WASHINGTON-Staffers stroll the hall in jeans, take lunch breaks, and read constituent letters that didn't get read during the race to finish the economic legislation last week.

It's recess at the United States Capitol.

WASHINGTON-A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the U.S. government must release 17 Uighurs, who are Chinese Muslims, from its enemy combatant prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Though a government appeal late Wednesday stayed the order for the time being, this is the first time prisoners would be released from Guantanamo by court order.

Congressional finger-wagging continued Tuesday in the second hearing to determine the roots of the current financial crisis, which was heightened by the stock market's 500-point drop the same day.

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court headed for its new term Monday with a high-profile case between Altria Group Inc., parent of the cigarette company Philip Morris, and smokers seeking damages, addressing the limits of lawsuits against cigarette manufacturers.

A congressional committee Monday grilled Richard Fuld Jr., chief executive officer of Lehman Brothers Inc., in his first public appearance since the bank fell apart in September in the largest bankruptcy in history.

WASHINGTON-With the world watching Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed by a wide margin, 263-171, the $700 billion economic rescue package. The question of the bill's success still hung in the air minutes before the vote took place, though House leaders had expressed confidence about its passage.

"We have been criticized for not deciding affirmatively," said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. "What we did decide is that [the] initial failure should not stand."

Voter interest in Thursday night's vice-presidential debate between Republican Sarah Palin and Democrat Joe Biden is sky-high, partly because of the political significance and partly because of theatrics. Both candidates' gaffes in speaking candidly have been the subject of media attention the last several weeks-and for Biden, who has been in the Senate and the national spotlight for over 30 years, longer.