Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Sunday said opponents of the new health care law will "seemingly stop at nothing" to keep Texans from signing up for health insurance.

"What opponents of the new law could not do legislatively, at the ballot box, or even by shutting down the federal government, they're now trying to do through other means," she wrote in an op-ed for the Dallas Morning News. "Case in point is Monday's congressional hearing in Dallas, designed to stifle, intimidate and impugn the reputation of people who have been working hard to help their fellow Texans get covered."

The Department of Defense announced Monday that it will release two Guantanamo Bay detainees to Saudi Arabia.

"Saturday Night Live" began its latest episode with a scene poking fun at President Obama and the controversies that surrounded the memorial service for Nelson Mandela last week.

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The U.S. Navy plans to increase sonar testing over the next five years, even as research it funded reveals worrying signs that the loud underwater noise could disturb whales and dolphins.

Reported mass strandings of certain whale species have increased worldwide since the military started using sonar half a century ago. Scientists think the sounds scare animals into shallow waters where they can become disoriented and wash ashore, but technology capable of close monitoring has emerged only in about the last decade.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Sunday said that his comparison of President Obama's handshake with Cuban President Raul Castro to former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's handshake with Adolf Hitler was a "gross exaggeration." 

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) on Sunday said that the vote on the budget deal in the Senate could be close.

"The struggle is still on in the United States Senate. We'll need about eight Republicans to come our way," he said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "I feel we'll have a good, strong showing from the Democratic side. But we need bipartisan support to pass it."

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) on Sunday said that while he thinks the budget deal reached last week is a good step, that Republicans need to push for a majority in the Senate in order to pass a more conservative budget.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who successfully negotiated a small budget agreement, on Sunday expressed optimism about Congress pushing forward on tax reform.

"I'm hopeful that as a Ways and Means member as well, that we can start moving tax reform legislation," Ryan said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) on Sunday said that a grand bargain is not possible in divided government, despite their ability to reach a small budget compromise.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), one of the budget deal negotiators, on Sunday defended conservative groups criticized by House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) for coming out against the budget agreement this week.