Politics & Government

Faced with harsh criticism over its vast surveillance operation, the NSA and its allies are pushing back. They say their intelligence collection is being done in response to demands from the executive branch of the U.S. government and not on its own. The NSA says it is currently working on 36,000 pages of what it calls "requirements" — intel speak for intelligence assignments it gets from branches of the U.S. government.

Over the five months since Edward Snowden began leaking secret documents to the media about American spying, President Obama has adjusted his response to the disclosures. At first, he suggested the concern was misplaced, but more recently, his message has been that something needs to change.

Secretary of State John Kerry is back in Washington to defend the proposed nuclear deal with Iran to skeptical members of Congress. He and his colleagues from other major powers failed to reach a deal with Iran during talks over the weekend in Geneva. Iran blames France's hard line for blowing up the deal, though Kerry has tried to downplay that.

The flap over the Kentucky senator's articles and speeches is just the latest in a series of cases of plagiarism by high-profile journalists and politicians. Linguist Geoff Nunberg looks at the way the word plagiarism has been used since it was invented by the Romans and wonders if it's always immoral or just bad form.

One reason the rollout of the Affordable Care Act has been so rocky is the difficult landscape the health care overhaul is trying to cover. The system was a complicated contraption to begin with, and the hybrid replacement is just as hard to negotiate.

Lobbyists are known for their influence, but perhaps less obvious is that lobbyists often write legislation — sometimes word for word. In a recent example, media reports showed how bank lobbyists had a hand in drafting a House bill aimed at rolling back financial regulations.

Peter Baker covered the George W. Bush administration for The New York Times. In his new book, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Baker takes a second look at those controversial years.

The Secret Service made some immediate changes after the president's death 50 years ago this month: Open limousines were out. And it began taking a more aggressive approach to its advance work. Over the years, the service has established counter-sniper units, assault teams and surveillance units.

Far-flung billionaires played a big role in the Virginia gubernatorial race. San Francisco environmentalist Tom Steyer and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent more than $2 million each to help elect Democrat Terry McAuliffe as governor.