JOE BIDEN

If Congress does not pass a healthcare bill soon, the opportunity to reform the U.S. healthcare system will be lost for a generation, Vice President Joe Biden warned Tuesday.

Luminaries from the worlds of music and film were feted by President Barack Obama and a black-tie audience of artists and political heavyweights on Sunday at the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors.

Republican firebrand Sarah Palin invaded the city she loves to hate on Saturday and rubbed shoulders with the herd of journalists she usually holds in disdain.

President Barack Obama on Sunday urged Senate Democrats to work out their differences on healthcare reform and pass what will be the most significant social legislation in decades.

The couple who drew international attention by getting into a White House dinner without an invitation denied on Tuesday that they gate-crashed the high-security gala.

Tareq and Michaele Salahi of Virginia have left many shocked with disbelief after getting past the Secret Service and into the state dinner at the White House on Tuesday.

Support within the administration has grown for continuing a counterinsurgency strategy with a greater focus on protecting major Afghan population centers along with agricultural areas and transportation routes.

President Barack Obama will announce his decision on whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan within days after he held a final strategy session with top aides, the White House said on Tuesday.

President Barack Obama on Monday added to his schedule an evening session with top advisers on Afghanistan as he closes in on a decision on whether to send thousands more U.S. troops.

Sarah Palin is stirring controversy with her new book even before it is on shelves, complaining she was all bottled up by advisers to Republican presidential candidate John McCain last year.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan, currently under presidential review, was not open-ended, putting more pressure on Kabul to improve security and fight corruption

The Obama White House on Friday said the $787 billion economic stimulus plan approved early this year had saved or created 640,329 jobs so far.

President Barack Obama will say on Wednesday there is still too much waste in U.S. defense spending, despite a number of costly projects being terminated in the 2010 defense authorization bill.

The bankrupt shell of carmaker General Motors Co is making its first major asset sale, selling a Delaware manufacturing plant to Fisker Automotive, which will make plug-in hybrid electric cars beginning in 2012.

President Barack Obama will announce the largest investment of economic stimulus funds in clean energy during a visit to Florida, an Obama administration official said on Monday.

U.S. President Barack Obama threw himself into the role of campaigner in chief on Wednesday, making appeals for Democratic candidates in two state governor races that some see as a referendum on his performance in the White House.

The Obama administration said on Monday its economic stimulus had saved or created 250,000 education jobs, as it sought to push back against Republicans who contend the package was wasteful and had not worked.

NATO's top defense officials will examine proposals Saturday for a big troop surge to contain Afghanistan's escalating insurgency but any such move hinges on a decision by the U.S. president, NATO military officials said.

The New Jersey governor's race is virtually tied between Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine and Republican Christopher Christie after months in which the challenger held the lead, a poll released on Wednesday said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates blamed the Taliban's revival on a past failure to deploy enough troops to Afghanistan and said U.S. forces would not withdraw whatever the result of President Barack Obama's strategy review.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday called for patience and discretion as President Barack Obama decides how to conduct the war in Afghanistan, urging advisers to speak candidly but privately on strategy.