After their loss last year, Republicans are grappling over what to do next -- and when it comes to foreign policy, small-government conservatives worried about debt are squaring off against big-military conservatives fearful of defense cuts. Fortunately, the GOP does not need a total makeover; what it needs is a renegotiated modus vivendi between the two competing camps, each of which has valuable things to teach the other.

Pundits predicted that the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on the Affordable Care Act would make history.

After Lyndon Johnson's victory over Barry Goldwater in the 1964 U.S. presidential election, the once-mighty Republican Party was reduced to a regional rump.

The United States can no longer afford a world-spanning foreign policy.

One of the most important figures in Obama's administration will be his national security adviser. An examination of past advisers shows how to get the job right—or wrong.

Since the Democrats regained control of Congress, the Hill has been alive with the sound of hearings. Congress' earlier slumber and recent awakening should come as no surprise: for the last six decades, the partisan composition of Congress has defined the politics of war. Now facing a Democratic majority, President George W. Bush will find it far more difficult to stay in Iraq.

Legislative battles in Washington over once pro-forma actions on debt and transport infrastructure have raised deep concerns over the government's ability to enact sustained job-building and economic-recovery programs--and undergird U.S. competitiveness.

As the debt-ceiling deadline looms, political wrangling has escalated, but lawmakers are likely to cobble together an agreement that avoids default.

The Obama administration's compromise tax deal with Senate Republicans highlights ongoing debate about potential tradeoffs between tackling U.S. debt and bolstering the U.S. economic recovery.

The top U.S. military and diplomatic officials in Iraq will tell Congress of security improvements and scattered political progress, but many lawmakers want to hear an exit strategy. 

President Bush's farewell State of the Union address was marked by a call for Congress to unite behind his Iraq policy and curtail partisanship.

Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Mike Huckabee triumphed in Iowa’s caucuses, vowing change at a time of deepening economic concerns.

With the number of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans already at 1.6 million, soldiers’ advocates say a new U.S. health care crisis looms.  

The U.S. Farm Bill arouses criticism that it is counterproductive and detrimental to global trade interests. But Congress is expected to renew it soon.

Aside from Iraq, Congress will be the scene of likely sparring over initiatives on domestic surveillance, Guantanamo detainees, energy security, and trade.

U.S. and Iraqi lawmakers prepare to recess with little sign of compromise on critical Iraq policy issues.

The collapse of global trade talks prompted some analysts to pronounce the WTO’s Doha round dead. Counterintuitively, some free-trade hawks say this might not be such a bad thing.

The current Iraq funding debate pits Democrats against Republicans but the fault lines are starting to spread within the parties as well.

American politicians finally agree on the need for benchmarks to judge progress in Iraq, but disagree sharply over linking those milestones to future funding or a timetable for withdrawal.