
Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the 2013 Annual Conference of the Export-Import Bank in Washington, Friday, April 5, 2013. -
This photo taken March 22, 2013 shows a Cessna aircraft parked near by the air traffic control tower at the Collin County Regional Airport at McKinney, in McKinney, Texas. Starting this weekend, control towers at scores of small airports are to begin shutting down because of government-wide automatic spending cuts. But federal officials insist the closures won't compromise safety, and there's evidence that some of the closures may even make economic sense. -
FILE - In this March 7, 2013 file photo, a small plane takes off past the control tower at Troutdale Airport in Troutdale, Ore. Starting this weekend, control towers at scores of small airports are to begin shutting down because of government-wide automatic spending cuts. But federal officials insist the closures won't compromise safety, and there's evidence that some of the closures may even make economic sense. -
President Barack Obama bows his head during a prayer at the Easter Prayer Breakfast in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, April 5, 2013. -
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden arrive for an Easter Prayer Breakfast in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, April 5, 2013. -
President Barack Obama, standing under a portrait of George Washington, smile as he speaks during an Easter Prayer Breakfast in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, April 5, 2013. -
President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks during an Easter Prayer Breakfast in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, April 5, 2013. -
FILE - This Nov. 16,2012 file photo shows California Attorney General Kamala Harris speaking during a news conference in Los Angeles. President Barack Obama praised Harris for more than her smarts and toughness at a Democratic Party event Thursday, April 4, 2013. The president also commended Harris for being "the best-looking attorney general" during a Democratic fundraising lunch in the Silicon Valley. -
FILE -- in this Feb. 16, 2012 file photo President Barack Obama walks with California Attorney General Kamala Harris, center, and California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, after arriving at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco. Obama praised California's attorney general for more than her smarts and toughness at a Democratic Party event Thursday, April 4, 2013. The president also commended Harris for being "the best-looking attorney general" during a Democratic fundraising lunch in the Silicon Valley. -
FILE - In this April 3, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks at the Police Academy in Denver. A senior administration official said Friday, April 5, 2013 that Obama's proposed budget will call for reductions in in the growth of federal Social Security pensions and other benefit programs in an attempt to strike a compromise with congressional Republicans. -
FILE - Transportation Secretary Raymond LaHood, left, listens as Federal Aviation Administrator Michael Huerta, right, speaks during a news conference in this Jan. 11, 2013 file photo taken in Washington. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said in a joint statement Thursday that the FAA is conducting “a robust safety review and monitoring process to identify any hazards, and develop appropriate risk mitigations” associated with the tower closures. -
FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2013, file photo, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, left, performs a mock swearing in for Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, on Capitol Hill in Washington as the 113th Congress began. A group of Republicans and Democrats in the House is finalizing a sweeping immigration bill that offers work permits and the eventual prospect of citizenship to millions of people living illegally in the United States, aides say. "We have legislative language that we'll be ready to go forward on, not concepts but actual language," Carter, a leader of the group, said this week on a Texas cable news channel. -
In this April 3, 2013, photo, South Korean Marine K-55 self-propelled howitzers are on positions during an exercise against possible attacks by North Korea near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea. North Korea’s latest outburst of nuclear and military threats has given the U.S. a rare opportunity to build bridges with China _ a potential silver lining to the simmering crisis that could revitalize President Barack Obama's administration’s flagging policy pivot to Asia. -
U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, left, Colorado Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia, Gov. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder applaud President Barack Obama during his speech on gun control at the Denver Police Academy on Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Obama met with local law enforcement officials and community leaders to discuss the state's new measures to reduce gun violence. -
FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2010, file photo, a woman carries a bag containing rice donated by the United States Agency for International Development, USAID, as she walks through a market in Leogane, Haiti, days after a powerful earthquake hit Haiti. Food aid groups are pushing President Barack Obama's administration to overhaul the way the United States helps starving people abroad. At issue is whether the government should ship U.S.-grown food overseas to aid developing countries and starving people or simply help those countries with cash to buy food. Currently, the United States is shipping food abroad, a process many food aid groups say is inefficient. -
First lady Michelle Obama smoothes out the dirt as she plants wheat seedlings with fifth graders Ariana Docanto, right, from Arthur D. Healey School in Somerville, Mass., and Emilio Vega, left, from Benjamin David Gullett Elementary School in Bradenton, Fla., during the spring planting of the White House garden, Thursday, April 4, 2013, at the White House in Washington. -
FILE - In this March 19, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama stands with House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio after they attended a Friends of Ireland luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington. The partisan cease-fire that kept the government running this spring gave birth to hopeful talk of a much larger “grand bargain” that would reduce the federal deficit for years. But such optimism seems to ignore how far apart the two parties remain on key issues. The mutual obstinance disappoints those who felt top Republicans and Democrats were close to a major accord on spending cuts and tax increases in December. -
First lady Michelle Obama plants wheat seedlings as she keeps an eye on Ariana Docanto, right, from Arthur D. Healey School in Somerville, Mass., watering the planting bed, during the spring planting of the White House garden, Thursday, April 4, 2013, at the White House in Washington. -
First lady Michelle Obama, center, plants spinach with Nolan Deep, left, from Milton Elementary School in Milton, Vt., and Kaila Bourne, right, from Sarah Moore Greene Magnet Technology Academy in Knoxville, Tenn., during the spring planting of the White House garden, Thursday, April 4, 2013, at the White House in Washington. -
First lady Michelle Obama, left, plants spinach as she talks with fifth grader Ariana Docanto, right, from Arthur D. Healey School in Somerville, Mass., during the spring planting of the White House garden, Thursday, April 4, 2013, at the White House in Washington. -
First lady Michelle Obama plants spinach during the spring planting of the White House garden, Thursday, April 4, 2013, at the White House in Washington. -
President Barack Obama stands with a view of the Golden Gate bridge before getting on Marine One in San Francisco, Thursday, April 4, 2013. Obama will be attending Democratic fundraisers while in California. -
FILE - In this Feb. 20, 2013 file photo, Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius speaks in Philadelphia. President Barack Obama’s budget next week will steer clear of major cuts to Medicaid, including tens of billions the administration proposed only last year. The White House is holding harmless the federal-state health care program for low-income people while wooing financially skittish states to expand Medicaid coverage to millions now uninsured. -
FILE - In this May 16, 2011, file photo, graduates sing before President Barack Obama delivers the commencement address at the Booker T. Washington High School graduation at Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tenn. One in four Americans doesn’t earn a high school diploma on time. The nation lags internationally in the percentage of young people who complete college. And for future college students, tuition costs are climbing at a double-digit clip. If the U.S. wants to remain globally competitive, those trends must be reversed before the country is set back decades _ perhaps irrevocably. -
FILE - In this July 5, 2012, file photo, wearing a shirt that says "Educators for Obama 2012," Marsha Fabian, a teacher, of Lancaster, Pa., claps during the National Education Association's annual convention in Washington. One in four Americans doesn’t earn a high school diploma on time. The nation lags internationally in the percentage of young people who complete college. And for future college students, tuition costs are climbing at a double-digit clip. If the U.S. wants to remain globally competitive, those trends must be reversed before the country is set back decades _ perhaps irrevocably. -
FILE - In this March 1, 2013 file photo, Bill Fulton, dressed as Ready Freddy, visits with prekindergarten students at a public school in Buffalo, N.Y. One in four Americans doesn’t earn a high school diploma on time. The nation lags internationally in the percentage of young people who complete college. And for future college students, tuition costs are climbing at a double-digit clip. If the U.S. wants to remain globally competitive, those trends must be reversed before the country is set back decades _ perhaps irrevocably. -
FILE - In this July 5, 2012, file photo, a banner of signatures in support of President Obama is on display at the National Education Association's annual convention in Washington. One in four Americans doesn’t earn a high school diploma on time. The nation lags internationally in the percentage of young people who complete college. And for future college students, tuition costs are climbing at a double-digit clip. If the U.S. wants to remain globally competitive, those trends must be reversed before the country is set back decades _ perhaps irrevocably. -
FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2012, file photo President Barack Obama campaigns at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. One in four Americans doesn't earn a high school diploma on time. The nation lags internationally in the percentage of young people who complete college. And for future college students, tuition costs are climbing at a double-digit clip. If the U.S. wants to remain globally competitive, those trends must be reversed before the country is set back decades, perhaps irrevocably. -
FILE - In this Nov. 30, 2012 file photo, President Barack Obama waves as he arrives before speaking at the Rodon Group, which manufactures over 95% of the parts for K’NEX Brands toys, in Hatfield, Pa. Suddenly outsourcing is on the way out and insourcing on the way in as the U.S. trudges unevenly toward the president's goal of doubling American exports around the world by the start of 2015. So far, export levels are about halfway to his mark. -
