Another leading Democrat in the House of Representatives stands accused of ethics violations and faces a public trial ahead of the November congressional elections.

Long-time California Congresswoman Maxine Waters, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, is accused of breaking ethics rules in setting up a 2008 meeting between a banker and then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. (See details here)

Shirley Sherrod says she will sue conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart who posted an edited video that led to her forced resignation from the Agriculture Department over racism allegations.

“He’ll definitely hear from me,” Sherrod told the National Association of Black Journalists annual conference in San Diego on Thursday.

“My lips are sealed… I’m under strict orders not to talk about it,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton revealed in an NBC interview.

The “it” she’s referring to is not a state secret. “It” is the upcoming wedding of Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of the secretary of state and former President Bill Clinton.

The political unknown who stunned South Carolina and the nation by winning the state’s Democratic Senate primary produced headlines again on Sunday.

Alvin Greene made what’s believed to be his first campaign appearance — ever — speaking to an audience in his hometown of Manning, South Carolina. Greene attracted an audience of about 300 people and national media eager to hear what he had to say.

Have you seen these signs?

They’re at the center of a running debate that flared up Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

The roadside signs are meant to show Americans construction projects funded by economic stimulus money, the Obama administration says.

The decision is in….

Senator Olympia Snowe has ended the suspense, announcing that she will support the financial regulatory reform bill.

Snowe, a moderate Republican from Maine,  joined fellow Republicans Scott Brown and Susan Collins – the other senator from Maine — in saying “yes” to the measure that most in their party strongly oppose.

Is 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin  laying the groundwork for a 2012 presidential run?

Some experts reading the tea leaves, or pages from her fundraising reports, think the answer may lie in the numbers.

“I ain’t going anywhere,” Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said on Thursday, in response to calls for his resignation from critics in his own party, MSNBC reported.

“I’m here. I’m here,” Steele said at the launch of the Colorado Republican Party’s 2010 “Victory” headquarters.

U.S. Independence Day was an “all-service” holiday at the White House this year as President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama welcomed about 1,200 people — men and women from all of the branches of the U.S. military and family members.

“This is the day when we celebrate the very essence of America and the spirit that has defined us as a people and as a nation for more than two centuries,” Obama said in a greeting from a White House balcony draped in red, white and blue bunting.

Obama said was that he couldn’t think of a better way to spend the Fourth of July than with men and women in uniform. But he said he was glad to see most weren’t in uniform, given the stifling heat. But he pointed to one service member on the balcony who was decked out in a black suit because his grandmother insisted he dress up.

Obama gave a shout-out to an individual member of each branch of the services, including a soldier who did 150 missions in Iraq after being seriously wounded. The U.S. Marine Band provided the music (patriotic favorites, according to the White House pool report).