Religious leaders are telling a house panel the Obama administration disregarded basic rights to religious freedom in setting policies for access to birth control insurance for employees of religious-affiliated institutions.

The Republican-led House on Wednesday voted to repeal a financially troubled part of the 2010 health care law that was designed to provide affordable long-term care insurance.

The House on Wednesday voted to freeze the wages of federal workers for a third straight year and put members of Congress on record as opposing a boost in their $174,000 annual salaries.

President Barack Obama signed off Friday on the first three and possibly last free trade agreements of his administration, deals with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama that could be worth billions to American exporters and create tens of thousands of jobs.

The House on Thursday returned to an abortion issue that nearly sank President Barack Obama's health care law last year with legislation that bars an insurance plan regulated under the new law from covering abortion if any of its customers receive federal subsidies.

Three free trade agreements that have spent years in political limbo could finally be on a path toward congressional action with a Senate vote Thursday to assure that American workers who lose their jobs to foreign competition can get retraining and aid.

A standoff between the Obama administration and congressional Republicans over free trade agreements could take a major step toward resolution Thursday with a Senate vote on legislation to help American workers who fall victim to foreign competition.

A half-century-old program that helps workers who lose their jobs to foreign trade holds the key to whether Congress may finally approve three long-delayed free trade agreements viewed by both the Obama White House and congressional Republicans as a way to invigorate the economy and create jobs.