The US government shutdown went into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET Tuesday after lawmakers in the House and the Senate couldn't agree on a bill to fund the government.

The presidents of America and Iran spoke directly Friday for the first time since 1979, setting the stage for delicate negotiations that could reshape the two adversaries' relationship. The 15-minute call between Barack Obama and Iran's Hasan Rouhani, which focused on Iran's disputed nuclear program, topped a week of dramatic twists and turns. It also highlighted how critical Washington and Tehran have become to each other's pressing geopolitical goals.

The Obama Administration has pledged $320 million in aid to Detroit as the city emerges from bankruptcy. Bloomberg reports that a delegation of administration officials arrived in the onetime auto-manufacturing capital on Friday and announced a package of federal, state, and private aid.

U.S. household spending rose in August as incomes were buoyed by solid wage gains, signs that momentum could be growing in the economy despite months of harsh government austerity.

Ted Cruz had his chance to derail Obamacare. Now it’s up to Internet trolls.

The U.S. Justice Department is preparing to sue JPMorgan Chase & Co over mortgage bonds it sold in the run-up to the financial crisis, a sign the bank's legal troubles are not yet over.

Ending weeks of diplomatic deadlock, the United States and Russia agreed on Thursday on a U.N. Security Council draft resolution that would demand Syria give up its chemical arms, but does not threaten military force if it fails to comply.

When we last discussed columnist Froma Harrop, she was acting as a surveillance state apologist. She took some of the usual paths (directing snark at "clueless" internet users, conjuring up the threat of terrorism) and some unusual ones (claiming those opposed to the surveillance state only did so because they "hate Obama"). All in all, it was the perfect storm of condescension and cluelessness that NSA apologists do all too well.

Sen. Ron Wyden said their legislation would show liberty and security "are not mutually exclusive."

A bipartisan group of senators introduces a bill that would prohibit the bulk collection of e-mail and phone records of US citizens.

President Barack Obama was caught in a candid moment confessing what really turned him off to cigarettes.

Dropbox has thrown in its lot with Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and other companies looking for permission to publish information about secret national security requests. The company has filed an...

Times have changed since the Facebook CEO first visited D.C. in 2010--now, he has a lot more power. 

Why was the White House so quick to accept Russia’s offer to disarm Syria’s chemical weapons? One reason, reports Eli Lake: U.S. military and intelligence leaders doubted their own ‘Hail Mary’ plan.

Since being granted asylum in Russia, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has kept a low profile, virtually dropping out of sight. In an interview with Russian magazine Itogi and with RT television— translated in part by AFP — Snowden's lawyer and de facto spokesperson Anatoly Kucherena says fear for his safety has led Snowden to leave home only in disguise.

Federal prosecutors have documented at least 350 instances of faulty background investigations done by private contractors and special agents for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in recent years, illustrating what some lawmakers call systemic weaknesses in the granting of federal security clearances.

With the GOP threatening to trigger a government shutdown or debt default over ObamaCare, the White House is trying out a new argument to sway voters: Republicans are nuts.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi agreed Thursday on the need for a positive response by Iran in renewed nuclear talks, a US official said.

The fight for same-sex marriage will soon be won, but that isn’t the only way the gay-rights movement can change America. A manifesto for an impending cultural battle.

The U.S. government is set to seize a Manhattan skyscraper that prosecutors say is secretly owned and controlled by the Iranian government.

Putin, and many Americans, appear to think so