A bill that would have provided up to $7.4 billion in aid to 9/11 rescue and recovery workers sickened after working in the World Trade Center ruins fell short in the House on Thursday, raising the possibility that the bulk of compensation for the ill will come from a legal settlement hammered out in the federal courts. The bill, which would have provided free health care and compensation payments, failed to win the needed two-thirds majority

The fiancee of an unarmed man killed by police in a 50-bullet barrage and a friend who survived the shooting said Wednesday that a settlement of the federal civil lawsuit with New York City that topped $7 million was fair but not cause for celebration. The deal awards $3.25 million to the estate of Sean Bell, $3 million to Joseph Guzman and $900,000 to a third victim, Trent Benefield, minus 30 percent for legal fees. City officials confirmed that the settlement amount is the largest ever for a fatal police shooting.

The federal government’s efficiency in handling discrimination complaints by its own workers is slipping a bit, even as more minorities are landing federal jobs, according to an annual report on the federal work force, released this week by the U.S.

A Philadelphia judge has refused to strike down amendments to the federal Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act that require photographers and filmmakers — professional or amateur — to keep records verifying the age and identity of anyone depicted in a sexually explicit film or photo. The judge concluded the law was narrowly tailored to combat child pornography and any constitutional challenge should be analyzed under an “intermediate scrutiny” test rather than strict scrutiny because the law is “content-neutral.”

President Barack Obama called on the Senate Tuesday to vote on long-stalled nominees for the federal judiciary — an issue that has appeared relatively low among his priorities. He said that some nominees have been waiting as long as eight months to be confirmed and that some legislators “have used parliamentary procedures time and again to deny them a vote in the full Senate.” Obama has rarely pushed the judicial nominee issue in public, but Tuesday’s remarks signal a possible shift.