government

HONOLULU (AP) — With a yearend deadline looming before the economy goes over the so-called fiscal cliff, President Barack Obama is cutting short his traditional Christmas holiday in Hawaii, planning...

BEMIDJI – State Rep. John Persell, DFL-Bemidji, was named House Majority Whip Friday. In that role, Persell will help House Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul in leading the House...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama on Friday will nominate Sen. John Kerry as his next secretary of state, a senior administration official said, making the first move in an...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minn. Gov. Mark Dayton will undergo spinal surgery next week at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Dayton's office announced Friday that the operation is being done...

And now let us speak of the current lame-duck session of the 112th Congress. Daily we witness the death throes of the final assemblage of this particular group of elected...

WASHINGTON — The dean of Minnesota's congressional delegation says reviving a ban on assault weapons won't solve the problem of gun violence. Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson has been a staunch...

By Molly Miron, Special to the Pioneer During their afternoon work session Tuesday, Beltrami County commissioners discussed with State Sens. Rod Skoe and Tom Saxhaug and State Rep. John Persell...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Optimistic despite a tightening deadline, President Barack Obama said Wednesday he and House Speaker John Boehner are "pretty close" to a grand fiscal deal to avoid a...

BOSTON — In the early 1980s, Tip O’Neill played the same role that John Boehner does now — speaker of the House, while a popular president from the other party...

With emotions running high in response to the heart wrenching events that took place last week at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, many of my liberal friends and family members...

As yet another make-believe Washington “crisis” looms, it’s tempting to suspect that the most fraught interludes in American politics derive from turning government into a TV show. Artificial deadlines, imaginary...

Michigan gave birth to the United Auto Workers. The union was founded at a convention in Detroit in 1935. After its famous sit-down strike in Flint, Mich., in 1937, the...

We’re running out of time to arrange our New Year’s parties. But how can we, with all the uncertainty about the “fiscal cliff? Obviously, that’s the preoccupation of each and...