Democrats running for re-election in Arkansas, Louisiana and other Republican-leaning states faced enough problems before President Barack Obama's popularity swooned in November. Now they are awkwardly distancing themselves from him a year before the election, seeking the right balance between independence and betrayal.

The health care law's seemingly endless problems are giving congressional Republicans a much-needed boost of energy, helping them to move past the government-shutdown debacle and focus on a theme for next year's elections.

Business leaders fear bigger problems ahead, so they're taking sides with a Democratic president whose health care and regulatory agenda they have vigorously opposed.

A letter from 80 Republicans asked Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, to resist any spending bills that would accommodate the new health care law.

House Republicans feel growing pressure to steer firmly right on key issues, thanks to changes in primary-election politics that are complicating Congress' ability to solve big problems.

Top GOP leaders showed notable restraint last week, while conservative activists fulminated against the court's decision, which requires the federal government to recognize same-sex marriage.

The president's chief of staff and others in the administration did not tell him the IRS was targeting conservative groups, leaving him to learn about it on news reports.

With Congress increasingly unable to resolve budget disputes, federal programs on automatic pilot are consuming ever larger amounts of government resources.