The Justice Department will answer a challenge to a provision in the law requiring most employers that offer health insurance to include birth control at no cost. A group of Catholic nuns objects to the provision, and they won a temporary reprieve from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Congress has tried to boost premiums on the cheap, subsidized insurance FEMA offers. But property owners in flood zones protested the rate hikes, and legislators backed off in 2013, calling for "further study." Meanwhile, a string of bad storms has left the program $24 billion in debt - so far.

The bipartisan spending measure eases mandatory sequestration cuts over the next two years and the defense authorization gives the Pentagon nearly $527 billion for fiscal 2014.

The Air Force says retiring the Cold War-era A-10 could help it balance its budget and focus on developing more versatile aircraft. But the military encounters resistance whenever it tries to mothball any weapon, and the case of the plane known as the Warthog is no exception.

For bilateral relations to succeed, said Castro, the countries must learn to respect their differences. Cuba's not changing, he said. And they're demanding that the U.S. change its ways.

Janet Yellen would be the first woman to head the central bank. On Friday, the Senate voted to head off any potential filibuster of her nomination. A confirmation vote is scheduled for Jan. 6.

After the Obama administration announced that Americans who recently had their health insurance canceled can buy "catastrophic policies," the insurance industry said the change will cause more confusion.

Washington took two big steps toward more normal times. First, the Federal Reserve said it will modestly taper down its easy-money program. And then Congress completed the first bipartisan budget agreement in years. But some other obstacles loom.

After a decade of kicking the ball down the road, Congress appears ready to repeal its payment formula for Medicare and replace it with a whole new system. This time, doctors would be paid according to the quality of results they produce, rather than the number of services they provide.

The Federal Reserve will trim its bond-buying program, reducing its purchases by $10 billion per month.