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A massive tax package that would save millions of Americans thousands of dollars in higher taxes is headed for a vote in the House Thursday even as rebellious Democrats complain it is too generous to the wealthy.

Here's the clear conclusion from our new NBC/WSJ poll: If the current political environment for President Obama has hit rock bottom, then his prospects for re-election are quite good. If it hasn't, then watch out.

The U.S. Senate agreed Wednesday to begin debate on the New START nuclear arms treaty with Russia, averting a Republican delaying tactic that would have forced officials to read the text out loud for hours.

After his party’s midterm losses and with the unemployment rate still hovering around 10 percent, President Barack Obama might be down. But he’s far from out — especially when it comes to his prospects for re-election in 2012.

For the second time this year the House voted to dismantle the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, giving the Senate a final shot in the waning days of this Congress at changing a law requiring thousands of uniformed gays to hide their sexual identity.

A new arms control treaty with Russia is essential for the United States to keep tabs on its rival's vast nuclear arsenal, backers of the pact said Wednesday as the Senate plunged into debate on President Barack Obama's top foreign policy priority.

The Senate has passed a sweeping tax package that would save millions of Americans thousands of dollars in higher taxes for the next two years while also reducing their Social Security taxes and extending jobless benefits.

Bah-humbug. The parties are exchanging barbs over who the real Grinch is — Harry Reid for potentially keeping the Senate in session through Christmas, or Jon Kyl and Jim DeMint for their attempts to delay, delay, delay.

The House initiated Wednesday what could be the last chance for now to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that has stifled the service of gays in the military.

With the Senate set to give final approval to President Obama's compromise tax deal -- and with the House expected to take up the measure afterward -- nearly 60 percent approve of its major components, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.

The White House is calling a GOP senator’s stalling tactic to delay a vote on a strategic arms treaty with Russia “a new low” and a “political stunt” that jeopardizes national security.

The president kept the pressure on Congress on Wednesday to pass the tax cut plan he believes is needed to jump-start the country's economic recovery and boost hiring in the private sector.

President Barack Obama Wednesday urged U.S. lawmakers to pass as quickly as possible a package to extend Bush-era tax cuts that he said would spur economic growth and hiring.

The Senate today will pass the tax-cut deal. But there's uncertainty over two other big items the chamber is currently considering: New START and the omnibus appropriations bill.

Rahm Emanuel, who left a powerful job with President Barack Obama at the White House to move back to Chicago and run for mayor, endured nearly 12 hours of questioning Tuesday from everyone from attorneys to a woman named Queen Sister — all intent on keeping his name off the ballot.

House Democrats considered changes in legislation to avoid a Jan. 1 jump in income taxes on Tuesday, despite a warning from Republicans that the bill's passage could be endangered as a result.

The spending barons on Capitol Hill, long used to muscling past opponents of bills larded with pet projects, are seeking one last victory before tea party-backed GOP insurgents storm Congress intent on ending the good old days of pork-barrel politics.

Few U.S. diplomats had the breadth, depth or length of service of Richard Holbrooke, who wrote part of the Pentagon Papers, was the architect of the 1995 Bosnia peace accords and served as President Barack Obama's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Senate Republican leaders’ top point man on the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty said Tuesday that he "will work very hard" to ensure that the treaty is not ratified if it's brought to the Senate floor in the waning days of the lame duck session.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says the House will vote on a stand-alone bill that would repeal the policy of forbidding gays from serving openly in the military.