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In his weekly address, Obama said a visit to Baltimore Friday underscored his goal to create a “rising, thriving middle class."

House Republicans touted their recent vote to repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act, tying it to the unfolding IRS scandal.

"We —we have many more questions that resulted from today's hearing," Ryan said.

President Carter issued a statement Friday proclaiming that he does not favor marijuana legalization, despite previous statements that appeared to indicate that he favored state laws that allowed the possession and use of the drug.

“I do not favor legalization. We must do everything we can to discourage marijuana use, as we do now with tobacco and excessive drinking,” Carter said, according to a release from Project SAM. "We have to prevent making marijuana smoking from becoming attractive to young people, which is, I’m sure, what the producers of marijuana … are going to try and do.”

The group, Smart Approaches to Marijuana, opposes legalizing the drug, but instead believes those arrested for marijuana use should be sent to treatment facilities rather than jails. According to the group, Carter believes those caught with the drug should be given a warning hearing and screened for future use, but not have a permanent record kept.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said Friday that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel needs to show more leadership in dealing with sexual assault cases in the military.

“I think the president has taken strong leadership on this issue and I am urging Secretary Hagel to do the same,” Gillibrand told MSNBC’s Andrew Mitchell. “Secretary Hagel has … said he wants to remove from the chain of command the ability to overturn a verdict. We would like to add to that the ability of the commander to actually decide whether or not to got to trial.”

In Baltimore, Obama made repeated references to "these partisan battles and brinkmanship" in the nation's capital.

Recent advertising accuses Flake of breaking his promise to help pass expanded background checks. 

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), the Senate Finance Committee Chairman, predicted in an interview airing Sunday that the scandal surrounding the Internal Revenue Service selectively targeting conservative political groups will grow.

President Obama has named former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) to the board of the Fulbright scholarship program, the White House said Thursday.

The prestigious scholarship program is sponsored by the State Department and provides grants for U.S. citizens to study abroad. Foreign scholars are also awarded grants to travel to the United States and participate in similar graduate study, advanced research or teaching programs.

Giffords herself is an alum of the program, awarded a grant to study in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1996. She will serve on a 12-member panel that oversees the scholarship program, joining, among others, Lisa Caputo, a senior Clinton Administration official and Anita McBride, a veteran of both Bush Administrations.

Bob Woodward on Friday said the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups had “not yet” risen to the level of Watergate.