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Ben Affleck is taking his name off the list of possible candidates for U.S. Sen. John Kerry's seat, which would be open if the Democratic senator from Massachusetts is confirmed as secretary of state.

Mayor Cory Booker of Newark was viewed by many as a rising political star but his chances of unseating Gov. Chris Christie were daunting.

A trio of Senate leaders have condemned the Kathryn Bigelow movie "Zero Dark Thirty," calling elements of its dramatization of the Osama bin Laden manhunt “grossly inaccurate and misleading.”

It may not sound like it from the rhetoric, but both the House and Senate have passed separate bills to delay big tax increases awaiting nearly every taxpayer next year if Congress and the White House can't agree on a plan to avert the "fiscal cliff."...

The Senate on Friday resoundingly approved new sanctions on trade with Iran's energy, port, shipping and ship-building sectors, its latest effort to ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.

A Senate committee approved a measure Thursday that would require law enforcement agencies to obtain a court-approved search warrant before reviewing any e-mail or other electronic content. The measure would close what privacy advocates describe as a loophole in the law in which Internet service providers such as Yahoo and Google may turn over e-mail older than six months if authorities obtain a subpoena, which does not require a judge’s approval.

Tim Geithner may soon leave the Treasury Department, but he is helping lead the "fiscal cliff" negotiations.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) warned senators Monday to oppose the growing momentum for dramatic reform of the filibuster, saying, "It may be the most important thing you ever do." Use of the filibuster to stall legislation -- when the minority party refuses to end debate on a bill unless 60 senators vote to do so -- has escalated in recent years, rising from a rarity to the norm. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has been signaling his readiness to curb the tactic, often noting that he has faced 385 filibusters during his leadership while Lyndon Johnson had to deal with only one when he ran the Senate.

When the 113th Congress convenes in January, one of the first things the Senate Democratic majority is expected to do is act to reform the filibuster. As my colleague Greg Sargent has noted, 50 senators are now on record supporting filibuster reform, and given that the caucus also believes that Senate rules can be changed through a simple majority vote at the start of a congressional session, this suggests strongly that changes will pass.

Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday she will run to keep her job as the Democratic leader in the House after a pair of elections that kept the party in the minority there even as Democrats gained seats in the Senate and a second term for President Barack Obama.