WASHINGTON, June 9 (UPI) -- Big differences in per-patient Medicare spending levels between U.S. states is receiving close scrutiny from President Barack Obama, reformers say.

WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- A U.S. Senate bill to tax bonuses at bailed-out insurance giant AIG will have to wait until after the two-week congressional recess, a committee chairman says.

Senate leadership wants to override a recent court ruling and keep final authority over the national electricity grid in the hands of federal regulators -- a proposal some utilities, states and policymakers adamantly oppose.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Intelligence outsiders like Leon Panetta, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to be director of central intelligence, have a mixed record at heading the agency, serving and former officials say.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- U.S. Senate intelligence committee leaders expressed surprise that former White House aide Leon Panetta was expected to be nominated to lead the CIA.

WASHINGTON, June 12 (UPI) -- Former Democratic Party vice presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, Ind-Conn., may soon not be so welcome at party gatherings in Washington.

WASHINGTON, May 9 (UPI) -- Amid all the polemics over the use of private military and security contractors by the U.S. government there are two words one rarely sees, but they lie at the very heart of the debate: "inherently governmental."

WASHINGTON, April 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department sought to expand the legal boundaries of harsh interrogation tactics against alleged terrorist suspects, a letter indicates.

WASHINGTON, April 26 (UPI) -- Letters from the U.S. Justice Department to Congress show the Bush administration is willing to allow intelligence agencies leeway on interrogation techniques.