Less than a fifth of registered US voters say most in Congress deserve re-election. The fewest number of people ever want their own member of Congress reelected in a new poll, with less than half saying they’d support their own representative’s return to Washington. Just 46 percent of registered voters think the U.S. representative in their district deserves to be reelected, according to a Gallup... 

This tablet PC displays a photo of former CIA employee Edward Snowden and his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena leaving the Sheremetyevo airport. NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, will ask Russian law enforcers to protect him, his lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, has said. The former NSA contractor is concerned about his safety after seeing death threats coming from the US. Snowden, who is currently living in Moscow... 

By granting so-called “fast-track authority” to the White House, Congress opts itself out of the process of shaping trade agreements. The framers of the Constitution were wise to include Congress in the process of framing and approving trade agreements made by presidents. That authority to provide advice and consent should, the wisest legislators have always argued, be zealously guarded. Unfortunately,... 

US President Barack Obama speaks with military personnel while viewing an Iron Dome missile battery on March 20 at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport. The Pentagon, defense industry and Israel came out as big winners in a bipartisan $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill that would pay for government operations through October, a report says. The massive measure, unveiled Monday night, fleshes... 

The National Security Agency refuses to deny whether it is spying on members of Congress after it received a bluntly worded letter from a senator seeking clarification on the issue. Sen. Bernie Sanders sent a letter to the NSA on Friday, asking whether it has or is “spying” on US lawmakers and other elected officials. The Vermont independent said he was “deeply concerned” about the... 

US President Barack Obama speaks with military personnel while viewing an Iron Dome missile battery on March 20 at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport. The US Congress has authorized $284 million to fund Israel’s missile systems program, triple the amount the Obama administration had requested. The bill, introduced jointly by the House of Representatives and Senate budget committees,... 

If Obama’s complete disregard for the constitutional limits imposed on the presidency continues, it will create a precedent in which future presidents will act as absolute autocrats. At a congressional hearing on Dec. 2, House Representative Trey Growdy (R-SC) asked what will stop Obama from not enforcing election laws considering his pattern of “prosecutorial discretion” of other standing... 

US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned Congress that any new sanctions against Iran will be viewed as “bad faith” and can “destroy the ability to” reach an agreement. “Our hope is now that no new sanctions would be put in place for the simple reason that if they are, it could be viewed as bad faith by the people we’re negotiating with, [and] it could destroy the ability to be able... 

US President Barack Obama has signed legislation passed by Congress Wednesday to temporarily lift the debt ceiling and end the government shutdown, averting the threat of default just hours before the October 17 deadline. The legislation funds the government through to January 15 and lifts the $16.7 trillion debt ceiling until February 7. The White House budget director, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, said... 

As the US government shutdown nears its third week, Republicans and Democrats in Congress have been unable to strike a deal over the budget and raise the nation’s borrowing authority to avert a default. Since efforts in the House of Representatives to reach a fiscal deal failed last week, negotiations on ending the shutdown and avoiding a potential federal default have shifted to the Senate. Senate... 

Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee used obscure language to characterize the push for a clean resolution which would end the government shutdown, labeling it a form of “martial law.” Advocating for the passage of a clean continuing resolution that would, at least temporarily, end the current standoff in Washington and reopen the government, Lee said there were enough members of Congress... 

With NASA staff sent home and the Curiosity rover dozing off on Mars, former astronaut Tom Jones tells RT how the US government shutdown will affect the space agency’s projects and deadlines. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s 55th birthday celebrations on October 1 were marred as it [NASA] sustained one of the biggest blows of all the governmental agencies due to the stalemate... 

Financial markets in Asia and Europe have been rocked over concerns that the United States’ government might be heading for a partial shutdown. Washington should agree to a new spending bill before the end of the financial year at midnight on Monday amid political divisions that have created a stalemate. If the American lawmakers fail to agree on the budget deal, essential federal services could... 

The White House budget director has ordered federal agencies to begin closing down after the Senate and the House of Representatives failed to reach an agreement on a budget plan to avert a government shutdown. “Agencies should now execute plans for an orderly shutdown due to the absence of appropriations,” Sylvia Mathews Burwell, director Of the White House Office of Management and Budget... 

With the US debt ballooning to a new record of $16.7tln and the deadline to fix the ‘debt ceiling’ expiring on October 1, a default threat looms over the world’s largest economy. Experts agree the government will broaden its borrowing limit. The latest warning to Congress comes from the International Monetary Fund, who urged the US Congress to reach an agreement to raise its debt ceiling and...