Democrats Planning for Health Bill Vote Next Week

By ROBERT PEAR and DAVID HERSZENHORN 3:23 PM ET

The White House and Congressional leaders put Democrats on notice that they would push ahead next week toward climactic votes on health care legislation.

Obama Focuses on 3 to Fill Fed Board

By SEWELL CHAN 2:30 PM ET

The administration on Friday identified two economists and a lawyer as its choices to fill vacancies on the central bank’s board of governors.

Texas Approves Curriculum Revised by Conservatives

By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr. 3:57 PM ET

Because the state is one of the largest buyers of textbooks, the changes approved by the Texas School Board will have a broad influence.

• Lede: Textbooks a Texas Dentist Could Love

San Francisco’s Newsom to Run for Lieutenant Governor

By JESSE McKINLEY 4:28 PM ET

The announcement comes a little more than four months after Mayor Gavin Newsom dropped out of the race for governor.

Obama Social Secretary Ran Into Sharp Elbows

By PETER BAKER

The rise and fall of Desirée Rogers, the White House social secretary, is in some ways a familiar Washington tale.

• Slide Show
• Times Topic: Desirée Rogers

Administration Said to Settle on No. 2 at Fed

By SEWELL CHAN

Janet L. Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, is thought to favor keeping rates low.

Deal Gives New Life to Overhaul of Student Loans

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and TAMAR LEWIN

The deal would bundle a bill on student loan overhaul into an expedited budget package along with the Democratic health care legislation.

Democrats Struggle to Finish Health Bill

By ROBERT PEAR

Rank-and-file House Democrats were frustrated, saying they had received few details about what would be in the legislation.

Obama Links Immigration Overhaul in 2010 to G.O.P. Backing

By JULIA PRESTON

President Obama devoted much of Thursday to immigration issues. He said he would push for an overhaul this year only if he had Republican support.

Holder Did Not Disclose Briefs on ‘Enemy Combatant’

By CHARLIE SAVAGE and BERNIE BECKER

The future attorney general did not notify the Senate that he had urged rejection of President Bush’s claim of the power to imprison an American as an “enemy combatant.”

Democrats Push Ahead on Finance Bill

By SEWELL CHAN

Senator Bob Corker, a Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, called Senator Christopher J. Dodd’s announcement on Thursday “very disappointing.”

U.S. Falters in Screening Border Patrol Near Mexico

By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD

Representatives from the F.B.I. and the Department of Homeland Security painted a grave picture of drug traffickers trying to recruit federal officers to work for them.

F.C.C. Ponders Action on Cable Fee Disputes

By EDWARD WYATT

The agency wants to ensure that customers do not lose TV access because of fee disputes between broadcasters and cable companies.

Rapid Rise in Seed Prices Draws U.S. Scrutiny

By WILLIAM NEUMAN

A Justice Department antitrust investigation of the seed industry is apparently focused on Monsanto.