President Barack Obama waves from the top of the steps of Air Force One at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Obama will be attending Democratic fundraisers while in California. -
FILE - In this Thursday, March 21, 2013 file photo, armed Myanmar police officers provide security around a smoldering building following ethnic unrest between Buddhists and Muslims in Meikhtila, Mandalay division, about 550 kilometers (340 miles) north of Yangon, Myanmar. Few imagined Myanmar would embrace democracy when the U.S. began its historic engagement with the military regime. The country’s rapid changes were lauded by visiting Western leaders, and the nation’s president was hailed as a hero. But spasms of spreading, communal violence show the reform path is bumpier that expected and have taken the sheen off a foreign policy success of the Obama administration’s first term. -
President Barack Obama salutes as he arrives at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. -
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Hagel labeled North Korea's rhetoric as a real, clear danger and threat to the U.S. and its Asia-Pacific allies. He said the U.S. is doing all it can to defuse the situation, echoing comments a day earlier by Secretary of State John Kerry. -
President Barack Obama speaks at the Denver Police Academy in Denver, Colo., with local law enforcement officials and community leaders attending following a meeting to discuss the state's new measures to reduce gun violence, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. -
President Barack Obama speaks about gun control at the Denver Police Academy on Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Obama also met with local law enforcement officials and community leaders to discuss the state's new measures to reduce gun violence. -
President Barack Obama participates in a meeting at the Denver Police Academy in Denver, Colo., with local law enforcement officials and community leaders to discuss the state's new measures to reduce gun violence, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. -
President Barack Obama, sitting next to Denver Police Chief Robert White, participates in a meeting at the Denver Police Academy in Denver, Colo., with local law enforcement officials and community leaders to discuss the state's new measures to reduce gun violence, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. -
Palestinians clash with Israeli forces, not pictured, during riots after the death of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh at an Israeli jail, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Palestinian prisoners have been rioting and hunger striking since a 64-year-old prisoner died of throat cancer on Tuesday. The Palestinians have blamed Israel for the man's death, saying he was not given proper medical care. The prisoner, Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, had been serving a life sentence for his role in a foiled attempt to bomb a busy cafe in Jerusalem in 2002. -
President Barack Obama walks to greet people after arriving at Buckley Air Force Base in Colo.,Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Obama is meeting with local law enforcement officials and community leaders to discuss the state's new measures to reduce gun violence. -
President Barack Obama greets people after arriving at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo.,Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Obama is meeting with local law enforcement officials and community leaders to discuss the state's new measures to reduce gun violence. -
President Barack Obama walks with Col. Dale S. Holland, Vice Commander of the 89th Airlift Wing, before boarding Air Force One en route to Colorado, from Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday, April 3, 2013. -
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Hagel warned of sharply deeper cuts to personnel, health care and weapons systems across his department, in order to put the brakes on spiraling costs and reshape the military for leaner budgets and new challenges. -
Maria Belen Chapur and her fiancee, former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford pose for a picture in Mount Pleasant, S.C., on Tuesday, April 2, 2013, after Sanford won the GOP nomination for the U.S. House seat he once held. Sanford is trying to make a comeback after his political career was derailed four years ago when he disappeared from the state only to return to admit the couple was having an affair. Sanford's wife, Jenny, later divorced him. -
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, with his fiancee Maria Belen Chapur at his side, addresses supporters in Mount Pleasant, S.C., on Tuesday, April 2, 2013, after winning the GOP nomination for the U.S. House seat he once held. Sanford is trying to make a comeback after his political career was derailed four years ago when he disappeared from the state only to return to admit the couple was having an affair. Sanford's wife, Jenny, later divorced him. -
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, with his fiancee Maria Belen Chapur at his side, addresses supporters in Mount Pleasant, S.C., on Tuesday, April 2, 2013, after winning the GOP nomination for the U.S. House seat he once held. Sanford is trying to make a comeback after his political career was derailed four years ago when he disappeared from the state only to return to admit the couple was having an affair. Sanford's wife, Jenny, later divorced him. -
Marines salute as President Barack Obama jogs off of the Marine One helicopter before boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday April 3, 2013, en route to Colorado. -
FILE - In this June 5, 2010, file photo Judy Schulz, center, cheers as her husband Richard Schulz, left, both of Glendale, Ariz., joined hundreds supporting Arizona's new law on illegal immigration as they listen to speakers near the capitol in Phoenix. On the political map of the southwest, Arizona stands out. Most of its neighbors _ California, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada _ are independent-minded states that once leaned Republican but are trending Democratic, partly because of increasing numbers of Hispanic voters alienated from the GOP by its tough stance on illegal immigration. -
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Hagel warned of sharply deeper cuts to personnel, health care and weapons systems across his department, in order to put the brakes on spiraling costs and reshape the military for leaner budgets and new challenges. -
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel speaks at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. Hagel warned of sharply deeper cuts to personnel, health care and weapons systems across his department, in order to put the brakes on spiraling costs and reshape the military for leaner budgets and new challenges. -
President Barack Obama waves as he walks to board the Marine One helicopter on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 3, 2013, as he travels to Denver and San Francisco. -
FILE - In this April 2, 2013 file photo, Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at the State Department in Washington. U.S. and Turkish officials say Secretary of State John Kerry is traveling to Turkey and Israel this weekend to build on the two nations' efforts to repair ties. -
Two U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets wait to take off during a military exercise at the Osan U.S. Air Base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 3, 2013. North Korea on Wednesday barred South Korean workers from entering a jointly run factory park just over the heavily armed border in the North in the latest sign that Pyongyang's warlike stance toward South Korea and the United States is moving from words to action. (AP Photo/Bae Jung-hyun, Yonhap) KOREA OUT -
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong gestures during his meeting with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April, 2, 2013. -
FILE - In this Dec. 31, 2012 file photo, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington as Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., listens. As the Grand Old Party shifted right in recent years, Collins walked a delicate balance on explosive issues while her colleagues lost, retired or left the party altogether. -
FILE - In this Dec. 10, 2010 file photo, a worker tears off the leaves of a Vidalia onion plant before planting its roots into the soil on an onion farm in Lyons, Ga. Sweeping immigration legislation taking shape in the Senate will aim to dramatically overhaul the nation’s agriculture worker program to create a steady supply of labor for the nation’s farmers and growers, who rely more on illegal workers than any other industry. -
FILE - In this June 27, 2008 file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, the cooling tower of the Yongbyon nuclear complex is demolished in Nyongbyon, also known as Yongbyon, North Korea, in a sign of its commitment to stop making plutonium for atomic bombs. The North's plutonium reactor began operations in 1986 but was shut down as part of international nuclear disarmament talks in 2007 that have since stalled. North Korea vowed Tuesday, April 2, 2013, to restart a nuclear reactor that can make one bomb's worth of plutonium a year, escalating tensions already raised by near daily warlike threats against the United States and South Korea. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Gao Haorong, File) NO SALES -
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton addresses the Vital Voices Global Partnership 2013 Global Leadership Awards gala at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. -
Vice President Joe Biden addresses the Vital Voices Global Partnership 2013 Global Leadership Awards gala at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. -
Vital Voices Global Partnership 2013 Global Leadership Award recipients raise their arms at the end of the gala at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. From left, Melanne Verveer, co-founder of Vital Voices, Tep Vanny, of Cambodia, Leadership in Public Life Award, Sandra Gomes Melo, Brazil, Human Rights Award, and Manal Yaish Zraig, Palestine, Economic Empowerment Award. -
Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton appear onstage at the Vital Voices Global Partnership 2013 Global Leadership Awards gala at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. -
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford thanks his fiance Maria Belen Chapur as he addresses supporters in Mount Pleasant, S.C., on Tuesday, April 2, 2013, after winning the GOP nomination for the U.S. House seat he once held. Sanford is trying to make a comeback after his political career was derailed four years ago when he disappeared from the state only to return to admit the couple was having an affair. Sanford's wife, Jenny, later divorced him. -
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at a news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se, not pictured, at the State Department in Washington, on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. -
South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se, speaks during a news conference with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, not pictured, at the State Department in Washington, on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. -
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, shakes hands with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se, at the State Department in Washington, on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. -
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, gestures during a news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se, at the State Department in Washington, on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. -
