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Senior officials have been deployed by the Bush administration to plead for more time for a troop surge to show results, after Congress voted in favor of a U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq. But two Republican senators have introduced a bill calling for a pullout.

The Senate enters the second week of debate on a defense bill setting military policies and authorizing next year's Pentagon spending. Some senators are pushing to restore the legal protections of foreign detainees deemed to be "unlawful enemy combatants."

NPR's Michel Martin talks to Kevin James of Vienna Youth Soccer in Virginia, about soccer's popularity in the U.S. ahead of Argentine superstar Lionel Messi's arrival to Miami.

Democratic donors in Hollywood are a tough audience for presidential candidates. But those who are won over have deep pockets. That's needed more than ever in 2008, because California may be an early primary — and TV ads there cost millions.

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Michael Bociurkiw, an expert on foreign affairs, about the replacement of the Ukrainian defense minister.

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has opted out of public financing. He has used social networking sites on the Internet, among other strategies, to raise record amounts of contributions. Obama's fundraising success could mean another failure for the public financing system. Anthony Corrado, a political scientist at Colby College, talks with Renee Montagne about the future of public financing.

The House has passed an $825 billion economic stimulus bill. However, no Republicans voted for the bill. They say it has too much spending and not enough tax cuts. It was a loss for bipartisanship but an early win for President Obama — just eight days into his presidency. The bill now goes to the Senate.

President Obama made an unannounced stop in Baghdad on Tuesday as he returned from his European trip. It's Obama's first war-zone visit as president.

The attorneys general of Utah and Arizona say they won't do what Texas did. They won't raid polygamist groups in their states, even though the polygamists targeted in Texas last month are based on the Utah-Arizona border. The officials spoke at a town meeting on polygamy Thursday night in Utah.

Republican Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania announced Wednesday that he is switching parties and is now a Democrat. The switch means that if Democrat Al Franken is declared the winner in the contested Minnesota Senate race, Democrats will have the 60 votes needed to block GOP filibusters.