Tagged: Kelly Ayotte

After the Senate failed to pass bipartisan legislation to expand background checks for gun purchases, the superPAC created by shooting victim and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, onetime astronaut Mark Kelly, vowed to remind voters of which lawmakers voted against the plan.

The uncertainty surrounding the Pentagon's budget means it will not deploy a second aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced today.

NPR's Tom Bowman reports that Panetta is also proposing pay cuts for troops. Tom filed this report for our Newscast unit:

"The recommendation by Secretary Panetta mean that those in uniform could get a 1 percent pay hike next year, instead of 1.7 percent. But a final decision would rest with Congress.

Freshman Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire has been standing side by side with colleagues John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina in questioning the Obama administration's version of events about the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, in September.

It is just the latest in a series of high-profile moments for Ayotte, who is seen as a rising star in a party struggling to win female voters.