Shinseki resigns amid VA scandal over veterans' health care  —  Eric K. Shinseki resigned Friday as secretary of veterans affairs, taking responsibility for a scandal in the VA health-care system over excessive waiting times and coverups of what he called “systemic” problems.

Exclusive: Hillary Clinton's Benghazi chapter  —  Hillary Clinton offers a detailed account of the deadly attack on the American embassy in Benghazi — and a pointed rebuttal to Republican critics who've laced into her over the incident — in a much-anticipated chapter of her forthcoming book, “Hard Choices,” obtained by POLITICO.

Toddler critically burned during SWAT raid  —  ATLANTA —  A family says a SWAT team raided their home in the middle of the night and seriously injured a 19-month-old boy with a stun grenade.  —  Alecia Phonesavanh told Channel 2's Ryan Young her child is at the Grady Memorial Hospital burn unit …

GOP candidates show signs of retreat on full Obamacare repeal as midterms approach  —  Republican candidates have begun to retreat in recent weeks from their all-out assault on the Affordable Care Act in favor of a more piecemeal approach, suggesting they would preserve some aspects of the law while jettisoning others.

Why Do Republicans Always Say 'I'm Not a Scientist'?  —  Well, it's true, anyway.  —  Asked by reporters yesterday if he accepts the scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global warming, John Boehner demurred on the curious but increasingly familiar grounds that he is not a scientist.

GOP Senate Candidate: UCSB Shooting An ‘Unfortunate Accident’  —  Iowa state Sen. Joni Ernst (R), a candidate for U.S. Senate, said Thursday that the recent mass shooting near the University of California, Santa Barbara was an “unfortunate accident.”  —  During a televised primary debate …

White House Press Secretary Resigns  —  WASHINGTON — Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, is leaving his post as the public face of the administration, stepping down after shifting from two decades of reporting to politics at the highest levels, President Obama said on Friday.

Panel: Baker must make cakes for gay weddings  —  DENVER (AP) — Colorado's Civil Rights Commission on Friday ordered a baker to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples, finding his religious objections to the practice did not trump the state's anti-discrimination statutes.

House Blocks DEA From Targeting Medical Marijuana  —  WASHINGTON — Reflecting growing national acceptance of cannabis, a bipartisan coalition of House members voted early Friday to restrict the Drug Enforcement Administration from using funds to go after medical marijuana operations that are legal under state laws.

Scott Walker is falling apart: The little corruption problem he just can't shake  —  But that has his conservative base up in arms  —  It seems as though every presidential race in recent years offers up a Republican governor from the upper Midwest as the great white hope.

Donald Sterling ruled mentally unfit, can't prevent Clippers sale  —  Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling does not have the authority to stop a $2 billion sale of his team because he has been determined to be mentally unfit to make decisions related to the family trust, a person familiar with the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

‘Period Of Turmoil’ Preceded Abramson Firing, Says Top Editor At ‘Times’  —  Dean Baquet sat in his new office in midtown Manhattan, the very picture of composure and precision, as he described the top-level dysfunction that led to the firing of Jill Abramson as executive editor of The New York Times …