Country singer Josh Gracin was in Washington on Thursday night to perform at the Ninth Annual Night of Heroes Gala, and as badly as he may have wanted to, he wasn’t allowed talk politics in an interview with The Hill.

Turning 60 can be tough, but try becoming a sexagenarian with a bunch of colleagues in Congress ribbing you for your “over the hill” age.

While the anniversary of his birth was earlier this month, Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) only recently rang in his 60th birthday with a bash in his home state.

Fellow Colorado Democrats Sen. Mark Udall and Rep. Diana DeGette were among the guests at the shindig, according to The Denver Post.

So what do you get a congressman who’s facing the big 6-0? If you’re DeGette, you present him with the not-subtle present of a pillbox, complete with a birthday cane.

The gag gift reportedly got a lot of laughs at Perlmutter’s celebration. Read more...

Paula Broadwell, the biographer of former CIA director David Petraeus, said Thursday she was sorry about how her affair with the former general had affected their families.

"I have remorse for the harm that this has caused, the sadness it has caused my family and other families," Broadwell told ABC News's Charlotte affiliate

The former U.S. Army Reserve intelligence officer said she tries not to focus on the past. An FBI investigation spurred by threatening emails Broadwell allegedly sent Tampa socialite Jill Kelly revealed the affair, leading Petraeus to resign his post.

Anthony Weiner's campaign website was changed on Thursday after bloggers noticed its background resembled Pittsburgh's skyline.

She retired from Congress in January, but former Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) made a return trip to Capitol Hill Wednesday to discuss the release of her new book, Fighting for Common Ground: How We Can Fix the Stalemate in Congress.

Snowe told a packed crowd at The Monocle Restaurant that, by leaving the Senate, she is now able to use her insider's knowledge and experience to "give voice to the frustration of more than 90 percent of American people who think Congress is way too partisan." The event was hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center, of which Snowe is a senior fellow.

Edward Markey's Senate campaign returned a $500 donation from Chevy Chase, sparking befuddlement from the "Saturday Night Live" alum.

The campaign for the Massachusetts Democrat — who’s running for the Senate seat vacated by now-Secretary of State John Kerry — returned the contribution because the check from Chase wasn’t signed, according to the Boston Herald.

Chase told the newspaper in a phone interview, “Don’t ask me … I have no idea. It’s a surprise to me that anybody returned any money to me.”

The entertainer, 69, added, “Maybe [Markey] thought it was a joke. That does happen to me a lot.”

While a spokesman for Markey’s campaign didn’t return ITK’s request for comment, the congressman’s campaign told the Herald that Chase didn’t return a follow-up letter requesting verification on the donation, because the check was missing a signature.

Add a new honor (we think?) to Rep. Michele Bachmann’s resume: romance novel muse.

The Minnesota Republican and former GOP presidential candidate is the inspiration behind what’s being dubbed an “old-fashioned bodice ripper romance” called Fires of Siberia.

A press release for the soon-to-be-released e-book says the tale of the female protagonist — who’s described as “full of firebrand pluck and red state sex appeal — was “inspired by the life of Tea Party leader and Republican congresswoman Michele Bachmann.”

As the plot of the tome by author Trey Sager goes, the main character, Danielle Powers, “has the country in a tizzy,” but “on an international tour to beef up her foreign policy experience, disaster ensues — her plane explodes over Siberia.”

Only the Bachmann-inspired character and another passenger (“a mysterious stranger named Steadman Bass”) survive. In what’s sure to be a page-turner, the description explains, “Trapped in a wilderness of snow and ice, the two begin a journey that pushes Danielle to the brink.”

A former classmate of President Obama's released photos showing him on the night of his high school senior prom.

"Eventually, life will go on and new memories will be made. New laughter will come," he said.