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, enters a news conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se, at the State Department in Washington, on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. -
Secretary of State John Kerry speaks with reporters before a meeting with Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario at the State Department in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. -
National School Shield Task Force Director, former Arkansas Rep. Asa Hutchinson speaks with reporters after a news conference at National Press Club in Washington, on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. The National School Shield program is a frame work to arm security guards in any school system who want to be part of the program. -
FILE -- In this March 23, 2004 file photo, workers at the tank farms on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Wash., measure for radiation and the presence of toxic vapors. A nuclear safety board has warned a key U.S. senator that underground tanks holding radioactive waste at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site pose a possible risk of explosion. Concerns that hydrogen gas could build up inside the tanks and lead to an explosion at south-central Washington state's Hanford Nuclear Reservation have been known for some time. -
President Barack Obama gestures during his meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April, 2, 2013. -
FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2009 file photo, then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stands with Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. As Hillary Rodham Clinton’s supporters urge her to run for president in 2016, the former first lady/senator/secretary of state makes her first public appearance since leaving government. Many Democrats see Clinton as the party’s early front-runner, and some want her to signal her interest soon to lock down donors and supporters. Fueling the 2016 chatter: Vice President Joe Biden, another possible candidate, will speak at the same awards ceremony. -
In this Tuesday, April 2, 2013 image taken from video obtained from Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows smoke from heavy shelling in the Jobar neighborhood in north Damascus, Syria. Syrian government warplanes and artillery pounded Damascus and its suburbs Tuesday, as rebels in the northern city of Aleppo launched an operation that aims to free hundreds of political detainees from the city's central prison, activists said. -
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford signs in before voting in Charleston, S.C., on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. Sanford is facing former Charleston County councilman Curtis Bostic in the Republican runoff for South Carolina's vacant 1st District congressional seat. -
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford answers questions from reporters after voting in Charleston, S.C., on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. Sanford is facing former Charleston County councilman Curtis Bostic in the Republican runoff for South Carolina's vacant 1st District congressional seat. -
Former Charleston County Councilman Curtis Bostic and his wife, Jenny, greet voters at a polling place in Charleston, S.C., on Tuesday, April 2, 1013. Bostic faced former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford on Tuesday in the Republican primary runoff for South Carolina's vacant 1st District congressional seat. -
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford leaves the voting booth after voting at his precinct in Charleston, S.C., on Tuesday, April 2, 2013. Sanford is facing former Charleston County councilman Curtis Bostic in the Republican runoff for South Carolina's vacant 1st District congressional seat. -
White House press secretary Jay Carney speaks during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April, 2, 2013. -
President Barack Obama listens to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April, 2, 2013. -
President Barack Obama shakes hands with with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April, 2, 2013. -
National School Shield Task Force Director, former Arkansas Rep. Asa Hutchinson gestures during a news conference at National Press Club in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, to discuss his groups's school-guns study. The National Rifle Association's study recommends schools across the nation each train and arm at least one staff member. -
National School Shield Task Force Director, former Arkansas Rep. Asa Hutchinson, holds a copy of group's study during a news conference at National Press Club in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. The National Rifle Association's study recommends schools across the nation each train and arm at least one staff member. -
Mark Mattioli the father of a child killed during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, gestures during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013, where he talked about the National School Shield Task Force program. The National School Shield program is a frame work to arm security guards in any school system who want to be part of the program. -
Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario speaks with reporters before a meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry at the State Department in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. -
Secretary of State John Kerry, accompanied by Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario gestures while speaking with reporters before their meeting at the State Department in Washington, Tuesday, April 2, 2013. -
FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2012 file photo, Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois speaks about his recovery from a major stroke a year ago at his home in Highland Park, Ill. In a post on his blog Tuesday, April 2, 2013, Kirk said that he supports same-sex marriage. (AP Photo/Daily Herald, Bill Zars, File) MANDATORY CREDIT, MAGS OUT, TV OUT -
FILE - In this Oct. 30, 2012 file photo, a group of Free Syrian Army fighters carry a wounded comrade to cover in the town of Harem, Syria. President Barack Obama’s reluctance to give military aid to Syrian rebels may be simply explained in part in three words: Iranian nuclear weapons. For the first time in years, the United States has seen a glimmer of hope in persuading Iran to curb its nuclear enrichment program so it cannot quickly or easily make an atomic bomb. Negotiations resume this week in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where encouraging talks in February between six world powers and the Islamic Republic ended in what Iranian diplomat Saeed Jalili called a “turning point” after multiple thwarted steps toward a breakthrough. -
FILE- In this April, 9, 2007, file photo, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at a ceremony in Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, south of capital Tehran, Iran. President Barack Obama’s reluctance to give military aid to Syrian rebels may be simply explained in part in three words: Iranian nuclear weapons. For the first time in years, the United States has seen a glimmer of hope in persuading Iran to curb its nuclear enrichment program so it cannot quickly or easily make an atomic bomb. But Tehran is unlikely to bend to Washington’s will on its nuclear program if it is battling American-supplied rebels at the same time in Syria, where Iranian forces are believed to be fighting alongside the Assad regime’s army. -
FILE - In this April 12, 2010 file photo, President Barack Obama shakes hands with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Washington. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Loong becomes the third Asian leader to visit the White House his yeas as President Barack Obama looks to strengthen ties with Asia in his second term. -
FILE – This Aug. 5, 2008, file photo, shows the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building Phoenix. The Homeland Security Department expects applications for high-skilled immigration visas to outpace the available supply in a matter of days, one of the fastest runs on the much-sought-after work permits in years and a sign of continued economic recovery amid new hiring by U.S. technology companies. The urgent race for such visas _ highly desired by Microsoft, Apple, Google and other leading technology companies _ coincides with congressional plans to increase the number available to tech-savvy foreigners. -
White House press secretary Jay Carney gestures as he answers questions during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, April, 1, 2013. -
This screen grab from the White House flickr feed shows a playful picture of President Barack Obama cavorting with a 3-year-old in a Spiderman costume, a favorite online. The image comes courtesy of the Obama image machine, that serves up a stream of carefully selected words, images and videos, which invariably cast Obama as commanding, compassionate and on the ball. In this world, Obama's family is always photogenic, first dog Bo is always well-behaved and the vegetables in the South Lawn kitchen garden always seem succulent. You'll have to look elsewhere for bloopers, bobbles or contrary points of view. -
FILE – In this May 9, 2012, file photo President Barack Obama is seen on a video monitor in the White House briefing room in Washington during an interview with ABC, wherein Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage. During his first term Obama gave 674 interviews, TV, radio, Internet, print, compared to 217 and 191 for former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton respectively. With interviews the president has more power to choose his timing, questioners and format, in hopes of delivering a certain message in a setting that's not always hard-hitting. -
FILE - In this March 1, 2013, file photo President Barack Obama speaks to reporters in the White House press briefing room in Washington. In his first term, Obama engaged in 107 short question-and-answer sessions with reporters during events in the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room and similar settings, versus 354 such events with former President George W. Bush. In impromptu Q-and-A's, the questions fly about anything and everything from the national press corps, and these wide-open opportunities to challenge the president on the events of the day have become increasing rare. -
This frame grab from the site whitehouse.gov shows the White House website. President Barack Obama joked with journalists, political leaders, and executives at the annual Gridiron dinner March 9, 2013, telling them he had taken complaints about limited press access: "Some of you have said that I'm ignoring the Washington press corps, that we're too controlling," Obama said. "You know what, you were right. I was wrong and I want to apologize _ in a video you can watch exclusively at whitehouse.gov." -
FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2012, file photo President Barack Obama campaigns at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. During his campaign and since Obama pledged that he will not let Iran develop nuclear weapons. According to his own timeline, he has about a year left to see if his policy of diplomacy and sanctions can get Iran to slow its enrichment of uranium and assure the world its nuclear program is peaceful. -
FILE - In this Nov. 13, 2012 file photo, obtained from the Iranian Mehr News Agency, Iranian army members prepare missiles to be launched, during a maneuver, in an undisclosed location in Iran. President Barack Obama pledged in the campaign, and since, that he will not let Iran develop nuclear weapons. According to his own timeline, Obama has about a year left to see if his policy of diplomacy and sanctions can get Iran to slow its enrichment of uranium and assure the world its nuclear program is peaceful. Resolving the standoff while avoiding war ranks among the biggest foreign policy challenges of Obama's second term. And time grows short. -
