House prepares to vote on budget deal  —  House Republicans are planning a Thursday vote on a bipartisan budget deal, one of their last legislative acts before leaving Washington for the rest of 2013.  —  Despite some conservative opposition inside and outside the Capitol …

Pope Francis, The Choice  —  With a focus on compassion, the leader of the Catholic Church has become a new voice of conscience.  Managing Editor Nancy Gibbs explains why Francis is TIME's choice for Person of the Year 2013  —  Once there was a boy so meek and modest, he was awarded a Most Humble badge.

RSC fires executive director  —  The conservative Republican Study Committee, the bastion of right-wing strategy on Capitol Hill, has fired its longtime executive director Paul Teller, accusing him of leaking conversations with lawmakers.  —  Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the chairman of the RSC …

Hill staffers warned not to rely on info from ObamaCare exchange  —  Capitol Hill staffers who signed up for ObamaCare through the Washington, D.C., healthcare exchange, called DC Health Link (DCHL), are being told to confirm their enrollments in person, and not to rely on data provided by the website.

The key Obamacare deadline few are talking about  —  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced this morning that nearly 365,000 Americans had signed up for private health insurance under Obamacare.  The vast majority came from 14 states running their own insurance exchanges …

Cruz Says He Walked Out of Mandela Service When Raul Castro Spoke  —  Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, walked out of former South African President Nelson Mandela's memorial service Tuesday when Cuban President Raul Castro gave a speech, a spokeswoman for Cruz said.  —  “Sen. Cruz very much hopes …

The media's Michelle Obama problem: What a selfie says about our biases  —  The overanalysis of the first lady's expression speaks volumes about America's expectations of black women  —  Not even President Obama is above taking a selfie in the least appropriate selfie-taking venue possible.

Republicans plan 30-hour talkathon to protest ‘nuclear option’ use in Senate  —  Senate Republicans will stage a more than 30-hour talkathon on the Senate floor to protest Democrats' triggering of the “nuclear option” last month.  —  The GOP protest, which could extend into the weekend …

NBC/WSJ poll: Obama ends year on low note  —  A year that began with President Barack Obama riding high after his re-election victory is ending with him in the biggest hole of his presidency.  —  A new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll finds that more Americans disapprove …

GOP could shake up 2016 campaign  —  Washington (CNN) — A handful of Republican Party officials is quietly advancing a new batch of rules aimed at streamlining a chaotic presidential nominating process that many party insiders viewed as damaging to the their campaign for the White House in 2012, multiple GOP sources told CNN.

Republicans will face intense pressure over unemployment benefits  —  On the morning after lawmakers reached a budget deal that doesn't include an extension in unemployment benefits, chief GOP budget architect Paul Ryan awoke to a raft of home-state headlines that were all about the nearly 100,000 Wisconsinites who stand to get cut off.

Since October, 1.2 million have gained Obamacare coverage  —  Just about 1.2 million people have gained health coverage through Obamacare, according to new federal data released Wednesday morning.  —  Approximately 365,000 of those people have purchased private insurance and 803,000 …