Republicans in the House of Representatives unveiled a bill Thursday that would block funding for President Barack Obama's health care reform as long as it is contested in the courts.

Republicans who swept to power last year vowing to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law have been nearly silent about new rules that will force health insurance companies to cover birth control and other women's health services without co-pays.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Friday that Medicare reform must be part of an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, despite indications that changing the entitlement will be politically unpopular. Democrats made Medicare reforms pushed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan a central issue in a special election ...

President Barack Obama opened the private session by asking all parties to look for common ground, but the entrenched positions in play will make that difficult to achieve. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for instance, laid out specific conditions that must be met in order to gain GOP support. ...

GOP lawmakers hope to get back on the offensive in the Medicare debate. Ads will begin airing later this week that target a Democrat from Northern California, but some say the party needs to focus on a long-term strategy to regain its footing in this debate. Meanwhile, some House Democrats ...

The measure's supporters say it would lead to savings for the federal government of nearly $3 billion over the next five years.

During the congressional recess, constituents have grilled some House Republicans on how deficit reduction proposals will affect Medicare. Meanwhile, Don Berwick says GOP plans deserve the "rationing" label more than the health law does.

EAST LANSING, Mich. Despite the growing scientific consensus that global warming is real, Americans have become increasingly polarized on the environmental problem, according to a first-of-its-kind study led by a Michigan State University researcher. The gap between Democrats and Republicans who believe global warming is happening ...

House and Senate Republicans issued a report Tuesday in advance of a Capitol Hill hearing charging that the health law's expansion of Medicaid will come with a cost to states that is far more than congressional auditors estimated.

"House Republicans late Friday afternoon released a two-week continuing resolution [CR] that cuts more than $4 billion in federal spending," Roll Call reports (Stanton, 2/25). "Under the proposal, the law now keeping the government open would be extended two more weeks, until March 18 ... In the interim, House and ...

House Republicans on Wednesday released a list of 70 proposed budget cuts to be debated next week as Congress must vote to "fund the government past March, when the current temporary budget expires," USA Today's "On Politics" blog reports (Camia, 2/9).

Even as GOP lawmakers advance their strategies, Dems see a plan of their own — they plan to cast Republicans as trying to take away patients' rights. Meanwhile, physicians take to the Hill to press for medical liability reforms, with lots of lobbying money streaming in.