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One year after plunging the country into what was then regarded as a near-apocalyptic 16-day shutdown of the federal government, House Republicans find themselves, improbably, in their strongest position politically since the earliest days of their majority in 2011.

With the shutdown fading against the backdrop of other domestic and global calamities, Speaker John A. Boehner’s gang has

Tuesday's high-profile primary elections may extend a streak of sorts for tea party Republicans: losing individual races but winning the larger ideological war by tugging the GOP rightward.

Several tea party-endorsed candidates are struggling in Tuesday's Republican congressional primaries in Georgia, Kentucky and Idaho. In each state, however, the "establishment" Republican candidates

Rep. Paul Ryan likened his 2-year budget agreement with Democrats to taking a few steps in the right direction.

But the bipartisan deal also carries potential value for Republicans and Ryan himself at a time when the party lacks a clear leader ahead of the 2014 election. If the agreement eventually comes to represent the badly needed bridge between Republican factions, Ryan was its

Barack Obama and his Democratic allies in the U.S. Congress have grown more confident in recent months about their ability to use the president's signature healthcare law as a draw rather than a liability in this November's midterm elections. Three races in New Hampshire illustrate the challenge, offering a test of whether Democrats can overcome voter skepticism about the 2010 Affordable Care