Harry Reid

House Republicans late Saturday prepared to pass a government funding bill that would include a one-year delay in implementing Obamacare. But the White House said President Obama would veto the House measure, on the unlikely chance it made it through the Senate.

Some lawmakers have decried revelations that the government is collecting Internet and phone activity of millions of Americans. For the most part, though, there appear to be few calls for more oversight, let alone legislative changes.

Senate Republicans have continued blocking a number of President Obama's appointees to run his executive agencies. Majority Leader Harry Reid again has threatened a rules change to permit appointment confirmations with a simple majority vote.

Forty-seven percent said they supported stricter gun control laws. That number was 57 percent just after the shootings.

The prospects of an assault weapons ban emerging as part of any post-Newtown gun control law looks unlikely after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reportedly opted not to include it in a Democratic proposal to be offered on the Senate floor in the coming weeks.

Like the famous cherry blossoms forecast to bloom in a few weeks, this time of year is marked by the arrival of competing, partisan and utterly doomed federal budget proposals.

Democratic Senators Harry Reid and Mo Cowan have joined Republicans John McCain and Representative Peter King to call for the pardon of former heavyweight boxing champ Jack Johnson. He was the first black fighter to win that title, in 1908. Another win in 1910 sparked race riots nationwide, and his relationships with white women only added to the controversy. He was convicted of taking women across state lines for "immoral purpose." Audie Cornish has more.

After threatening to gut the rule that lets a single senator bring the Senate to a virtual halt, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has agreed to tweak rather than transform the practice. Under the accord, Democrats would gain the ability to skip a procedural step to begin debate on a bill.

While President Obama raised big issues in his inaugural address — climate change, gay rights, immigration, the shooting of schoolchildren — Congress eased back into session Tuesday with other priorities, fighting many of the battles left over from last year.

President Obama's slate of nominees will have to be confirmed by the Senate, but those nominations could be held up by a filibuster threat. Democrats are trying to crack down on what they see as misuse of the filibuster, and it looks like Republicans may be willing to come to a deal.