FILE - In this July 1, 2010, file photo President Barack Obama signs the Iran Sanctions Bill as further punishment for the country's continuing ambitions to become a nuclear power, in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Obama pledged in the campaign, and since, that he will not let Iran develop nuclear weapons. According to his own timeline, he has about a year left to see if his policy of diplomacy and sanctions can get Iran to slow its enrichment of uranium and assure the world its nuclear program is peaceful. -
FILE- In this April, 9, 2007, file photo, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at a ceremony in Iran's nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, south of capital Tehran, Iran. President Barack Obama pledged in the campaign, and since, that he will not let Iran develop nuclear weapons. According to his own timeline, Obama has about a year left to see if his policy of diplomacy and sanctions can get Iran to slow its enrichment of uranium and assure the world its nuclear program is peaceful. Resolving the standoff while avoiding war ranks among the biggest foreign policy challenges of Obama's second term. And time grows short. -
FILE - In this March 12, 2013 file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. They have settled on a political framework, but now, the lawmakers writing a bipartisan immigration overhaul need to resolve the nitty-gritty _ and, perhaps, keep their parties’ political flanks mollified. But even as the final stages of talks begin, before some lawmakers began appearing on Sunday shows to discuss a breakthrough, Rubio warned he was not ready to lend his name — and political clout — to such a deal without hashing out the details. -
FILE - In this Wednesday, March 27, 2013 file photo, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., makes a point as he is joined by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Sen. Michael Bennett, D-Colo., during a news conference after their tour of the Mexico border with the United States in Nogales, Ariz. A group of influential U.S. senators shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package have vowed to make the legislation public when Congress reconvenes in April. -
FILE - President Barack Obama delivers his Inaugural address at the ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol during the 57th Presidential Inauguration in Washington, in this Jan. 21, 2013, file photo. The notion of how we define being an American may be shifting. President Barack Obama, being inaugurated for a second term in January, seemed to see this coming at us. "We have always understood that when times change, so must we," Obama said as he began his second term with an agenda heavy on domestic issues. “Decisions,” he said, “are upon us, and we cannot afford delay." -
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama walk from the White House with their daughters Sasha Obama, second from left, and Malia Obama, right, on their way through Lafayette Park to St. John's Episcopal Church for Easter services, Sunday, March 31, 2013, in Washington. -
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama walk from the White House with their daughters Sasha Obama, second from left, and Malia Obama, right, on their way through Lafayette Park to St. John's Episcopal Church for Easter services, Sunday, March 31, 2013, in Washington. -
Charts profile the uninsured -
FILE – In this Aug. 31, 2009, file photo supporters on both sides of the health care reform issue argue in Skokie, Ill., outside a town hall meeting held by U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who represents Chicago. With a nation still split over the Affordable Care Act Schakowsky, a long-time supporter of coverage for the insured, is predicting vindication for the health overhaul legislation once people see how the program really works. “It’s harder to sell what is a pretty new idea for Americans while it is still in the abstract,” she said. “I think as people experience it, they’re going to love it, much like Medicare.” -
FILE – In this June 29, 2012 file photo front pages of the days' newspaper front pages are displayed at the Newseum in Washington, after the previous day's Supreme Court ruling to uphold President Barack Obama's health care law. With a nation still split over the affordable care act, and in an effort to convince millions of average Americans that one of the most common complex and controversial programs devised by government may actually be good for them the administration has turned to the science of mass marketing for help in understanding the lives of uninsured people, hoping to craft winning pitches for a surprisingly varied group in society. -
FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2010, file photo Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., speaks during a Debt Commission meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. In 2013 with a nation still split over President Barack Obama's healthcare overhaul Schakowsky, who has long supported coverage for the uninsured, is predicting vindication for the Affordable Care Act once people see how the program really works. “It’s harder to sell what is a pretty new idea for Americans while it is still in the abstract,” she said. “I think as people experience it, they’re going to love it, much like Medicare.” -
FILE - In this March 15, 2013, file photo the Senate Minority Leader, Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, points to a 7-foot stack of “Obamacare” regulations to underscore his disdain during the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md. McConnell said Democrats have been predicting for years that Americans would learn to love the health care overhaul and that has not happened. “I agree that it will be a big issue in 2014,” he said. “I think it will be an albatross around the neck of every Democrat who voted for it. They are going to be running away from it, not toward it.” -
In this March 5, 2013 photo, University of Texas senior Bradley Poole poses for a photo on campus near the Martin Luther King Jr. statue in Austin, Texas. Poole, an advertising major, became president of the school's Black Student Alliance, seeking camaraderie after noticing he often was the only African-American in his classes. In two pivotal legal cases, one on affirmative action and another on voting rights, a divided U.S. Supreme Court may be poised in the coming weeks to rule that racism is largely a relic of America's past. The question is apt as the nation nears a demographic tipping point, when non-whites become the country's majority for the first time. -
In this March 5, 2013 photo, University of Texas senior Bradley Poole poses for a photo on campus near the Martin Luther King Jr. statue in Austin, Texas. Poole, an advertising major, became president of the school's Black Student Alliance, seeking camaraderie after noticing he often was the only African-American in his classes. In two pivotal legal cases, one on affirmative action and another on voting rights, a divided U.S. Supreme Court may be poised in the coming weeks to rule that racism is largely a relic of America's past. The question is apt as the nation nears a demographic tipping point, when non-whites become the country's majority for the first time. -
In this March 5, 2013 photo, University of Texas senior Bradley Poole, 21, poses for a photo on the campus in Austin, Texas. Poole, an advertising major, became president of the school's Black Student Alliance, seeking camaraderie after noticing he often was the only African-American in his classes. In two pivotal legal cases, one on affirmative action and another on voting rights, a divided U.S. Supreme Court may be poised in the coming weeks to rule that racism is largely a relic of America's past. The question is apt as the nation nears a demographic tipping point, when non-whites become the country's majority for the first time. -
In this March 5, 2013 photo, University of Texas senior Bradley Poole poses for a photo on campus near the Martin Luther King Jr. statue in Austin, Texas. Poole, an advertising major, became president of the school's Black Student Alliance, seeking camaraderie after noticing he often was the only African-American in his classes. In two pivotal legal cases, one on affirmative action and another on voting rights, a divided U.S. Supreme Court may be poised in the coming weeks to rule that racism is largely a relic of America's past. The question is apt as the nation nears a demographic tipping point, when non-whites become the country's majority for the first time. -
In this March 5, 2013 photo, University of Texas senior Bradley Poole poses for a photo on campus near the Martin Luther King Jr. statue in Austin, Texas. Poole, an advertising major, became president of the school's Black Student Alliance, seeking camaraderie after noticing he often was the only African-American in his classes. In two pivotal legal cases, one on affirmative action and another on voting rights, a divided U.S. Supreme Court may be poised in the coming weeks to rule that racism is largely a relic of America's past. The question is apt as the nation nears a demographic tipping point, when non-whites become the country's majority for the first time. -
In this March 5, 2013 photo, University of Texas senior Bradley Poole, 21, poses for a photo on the campus in Austin, Texas. Poole, an advertising major, became president of the school's Black Student Alliance, seeking camaraderie after noticing he often was the only African-American in his classes. In two pivotal legal cases, one on affirmative action and another on voting rights, a divided U.S. Supreme Court may be poised in the coming weeks to rule that racism is largely a relic of America's past. The question is apt as the nation nears a demographic tipping point, when non-whites become the country's majority for the first time. -
FILE – In this March 15, 2013 file photo Republican governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley speaks at the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Md. As more Republicans give in to President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul, an opposition bloc remains across the South, which includes governors who lead some of the nation’s poorest and unhealthiest states. “We will not expand Medicaid on President Obama’s watch. We will not expand Medicaid ever,” Haley told the audience at CPAC. Medicaid is financed mostly by Congress, with state’s putting up match funding. Obama’s law mandated that states open Medicaid to everyone with household income up to 133 percent of the federal poverty rate, but the Supreme Court ruled states must have a choice. -
FILE – In this March 28, 2013, file photo Republican Governor of Georgia Nathan Deal addresses the Senate in Atlanta. As more Republican governors yield to President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, an opposition bloc remains across the most conservative states in South, which includes governors who lead some of the nation’s poorest and unhealthiest states. Among them is Deal, who answers with skepticism when asked about projected uncompensated care savings and the U.S. Congress’s pledge to finance 90 percent of new Medicaid costs. -
In this photo taken March 25, 2013, Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, uses a chart to talk about the U.S. budget deficit during a town hall meeting with constituents in Montgomery, Ohio. Here in the Cincinnati suburbs, where people tend to be polite, one finds seeds of the bitter partisanship that gnaws at Washington, 500 miles away. If any Republican House members might be open to compromise with President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers, Chabot would seem near the top. Yet he toes an unyielding conservative line on virtually every big issue. -
