WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The leader of the House of Representatives -- a persuasive arm-twister and deal maker -- faces her toughest challenge yet in the coming weeks: getting 216 votes to pass final legislation revamping the U.S. healthcare system. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is scrambling to hit ...

"You can choose to take the millions of dollars you have stored away for your next round of ads to kill meaningful reform, and use them to start giving Americans some relief from their skyrocketing premiums," Sebelius will say in an address to an industry group, according to excerpts ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York voters think scandal-tarred Governor David Paterson should remain in office but cannot do a good job, and that he acted unethically but will not get a fair hearing, a poll said on Tuesday. The Democratic governor is the target of official queries into whether he ...

RIYADH (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to discuss efforts to put pressure on Iran, stabilize Yemen and to urge the Saudis to engage with Iraq ahead of the U.S. withdrawal. Gates, fresh from a three-day visit to Afghanistan, also may discuss Kabul's ...

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden publicly scolded Israel Wednesday over a Jewish settlement plan, saying it was undermining peace efforts after Palestinians agreed to U.S.-mediated talks. "It is incumbent on both parties to build an atmosphere of support for ...

BISHKEK (Reuters) - U.S. General David Petraeus arrived in Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday, a day after the United States said it would build an anti-terrorism training center for the former Soviet republic in Central Asia. Both the United States and Russia have military air bases in Kyrgyzstan, and the ...

Obama will unveil the proposal during a visit to St Cloud, Missouri on Wednesday to rally popular support for his key domestic policy objective, as the bitter battle over healthcare enters its final weeks. The White House said the new effort to root out improper payments in Medicare and Medicaid, ...

New York's financial situation will worsen over the next five years because spending is expected to rise 7.5 percent but revenues will only climb 3 percent, Paterson told reporters. "That would put us at $65 billion in the hole," he said.

Biden also said he was unsure how much power hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wields during an interview with MSNBC's "Hardball" program conducted while he was in Jerusalem on a Middle East tour. "The question is, we're not even sure what he controls," Biden said ...

The 66 to 34 vote allows the Senate to move toward a final vote for the bill, part of what Democrats call a "jobs agenda" to bring down the country's 9.7 percent unemployment rate before November congressional elections. The Senate is expected to pass the bill within the next few days ...