The first six months of 2013 have made two things very clear: 1) Rand Paul is running for president and 2) Rand Paul is the most interesting politician in the country at the moment.

From his filibuster over drones to his positioning on the immigration reform bill to his well-received trips to early presidential-voting states, Paul has shown a knack for simultaneously confounding expectations and drawing press attention. And, with the immigration fight in the Senate headed to a conclusion in the next few weeks and the debt ceiling battle looming this fall, Paul promises to be at the center of the political conversation going forward, too.

2 hours ago Rep. Elijah Cummings releases a full IRS interview transcript The House Oversight Committee's top Democrat on Tuesday released the full transcript of a congressional interview that he said "debunks conspiracy theories" about the IRS targeting controversy. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member of the committee, produced a complete interview transcript in which an IRS manager in Cincinnati said he elevated the first tea party case that led the agency to begin singling out conservative groups for extra scrutiny. Read full article >>   2 hours ago GSA nominee Dan Tangherlini testifies before Senate committee President Obama's pick to head the General Services Administration testified Tuesday before the Senate committee that will decide whether to support his nomination. GSA acting administrator Daniel M. Tangherlini, who has led the agency for the past 14 months, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that GSA has improved its efficiency and accountability under his watch. Read full article >>    2 hours ago Lew’s official signature a vast improvement Looks like Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has been working on his penmanship. The Treasury Department on Tuesday tweeted an image of Lew’s signature as it will appear on U.S. currency beginning this fall. And it’s a vast improvement over his original, oddly loopy signature that garnered much mocking (including by the Loop, which enlisted a handwriting expert to plumb its deeper meanings). Read full article >> 2 hours ago Black Louisiana state senator explains switch to GOP (VIDEO) A state senator in Louisiana explains in a new video why he switched to the Republican Party, arguing that the GOP should be the new home for African-Americans like him. In the video, state Sen. Elbert Guillory says Democrats use social programs like welfare and food stamps to monopolize the black vote. He urges them to "please join with me today in abandoning the government plantation and the party of disappointment." Read full article >>    2 hours ago Officials: Surveillance programs foiled more than 50 terrorist plots The U.S. government’s sweeping surveillance programs have disrupted more than 50 terrorist plots in the United States and abroad, including a plan to bomb the New York Stock Exchange, senior government officials testified Tuesday. Read full article >>    2 hours ago Disrupted ‘terrorist events’ detailed In testimony before Congress Tuesday, senior intelligence and law enforcement officials said recently revealed surveillance programs have disrupted more than 50 “potential terrorist events,” including at least 10 plots that were based inside the United States. Four of those cases have been made public. Sean Joyce, deputy director of the FBI, listed them in this order: Read full article >>    5 hours ago Why did FEMA deny new funding after Texas fertilizer plant explosion? The Federal Emergency Management Agency this month denied a request for millions of dollars in additional aid to help West, Tex., recover from an April 17 fertilizer-plant explosion that killed 15 people and decimated some 37 blocks of homes, schools and businesses. Read full article >>    5 hours ago NSA head: Surveillance helped thwart more than 50 terror plots Intelligence officials said Tuesday that the government's sweeping surveillance efforts have helped thwart "potential terrorist events" more than 50 times since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, and the officials detailed two new examples to illustrate the utility of the programs. Read full article >>    5 hours ago Boehner: No immigration bill without majority GOP support House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) privately reiterated to colleagues Tuesday that the House will not vote on an immigration reform package that doesn't have the support of a majority of Republicans. Read full article >>     5 hours ago Feingold to be special envoy to Central Africa Former senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) is set to be named the State Department's special envoy to Central Africa. Feingold lost reelection in 2010 to now-Sen. Ron Johnson (R) and since then has been running a liberal advocacy group called Progressives United. His move to the State Department was rumored last month. Read full article >>    5 hours ago At the Dutch embassy, cicadas are what’s for dinner Typically, embassy soirees are a chance to sample the fine cuisines of the host countries. Fine wines at the French; the very freshest sushi at Japan’s... So forgive us if an upcoming event at the Dutch embassy strikes us as a little unappetizing. On the menu? No artisanal edam or herring, but rather crickets, mealworms and cicadas. Read full article >>    5 hours ago Bill Ayers: Obama should be tried for war crimes Bill Ayers, whose relationship with President Obama was the subject of much intrigue during Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, now says the president should be tried for war