In this photo taken March 25, 2013, Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, takes time after his town hall meeting to answer questions one-on-one with constituents in Montgomery, Ohio. Here in the Cincinnati suburbs, where people tend to be polite, one finds seeds of the bitter partisanship that gnaws at Washington, 500 miles away. If any Republican House members might be open to compromise with President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers, Chabot would seem near the top. Yet he toes an unyielding conservative line on virtually every big issue. -
In this photo taken March 25, 2013, Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, speaks at a town hall meeting in Montgomery, Ohio. Here in Cincinnati's suburbs, where people tend to be polite, one finds seeds of the bitter partisanship that gnaws at Washington 500 miles away. If any Republican House members might be open to compromise with President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers, Chabot would seem near the top. Yet he toes an unyielding conservative line on virtually every big issue. -
In this photo taken March 25, 2013, Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, listens to constituents' questions at a town hall meeting in Montgomery, Ohio. Here in the Cincinnati suburbs, where people tend to be polite, one finds seeds of the bitter partisanship that gnaws at Washington, 500 miles away. If any Republican House members might be open to compromise with President Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers, Chabot would seem near the top. Yet he toes an unyielding conservative line on virtually every big issue. -
Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, listens to a question from a constituent during a town hall meeting, Monday, March 25, 2013, in Montgomery, Ohio. -
President Barack Obama walks down the stairs from Air Force One upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on Friday, March 29, 2013. -
In this March 24, 2013 photo, former Marine Corps Cpl. Marshall Archer, left, a veterans' liaison for the city of Portland, Maine, speaks to a man on a street in Portland. Veterans groups are rallying to fight any proposal to change disability payments as the federal government attempts to address its long-term debt problem. They say they've sacrificed already. -
In this March 24, 2013 photo, veterans' liaison Marshall Archer, a former Marine Corps corporal, poses for a photo in Portland, Maine. Veterans groups are rallying to fight any proposal to change disability payments as the federal government attempts to address its long-term debt problem. They say they've sacrificed already. -
FILE - In this May 17, 2012 file photo, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Big business and major labor unions appeared ready Friday, March 29, 2013 to end a fight over a new low-skilled worker program that had threatened to upend negotiations on a sweeping immigration bill in the Senate providing a pathway to citizenship for 11 million immigrants already in the U.S. Schumer, who's been brokering talks between the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that negotiators are "very close, closer than we have ever been, and we are very optimistic." He said there were still a few issues remaining. -
Ex-Nevada Assemblyman Steven Brooks, middle right, who led police on a chase from Barstow, Calif., until his tires were spiked in Victorville, Calif., is apprehended by police, Friday, March 29, 2013, in Victorville, Calif. Brooks was arrested on charges including resisting arrest and throwing objects, just hours after he became the first lawmaker ever expelled from the Nevada Legislature. -
Ex-Nevada Assemblyman Steven Brooks, holds his arms up as he is arrested, Friday, March 29, 2013, in Victorville, Calif. Brooks led police on a chase from Barstow, Calif., until his tires were spiked in Victorville, Calif. Brooks was arrested on charges including resisting arrest and throwing objects, just hours after he became the first lawmaker ever expelled from the Nevada Legislature. -
California Highway Patrol officers draw their weapons as they arrest ex-Nevada Assemblyman Steven Brooks, Friday, March 29, 2013, in Victorville, Calif. Brooks led police on a chase from Barstow, Calif., until his tires were spiked in Victorville, Calif. Brooks was arrested on charges including resisting arrest and throwing objects, just hours after he became the first lawmaker ever expelled from the Nevada Legislature. -
President Barack Obama speaks at a port in Miami, Friday, March 29, 2013, promoting a plan to create construction and other jobs by attracting private investment in roads and other public works projects. -
President Barack Obama speaks at a port in Miami, Friday, March 29, 2013, promoting a plan to create construction and other jobs by attracting private investment in roads and other public works projects. -
President Barack Obama speaks at a port in Miami, Friday, March 29, 2013, promoting a plan to create construction and other jobs by attracting private investment in roads and other public works projects. -
President Barack Obama tours a tunnel project at the Port of Miami, Friday, March 29, 2013, while promoting a plan to create jobs by attracting private investment in highways and other public works. -
President Barack Obama removes his jacket before touring a tunnel project at the Port of Miami, Friday, March 29, 2013, while promoting a plan to create jobs by attracting private investment in highways and other public works. -
President Barack Obama waves prior to boarding Air Force One before departing from Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Friday, March 29, 2013. Obama is traveling to Miami to promote a plan to create jobs by attracting private investment in highways and other public works. -
FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2011 file photo, House Budget Committee member Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Members of Congress are traveling less and worrying more about meeting office salaries. Their aides are having to deal with longer lines and fewer prospects of a raise. Such are the indignities thrust upon the people who brought the country $85 billion in automatic government spending cuts this month. "We've drastically reduced travel both for myself and my staff," said Campbell, who must go cross-country to visit his southern California district -
FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2011 file photo, House Administration Committee Chair Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich. speaks on Mackinac Island, Mich. Members of Congress are traveling less and worrying more about meeting office salaries. Their aides are having to deal with longer lines and fewer prospects of a raise. Such are the indignities thrust upon the people who brought the country $85 billion in automatic government spending cuts this month. Miller has promoted a bill to slash the budgets of House committee by 11 percent. -
FILE - In this May 4, 2010 file photo, then-Indiana Congressional candidate Luke Messer arriving at a polling place in Carmel, Ind. Members of Congress are traveling less and worrying more about meeting office salaries. Their aides are having to deal with longer lines and fewer prospects of a raise. Such are the indignities thrust upon the people who brought the country $85 billion in automatic government spending cuts this month. Messer, a freshman Republican from Indiana, said he hired fewer people when he came to Washington because "we essentially began the term knowing there was a high possibility of a sequester". -
FILE - In this March 7, 2103 file photo, a seagull flies as the sun breaks through dark clouds at dawn over Capitol Hill in Washington. Members of Congress are traveling less and worrying more about meeting office salaries. Their aides are having to deal with longer lines and fewer prospects of a raise. Such are the indignities thrust upon the people who brought the country $85 billion in automatic government spending cuts this month. -
FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2011 file photo, Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska speaks in Anchorage, Alaska. Young, one of the most senior Republicans in the House, has apologized for using the racial slur “wetbacks” in referring to Hispanic migrant workers. Young, now in his 21st term in the House, said in an interview with Alaska's KRBD radio that when he was young, his father “used 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes” on their California farm. -
FILE - President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, in this March 28, 2013 file photo. In his quick trip to South Florida, Friday March 29, 2013 Obama will try to show the public that the economy remains his top priority in the midst of high-profile campaigns on immigration reform and gun control. -
This photo taken Mwrch 26, 2013 shows flight test pilot Alex Gustafson dismantling an Insitu ScanEagle unmanned aircraft after a flight in Arlington, Ore. It’s a good bet that in the not-so-distant future aerial drones will be part of Americans’ everyday lives, performing countless useful functions. A far cry from the killing machines whose missiles incinerate terrorists, these generally small unmanned aircraft will help farmers more precisely apply water and pesticides to crops, saving money and reducing environmental impacts. They’ll help police departments to find missing people, reconstruct traffic accidents and act as lookouts for SWAT teams. They’ll alert authorities to people stranded on rooftops by hurricanes, and monitor evacuation flows. -
This photo taken March 26, 2013, shows Insitu unmanned aircraft system flight test operator Hannah Rasmussen monitoring controls in a ground control station in Arlington, Ore. It’s a good bet that in the not-so-distant future aerial drones will be part of Americans’ everyday lives, performing countless useful functions. A far cry from the killing machines whose missiles incinerate terrorists, these generally small unmanned aircraft will help farmers more precisely apply water and pesticides to crops, saving money and reducing environmental impacts. They’ll help police departments to find missing people, reconstruct traffic accidents and act as lookouts for SWAT teams. They’ll alert authorities to people stranded on rooftops by hurricanes, and monitor evacuation flows. -
This photo taken March 26, 2013, shows an Insitu ScanEagle unmanned aircraft launched at the airport in Arlington, Ore. It’s a good bet that in the not-so-distant future aerial drones will be part of Americans’ everyday lives, performing countless useful functions. A far cry from the killing machines whose missiles incinerate terrorists, these generally small unmanned aircraft will help farmers more precisely apply water and pesticides to crops, saving money and reducing environmental impacts. They’ll help police departments to find missing people, reconstruct traffic accidents and act as lookouts for SWAT teams. They’ll alert authorities to people stranded on rooftops by hurricanes, and monitor evacuation flows. -
This photo taken March 26, 2013, shows flight test pilot Alex Gustafson dismantling a Insitu ScanEagle unmanned aircraft after a flight in Arlington, Ore. It’s a good bet that in the not-so-distant future aerial drones will be part of Americans’ everyday lives, performing countless useful functions. A far cry from the killing machines whose missiles incinerate terrorists, these generally small unmanned aircraft will help farmers more precisely apply water and pesticides to crops, saving money and reducing environmental impacts. They’ll help police departments to find missing people, reconstruct traffic accidents and act as lookouts for SWAT teams. They’ll alert authorities to people stranded on rooftops by hurricanes, and monitor evacuation flows. -
