WASHINGTON-Though the new session of Congress doesn't officially begin until Tuesday, Washington was a-buzz Monday.

The Obamas arrive in D.C.

Sunday night the first-family-to-be stepped off a plane and into their new lives in Washington, D.C., with the Obama girls Sasha and Malia beginning school Monday at Sidwell Friends, a private school in the area.

WASHINGTON-Brushing aside Republican opposition in the House and Senate, President Bush endorsed a $17.4 billion plan Friday to bail out Chrysler and General Motors, with $13.4 billion available now and $4 billion in February. The other Big Three U.S. automaker, Ford, has indicated it can continue without government aid, but the other two are on the precipice of bankruptcy. The plan is designed to be a short-term fix for the industry, as Bush demanded the companies use the coming months to restructure.

WASHINGTON-Conservative giant Paul Weyrich, 66, died Thursday around 1 a.m. Weyrich had suffered poor health for a number of years following a spinal injury in 1996 and the amputation of his legs in 2005. A champion of the fundamentals of conservatism, he watched the conservative movement ebb and flow and ebb again over his more than 40-year career in Washington.

Christmas is coming. More and more people are facing unemployment in the United States and around the world. Nonprofits are reeling from a deepening global recession. And an alleged Ponzi scheme an investment broker hatched has apparently lost millions not just for the wealthy elite but also for charities around the world.

Carl Shapiro, 95, watched $145 million disappear from his family's $345 million foundation upon revelation of the fraud.

WASHINGTON-The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended Tuesday that the State Department declare Iraq a "country of particular concern," a label reserved for nations with "ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom."

WASHINGTON-While all eyes were on the auto bailout debate last week, Congress passed a bill to provide federal aid to victims of trafficking both in the United States and abroad, with provisions that downplay the role of law enforcement with trafficking victims.

A 2004 Department of Justice study estimated that between 14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked in the United States annually, and 600,000 to 800,000 worldwide.

WASHINGTON - Negotiations in the Senate fell apart late Thursday night as Senate Democrats and the Bush administration failed to garner 60 votes to pass legislation for a $14 billion bailout to the auto industry.

Though the House of Representatives passed the bill, the Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said he did not support it Thursday, which signaled the bailout's almost certain death.

"I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.