AP - Democrat Nancy Boyda rode anti-war and anti-Republican sentiment into the U.S. House two years ago, but economic uncertainty is focusing her re-election race on domestic issues.

Reuters - House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank said House and Senate Democrats have agreed on a financial bailout plan and were talking to Republican lawmakers.

Reuters - The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee said House of Representatives and Senate negotiators have reached "fundamental agreement" on a set of principles guiding a Wall Street bailout bill.

AP - Sen. Ted Stevens blamed the overzealousness of a contractor friend for the legal mess that had the senator on trial for corruption Thursday.

Reuters - The chairman of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee said the $700-billion authority that U.S. officials want for a financial services bailout will be phased in rather than granted all at once.

Reuters - The offshore drilling ban that became a flash point in the U.S. presidential election will expire next week after Democrats decided to drop the prohibition from a temporary spending bill that keeps the government running.

AP - The House, responding to growing public demand for more domestic energy, voted Wednesday to end a quarter-century ban on oil and natural gas drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, giving Republicans a major victory on energy policy.

AP - The House passed a $630 billion-plus spending bill Wednesday that wraps together a record Pentagon budget with aid for automakers and natural disaster victims, and increased health care funding for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

AP - The House ethics committee said Wednesday it was establishing an investigative panel to determine whether Rep. Charles Rangel, the influential chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, had broken House rules as a result of several reported lapses in his personal affairs.

Reuters - Democrats in the House of Representatives and Senate are working to come up with their consensus version of a financial bailout bill, which they hope to have ready by Thursday, a top House Democrat said on Wednesday.

Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday funded a $25 billion loan package for troubled automakers as part of a mammoth spending bill to keep the government running through March 2009, but the legislation did not extend a ban on offshore oil drilling.