The Senate is set to take up legislation that would expand gun buyer background checks on the heels of an endorsement from an important gun rights group, and steady pressure from Sandy Hook families.

In the surreptitious recording, the top Republican and his aides disparage actress Ashley Judd. The liberal SuperPAC Progress Kentucky was created in December 2012 and, according to records, raised just $1,005 last year. It spent only $18.

The heat wasn't just due to the unseasonable 90-degree temperatures. There was political heat in the form of thousands rallying for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws. And heat in the form of activity and rhetoric on gun control and the federal budget.

Even a budget proposal that's likely nowhere gives a president the chance to state priorities and place dollar amounts next to them.

On Election Day 2012, black voters waited on average nearly twice as long to vote as did whites. The wait time for Hispanics fell in between. While race may have played a role, a researcher suggests geography did, too.

Few things indicate a president no longer needs to worry about running for re-election more than his willingness to ignite an intraparty firestorm. That's just what President Obama has done by saying he is willing to consider savings from safety net entitlement programs in his new budget proposal.

The approach taken by Sen. Mary Landrieu's first official Republican rival, Rep. Bill Cassidy, in his announcement video is worth noting. Whoever eventually wins the GOP nomination to oppose the three-term Democratic senator could very well use the same playbook.

The federal criminal complaint against New York politicians as the result of an FBI sting was a reminder of how often real-life political scandals can read like the imaginings of Hollywood screenwriters.

It's still far too early to know whether Congress will be able to achieve major changes to the nation's immigration laws. All that's certain at this stage is that lawmakers on both sides of the partisan divide, and in both chambers, continue to act as though they think they can.

NPR is covering the historic Supreme Court hearings on same-sex marriage via Twitter as well as our news site and on the air.

Anyone looking for a glimmer of bipartisanship in Washington might want to pay attention to the medical device tax that is part of Obamacare. It took a notable, if largely symbolic, hit this week from the left and the right.

Having a gay friend or family member has led many Americans to change their stance from opposing to supporting same-sex marriage.

The vice president's comments in an interview with NPR come despite signs that such a ban doesn't have enough support, even from members of his own party, to make it through the Democratic-controlled Senate.

As the Republican National Committee offers criticism and advice for the party after its performance in 2012, a political science professor has come up with a list of sometimes similar GOP outreach efforts of old.

The Republican National Committee report offers the party a way forward after its 2012 failure to defeat President Obama, who was long seen as vulnerable because of a relatively high jobless rate and uninspiring economic growth.

In his first major speech since he lost the presidential election, Mitt Romney got the kind of heady reaction he drew from the party faithful in those days after he roundly beat President Obama in the first debate.

Coming off the 2012 election, many at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference are trying to figure out who can best return the party to White House power while upholding conservative principles. And Thursday, the young senators from Florida and Kentucky each made their case.

This annual gathering of conservatives is the first since President Obama thwarted Republican efforts to retake the White House, a defeat of Mitt Romney that many in the GOP didn't see coming. And while there will be some backward glances, the conference is mostly about finding the way forward.

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.

Dr. Ben Carson, a well-known surgeon, made a splash last month when he criticized President Obama's policies in a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. "It's a shame that we've reached a level in our country where we think that you don't have the right to put your opinion out there," he tells NPR.