WASHINGTON – Susan Rice, who came under heavy criticism for her defense of the Obama administration after armed militants killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, withdrew her name from consideration for secretary of State on Thursday as the president began to narrow his choices for key Cabinet positions.

“If nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly – to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities,” Rice wrote in a one-page letter to President Obama. “That tradeoff is simply not worth it to our country.”

In a statement, Obama praised Rice, who is the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, as a key member of his Cabinet and “an advisor and friend.”

PHOTOS: Notable moments of the 2012 presidential election

“While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character, and...

Democrats have an edge in public support in the fiscal cliff negotiations, a trio of polls out this week reveal, with the majority of Americans endorsing a compromise deal that includes spending cuts and tax increases.

The desire for compromise extends to some of the thornier issues in the fiscal cliff debate: an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday found that 65% supported a deal that included increased tax rates (a longtime nonstarter for Republicans) and cuts to Social Security and Medicare (often resisted by Democrats).

For the first time, a majority of Republicans—nearly 60%—want their party’s leaders to compromise in order to reach a deal. That’s a notable shift from 2011, when majorities of Republicans wanted their party to stick to their positions instead of strike a deal. Democrats also are amenable to bargaining over the fiscal cliff, with 70%—an all-time high—supporting a compromise.

PHOTOS: Notable moments of the 2012...

WASHINGTON – House Speaker John A. Boehner broke out the charts Thursday to make his case that spending cuts must be part of any year-end budget deal with President Obama.

“It’s this issue – spending!” said Boehner, pointing to the chart beside him in the Capitol.

“Spending is the problem,” he said. “That’s why we don’t have an agreement.”

Negotiations over the looming “fiscal cliff” – the automatic tax increases and spending cuts that take effect next year – appear to have come to a standstill. Democrats are in no rush to suggest additional reductions to domestic programs, pushing the responsibility back to Boehner to outline the kinds of cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security that Republicans want.

The Ohio Republican is under immense pressure from conservatives in the House GOP majority not to yield to Obama’s call to raise taxes on wealthy households without serious reductions in...

WASHINGTON -- Republican leaders kicked off Wednesday with a fierce critique of President Obama's handling of “fiscal cliff” negotiations, part of the political posturing on both sides that has characterized efforts to avoid across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts before a January deadline.

House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who has been engaged in face-to-face meetings and phone calls with Obama since last weekend, dismissed the president's latest proposals as unbalanced.

“As of today, the president's plan to avert the fiscal cliff still does not meet the two standards that I laid out the day after the election,” Boehner told a news conference. “His plan does not fulfill his promise to bring a balanced approach to solving this problem. It's mainly tax hikes.”

Boehner described his latest phone call Tuesday with the president as “frank,” and said they had exchanged proposals. But he provided no details and it’s unclear if...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) took on the role of the Grinch on Tuesday, expressing doubt that a deal on the "fiscal cliff" will be reached before Christmas. Reid, speaking to reporters, said it would be “extremely difficult” to finish a deal by Dec. 25, placing the onus on Republicans in the House and a tightening legislative schedule.

Reid pointed to Republican opposition as a main cause of the delays in the Senate, saying a bill would probably take “a couple weeks” to reach fruition as a result.

“House Republicans – and I assume the Republicans here are working with them in the Senate – they can’t decide what they’re going to do,” he said.

In addition to the fiscal cliff, Reid highlighted the defense authorization bill, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the supplemental $60.4 billion in Sandy aid requested by the White House as additional burdens on the Senate’s tightening 2012 schedule.

...

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) broke the uneasy silence in “fiscal cliff’ negotiations Tuesday, taking to the House floor to refocus attention on the spending cuts Republicans are demanding from President Obama in exchange for new tax revenue in a year-end budget deal.

Boehner said he remained optimistic after his private meeting over the weekend with Obama at the White House, but took the unusual move of delivering floor comments after both sides had remained mum after their secretive session.

“Where are the president’s spending cuts?” Boehner said as the chamber opened Tuesday. “When is the president going to get serious?”

Boehner’s comments appeared to be an indication that he was unsatisfied that Sunday’s talks failed to produce the kind of counteroffer from the White House that Republicans have wanted. Both sides have put their initial proposals on the table, each dismissing the other’s as...

It appears, though, that the citizens disturbed about Capitol gridlock exhibit some of the same ambivalence about compromise as the people they put in office.

A poll by Colby College and SurveyUSA released Monday found that a solid majority (61%) of Americans say it is more important for a politician to find compromise solutions than to stick to principles (35%).

When asked about specific policy disputes, though, the survey respondents quickly soured on the idea of meeting halfway.

PHOTOS: The best shots from the 2012 campaign

When it came to settling disagreements over the federal deficit, for instance, just 41% said they would be very or somewhat...

WASHINGTON -- The prayers that open Congress each workday often reflect earthly affairs in Washington. On Monday, as "fiscal cliff" talks continued, they were not uplifting.

"Make them willing to do what is painful in the short term to avoid even greater pain in the long term," Barry C. Black, the Senate chaplain and a retired Navy rear admiral, intoned as the chamber opened for business. "Give them confidence that you will protect them in the future even as you have sustained them in the past."

Lawmakers returned to Washington as President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner continued negotiations to swerve around the so-called fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts in the new year. The president and congressional Republicans remain far apart, but the silence coming from the White House and the speaker’s office after a meeting Sunday between the two principal negotiators was seen by many observers as a breakthrough of sorts. The top-level talks provided some optimism...