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No Plan B on birthright citizenship order: Read more in Alex Swoyer's 'Seen, Heard & Whispered'

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In this March 18, 2014, file photo, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson speaks during a news conference in Washington. Johnson, who's conducting a politically charged review of the nation's deportation policy, said Thursday, May 15 he's looking at making changes to a much-criticized program that runs people booked for local crimes through a federal immigration database.(AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)

DHS renews non-deportation policy for Dreamers

The Obama administration announced Thursday that it will renew the non-deportation for young adult illegal immigrants, meaning the more than 560,000 so-called "Dreamers" in the program can continue living and working in the U.S. with no fear of deportation.

June 5, 2014
In this image taken from video obtained from Voice Of Jihad website, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, sits in a vehicle guarded by the Taliban in eastern Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Voice Of Jihad Website via AP video)

Congress twice rejected release of Taliban from Gitmo in trade for Bergdahl

President Obama's aides met with unanimous opposition from Congress when they first raised the possibility of releasing five Taliban guerrillas from Guantanamo Bay in 2011 and 2012, and administration officials publicly and repeatedly vowed to return to Capitol Hill before making any final moves.

June 4, 2014
FILE - This May 8, 2014 file photo shows House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaking on Capitol Hill in Washington. To congressional Republicans, "Benghazi" is shorthand for incompetence and cover-up. Democrats hear it as the hollow sound of pointless investigations. It is, in fact, a Mediterranean port city in Libya that was the site of an attack on an American diplomatic compound on the 11th anniversary of 9/11 that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. That's nearly all that U.S. politicians can agree on about Benghazi. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Obama never consulted with Congress on Taliban prisoners: Boehner

The Pentagon said Tuesday that Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl may still face disciplinary action if he is found to have walked away from his post in 2009, as Obama administration officials sought to answer increasingly pointed questions about the deal that saw the U.S. release five Taliban warriors in exchange for getting the sergeant back.

June 3, 2014
Families caught crossing from Mexico look through a box of donated clothing at the Greyhound bus terminal in Phoenix. Administration officials said they are trying to find ways to meet the law, which calls for immigration officials to turn over the children to the Health and Human Services Department within 72 hours after they are apprehended. (Associated press)

Kids flooding over southern border deemed ‘urgent,’ but Obama offers no plan

Faced with 60,000 unaccompanied children trying to cross the border illegally this year, President Obama on Monday declared it an "urgent humanitarian situation" and named a federal coordinator to make sure the children are cared for — but offered no new ideas for how to keep them from trying to enter.

June 2, 2014
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican, authored an amendment to a Justice Department spending bill that would prevent the federal government from interfering state medical marijuana laws. The language was approved 219-189, but still faces hurdles in the Senate. (Associated Press)

Medical marijuana scores big House win, but still faces hurdles

They won a historic vote in the House last week on relaxing federal marijuana policy, but backers said it's too early to declare victory, acknowledging that it will be a tough fight to get something through the Senate and on to President Obama this year.

June 1, 2014
** FILE ** With the Colorado state capitol building visible in the background, partygoers dance and smoke pot on the first of two days at the annual 4/20 marijuana festival in Denver, Saturday, April 19, 2014. The annual event is the first 420 marijuana celebration since retail marijuana stores began selling in January 2014. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

House votes to halt federal meddling in medical marijuana

The House voted early Friday to halt federal prosecutions of medical marijuana users in states that have legalized the drug's use with a doctor's prescription, marking the first time a chamber of Congress has approved such a broad decriminalization.

May 30, 2014
Cynthia Diaz, 18, from Arizona, is senn outside the White House on Tuesday April 8,2014. She was there with a group of immigrant activists to protest deportations. Cynthia's mother was deported in 2011 and crossed back into the US from Mexico this March, and is now being detained in Arizona. Cynthia, a US citizen, says she'll go on hunger strike to pressure Obama to lay off the deportations. (AP Photo/The Tampa Bay Times, Alex Leary)

Obama’s immigration decision delay angers both sides

President Obama's decision this week to put off any new unilateral action to halt deportations didn't win the Republican support he'd hoped, but it did enrage his own allies among immigrant-rights advocates, who said tens of thousands of people who deserve to stay in the country will instead be kicked out over the next two months.

May 28, 2014
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican, said on Tuesday that he's considering subpoenas to force the White House to hand over more details about its new political office. He has set a new deadline for June 3. Mr. Issa said the American people have a right to know if their tax dollars are being spent to support congressional campaigns. (Associated Press)

Issa may subpoena White House for political office details

The House's chief investigator said Tuesday he's considering subpoenas to force the White House to turn over more details about its new political office, which Republicans say may be running afoul of laws banning the use of taxpayer money for political campaigns.

May 27, 2014
Medically retired Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter will be awarded the Medal of Honor by President Obama on June 19. (Associated Press)

Awarding of Medal of Honor raises consistency questions

President Obama announced last week that he will award the Medal of Honor to retired Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter for diving on a grenade to save a comrade — but the decision raises thorny questions about consistency, after other troops who dived on grenades have not been given the top military honor.

May 25, 2014
President Obama has not made any overtures or even laid out details about how the 2001 use of force authorization should change, say members of Congress who are confounded about the reason. (Associated Press)

Lawmakers find little guidance from Obama on war resolutions

Republicans and Democrats alike were exasperated this week by the Obama administration's befuddled effort to address the lingering war resolutions in Iraq and Afghanistan, which remain in effect more than a year after President Obama called for them to be rewritten.

May 22, 2014
A tea party supporter holds a Don't Tread on Me flag during a rally on Saturday, April 16, 2011, at the Statehouse in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

IRS to start over on rules governing tea party groups, other nonprofits

The IRS said Thursday it will go back and rewrite the proposed rules governing nonprofit groups and political activity, bowing to overwhelming opposition from tea party groups and free speech advocates on both ends of the ideological spectrum who feared the tax agency would hurt political debate.

May 22, 2014
**FILE** Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, speaks to reporters after a Democratic caucus lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 13, 2014. (Associated Press)

Reid floats immigration delay as way to break gridlock

Seeking to break a deadlock on immigration reform, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday said Congress could pass a legalization bill now but make it effective in 2017, after President Obama leaves office, as a way of earning Republican support.

May 22, 2014
** FILE ** In this Sunday, June 9, 2013, file photo provided by The Guardian newspaper in London, shows Edward Snowden, who worked as a contract employee at the U.S. National Security Agency, in Hong Kong. Two Norwegian lawmakers said Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014 that they have jointly nominated former NSA contractor Edward Snowden for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo/The Guardian, File)

House votes to shut down NSA phone-snooping

In an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago, the House on Thursday approved a bill to cancel the government's bulk-data collection programs, including the NSA's phone-records snooping.

May 22, 2014