BARACK OBAMA

President Barack Obama's top domestic test this year is to cut unemployment, but his push for more spending on jobs reflects political need more than economic necessity and any new stimulus is likely to be small.

The White House was poised to release a report on Thursday that top aides said will shock Americans about security lapses that allowed a Nigerian man to come close to blowing up a Detroit-bound airliner on December 25.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday congressional Democrats were close to agreement on merging their healthcare bills but still faced challenges in blending the two approaches.

U.S. President Barack Obama is not patient and is demanding immediate changes in airline security, the top U.S. military officer said on Wednesday, as a grand jury indicted the Nigerian man for trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day.

President Barack Obama will announce a $250 million public-private partnership on Wednesday expanding a program to improve U.S. math and science education, the White House said.

South Dakota Democratic Senator Tim Johnson, a champion of community banks and credit card companies, is expected to take over the chairmanship of the influential U.S. Senate Banking Committee in 2011.

National security has jumped to the top of U.S. President Barack Obama's agenda, but it is unlikely to distract him from overhauling healthcare and tackling double-digit unemployment over the long term.

How Senator Christopher Dodd handles his final months in office is suddenly the big question surrounding U.S. efforts to tighten bank and capital market regulation as part of a worldwide push for reforms.

Global financial regulation has changed little since the 2008 banking crisis, but that won't be the case much longer.

As Congress moves to reform U.S. financial regulation, key senators are nearing bipartisan agreement on stripping the Federal Reserve of its authority to supervise banks, two people familiar with the matter said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday she was sure Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate would produce a final healthcare reform plan that would hold insurers accountable and make medical coverage affordable.

The attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner was a potentially disastrous screw up by the intelligence community, President Barack Obama said on Tuesday as he vowed urgent action to tighten air security.

President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that U.S. intelligence agencies had enough information to possibly thwart an attempt to destroy a jet bound for Detroit on Christmas day.

Americans scrapped more automobiles than they bought last year as the ragged economy reduced demand and some major cities expanded mass transit service, according to a new report.

Americans scrapped more automobiles than they bought last year as the ragged economy reduced demand and some major cities expanded mass transit service, according to a new report.

A final push to deliver a sweeping healthcare overhaul to President Barack Obama begins this week as House of Representatives Democratic leaders prepare for difficult negotiations with the Senate.

U.S. healthcare spending rose at the lowest rate on record in 2008 due to the recession, but still reached $2.3 trillion and devoured 16.2 percent of the U.S. economy, government analysts said in a report on Tuesday.

The American embassy in Yemen reopened on Tuesday after a raid near Sanaa that killed two al Qaeda militants addressed specific security concerns that had forced U.S. and European missions to close, the embassy said.

Now that the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives have passed their versions of healthcare reform, the two chambers must work out their differences before legislation can be delivered to President Barack Obama for his signature.

A final push to deliver a sweeping U.S. healthcare overhaul to President Barack Obama begins this week as House of Representatives Democratic leaders prepare for difficult negotiations with the Senate.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday plans to unveil reforms aimed at thwarting future attacks like the attempted Christmas Day airliner bombing, as he seeks to limit political fallout from the incident.