Obama urges Congress to avoid sequestration

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters FEMA has enough money "right now" to tend to the devastation left by a monster tornado in Oklahoma, but assured that "if there's more money needed, we're gonna take care of it."

After meeting with Burmese President Thein Sein, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he believes because of the steps the former pariah state has taken toward democracy, "enough progress has been made in Burma to where implementation of the sanctions this year is actually not a good idea."

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said it's "too early" to assess the long-term needs of Oklahoma tornado victims, and emphasized the administration's focus on short-term relief efforts.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called on lawmakers to "act quickly" to provide relief to Moore, Okla. - a community destroyed by a monstrous tornado that killed dozens, including many children.

As the investigation continues into potentially discriminatory activities at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), former commissioner Douglas Shulman said Tuesday he was "saddened" that the agency had been judged as having acted in a way that was not "non-political and non-partisan," though he said he couldn't say exactly what happened to lead to the practices now under fire.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., joined Oklahoma Republican Reps. James Lankford and Frank Lucas to offer words of encouragement to a Moore, Okla., community destroyed by a monstrous tornado. "We have a lot of tornados in Oklahoma but we don't have tornados like this," Lankford said.