Trump Expected to Pick Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers to Run Interior  —  If confirmed by the Senate, she would lead administration's efforts to open up federal lands and waters to fossil-fuel development  —  WASHINGTON—President-elect Donald Trump is expected to tap Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers …

GOP Plans Major Social Security Cuts  —  We'll have a story coming shortly on what I just mentioned a short time ago: that Republicans are now planning to pass major cuts to Social Security this year.  Specifically, this bill is being introduced by Rep. Sam Johnson, Chairman of the House Ways …

Obama orders ‘deep dive’ of election-related hacking  —  President Barack Obama has ordered a “deep dive” into the cyberattacks that plagued this year's election, the White House said Friday.  —  Obama has asked the intelligence community to deliver its final report before he leaves office.

Trump Team's Memo Hints at Broad Shake-Up of U.S. Energy Policy  —  Advisers seeking to identify staff involved in climate policy  —  Advisers to President-elect Donald Trump are developing plans to reshape Energy Department programs, help keep aging nuclear plants online and identify staff …

Giuliani won't serve in Trump administration  —  Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a longtime Donald Trump  —  ally, will not be serving in the president-elect's administration.  —  Giuliani has removed himself from consideration for any position in the new administration, the Trump transition team announced Friday.

Senate Dems facing likely defeat in shutdown fight  —  Senate Democrats are fighting a legislative battle they appear unlikely to win, demanding new negotiations on a critical spending bill after Senate Republicans have already closed off talks and the House has gone home for the holidays.

Paul Ryan: I had a ‘very exciting meeting’ with Trump today  —  Speaker Paul Ryan said he had a “very exciting meeting” with President-elect Donald Trump at Trump Tower on Friday.  —  “I really enjoyed coming up here and meeting with the president-elect.  We had a great meeting.

Carrier says it will spend millions automating Indiana plant, plans to lay off workers Trump ‘saved’  —  The deal keeps getting worse.  —  As part of the deal President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence struck with Carrier, the company has promised to make a $16 million investment …

COULD BREITBART BREAK WITH TRUMP?  —  The front page of Breitbart right now seems surprisingly critical of the Trump transition:  —  From that lead story: … Wow — the Trump News Network is linking a Trump appointee to the hated rootless cosmopolitan gun-grabber Mike Bloomberg.  Them's fightin' words.

Let's relocate a bunch of government agencies to the Midwest  —  Time to shift economic activity from the overcrowded coasts to places that need more of it.  —  America's post-industrial Midwest is far from being the country's poorest region.  To find the direst economic conditions in the United States …

Trump gets one presidential intelligence briefing a week: sources  —  President-elect Donald Trump is receiving an average of one presidential intelligence briefing a week, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter, far fewer than most of his recent predecessors.

T.J. