Politics

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**FILE** John Brennan, deputy national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism, briefs reporters at the White House in Washington on Oct. 29, 2010. (Associated Press)

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Advocates have identified Illinois as possibly the 10th state to legalize gay marriage. This past November’s elections gave Illinois Democrats supermajorities in both state chambers. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** Then-Sen. Chuck Hagel, Nebraska Republican, speaks during an appearance at Bellevue University in Bellevue, Neb., in 2007. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

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House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio walks to a strategy session for Republican House members Friday. Lack of a clear leader with a unifying vision for the party going forward has spurred dissension in the ranks in the wake of the November elections, in which the party retained control of the House, though with a smaller majority. “It’s disappointing to see infighting in the party,” said a GOP operative who was an aide to the party’s 2012 presidential nominee. (Associated Press)

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says nothing is off the table when it comes to options to increase revenue, except a tax increase on the middle-class. (The Washington Times)

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** FILE ** A freshman Republican state lawmaker from North Dakota plans to introduce a bill that would limit use of drones for law enforcement after the highly publicized case of a Lakota farmer who was arrested after a 16-hour standoff with police on Jan. 6, 2013. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection via Associated Press)

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“It was not a partisan undertaking,” said Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II, a Republican who is running for governor, of his successful challenge of the EPA. “This really would have allowed them to take a club to our economy.” (Associated Press)

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House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, left, performs a mock swearing in for Rep. Donna Edwards, Maryland Democrat, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington as the 113th Congress began. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)