Former President George W. Bush's beloved, 12-year-old Scottish Terrier Barney died after suffering from lymphoma, the former president announced in a statement today.

"Barney was by my side during our eight years in the White House," Mr. Bush said. "He never discussed politics and was always a faithful friend. Laura and I will miss our pal."

Along with his statement, Mr. Bush today released a picture of an oil painting of Barney that the former president painted himself. The painting is signed "43." Since leaving the White House, Mr. Bush has kept a low profile and, New York Magazine reported last year, has "taken up painting, making portraits of dogs and arid Texas landscapes."

In her final remarks as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton said she's confident in the direction that the State Department is headed and urged its employees to demonstrate why the department matters as much as the Pentagon.

"Those of you who are staying... Please know that I hope you will redouble your efforts to do all that you can to demonstrate unequivocally why diplomacy and development are right up there with defense," she said.

Updated at 2 p.m. ET

Responding to complaints from religiously-affiliated groups, the Obama administration today proposed new health insurance rules for covering the cost of birth control, laying out a plan to ensure coverage without compelling faith-based organizations to pay for it.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration sought to balance two principles in its rule-making: "We had to ensure that women have access to preventive services like contraception and that the policy respects religious beliefs," he said.

The Affordable Care Act requires employers to provide full health care coverage for contraception, though the rule exempts houses of worship like churches or synagogues. However, other nonprofits with religious affiliations -- such as, for instance, a Catholic university -- were expected to comply. The Obama administration faces several lawsuits over the issue.

The Senate Ethics Committee is reviewing whether Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., inappropriately accepted gifts from a political donor who is under investigation by federal investigators.

"We are aware of the news reports regarding the FBI raid on Dr. Melgen's office," Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., the top Republican on the ethics committee, said to CBS News in a statement. "The Ethics Committee will follow its established procedures in this matter."

Late Tuesday night, the FBI and the Health and Human Services Department raided the West Palm Beach, Fla., offices belonging to Dr. Salomon Melgen, an eye doctor who has made large donations to Menendez, the New Jersey State Democratic Committee and other politicians. The FBI has not said why it was raiding Melgen's office Tuesday night, but according to the Miami Herald, records show that Melgen has an outstanding IRS lien of $11.1 million for taxes owed from 2006 to 2009. The HHS Office of the Inspector General, meanwhile, is responsible for health care fraud cases (involving Medicare and Medicaid). HHS would not comment on the FBI's involvement, though it is not unheard of for the FBI to participate in these types of investigations.

The Senate today passed legislation to suspend the nation's debt limit that, once signed into law, will stave off the threat of letting the U.S. government default on its loans for a few months.

The "No budget, no pay" bill, which passed in the House last week, passed in the Senate 64 to 34. It now goes to the White House for the president's signature.

The White House has said the "No budget, no pay" bill is far from ideal, since it only temporarily puts off the threat of default, but that President Obama will sign it anyway.

The TV and radio personality says he may run for the Senate in New Jersey in 2014 Geraldo Rivera said on his radio show today that he's considering running for Senate in New Jersey as a Republican.

"I mentioned this only briefly to my wife ... but I am and I've been in touch with some people in the Republican Party in New Jersey," said Rivera, who, in addition to his radio show, appears on Fox News. "I am truly contemplating running for Senate against Frank Lautenberg or Cory Booker."

Vice President Joe Biden heads to Europe this evening, where in his first trip abroad since starting his second term, the crisis in Syria will be at the top of his agenda.

"The Syrian regime has by any measure completely failed to maintain its own domestic and international legitimacy," Ben Rhodes, deputy National Security Adviser for the Obama administration, said today on a conference call previewing Biden's trip.

The vice president's three-nation trip begins in Germany, where on Friday he will meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. They're expected to discuss a broad range of issues, including the global economy, Syria, Iran, and energy and climate change.

More than nine out of 10 voters in three states support closing the loophole that allows people to buy guns at gun shows without a background check, according to a series of Quinnipiac surveys conducted this month.

In the wake of the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut last month, President Obama has made the implementation of universal background checks one of his top gun control priorities. Currently, gun buyers are subject to criminal background checks when purchasing guns from federally licensed gun dealers, but unlicensed sellers are not required to do background checks. This loophole is typically exploited at gun shows.

According to the Quinnipiac polls, voters in Virginia, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, all support closing that loophole -- including most voters in households with a gun.

Updated at 6:05 p.m ET

Following an FBI raid targeting one of his political donors, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., today released a statement asserting that his relationship with the donor is completely above-board and that allegations that he and the donor engaged with prostitutes are false.

FBI agents late Tuesday night raided a West Palm Beach, Fla., office belonging to Dr. Salomon Melgen, an eye doctor who has made large donations to Menendez, the New Jersey State Democratic Committee and other (mostly Democratic) politicians. He also gave more than $30,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2009, when Menendez was chairman.

Menendez's relationship with Melgen came under scrutiny last fall, when the right-leaning news website The Daily Caller interviewed two women from the Dominican Republic who claimed Menendez paid them for sex. The women claimed they engaged with Menendez at an expensive resort in which Melgen has a home.

Americans for Responsible Solutions

Updated at 5:15 p.m. ET

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., kicked off today's gun violence hearing in the Senate in dramatic fashion, reading a short but passionate statement urging Congress to "be bold" and "act" on gun violence.

Updated 1:35 p.m. ET

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is tapping his former chief of staff, William "Mo" Cowan, to replace John Kerry in the Senate until a special election in June.

Cowan, a 43-year-old attorney, left Patrick's office in November 2012 and was expected to return to the private sector. In a statement, Patrick said Cowan served Massachusetts with wisdom and good judgment and will do so again in the Senate.

"Mo's service on the front lines in our efforts to manage through the worst economy in 80 years and build a better, stronger Commonwealth for the next generation has earned him the respect and admiration of people throughout government," he said in a statement.

Taking a cooperative and optimistic tone, President Obama today urged the public to support bipartisan efforts at immigration reform, appealing both to voters' pocketbooks and their sentimentality.

"I'm here because most Americans agree it's time to fix the system that's been broken for way too long," Mr. Obama said at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. "Business leaders, faith leaders, labor leaders, law enforcement and leaders from both parties are coming together to say now is the time... Now's the time to do this so we can strengthen our economy and strengthen our country's future."

The president today unveiled a blueprint for comprehensive immigration reform very similar to the framework released a day earlier by a bipartisan group of eight senators. Mr. Obama's plan includes steps for smarter enforcement of immigration laws, a pathway to citizenship for the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants, and improvements in the legal immigration system.

Three days before ending her tenure as secretary of state, congressional leaders are asking Hillary Clinton to turn over documents from top State Department officials relating to the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.

In a letter sent to Clinton yesterday, three Republicans asked Clinton to hand over all the e-mails, cables, and memoranda that she and her deputies received regarding to security in Benghazi; documents reviewed by the State Department's Accountability Review Board (ARB); as well as video of the September 11, 2012 attack on the Benghazi compound. The letter was signed by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., House Oversight and Government Reform Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah.

In a global "town hall" with young people today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talked about her legacy -- including the parallels between her tenure as secretary of state and another historical diplomat's -- and her future of helping women in politics.

"I do want to see more women compete for the highest positions in their countries," Clinton said in the "Global Townterview," a Washington event hosted by Australian newscaster Leigh Sales. Several news networks from around the world participated in the town hall via satellite, allowing young people from various countries to ask Clinton questions.

One young person from London asked Clinton whether she would run for president in 2016, providing women around the world with a strong role model.