The White House welcomed a very special guest this afternoon: Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., a little less than nine months after her near-fatal wounding in the Tucson mass shooting.

The Arizona lawmaker attended a retirement ceremony for her husband, ex-astronaut and Navy Capt. Mark Kelly.

"As vice president I get to work with an awful lot of people who devote their lives day to day to public service," Vice President Joe Biden said. "But it's not everyday you encounter examples of sheer, sheer courage, selflessness and dedication, like you see in this couple."

A pool report said "Giffords wore glasses, black pants and running shoes. She also wore a brace on her right hand."

"She smiled as she came in," the pool report said. "Her hair is still short but has grown out a little since her Aug. 1 vote on the debt ceiling. She sat in the front row ... She stood up on her own for the pledge of allegiance and invocation, which was delivered by the Rev. Patrick Conroy, who is the House chaplain.

"Our nation has gained in the gift of self from this great citizen," Conroy said.

Read more »

The head of the Department of Energy's loans office is leaving for a Washington think tank amid criticism of the $535 million federal loan that went to now-bankrupt Solyndra solar energy company.

DOE officials said Jonathan Silver told superiors in July he would be leaving in the fall.

Energy Department officials noted that the DOE approved the loan before Silver took over the office -- a point he made in recent congressional testimony -- and that there are other reasons for his departure.

"In early July, shortly after the fiscal year 2011 budget was completed by Congress and it became clear that no significant new funds were included for the loan program, Jonathan Silver informed me that he intended to return to the private sector shortly after September 30, the statutory end-date of the 1705 loan guarantee program," said a statement from Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

Read more »

Having already cast one country's first lady in a movie, writer-director Woody Allen now has his eye on Michelle Obama.

"If I was in a room with Michelle Obama, and I thought she was right for a part, I wouldn't hesitate to ask her," Allen tells the British television program, Daybreak.

Carla Bruni, the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, played a museum tour guide in Allen's latest film, Midnight in Paris.

Read more »

Vice President Joe Biden offered mixed views of the Republican Party today during a forum in Washington.

On one hand, the Republican Party is too divided to cut deals with the White House on economic policy, as the Tea Party members override their congressional leaders.

On the other hand ... the GOP is strong enough to beat President Obama in next year's election.

"It's strong enough to beat both of us," Biden said at the Washington Ideas Forum.

To be sure, Biden predicted a 2012 win for him and the president. He said their biggest problem right now is the economy, including "an overwhelming sense of frustration at this moment."

Read more »

We think we've found something President Obama and Republican challenger Rick Perry can agree on -- the excellence of the Texas A&M University women's basketball team, the reigning NCAA champions.

Honoring the team from Perry's alma mater today at the White House, Obama said that "50 years ago, Texas A&M didn't have any women, much less a women's basketball team."

The first women's basketball team at A&M had to use the male locker room that "probably wasn't perfectly designed for your needs," the president added as the players chuckled.

Perry, a 1972 A&M graduate and a "yell leader" for the school's athletic teams, couldn't attend because he was on the campaign trail, but was no doubt with the Aggies in spirit.

Read more »

Those congressional titles -- majority leader, minority leader -- can get tricky.

Just ask President Obama, who referred to Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., today as "Republican majority leader."

McConnell is the Senate minority leader -- the Democrats control that chamber of Congress.

Of course, Republicans, hoping the Senate changes leadership after the 2012 elections, gleefully tweeted out Obama's misfire on McConnell's title.

"Prescient?" tweed Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.

Read more »

President Obama warned recalcitrant Republicans Thursday that if they won't pass his $447 billion jobs plan, he will offer it in separate pieces and force a flurry of votes on its spending increases and tax cuts in the months leading up to the 2012 elections.

The president also defended the American Jobs Act as a serious proposal -- not a campaign document -- and all but dared Republicans to pass it or face hard questions from wrathful voters in the 2012 election.

"If Congress does something, then I can't run against a do-nothing Congress," Obama said at a White House news conference.

Senate Republicans -- claiming the Obama plan is hung up because of opposition from Democrats -- again moved to have a Senate vote on the package as early as today.

Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said there's no way Obama could ever claim a "d0-nothing Congress."

"He spent all summer demanding we pass the patents bill, the highway extension, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) extension and the trade bills," Stewart said. "We passed the patents bill, the highway extension, the FAA extension and he finally sent up the trade bills."

Read more »

President Obama not only has a political problem with the economy, but with voters' confidence in his ability to handle it.

By a margin of 44%-11%, voters say the economy is getting worse, not better, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll -- and only 29% say the economy will get better if Obama is re-elected.

The Quinnipiac poll also says that voters believe Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney would do a better job on the economy than Obama, by a margin of 49%-39%; Rick Perry gets the nod over Obama by a margin of 45%-42%.

Overall, voters disapprove of the job President Obama is doing, by a margin of 55%-41%.

"The trend isn't good for President Barack Obama," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "His disapproval has gone up 9% since the summer, from 46% in July to 52% in September to 55% today."

Read more »

President Obama will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. ET, the White House just announced.

The president will speak from the East Room of the White House.

Among the potential topics: The president's $447 billion jobs bill, the economy overall, Wall Street protests, financial problems in Europe, the bankrupt Solyndra solar power company, and the Republican presidential field.

Read more »

President Obama's statement on the passing of Steve Jobs:

Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.

By building one of the planet's most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike.

Read more »