A former mining community in rural southern Arizona that has shifted over the years into a liberal artists' haven and tourist destination is poised to become the first city in this conservative state to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples.

A bipartisan group of senators is nearing agreement on a comprehensive immigration bill that would put illegal immigrants on a 13-year path to citizenship

The Defense Department will delay furlough notices for its civilian employees for about two weeks while officials analyze the impact of a new spending bill on planned budget cuts, the Pentagon said Thursday.

In a rare show of bipartisanship, Senate Democrats and Republicans will hold a joint meeting next month to mark the 40th anniversary of Sen. John McCain's release from a North Vietnamese prison.

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a senior Republican are urging President Barack Obama to use limited military force to end the two-year civil war in Syria.

The U.S. has strong indications that chemical weapons were not used in the attack in Syria's Aleppo province on Tuesday, a U.S. administration official said Thursday.

The FBI has searched the apartment of former Reagan administration national security adviser Robert McFarlane for evidence of whether he lobbied on behalf of the government of Sudan in violation of federal law.

How the budget proposals by Senate Democrats and House Republicans stack up over the next decade:

The Transportation Department is launching a free app for iPhones and iPods that gives real-time vehicle safety information.

The House Thursday passed a huge spending bill to keep the government open through the end of September, sidestepping any threat of a government shutdown.

President Barack Obama is telling Israelis that in the search for peace, they have "true partners" in Palestinian leaders Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, and Salam Fayyad, the prime minister.

House Republicans have passed a budget plan that would bring the federal government's finances into balance in 10 years by sharply cutting safety-net programs for the poor and by clamping down on domestic agencies.

The Senate Energy Committee on Thursday endorsed President Barack Obama's nomination of Sally Jewell to be Interior secretary, moving her nomination to the Senate floor for an expected vote next month.

The Obama administration has imposed sanctions on the Islamist extremist group that seized much of northern Mali last year and prompted a French military intervention.

Despite growing awareness of hate crimes, the share of those crimes reported to police has fallen in recent years as more victims of violent attacks express doubt that police can or will help.

President Barack Obama is considering Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx for secretary of transportation, according to two people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.

The Senate voted Wednesday night by the barest of margins to approve a massive tax cut for the oil industry in the hope that it would lead to more oil production in Alaska.

As they struggle to get ahead, many low-wage workers are not taking advantage of job training or educational programs that could help them make the leap to better-paying jobs. They are often skeptical about whether such programs are even worth the trouble, a new survey shows.

William Cook has spent more than four decades as an attorney, 37 of them in Alaska. He's handled thousands of cases and been in countless courtrooms. But late last year, he stood before a court he had only ever visited as a tourist, the U.S. Supreme Court.

A key Senate committee chairman on Wednesday chided bipartisan negotiators working on an immigration bill, saying their progress is too slow and the delay is setting back action on reform.

This is a test.

The White House is still pushing for an assault weapons ban, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday, even though Senate Democrats all but sealed its fate by dropping it from the gun-control package they plan to consider next month.

The two men appeared chummy during the visit, joking easily and saluting one another in a sharp departure from the often frosty rapport they’ve exhibited in the past. They met privately at Netanyahu’s residence, then again over a working dinner into the evening, with reports of a chemical weapon attack in Syria and continued fears of Iran’s nuclear program topping their agenda.

Just weeks after Washington nearly went to war over automatic spending cuts, Congress scripted a peaceful ending to the clash Thursday as it backed the reductions while giving government managers flexibility to minimize the impacts on the public by finding the savings elsewhere in their budgets.