This photo taken March 26, 2013, shows flight test pilot Alex Gustafson carrying an InsituScanEagle unmanned aircraft in preparation for a flight in Arlington, Ore. It’s a good bet that in the not-so-distant future aerial drones will be part of Americans’ everyday lives, performing countless useful functions. A far cry from the killing machines whose missiles incinerate terrorists, these generally small unmanned aircraft will help farmers more precisely apply water and pesticides to crops, saving money and reducing environmental impacts. They’ll help police departments to find missing people, reconstruct traffic accidents and act as lookouts for SWAT teams. They’ll alert authorities to people stranded on rooftops by hurricanes, and monitor evacuation flows. -
This photo taken March 26, 2013, show an Insitu ScanEagle unmanned aircraft flying over the airport in Arlington, Ore. It’s a good bet that in the not-so-distant future aerial drones will be part of Americans’ everyday lives, performing countless useful functions. A far cry from the killing machines whose missiles incinerate terrorists, these generally small unmanned aircraft will help farmers more precisely apply water and pesticides to crops, saving money and reducing environmental impacts. They’ll help police departments to find missing people, reconstruct traffic accidents and act as lookouts for SWAT teams. They’ll alert authorities to people stranded on rooftops by hurricanes, and monitor evacuation flows. -
In this photo taken March 26, 2013, an Insitu ScanEagle unmanned aircraft and ground control station trailer are seen at the airport in Arlington, Ore. It’s a good bet that in the not-so-distant future aerial drones will be part of Americans’ everyday lives, performing countless useful functions. A far cry from the killing machines whose missiles incinerate terrorists, these generally small unmanned aircraft will help farmers more precisely apply water and pesticides to crops, saving money and reducing environmental impacts. They’ll help police departments to find missing people, reconstruct traffic accidents and act as lookouts for SWAT teams. They’ll alert authorities to people stranded on rooftops by hurricanes, and monitor evacuation flows. -
FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2012 file photo, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. speaks in Billings, Mont. For years, American opinion on gay marriage has been shifting. Now Washington is tripping over itself trying to catch up. In less than two weeks, seven sitting senators _ all from moderate or Republican-leaning states _ announced their support, dropping one by one like dominos. Taken together, their proclamations reflected a profound change in the American political calculus: For the first time, elected officials from traditionally conservative states are starting to feel it's safer to back gay marriage than risk being the last to join the cause. -
FILE - In this Feb. 15, 2012 file photo, a Stanford University student walks in front of Hoover Tower on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, Calif. Congressional inaction could end up costing college students an extra $5,000 on their new loans. The rate for subsidized Stafford loans is set to increase from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1, just as millions of new college students start signing up for fall courses. The difference between the two rates adds up to $6 billion. -
FILE - In this July 10, 2012 file photo, Suzanne Meredith, of Walpole, Mass., gases up her car at a Gulf station in Brookline, Mass. Reducing sulfur in gasoline and tightening emissions standards on cars beginning in 2017, as the Obama administration is proposing, would come with costs as well as rewards. -
A guard stands watch behind cones and concrete barrier at the entrance to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Thursday, March 28, 2013. Search warrants released Thursday, March 28, 2013, revealed that an arsenal of weapons including guns, more than a thousand rounds of ammunition, a bayonet and several swords was seized at Adam Lanza's home. Lanza killed his mother, Nancy Lanza in their home before he forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn, killing 26 people. -
Boston Mayor Tomas Menino smiles during applause at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Thursday, March 28, 2013, where he announced he would not seek an unprecedented sixth term. The 70-year-old mayor was treated for a respiratory infection that developed during a vacation in Italy. While in the hospital he suffered complications including a compression fracture in a vertebra in his spine and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. After being discharged, he spent three months recuperating at a city-owned mansion on Beacon Hill. before returning to his home. -
Boston Mayor Tomas Menino speaks at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Thursday, March 28, 2013, where he announced he would not seek an unprecedented sixth term. The 70-year-old mayor was treated for a respiratory infection that developed during a vacation in Italy. While in the hospital he suffered complications including a compression fracture in a vertebra in his spine and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. After being discharged, he spent three months recuperating at a city-owned mansion on Beacon Hill. before returning to his home. -
Boston Mayor Tomas Menino speaks alongside his wife Angela, left, and other family members at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Thursday, March 28, 2013. Menino announced he would not seek an unprecedented sixth term. The 70-year-old mayor was treated for a respiratory infection that developed during a vacation in Italy. While in the hospital he suffered complications including a compression fracture in a vertebra in his spine and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. After being discharged, he spent three months recuperating at a city-owned mansion on Beacon Hill. before returning to his home. -
Boston Mayor Tomas Menino pauses as he speaks at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Thursday, March 28, 2013, where he announced he would not seek an unprecedented sixth term. The 70-year-old mayor was treated for a respiratory infection that developed during a vacation in Italy. While in the hospital he suffered complications including a compression fracture in a vertebra in his spine and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. After being discharged, he spent three months recuperating at a city-owned mansion on Beacon Hill. before returning to his home. -
FILE - In this Nov. 8, 1995 file photo, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, left, talks with England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, right, before a benefit dinner in Boston. Menino announced Thursday, March 28, 2013, he would not seek an unprecedented sixth term when he leaves office at the end of the year. -
President Barack Obama hugs a woman in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 28, 2013, after he spoke about gun violence. The president was joined by what the White House said was mothers, law enforcement officials, victims of gun violence, who the White House did not want to name. -
President Barack Obama listens as Katerina Rodgaard, a Maryland dance instructor who knew one of the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings, speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 28, 2013, where the president spoke about measures to protect children from gun violence. -
Katerina Rodgaard, center, a Maryland dance instructor who knew one of the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings, accompanied by President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and others, who according to the White House, law enforcement officials, victims of gun violence, and others, speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 28, 2013, where Obama urged Congress to take action on measures to protect children from gun violence. -
FILE - In this May 11, 2010 file photo, Kay Hagan, D-N.C. speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. For years, American opinion on gay marriage has been shifting. Now Washington is tripping over itself trying to catch up. In less than two weeks, seven sitting senators _ all from moderate or Republican-leaning states _ announced their support, dropping one by one like dominos. Taken together, their proclamations reflected a profound change in the American political calculus: For the first time, elected officials from traditionally conservative states are starting to feel it's safer to back gay marriage than risk being the last to join the cause. -
FILE - In this March 28, 2012 file photo, Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. For years, American opinion on gay marriage has been shifting. Now Washington is tripping over itself trying to catch up. In less than two weeks, seven sitting senators _ all from moderate or Republican-leaning states _ announced their support, dropping one by one like dominos. Taken together, their proclamations reflected a profound change in the American political calculus: For the first time, elected officials from traditionally conservative states are starting to feel it's safer to back gay marriage than risk being the last to join the cause. -
FILE - In this March 21, 2013 file photo, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. For years, American opinion on gay marriage has been shifting. Now Washington is tripping over itself trying to catch up. In less than two weeks, seven sitting senators _ all from moderate or Republican-leaning states _ announced their support, dropping one by one like dominos. Taken together, their proclamations reflected a profound change in the American political calculus: For the first time, elected officials from traditionally conservative states are starting to feel it's safer to back gay marriage than risk being the last to join the cause. -
FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2012 file photo, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. is seen in St. Louis. For years, American opinion on gay marriage has been shifting. Now Washington is tripping over itself trying to catch up. In less than two weeks, seven sitting senators _ all from moderate or Republican-leaning states _ announced their support, dropping one by one like dominos. Taken together, their proclamations reflected a profound change in the American political calculus: For the first time, elected officials from traditionally conservative states are starting to feel it's safer to back gay marriage than risk being the last to join the cause. -
FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2012 file photo, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. speaks in Billings, Mont. For years, American opinion on gay marriage has been shifting. Now Washington is tripping over itself trying to catch up. In less than two weeks, seven sitting senators _ all from moderate or Republican-leaning states _ announced their support, dropping one by one like dominos. Taken together, their proclamations reflected a profound change in the American political calculus: For the first time, elected officials from traditionally conservative states are starting to feel it's safer to back gay marriage than risk being the last to join the cause. -
A protester, Bruce Fealk, dressed like Governor Rick Snyder, holds Vassilis Jacobs during a demonstration at the Detroit Athletic Club in Detroit on Thursday, March 28, 2013. Unionized workers and others plan to protest outside the Detroit Athletic Club as Snyder will address a 'Pancakes & Politics' breakfast. The protesters are demonstrating against the right-to-work law that takes effect Thursday that allows workers to decide not to pay dues to a union as a condition of employment. (AP Photo/Detroit News, David Coates) DETROIT FREE PRESS OUT; HUFFINGTON POST OUT -
