The state-based marketplace had received just 1,750 completed applications as of Nov. 15.

Stung by plunging approval numbers at a low point in his presidency, President Barack Obama is urging donors to buck up while making a thread-the-needle appeal for bipartisanship with Republicans even as he calls for replacing the House GOP majority and holding his Democratic edge in the Senate.

A judge said Monday that he'll announce next week whether Detroit is eligible to overhaul itself in bankruptcy court, the most important decision since the largest public filing in U.S. history last summer.

The corporation's deficit has grown to $36 billion the result of low interest rates, an up-and-down stock market and many corporation bankruptcy filings.