Hackers have attempted more than a dozen cyber attacks against the Obamacare website, according to a top Homeland Security Department official.

Earlier this year, Americans indicated the two top reasons they disapproved of Congress was the incessant gridlock and partisan bickering, as well as the fact that the legislative body is "not getting anything done" and "not making decisions."

"The rest of the world needs to get mobilized, the rest of the donor community," he told NBC News. "A week from now will be too late. "

The bigger fear for Democrats is that public sentiment will side with Republicans who have warned for four years that Obamacare amounted to big government run amok, resulting in an unmanageable new bureaucracy.

"The marriage penalty results largely from the fact that the combined salaries of couples can push them out of the range of eligibility faster than if they were unmarried and their paychecks were treated separately."

"The unofficial results from the polls Tuesday night show the councilman with 62 percent of the vote for mayor."

"The National Security Agency advised its officials to cite the 9/11 attacks as justification for its mass surveillance activities, according to a master list of NSA talking points."

Ronda Sloan, a spokeswoman for the Kentucky Department of Insurance, explained the policy this way: "In this case, you're talking about an entirely new product. They had to file a completely new policy. ... It was easier just to start from scratch."

"The nation's top health insurers were well aware of the technical problems plaguing the application process on the Obamacare website prior to its October 1 launch, an industry insider told CNN."

"Teacher slayings in Nevada and Massachusetts this week are the latest examples of how educators feel schools are less of a traditional safe haven, especially from gun violence that killed one of the instructors, an education firm says."

"President Barack Obama's administration is urging the Supreme Court not to take up the first case it has received on controversial National Security Agency cybersnooping."

"It's over, for now: Obama signs bill to end partial shutdown, hike debt ceiling"

"The National Security Agency is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal e-mail and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, according to senior intelligence officials and top-secret documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden."

"The parents of an 8-year-old South Dakota girl want the police officer who stunned their daughter with a Taser disciplined, but the police chief said Wednesday that the officer acted properly and may have saved the little girl's life."

"Oops: Azerbaijan released election results before voting had even started"

"In a split decision released Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court rejected a 16-year-old ward of the state's request to waive parental consent to get an abortion, saying the girl had not shown she is sufficiently mature and well-informed enough to decide on her own whether to have an abortion."

"Here's a quick Q&A to get you caught up on what happened on Monday and what to expect going forward."

"While the most essential government services will basically continue business as usual, the lack of funding for many others will be a minor headache for some Americans, and a serious concern for others."

"President Obama waived a provision of federal law designed to prevent the supply of arms to terrorist groups to clear the way for the U.S. to provide military assistance to "vetted" opposition groups fighting Syrian dictator Bashar Assad."

"US President Barack Obama has postponed a congressional vote on military action in Syria, vowing to pursue diplomacy to remove the regime's chemical weapons."