From left, protesters John Rummel, Bruce Fealk, dressed like Governor Rick Snyder, played by Bruce Fealk demonstrate outside the Detroit Athletic Club in Detroit on Thursday, March 28, 2013. Unionized workers and others plan to protest outside the Detroit Athletic Club as Snyder will address a 'Pancakes & Politics' breakfast. The protesters are demonstrating against the right-to-work law that takes effect Thursday that allows workers to decide not to pay dues to a union as a condition of employment. (AP Photo/Detroit News, David Coates) DETROIT FREE PRESS OUT; HUFFINGTON POST OUT -
A protester, Bruce Fealk, dressed like Governor Rick Snyder, flips flapjacks during a demonstration at the Detroit Athletic Club in Detroit on Thursday, March 28, 2013. Unionized workers and others plan to protest outside the Detroit Athletic Club as Snyder will address a 'Pancakes & Politics' breakfast. The protesters are demonstrating against the right-to-work law that takes effect Thursday that allows workers to decide not to pay dues to a union as a condition of employment. (AP Photo/Detroit News, David Coates) DETROIT FREE PRESS OUT; HUFFINGTON POST OUT -
Gov. Rick Snyder speaks in Detroit, Thursday March 28, 2013. Snyder said a right-to-work law that took effect Thursday is a milestone that will bring jobs to Michigan, while protesters promised to exact revenge at the polls for the contentious measure Snyder signed in December. -
FILE - In this March 23, 2010, file photo, President Barack Obama is applauded after signing the health care bill in the East Room of the White House in Washington. Health care was the defining political battle of President Barack Obama’s first term, and _ after the economy_ it remains his most complicated policy challenge at home, central to his place in history. -
FILE - In this March 27, 2012, file photo, Amy Brighton of Medina, Ohio, who opposes health care reform, rallies in front of the Supreme Court in Washington. Health care was the defining political battle of President Barack Obama’s first term, and _ after the economy_ it remains his most complicated policy challenge at home, central to his place in history. -
FILE - In thei March 28, 2012, file photo, supporters of health care reform rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington. Health care was the defining political battle of President Barack Obama’s first term, and _ after the economy_ it remains his most complicated policy challenge at home, central to his place in history. -
FILE – In this Sept. 26, 2012, file photo President Barack Obama campaigns at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. Health care was the defining political battle of President Barack Obama's first term, and _ after the economy_ it remains his most complicated policy challenge at home, central to his place in history. -
FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2013 photo, Emma Clyman, 5, of Manhattan, holds a sign that reads "No More Newtowns" outside city hall park during the One Million Moms for Gun Control Rally in New York. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. -
FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2012 file photo, Sen.-elect Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., address her supporters in Bismarck, N.D. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats like Heitkamp in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. -
FILE - In this May 19, 2011 file photo, Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., speaks during a hearing of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance on cell phone privacy on Capitol Hill in Washington. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats like Pryor in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. -
Map shows distribution of same-sex households. Table defines key terms and shows which states have laws that provide for same-sex couples -
Kevin Coyne of Washington holds flags in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013. The U.S. Supreme Court, in the second day of gay marriage cases, turned Wednesday to a constitutional challenge to the federal law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
CORRECTS POSITION OF PAUL CLEMENT TO SECOND RIGHT INSTEAD OF SECOND LEFT - This artist rendering shows Paul Clement, standing second right, with Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. seated, right, addresses the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, as the court heard arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) case. Justices, from left are, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan. -
FILE - This Oct. 5, 2012 file photo shows Boston Mayor Tom Menino during a campaign event for Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren in Boston. Media outlets on Wednesday, March 27, 2013 reported that Menino will announce he won’t seek re-election for a sixth term amid ongoing health problems. -
A house-sized dump truck hauls dirt and rock Tuesday March 26, 2013 at the Black Thunder coal mine in northeast Wyoming's Powder River Basin near Wright, Wyo., source of almost 40 percent of the nation's coal production. The federal government says it is withholding $110 million in mineral payments to 36 states as a result of automatic spending cuts that took effect this month. -
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., right, and Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., left, listen as Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., talks prior to a news conference after their tour of the Mexico border with the United States on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Nogales, Ariz The senators are part of a larger group of legislators, including Sen. Michael Bennett, D-CO, who also joined the three at the border for the tour, who are shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package vowed Wednesday to make the legislation public when Congress reconvenes next month. -
Sen. Michael Bennett, D-Colo. second right, speaks, as, from left, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., listen during a news conference after their tour of the Mexico border with the United States on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Nogales, Ariz. The senators are part of a larger group of legislators shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package vowed Wednesday to make the legislation public when Congress reconvenes next month. -
From left, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Sen. Michael Bennett, D-Colo., address the media during a news conference after their tour of the Mexico border with the United States on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Nogales, Ariz. The senators are part of a larger group of legislators shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package vowed Wednesday to make the legislation public when Congress reconvenes next month. -
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., left, speaks to the media as, from second left, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Michael Bennett, D-Colo., and Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., listen in during a news conference after their tour of the Mexico border with the United States on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Nogales, Ariz. The senators are part of a larger group of legislators shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package vowed Wednesday to make the legislation public when Congress reconvenes next month. -
U.S. Sens. Jeff Flake, Chuck Schumer, John McCain and Michael Bennett, left to right, tour the Mexico border last week.They are four of the "Gang of Eight" working on immigration reform. -
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., makes a point as he is joined by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., and Sen. Michael Bennett, D-CO, during a news conference after their tour of the Mexico border with the United States on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Nogales, Ariz. A group of influential U.S. senators shaping and negotiating details of an immigration reform package vowed Wednesday to make the legislation public when Congress reconvenes next month. -
Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, gestures as he asks legislators for support for his Voter ID bill in the Senate chamber at the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Wednesday, March 27, 2013. The Senate voted to override Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of the legislation that would require voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot. -
Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, right, speaks with Arkansas Lt. Gov. Mark Darr in the Senate chamber at the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Wednesday, March 27, 2013. The Senate voted to override Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of King's legislation that would require voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot. -
Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, gestures as he asks legislators for support for his Voter ID bill in the Senate chamber at the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Wednesday, March 27, 2013. The Senate voted to override Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of the legislation that would require voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot. -
Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, is interviewed outside of the Senate chamber at the Arkansas state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark., Wednesday, March 27, 2013. The Senate voted to override Gov. Mike Beebe's veto of King's legislation that would require voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot. -
Allan Hoyle of North Carolina, with the large white sign, center, speaks out against gay marriage across from the street from the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, after the court heard arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) case. The U.S. Supreme Court, in the second day of gay marriage cases, turned Wednesday to a constitutional challenge to the federal law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
This artist rendering shows Roberta Kaplan, attorney for plaintiff Edith Windsor, addressing the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, as the court heard arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act. (DOMA). Justices, from left are, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan. -
This artist rendering shows Deputy Solicitor General Sri Srinivasan addressing the Supreme Court, including Justices Samuel Alito, left, and Elena Kagan, right, in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, as the court heard arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). -
Plaintiff Edith Windsor, of New York, is helped by security in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, after the court heard arguments on her Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) case. The U.S. Supreme Court, in the second day of gay marriage cases, turned Wednesday to a constitutional challenge to the federal law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
Plaintiff Edith Windsor of New York, speaks to reporters in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, after the Supreme Court heard arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) case. The U.S. Supreme Court, in the second day of gay marriage cases, turned Wednesday to a constitutional challenge to the federal law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
Plaintiff Edith Windsor,of New York, waves to supporters in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, after the court heard arguments on her Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) case. The U.S. Supreme Court, in the second day of gay marriage cases, turned Wednesday to a constitutional challenge to the federal law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
