Congress' approval ratings remain dismal, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll.

Its June 11-13 survey found Congress' approval number at 16 percent, up 1 percentage point from November, when most of the current lawmakers were elected.

The poll surveyed 1,014 adult people by phone. Margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Congress' ratings have been low for some time. Some figures: January, 2012, 11 percent; December, 2011, 16 percent; August, 2011, 14 percent.

Americans are divided over the government's domestic surveillance, but think their rights and freedoms could be threatened by the spying, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll released Monday.

The survey of 1.014 adults was taken June 11-13, as news about two surveillance programs dominated the news.

Asked if "the federal government has become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens," 62 percent said yes.

But the public saw some value in the programs, and were critical of self-confessed leaker Edward Snowden.

"As you may know, details of the government collection of phone records and internet data were revealed when a former government contractor named Edward Snowden leaked classified information about those government programs to two newspapers.  Do you approve or disapprove of Snowden's actions?" the poll asked.

Forty-four percent approved, while 52 percent disapproved.

Opinion was split on whether the programs were right. "Do you think the Obama administration was right or wrong in gathering and analyzing those phone records?" the survey asked. Fifty-one percent said it was right, while 48 percent said it was wrong.

To read more: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/06/17/cnn-poll-obama-approval-falls-amid-controversies/

"It's against the law for the NSA to record and monitor Americans' phone calls. It's against the law, and the law is very clear on this," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., told CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday.

Rogers explained that the data is in a "lock box."

He called it "a lock box of only phone numbers, no names, no addresses." For that data to get further, "it would mean that the NSA have to conspire with the FBI, would have to conspire with both parties in Congress on the intelligence committees and the oversight functions in the executive branch to do something beyond what the law very narrowly allows. I just find that implausible."

But what, asked moderator Candy Crowley, about allegations someone from NSA had been listening in on a phone call without a warrant in on case.

"I can't tell you how strong we need to make this clear," Rogers said. "The NSA is not listening to Americans' phone calls, and it is not monitoring their e-mails. If it did, it's illegal. It's breaking the law."

And not recording them either, Crowley asked?

"I could go get a warrant on a criminal case, yes, absolutely," Rogers explained, "but that's very, very different. And I think they think that there's this mass surveillance of what you're saying on your phone call and what you're typing in your e-mails. That is just not happening. And it's important, I think, for people to understand because there's all this misinformation about what these programs are."

Republicans really like Paul Ryan. But Democrats like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Those are key findings of a new Gallup poll released Friday. It tested the public's view of five potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates: Ryan, the 2012 party vice presidential nominee; Christie; Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.

"The five Republican officeholders currently appear to meet two minimum factors for a successful presidential campaign: they are generally well-liked by the Republican rank-and-file, and are more liked than disliked by the larger general population," said an analysis by Gallup's Jeffrey Jones.

But, he said, Christie and Ryan offer "interesting contrasts."

His analysis: "Ryan's high favorability among Republicans but lower favorability among the general public would position him to do well in the Republican primaries, but perhaps make him a less formidable general election candidate.

"Christie, on the other hand, would appear to be a stronger general election than Republican primary candidate, given his lower favorability among Republicans but higher favorability among Democrats and Americans more generally."

House Speaker John Boehner made it clear Thursday he's still strongly supporting controversial domestic surveillance programs.

"I've made it very clear this program does not target innocent Americans in any way, shape or form.  These programs have helped keep America safe," he said at his weekly news conference.

"They've enhanced our ability to go after terrorists who want to bring harm to the American people."

Boehner called on the White House to explain the programs more fully.

''Frankly, I'm a little surprised that the White House hasn't stood up and made clear on an ongoing basis over this last week just how important these programs are," he said.

"For those of us who have been briefed on these programs, who are aware of these programs, we're aware how much safety they brought us.  And we're also aware of many examples where they've helped us eliminate terrorist threats."

A bipartisan group of senators Tuesday introduced legislation to end the "secret law" that keeps details about government surveillance programs secret.

Under the bill, the Attorney General would be required to declassify "significant Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court opinions."

Doing so, the senators said in a joint statement, would allow "Americans to know how broad of a legal authority the government is claiming to spy on Americans under the Patriot Act and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act."

Sponsors include Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Mike Lee, R-Utah,, Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Dean Heller, R-Nev., Mark Begich, D-Alaska, Al Franken, D-Minn., Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore. 

“Americans deserve to know how much information about their private communications the government believes it’s allowed to take under the law," Merkley said.

“There is plenty of room to have this debate without compromising our surveillance sources or methods or tipping our hand to our enemies.  We can’t have a serious debate about how much surveillance of Americans’ communications should be permitted without ending secret law.”

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat who died Monday at age 89, will lie in repose in the U.S. Senate chamber Thursday afternoon.

Lautenberg's casket is due to arrive at the Capitol. A color guard ceremony is scheduled on the East Front steps, starting at 1:30 p.m.

The casket will then be taken inside the Capitol, where Lautenberg will lie in repose on the Lincoln catafalque in the Senate chamber during the afternoon.

Lautenberg was the Senate's oldest member and the last of its World War II veterans. He was eulogized Wednesday at a New York City synagogue. He was remembered as champion of transportation and environmental causes. Vice President Joe Biden, who served with Lautenberg in the Senate, was among the speakers.

Acting IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel faced a polite but determined grilling Monday from a House appropriations subcommittee, and told them past IRS behavior in the tax exempt controversy was "unacceptable and must be addressed."

Werfel pledged a progress report by the end of the month. Looking at some applications for tax exempt status, he said, "there were inexusable delays in processing many of these applications, and some organizations were required to furnish unnecessary information in support of their applications."

Members of the subcommittee from both parties agreed, and Werfel acknowledged "there was a series of management oversight failures and a lack of internal controls to ensure the appropriate treatment of applications."

Werfel, who has only been with the IRS for a few days, insisted the agency "stands ready to confront the problems that occurred."

Good,said Chairman Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla. "In an arrogant and absolute abuse of power, the IRS office in Cincinnati singled out groups and individuals based on their political philosophy for extra scrutiny," he said. "They were harassed, intimidated and bullied, and no one spoke up."

Is Hillary Clinton fading already?

A new Quinnipiac national poll found her favorability numbersm while still ove 50 percent, have dropped. "Her score is down ubstantially from her all-time high score in February," said assistant poll director Peter Brown. "The drop in her favorability is substantial among men, Republicans and independent voters."

One reason for the drop, he said, "may be that 48 percent of voters blame her either a little or a lot for the death of the American ambassador in Benghazi,” Brown added.

Clinton still does well. The former Secretary of State leads Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky 49 – 41 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush 48 – 40 percent in trial matchups for the 2016 presidential race.

And she's still ahead of Vice President Joseph Biden, who trails Bush 44 – 38 percent and Paul 43 – 39 percent.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, frequently mentioned as a possible 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, got a national forum Thursday and used it to brag about his administration's achievements.

O'Malley spent most of his speech to the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, reciting what he had done in his six years as governor.

He also tried to steer away from the idea that he's a liberal, even though his positions have been perceived that way.

"The ideology of the past no longer serves the challenges of these rapidly changing times.  Our
children demand and deserve a new way of leadership that is entrepreneurial,collaborative, relentlessly interactive, and measured always by whether or not we are achieving better results," O'Malley said in remarks prepared for delivery.

"It's not about whether we move left or right; it's about whether we move forward or back."