Dan Utech will succeed Heather Zichal as the administration’s top climate and energy adviser.

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN DAY 16

New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio has the support of almost two-thirds of likely voters, a wide lead over his Republican opponent, Joe Lhota, in the first poll released since he won last week's primary elections.

 Janet L. Yellen told friends in recent weeks that she did not expect to be nominated as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve. Although she had been the Fed’s vice chairman since 2010 and would make history as the first woman to hold the job, President Obama’s aides made clear throughout the summer that he wanted Lawrence H. Summers, his former chief economic adviser.

“Our goal is to cut spending and to protect the American people from ObamaCare. It’s as simple as that.” 

-Boehner

The Navy Yard shootings won't change gun control politics

If Newtown didn't change things, nothing will

“Bipartisanship is a thing of the past. Now all we do is gotcha legislation,” Reid said.

“We have not seen this in the past,” Obama said. “That a budget is contingent on us eliminating a program that was voted on, passed by both chambers of Congress, ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court, is two weeks from being implemented, and helps 30 million get health-care coverage.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday said the use of chemical weapons in Syria was "outside the circle of civilized behavior" and "cannot be ignored" by the United States. 
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The Democratic leader also said the president has the authority to use military force in Syria even if Congress votes against an intervention. She noted that Congress voted down President Clinton's request for intervention in Kosovo in the late 1990s, but Clinton went in anyways — a move Pelosi suggested was the right one.

Partisans’ opinions have changed the least over time. Fully 80 percent of Republicans have an unfavorable view of Obama, similar to 78 percent last January. Even more Democrats, 92 percent, say the opposite, with favorable ratings ticking up five points from last year. 1/2013