Plaintiff Edith Windsor of New York, speaks to reporters in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, after the Supreme Court heard arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) case. The U.S. Supreme Court, in the second day of gay marriage cases, turned Wednesday to a constitutional challenge to the federal law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
Plaintiff Edith Windsor of New York, reacts as she looks toward supporters in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, after the court heard arguments on the Defense Against Marriage Act (DOMA). The U.S. Supreme Court, in the second day of gay marriage cases, turned Wednesday to a constitutional challenge to the federal law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
Plaintiff Edith Windsor of New York, center, tries to move through the crowd in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013. The U.S. Supreme Court, in the second day of gay marriage cases, turned Wednesday to a constitutional challenge to the federal law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tour the Nogales port of entry during their tour of the Mexico border with the United States on Wednesday, March 27, 2013, in Nogales, Ariz. -
Alexis Maldonado works in a 5th grade computer lab at Van Buren Elementary School, Thursday, March 14, 2013, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. As his Republican peers in other states search for ways to cut public school funding, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad is charting a different course. Branstad, who was elected in 2010 as part of a resurgent GOP, has made proposals many in the GOP would sneer at: raising minimum teacher salaries and offering incentive pay for teachers who take on more responsibilities _ all by tapping $187 million in new school funding. -
This artist rendering shows Paul Clement, second from left, with Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. seated, right, addresses the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, as the court heard arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) case. Justices, from left are, Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice John Roberts, and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito and Elena Kagan. -
Kevin Coyne of Washington holds flags in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013. The U.S. Supreme Court, in the second day of gay marriage cases, turned Wednesday to a constitutional challenge to the federal law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
FILE - In this March 7, 2013 file photo, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. talks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Republican Party’s search for a way back to presidential success in 2016 is drawing a striking array of personalities and policy options. It’s shaping up as a wide-open self-reassessment by the GOP. Some factions are trying to tug the party left or right. Others argue over pragmatism versus defiance. -
FILE - In this March 12, 2013 file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Republican Party’s search for a way back to presidential success in 2016 is drawing a striking array of personalities and policy options. It’s shaping up as a wide-open self-reassessment by the GOP. Some factions are trying to tug the party left or right. Others argue over pragmatism versus defiance. -
Gabriela Fore, 6, of Upper Darby Pa., holds a sign with her moms in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, as the court heard arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In the second of back-to-back gay marriage case, the Supreme Court is turning to a constitutional challenge to the law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
A woman holds up a sign that reads "REPEAL DOMA," the Defense of Marriage Act, as a group from Alabama prays in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013. In the second of back-to-back gay marriage case, the Supreme Court is turning to a constitutional challenge to the law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
Rebecca Winchell of Columbia, Md. sings in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013. In the second of back-to-back gay marriage case, the Supreme Court is turning to a constitutional challenge to the law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
Table defines key terms -
Wyatt Tan, left and Mark Nomadiou, both of New York City, kiss in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, prior to the start of a court hearing on the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In the second of back-to-back gay marriage cases, the Supreme Court is turning to a constitutional challenge to the law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
With the Capitol in the background, supporters of gay marriage carry signs in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, before the court heard arguments on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In the second of back-to-back gay marriage case, the Supreme Court is turning to a constitutional challenge to the law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
A group from Alabama prays in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 27, 2013, before the court's hearing on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In the second of back-to-back gay marriage case, the Supreme Court is turning to a constitutional challenge to the law that prevents legally married gay Americans from collecting federal benefits generally available to straight married couples. -
FILE - In this June 28, 2012 file photo, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli speaks in Richmond, Va. Virginia is conducting nothing short of a grand political experiment, testing whether a tea party favorite can carry a closely divided state. If Ken Cuccinelli succeeds, he will undercut Republican moderates’ claims that hard-right ideologies are hurting the party, and undoubtedly intensify a debate already roiling the GOP. -
FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2013 file photo, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, center, accompanied by Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, left, and Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli, right, speaks in Richmond, Va. Virginia is conducting nothing short of a grand political experiment, testing whether a tea party favorite can carry a closely divided state. If Ken Cuccinelli succeeds, he will undercut Republican moderates’ claims that hard-right ideologies are hurting the party, and undoubtedly intensify a debate already roiling the GOP. -
A demonstrator holds a bible while marching outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, as the court heard arguments on California's voter approved ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. The Supreme Court waded into the fight over same-sex marriage Tuesday, at a time when public opinion is shifting rapidly in favor of permitting gay and lesbian couples to wed, but 40 states don't allow it. -
Demonstrators chant outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, as the court heard arguments on California's voter approved ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. -
File-This file photo released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department shows Nevada state Assembly member Steven Brooks after a Feb. 10, 2013 arrest on charges that he physically attacked a family member and grabbed for a police officer's weapon. Members of the Nevada Legislature are, for the first time since 1867, considering ousting one of their own: Assemblyman Steven Brooks. -
David H. Petraeus, former army general and head of the Central Intelligence Agency, tastes a ceremonial cake presented to him by Hector Sandoval, a member of the USC ROTC program, at the annual dinner for veterans and ROTC students at the Univeristy of Southern California, in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday, March 26, 2013. It marked Petraeus' first public remarks since he retired as head of the CIA after an extramarital affair scandal. -
David H. Petraeus, former army general and head of the Central Intelligence Agency, speaks at the annual dinner for veterans and ROTC students at the University of Southern California, in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday, March 26, 2013. It marked Petraeus' first public remarks since he retired as head of the CIA after an extramarital affair scandal -
David H. Petraeus, former army general and head of the Central Intelligence Agency, speaks at the annual dinner for veterans and ROTC students at the University of Southern California, in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday, March 26, 2013. It marked Petraeus' first public remarks since he retired as head of the CIA after an extramarital affair scandal -
David H. Petraeus, former army general and head of the Central Intelligence Agency, speaks at the annual dinner for veterans and ROTC students at the University of Southern California, in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday, March 26, 2013. It marked Petraeus' first public remarks since he retired as head of the CIA after an extramarital affair scandal -
S.D. Senator Tim Johnson announces Tuesday, March 26, 2013 his retirement from the U.S. Senate after his term ends in early 2015 at the Al Neuharth Media Center in Vermillion, S.D. -
S.D. Senator Tim Johnson is greeted by well wishers after announcing Tuesday, March 26, 2013 his retirement from the U.S. Senate after his term ends in early 2015 at the Al Neuharth Media Center in Vermillion, S.D. -
This undated handout photo provided by the US Secret Service shows Secret Service agent Julia Pierson. President Barack Obama will appoint the veteran Secret Service agent as the agency’s first female director, signaling his desire to change the culture at the male-dominated service, which has been marred by scandal. -
Demonstrators chant outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, as the court heard arguments on California's voter approved ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. -
This artist rendering shows Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., center, addressing the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, as the court heard arguments on California's ban on same-sex marriage. Seated, from left are, attorneys Charles J. Cooper, David Boies, and Theodore Olsen, who represented the plaintiffs. -
FILE - In this Dec. 6, 2011 file photo, Miami-Dade retired narcotics detector canine Franky is seen in Miami. The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that police cannot bring drug-sniffing police dogs onto a suspect's property to look for evidence without first getting a warrant for a search, a decision which may limit how investigators use dogs' sensitive noses to search out drugs, explosives and other items hidden from human sight, sound and smell. -
Plaintiffs Kris Perry, left, and her partner Sandy Stier, right, both from Berkeley, Cailf., meet with the media outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, after the court heard arguments on California's voter approved ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. -
From left, plaintiffs Sandy Stier, with her partner Kris Perry, and their twin sons Spencer Perry and Elliott Perry, all from Berkeley, Calif., meet with reporters outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 26, 2013, after the court heard arguments on California's voter approved ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. The Supreme Court waded into the fight over same-sex marriage Tuesday, at a time when public opinion is shifting rapidly in favor of permitting gay and lesbian couples to wed, but 40 states don't allow it.
