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Attorney General Eric Holder told senators Wednesday "failure is not an option" in the prosecution of Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Holder explained his rationale to bring Mohammed and four other terrorism suspects to the U.S. for a civilian trial.

Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales goes to Capitol Hill this week to defend the decision to fire eight federal prosecutors. The Justice Department released his prepared testimony over the weekend. In it, he concedes that mistakes were made.

The top fundraiser for NPR has resigned after a videotape became public showing him openly disparaging conservative groups during what he thought was a fundraising meeting. The video was recorded secretly during a lunch Ron Schiller had with two people who claimed to be eager to contribute to public radio.

President-elect Barack Obama is set to announce his national security team Monday. The list of people will be familiar to many Americans. Hillary Clinton is expected to be named secretary of state.

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.

The Senate Judiciary Committee wrapped up Thursday its questioning of Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Republican senators asked Sotomayor again whether she would rule on cases based on her beliefs, and she assured them she would apply the law and court precedent.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is back before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday. She listened to hours of comments at her confirmation hearing Monday before getting a chance to give her own opening statement. Senators of both parties praised her personal accomplishments.

A Congressional subcommittee on Wednesday had a hearing with two witnesses who warned the Bush administration against harsh interrogation techniques. One is Ali Soufan, the FBI agent who interrogated Abu Zubaydah. The other is Philip Zelikow, the State Department official who protested that there was no legal basis for justifying the techniques.

Police reformers say states should make it easier to bring criminal charges against police who commit "lawful, but awful" shootings. But police warn that such legislation may go too far.

Senator Jim DeMint on Thursday announced that he will not return to the new Congress, and instead will resign early next month. DeMint will instead lead the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.