crimes. Ayers, the former Weather Underground member and University of Illinois at Chicago professor, told Real Clear Politics that Obama is "absolutely" engaged in terrorist activity by using drones and "absolutely" should be tried for war crimes. Read full article >>    5 hours ago Biden warns of ‘political price’ for lawmakers who oppose gun control measures Declaring that “we have not given up,” Vice President Biden on Tuesday warned that lawmakers who opposed the Obama administration’s proposals to stem gun violence “will pay a political price.” Biden appeared in a White House auditorium to announce that the administration has completed or made significant progress on nearly two dozen smaller-scale executive actions aimed at strengthening existing background checks, improving record-keeping and providing schools and communities with emergency management plans. Read full article >>    8 hours ago Why Joe Biden is talking about guns Vice President Biden will deliver remarks about guns Tuesday afternoon, an issue that was shelved in the Senate in April after advocates of tighter restrictions suffered a major setback when their proposed measures failed to win passage. Read full article >>    8 hours ago Laws fail to protect pregnant women who need special accommodations on the job Heather Myers was fired from her job at a Wal-Mart store in Salina, Kan., for keeping a water bottle nearby -- even though she was pregnant and simply following doctor's orders to drink plenty of liquids. Read full article >>    8 hours ago Which immigration amendments will pass Tuesday? The Senate begins voting Tuesday on amendments to the bipartisan immigration reform bill, marking the first time since debate started that senators will begin making changes to the massive legislative proposal. Read full article >>     8 hours ago What would Ann Richards say? Not too long ago I saw the fabulous one woman show "Ann," based on the larger-than-life Texas governor Ann Richards. Having had the pleasure of meeting Richards as a child while growing up in Texas, I was struck by how perfectly actress Holland Taylor managed to capture the essence of the legendary woman best remembered for her white hair and her one-liners. ("Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth," she famously quipped of the first President Bush.) But I was also struck by how shocked Richards would be if she were still alive to see just how much our home state has changed, and not for the better. Read full article >>    8 hours ago Hearing will examine 'reinventing government' A congressional hearing on Tuesday will pit leaders from the nation's largest federal-employee union and proponents of smaller government against each other to discuss how federal agencies can run more efficiently. Read full article >>     8 hours ago Senate finds pace on judicial nominees After getting off to a sluggish start this year, the Senate is now approving judges at a rapid clip. The chamber on Monday night approved two federal judges, Luis Felipe Restrepo in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and U.S. Attorney Kenneth Gonzalez in the District of New Mexico. This latest move puts it on a lively pace of giving the nod to two judicial nominees a week since Easter. Read full article >>     8 hours ago ICE Director John Morton stepping down John Morton, the head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the past four years, on Monday announced plans to leave the agency at the end of July. Morton, who was born in Scotland and raised in Loudon County, will take an executive-level position with Capital One bank in August. The Senate unanimously confirmed him to be ICE’s director in 2009. Read full article >>     8 hours ago Alaska Lt. Gov. Treadwell to challenge Sen. Mark Begich Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell (R) announced Tuesday that he will officially challenge Sen. Mark Begich (D) in 2014, transitioning from an exploratory committee to a full-fledged campaign. "This intense exploratory effort has convinced me that I have the support necessary to build a winning campaign," Treadwell said on his Web site. "Today I'm taking the next step by announcing that I will not seek re-election as Alaska's lieutenant governor and have begun to file documents required as a candidate for the United States Senate in 2014." Read full article >>    8 hours ago Gabriel Gomez and the chicken-and-egg question Which came first? The underdog candidate who took the race by storm, or the allied groups who swooped in with reinforcements? A good venue to examine to the question is the Massachusetts Senate race, where neither has arrived. Read full article >>     8 hours ago The House abortion bill likely won't make it into law. But it still matters. The House is slated to take up legislation Tuesday afternoon that would ban abortions starting at 20 weeks, issuing a clear challenge to federal law. But the White House has issued a veto threat, and the measure lacks the votes right now to pass the bill. Read full article >>    8 hours ago What Claire McCaskill wants There are 927 days between today and Jan. 1, 2016. And yet, Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill chose today to announce her support for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's potential presidential bid in three years time. Read full article >>     8 hours ago 'Ask Aaron' live chat at 2 p.m. The latest edition of the "Ask Aaron" live chat jumps off at 2 p.m. today, but you don't have to wait until then to submit your questions. So head on over to the live chat and ask away. As always, anything in the realm of politics is fair game. Read full article >>