While the IRS scandal is only a week old, Capitol Hill Republicans already are pushing more than a half-dozen pieces of legislation that would punish and clip the wings of the beleaguered agency. The anti-IRS measures - ranging from throwing Internal Revenue Service agents in jail to a halt of IRS-l ... Read More

Troubles at several oil refineries are driving gasoline prices sharply higher in the Midwest, and the regional shortages are expected to boost pump prices nationwide. While the USA may be dripping in new-found crude oil deposits, and early May supplies were at their highest levels since the early 19 ... Read More

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan group of House members announced a deal Thursday on sweeping immigration legislation, a breakthrough that could boost chances for one of President Barack Obama's top second-term priorities. It came after months of secretive talks among the four Republican and four Democrati ... Read More

Lawmakers questioned the ousted head of the Internal Revenue Service as Congress held its first hearing on the tougher scrutiny the federal tax agency gave tea party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. With the scandal joining the parade of political headaches buffeting ... Read More

Frantic Democrats want tough action in the ongoing IRS scandal, fearing the damage that a slow bleed could do to their own electoral futures as President Obama struggles to get out ahead of the issue. U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Malden), running for U.S. Senate, quickly denounced the Internal Reve ... Read More

SACRAMENTO -- State lawmakers advanced measures related to firearms and violence Thursday, including two introduced after the mass killing at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. One would require gun owners to keep their firearms locked away if they live with someone prohibited by law from ... Read More

The Justice Department's inspector general said the U.S. Marshals Service lost two known or suspected terrorists who participated in a federal witness program. A summary of an interim report from the Inspector General's office said during an audit of the federal Witness Security Program it became ap ... Read More

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and six other Democratic senators last year urged IRS Commissioner Donald Shulman to investigate social-welfare organizations that get involved in politics, an indication of political concern on the left over the IRS tax-treatment given to politically active groups. ... Read More

A detainee who had a felony second degree robbery and countless convictions for prostitution and solicitation for lewd conduct was among more than 300 people Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Phoenix released in February as part of a nationwide operation to save money. Anticipating bu ... Read More