Congress

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President Obama, here with daughters Sasha and Malia, faces a “fiscal cliff” crisis that must be worked out with Congress before January. (Associated Press)

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Canisius College political science professors Kevin Hardwick (left), a Republican, and Michael Haselswerdt, a Democrat, say there’s a viable chance that the presidential candidates could split the electoral votes 269-269, leaving Congress to elect the nation’s president and the Senate to choose the vice president. (Canisius College)

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Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, who is running for re-election in Maryland's sixth district in a tight race against Democrat John Delaney, makes phone calls to undecided voters from the Bartlett for Congress victory office in Montgomery Village, Md. on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, Maryland Republican, has held his seat in Congress for 20 years, but Democratic challenger John Delaney is poised to oust him from office in the redrawn 6th Congressional District. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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In this 2011 photo provided by Altschuler for Congress, businessman Randy Altschuler poses for a photo, in Smithtown, N.Y. Altschuler will seek the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic incumbent Timothy Bishop, to represent New Yorkís First District in the U.S. House of Representatives. (Associated Press)

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GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan is running for re-election to Congress in Wisconsin, where he is facing Rob Zerban. (Associated Press)

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Even as Homeland Security Secretary Janet A. Napolitano was telling Congress the fusion centers were a success, two internal government reports found “serious problems” with them, according to the report. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** Then-Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai puts on his glasses during a plenary session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday, March 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

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The death of the playboy son of Ling Jihua (left), a loyal aide and confidant to President Hu Jintao, here signing a document in March after the National People’s Congress in Beijing, has put a crimp in China’s hopes for an orderly transition of power. (Associated Press)