Politics - Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's U.S. healthcare overhaul plan has cleared an important Senate hurdle but lawmakers warned on Sunday of challenges ahead in winning support for passage, even among Obama's own Democrats.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Saturday urged Americans to show patience over the economy and argued that his just-concluded Asia trip was critical for U.S. exports, countering criticism he had returned empty-handed.

(Reuters) - Several U.S. policy makers consider JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon as a potential successor to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the New York Post said, citing sources.

ATHENS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will not attend an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) foreign ministers' meeting in early December in Athens, a Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New Yorkers struggling to make ends meet during the recession are clamoring for change in how lawmakers in the state capital Albany conduct business, according to a survey released on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's job approval rating has dropped below 50 percent in a second major poll in an indication he is suffering from the long healthcare debate and weakness in the economy, Gallup said on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, Representative Ike Skelton, cast doubt on Friday about the Obama administration's decision to try the September 11, 2001, conspirators in a U.S. criminal court.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A former U.S. State Department official and his wife pleaded guilty on Friday to charges that they spied for almost three decades for the Communist-led Cuban government.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Other than President Barack Obama, perhaps no one's political future is riding more on the Senate battle to revamp the healthcare system than the chamber's Democratic majority leader, Harry Reid.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama added a Monday night meeting with top advisers on Afghanistan to his schedule as he closes in on a decision on whether to send more U.S. troops.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Banking Committee said on Friday it will hold a hearing on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's renomination to a second term on December 3, putting the central bank chief under scrutiny at a time when the Fed is facing intense criticism in Congress.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Monday accused a U.S. congressional advisory panel of bias for a report in which it said the Chinese government appeared increasingly to be piercing U.S. computer networks to gather useful data for its military.

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Honduras's post-coup de facto leader said on Friday he would give up his presidential duties for a week, a step Washington welcomed as a way to help ease a five-month-old political crisis.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate ethics committee on Friday admonished Roland Burris, saying he had been less than candid about his gubernatorial appointment to the Senate seat previously held by President Barack Obama.