The government isn't allowed to wiretap American citizens without a warrant from a judge. But there are plenty of legal ways for law enforcement, from the local sheriff to the FBI to the Internal Revenue Service, to snoop on the digital trails you create every day. Read more»

The agency has pushed back indefinitely a hearing on new regulations for social welfare nonprofits that spend money on politics. Read more»

Authorized by Congress, the CIA has started sending weapons to Syrian rebels. But under a legal definition of terrorism adopted by the U.S. government after the Sept. 11 attacks, those same rebel groups are considered terrorist organizations. Read more»

A recently published study by researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington found elevated levels of arsenic and other heavy metals in groundwater near natural gas fracking sites in Texas’ Barnett Shale. Read more» 1

A week after a blast at a Texas fertilizer plant killed at least 15 people and hurt more than 200, authorities still don’t know exactly why the West Chemical and Fertilizer Company plant exploded. Here’s what we do know: The fertilizer plant hadn’t been inspected by OSHA since 1985. Its owners do not seem to have told Homeland Security that they were storing large quantities of potentially explosive fertilizer, as regulations require. Read more»

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services haven’t had a Senate-confirmed administrator since 2006. The Federal Labor Relations Authority has had only a single member since January and can’t issue decisions. And the Election Assistance Commission hasn’t had any commissioners at all since 2011. Read more»

We've rounded up the some of the best recent reporting on immigration — from the surging numbers of Central Americans crossing the border to visas available only to wealthy foreigners. Read more»

Congress exempts itself from a number of laws that apply to the private sector and the executive branch. Read more»

As Washington tries to hash out a deal, we've taken a step back to break down the numbers behind our deficit — how it grew so big, why it is actually shrinking and whether a deal can bring it under control. Read more»

The U.S. government isn't allowed to wiretap American citizens without a warrant from a judge. But there are plenty of legal ways for law enforcement, from the local sheriff to the FBI, to snoop on the digital trails you create every day. Read more» 1

Getting the agencies responsible for national security to communicate better was one of the main reasons Homeland Security was created. DHS has spent $430 million over the past nine years to provide radios tuned to a common, secure channel. Problem is, no one seems to know how to use them. Read more»

With the third and final presidential debate on Monday night focused on foreign policy, Iran once again took center stage. Read more»

Romney released his 2011 tax return and other information recently. So what else is there to know? A lot. Read more» 20

Even as Facebook’s reach grows, executives at Spain's Tuenti are betting that their more intimate, privacy-minded social network can take on Facebook and carve out a niche in the countries around the world. Read more»