If one wanted a sense of how difficult it's become to manage the public relations fallout of sequestration, they need read no further than Sen. Orrin Hatch's (R-Utah) take on the significance of the spending cuts.

From the Salt Lake Tribune on Wednesday:

"I'm for sequestration," Hatch...

WASHINGTON -- Though the Republican Party's stance on same-sex marriage faced criticism from within its own ranks following the 2012 election, this year's session of the top conservative gabfest will not include the two leading conservative gay rights groups.

GOProud and the Log Cabin Republicans will not be participating in...

WASHINGTON -- The prospects of passing an important part of President Barack Obama's gun control agenda improved a bit on Tuesday when a House Republican announced his support for universal background checks for firearm purchases.

"I think the idea of background checks across the board, I'm not opposed to them,"...

WASHINGTON -- The debate over replacing the impending $1 trillion in automatic spending cuts has boiled down to a fight over tax revenues.

Democrats demand them, Republicans abhor them and the White House, while insistent that they be part of the solution, hasn't ruled out negotiating over the specifics.

WASHINGTON –- The debate over replacing the impending $1 trillion in automatic spending cuts has boiled down to a fight over tax revenues.

Democrats demand them, Republicans abhor them and the White House, while insistent that they be part of the solution, hasn't ruled out negotiating over the specifics.

Valentine's Day is a time for chocolate, roses, love and romance -- the one day of the year when saccharine sweetness is fashionable. Cards are exchanged, dinners are shared, relationships blossom.

For many, however, the day is primed for personal embarrassment and public humiliation. That's what happens when scores of...

WASHINGTON -- Howard Dean is used to being an eccentric within his own party, so the fact that he's urging Democrats to address the impending sequester by doing basically the opposite of what the Obama administration, congressional leadership and every progressive-minded economist wants shouldn't come as a terrible shock.

"We...

WASHINGTON-- Opponents of former Sen. Chuck Hagel's nomination as defense secretary have zeroed in on a 2008 speech he gave to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee as evidence that he's too cozy with organizations sympathetic to groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.

The speech was finally released on Thursday and it...

WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats have settled on a final plan to replace 10 months' worth of sequestration cuts, aides said on Thursday.

The plan, called the American Family Economic Protection Act, pinpoints $120 billion of savings, split evenly between cuts and revenues, that would replace the sequestration-designated cuts to defense...

WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans are following through on their threat to filibuster former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), President Barack Obama's nominee for defense secretary, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday morning.

"It is tragic that they have decided to filibuster this qualified nominee," said Reid. "It is really...

WASHINGTON -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday endorsed different procedural tactics to advance two of President Barack Obama's top legislative priorities. While she all but ruled out supporting anything short of a comprehensive approach to immigration reform, she opened the door to the possibility of lawmakers considering...

WASHINGTON -- The decision by Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) to invite controversial musician Ted Nugent to be his guest at Tuesday night's State of the Union address has become a bit of a distraction.

Nugent's politics don't fit the traditionally cheerful, politically civil nature of the evening. But...

WASHINGTON -- Hours before last year's State of the Union address, the Obama administration offered The Huffington Post an exclusive. During his speech, President Barack Obama would announce a new law enforcement unit aimed at exposing and prosecuting financial fraud behind the housing crisis. The unit would be...

WASHINGTON -- White House Press Secretary Jay Carney emphatically ruled out including any provision raising the eligibility age of Medicare as part of a deal to eliminate or replace the impending sequestration cuts.

"Is the president open to raising the eligibility age for Medicare?" Carney was asked during Monday's daily...

WASHINGTON -- One of the top labor leaders in the country ripped into two prominent Democratic lawmakers Monday morning, calling them "turncoats" and unfavorably comparing them to high-profile anti-union Republicans.

Speaking at the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees' Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C., AFSCME President Lee...

WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats will produce a bill next week to stave off the sequester-related spending cuts until the end of December, multiple Senate sources tell The Huffington Post.

The bill would cut the deficit by $120 billion over 10 years to help replace roughly 10 months' worth of sequestration...

WASHINGTON -- As President Barack Obama navigates the early stages of the gun policy debate, he has largely been spared the type of political pressure from its base that affected previous legislative battles.

Progressive groups and gun control activists are deeply committed to enacting reforms that are as extensive as...

WASHINGTON -- As members of President Barack Obama's economic team surveyed the fiscal landscape following the 2012 election, they were haunted by spending cuts set to take effect at the end of the year.

Sequestration was the rare public policy passed for purposes of being avoided. The cuts were...

WASHINGTON -- A report Monday night on the nature of the administration's drone program has the potential to dramatically revamp the debate over President Barack Obama's foreign policy and the confirmation process for his incoming cabinet.

The report, by Michael Isikoff of NBC News, reveals that...

WASHINGTON -- Barring an unexpected turn of legislative affairs, a ban on military-style semi-automatic assault weapons will not make it into law, top Hill aides and gun policy advocates say.

The ban will get a vote. But the purpose of that vote will be in part to facilitate its...