Ten months after suffering a huge stroke, Senator Mark Kirk is back at work.

Reports that John Boehner would face an uphill battle to be re-elected Speaker of the House were wishful thinking – Boehner was re-elected Speaker with 220 votes. Only nine Republicans voted for someone else.

Ted Cruz was sworn in as a U.S. Senator and received unusually plum committee assignments (judiciary, commerce, armed services, and rules) for someone with Tea Party backing. I’m guessing the GOP establishment is working hard to corrupt him.

National Journal published a somewhat interesting article on how Marco Rubio and Paul Ryan are positioning themselves for the 2016 presidential race. The article quotes former Bush administration official Peter Wehner as calling Ryan’s Fiscal Cliff vote a “profile in courage,” which is the sort of endorsement that guarantees I’ll never vote for Ryan for president.

Senators John McCain and Carl Levin are trying to head off Harry Reid’s attempt to change the Senate’s filibuster rules by proposing their own rules change that’s very nearly as bad as Reid’s. Thanks for the help – not.

The 2008 presidential candidate who said he opposed signing statements issued a long signing statement for the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013. Obama’s signing statement doesn’t mention anything about indefinite detention of Americans by the military – the Senate removed an indefinite detention provision from its version of the bill but a House/Senate conference committee put it back.

Judicial Watch obtained documents via the Freedom of Information Act that show the FBI knew within days of the September 11, 2001 attacks that American Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki bought plane tickets for some of the hijackers for flights in advance of the attacks – flights they may have used to test security and for surveillance. Separately, The New York Times and the ACLU have been unsuccessful convincing a judge to force the Obama administration to release the legal opinion that justified the drone strike that killed al-Awlaki in 2011.

The Department of Justice pursued civil rights charges against a Massachusetts state representative, Stat Smith, who pleaded guilty to voter fraud. But for Smith to even attempt his scheme, there must be problems with the voter rolls in Massachusetts. The DOJ and its Civil Rights Division Voting Section do not appear to be interested in this possibility.

The Federal Trade Commission’s investigation of Google ended with a minor slap on the wrist. The consent decree does limit Google’s ability to use standard-essential patents to threaten competitors. This is particularly important in the wake of Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, which owned a number of patents essential to cellular standards.

An Illinois State Senate committee passed two bills that make most modern firearms illegal and impose new restrictions on shooting ranges. It’s not clear if/when the full Senate will consider them.

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback is facing tricky budget issues as the state ramps down its income tax rates. Brownback may end up asking the legislature for a tax increase, although he’s unlikely to call it that.

Al Gore sold Current TV to Al Jazeera, which is funded by Qatar’s royal family, which obtained its wealth via the oil and gas industry that Gore hates. Or used to.

A Planned Parenthood court filing that’s part of that organization’s lawsuit against Texas states that as of this month, all Planned Parenthood affiliates must offer abortion services.