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Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats return to power in the House on Thursday with an ambitious first-day agenda that involves her election as speaker, changes to longstanding House rules, and an attempt to end the government shutdown. But it also marks a return to divided government and more legislative gridlock that in the past has fueled frustration with Congress among voters. That gridlock could already be seen Wednesday, when Pelosi,…

Democratic leaders are negotiating in bad faith, against good policy, and to lamentable results in the current border-wall-funding theater on Capitol Hill. Set aside for now the realities that President Trump has played his pro-wall poker hand incredibly ineptly, that conservatives in general have badly overstated the relative importance of immigration-related policy, and that the Trumpian Right has cultishly turned “The Wall” into an item of absurdly talismanic significance. Those…

After a roller-coaster day of trading to start 2019, global markets were enduring more turbulence Thursday after Apple warned investors that sales were slowing in China, reigniting fears about a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. “While we anticipated some challenges in key emerging markets, we did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in Greater China,” Apple said after the close of trading on Wednesday. Apple plunged…

The Senate confirmed dozens of stalled Trump administration nominees Wednesday night, just hours before the close of the 115th Congress. The list excluded federal judges despite an effort by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to secure a deal for those nominees with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. In total, the Senate cleared 77 nominees by voice vote, among them 23 ambassadors to countries including Australia, Armenia, Yemen, Guyana, Kenya, and…

In response to Romney’s blistering opinion piece about him in The Washington Post, Trump posted a tweet on Wednesday discussing how he won “big” in the 2016 election:

Democratic leaders are negotiating in bad faith, against good policy, and to lamentable results in the current border-wall-funding theater on Capitol Hill. Set aside for now the realities that President Trump has played his pro-wall poker hand incredibly ineptly, that conservatives in general have badly overstated the relative importance of immigration-related policy, and that the Trumpian Right has cultishly turned “The Wall” into an item of absurdly talismanic significance. Those…

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The Senate Judiciary Committee announced on Wednesday that it will hold a two-day confirmation hearing for William Barr’s attorney general nomination this month. The hearing, according to a release from outgoing Committee Chairman Chuck GrassleyCharles (Chuck) Ernest GrassleySenate sets Barr’s confirmation hearing Exculpatory Russia evidence about Mike Flynn that US intel kept secret Key players in new fight over Trump tax returns MORE (R-Iowa) and incoming Chairman Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin…

If presidents could be impeached for ignorance, Donald Trump just merited impeachment for endorsing the Soviet Union’s brutal 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. To listen to what Trump said today at a Cabinet meeting is to enter a bizarrely anti-moral alternative universe. In a confused, ahistorical, and rambling comment in a ramblingly reality-deprived confab, Trump uttered this stunningly benighted take on the Soviets’ attempt to conquer and permanently communize Afghanistan: “The…

Chris Cevilla, father of slain 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes, speaks during a news conference on Monday. (Nicole Hensley/Houston Chronicle, via AP) Eli Rosenberg January 2 at 9:41 PM The gunman pulled up alongside the car early Sunday morning. A mother was driving four of her daughters to a convenience store for juice. The man opened fire, striking and fatally wounding 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes in the car, injuring her mother, LaPorsha Washington,…

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Mitt Romney’s surprising New Year’s Day column criticizing Donald Trump was a brave, bold, and bracing corrective for a president run amok. Romney’s first paragraph lays out his case well: “The Trump presidency made a deep descent in December. The departures of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, the appointment of senior persons of lesser experience, the abandonment of allies who fight beside…

<!– –> × MENU SEARCH QUOTES Politics A former campaign aide to Bernie Sanders‘ 2016 presidential bid who allegedly made light of a sexual harassment complaint from a female staffer is set to begin a new job Thursday as chief of staff to incoming Democratic Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, D-Ill. Bill Velazquez was a manager on Sanders’ Latino outreach team in 2016. According to a story published Wednesday by The…

Here’s what travelers to Washington and other cities can expect during the shutdown. Airports remain open Transportation Security Administration employees are working without pay, but so far no major delays have been reported because of the shutdown. How about National Parks? The answer differs by state. Some states have stepped up to keep parks and monuments functioning: New York state is spending $65,000 a day to operate the Statue of…

A 14-year-old Texas boy who was said to have been throwing eggs at cars was charged with murder after he crashed into a pickup truck and killed a woman while being chased by another driver, the authorities said on Wednesday. Around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday, the boy was driving a tan GMC Acadia westbound with two juvenile passengers “at a high rate of speed,” the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in…

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Twelve days into a partial government shutdown, President Donald Trump expressed resolve to continue the shutdown for “as long as it takes” in order to secure funding he’s demanded to build a southern border. “Could be a long time, could end quickly. It’s too important a subject to walk away from,” the president said, asserting that the people of the country support him. “I think the people of this country…

This undated photo provided by the Whelan family shows Paul Whelan in Iceland. Whelan, a former U.S. Marine arrested in Russia on espionage charges, was visiting Moscow over the holidays to attend a wedding when he suddenly disappeared, his brother said Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019. (Courtesy of the Whelan Family via AP) DETROIT – As a staff sergeant with the Marines in Iraq, Paul Whelan enjoyed fine cigars and showed…

Before her mother is set to meet with President Trump and other congressional leaders at the White House over border security, Alexandra Pelosi offers insight into how likely incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi approaches meetings with the President. #CNN #News

The Marine who was shot and killed in what appeared to be a negligent discharge at the barracks in Washington D.C. has been identified, in an incident his commander called a “terrible loss.” Lance Cpl. Riley S. Kuznia, 20, was named by the Marine Corps as the individual who died at the barracks early Tuesday morning. “We are truly saddened by this terrible loss. Riley was a highly driven and…