Blog Posts by Rachel Rose Hartman, Yahoo! News

Sen. Rand Paul (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)As Washington, D.C., sat frozen on Wednesday by a promised snowstorm that failed to show, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul ground Congress to a halt in a rare show of congressional protest made famous by Jimmy Stewart in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

The Republican lawmaker on Wednesday made good on his promise to conduct an hours-long talking filibuster on the Senate floor over the nomination of John Brennan to head the CIA, as a way to protest the Obama administration's use of drone strikes.

The filibuster drew eight other senators, including one Democrat, onto the floor. Members of both parties have publicly expressed concern over the drone policy.

Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Mike Lee of Utah and Marco Rubio of Florida and Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon all spoke in support of Paul.

"This is an important issue that goes beyond John Brennan," Paul said from the floor. Paul added he holds nothing "personally" against Brennan or the president, but that his filibuster is rooted in principle over constitutional rights.

By 5 p.m. ET, Paul had spoken for more than five hours about the civil liberties he believes are under attack and the Obama administration. For breaks he had entertained "questions" from colleagues.

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama greet visitors during an open house Jan. 22, 2013. (Pete Souza/White House)

Sorry, D.C. tourists. Your tour of the White House has fallen victim to the sequester.

The White House Visitors Office 24-hour help line on Tuesday informed callers that starting March 9, tours of the White House will be canceled due to the across-the-board spending cuts ordered by President Barack Obama last Friday in the absence of a federal budget passed by Congress:

Due to staffing reductions resulting from sequestration, we regret to inform you that White House tours will be canceled effective Saturday, March 9, 2013 until further notice. Unfortunately, we will not be able to reschedule affected tours. We very much regret having to take this action, particularly during the popular spring touring season. For updates regarding this situation, please contact the White House Visitors Office 24-hour hotline.

President Barack Obama on Monday announced three Cabinet nominations, including Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the Wal-Mart Foundation, as the next director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Obama, speaking from the White House East Room, said Burwell will help America find a "way forward" as the country begins to face sequestration—$85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts the president ordered by law Friday in the absence of a federal budget.

"Eventually, a lot of people are going to feel some pain," Obama said.

Burwell has previous budget office experience as deputy director from 1998 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton, and she served as deputy chief of staff under Jack Lew, who was confirmed by the Senate last week as treasury secretary. Burwell held the chief of staff position to Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin under Clinton.

Burwell began serving as president of the Wal-Mart Foundation, the retail giant's philanthropic arm, in January 2012, and she led Wal-Mart's Global Women's Economic Empowerment Initiative. Burwell joined Wal-Mart following 10 years at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

President Barack Obama has himself to blame for the sequester stalemate, Mitt Romney told Fox News in his first major interview since losing the 2012 presidential race.

Obama, said Romney, has been traveling around the country "berating Republicans and blaming and pointing" over the sequester. The former Massachusetts governor, who along with his wife, Ann Romney, was interviewed by "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace, said Obama's tactic "causes Republicans to retrench and they put up a wall and fight back—it's a very natural, human emotion."

It doesn't appear as if Congress will pass a budget before the March 1 midnight deadline. The White House claims the across-the-board spending cuts set to go into effect will be devastating, and that its negative impact is already rippling through the country.

Romney also criticized the government for deciding this week to release select noncriminal immigration detainees for budget reasons ahead of sequester cuts, and cast the decision as a political ploy.

"I think if there are people who are incarcerated, [Obama] should make sure that we're able to keep them in jail. Look, again, it's politics. It's, OK, how do we do something that will get a headline that will make it look like those terrible Republicans aren't willing to come together?” Romney said.

Romney has avoided the press since his loss to Obama. In his interview with Fox, he likened the election and its aftermath to an amusement park ride.

Several major unions have teamed up to issue a public warning to Republican members of Congress over the sequester—across-the-board spending cuts which will go into effect March 1 if Congress fails to pass a budget measure.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the National Education Association (NEA) on Thursday launched a six-figure television ad buy warning select Republican members of Congress about their legacies if the cuts are permitted to go into effect.

The commercials, tailored for each politician, single out Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Reps. Gary Miller and Jeff Denham of California, Bob Gibbs of Ohio, Daniel Webster of Florida, Tom Latham of Iowa and Dan Benishek of Michigan by running ads in their districts and in Washington, D.C.

During a victory lap in Washington on Wednesday, Michael Bloomberg hailed the issue of gun control as the reason why his PAC's favored candidate, state Rep. Robin Kelly, won Illinois' special election on Tuesday night.

"We showed in Illinois that by explaining to the public what's at stake here—it's their lives, it's their kids' and grandkids' lives, their parents' lives—[that] we need sensible gun laws," Bloomberg, mayor of New York City and a staunch gun-control advocate, told reporters at the White House. The statement came after a meeting with Vice President Joe Biden on gun reform.

Kelly won the all-important Democratic primary in Illinois to succeed Jesse Jackson Jr., who resigned in November after an extended absence from Congress amid health issues and a growing ethics scandal. Kelly beat out Democrats including top candidate and former Rep. Debbie Halvorson, who does not support a federal assault weapons ban.

Bloomberg's political action committee, Independence USA, reportedly invested millions in the race.

(Office of Speaker John Boehner)

Fifty-two thousand dollars could, among other things, buy you NFL season tickets for nearly 67 years and groceries for seven years, and make for a hefty down payment on a house. So Republicans argue in a new infographic released by Speaker John Boehner's office on Wednesday morning, part of their effort to highlight Democratic spending amid the growing national debt.

According to the chart, if the $16 trillion national debt were divided among every man, woman and child, each person would receive $52,000—an amount Republicans are highlighting on Wednesday, the 1,400th day since the Democrat-controlled Senate passed a budget.

President Barack Obama has been publicly pressuring House Republicans to raise taxes on the nation's wealthiest and some corporations as part of a budget deal. In the absence of a budget passed by Congress, federal agencies will face a sequester—across-the-board spending cuts—March 1.

As the country inched closer to the March 1 sequester deadline, President Barack Obama on Tuesday traveled to Newport News, Va., to make a local case for what he and the administration believe will be the devastating economic impacts of the budget cuts.

Obama spoke at Newport News Shipbuilding, which supplies materials to all 50 states and receives Defense Department funding that's being threatened by the across-the-board cuts set to occur in the absence of a budget. He issued specific warnings, noting that tens of thousands of Virginia jobs may be lost; 18,000 fewer Virginians will get the skills and training they need to find jobs; 2,000 Virginia college students will lose financial aid; and early education programs will be eliminated for 1,000 children.

"These cuts are wrong. They’re not smart. They’re not fair. They’re a self-inflicted wound that doesn’t have to happen," Obama told the crowd.

The president called on voters to contact their members of Congress to urge them to compromise and pass a budget to avoid the sequester before the Friday deadline.

"If you agree with me, I need you to make sure your voices are heard," Obama said. "Let your leaders know what you expect of them. Let them know what you believe."