In a new book, former U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe explores how to fix the gridlock in Congress. Earlier this year, the Republican from Maine left the Senate out of frustration with the partisan stalemate. "It has to change, for the country," she says. "People deserve ... better representation."

NPR's congressional correspondent David Welna speaks with host Scott Simon about the flurry of last-minute amendments, most from conservative Republicans, to alter the bipartisan immigration legislation.

Automatic budget cuts have pushed Air Force bases to slash their flying budgets even though it means grounding pilots and reducing readiness. The cancellations are boosting the arguments of those who want the military excepted from sequestration cuts.

The targeting by IRS workers in Cincinnati of the filings of conservative groups for added scrutiny was an innocent mistake, said an agency official who apologized. But President Obama's critics see more nefarious motives in the action.

Women on the Senate and House Armed Services committees are leveraging their clout in response to the problem of sexual assaults in the military.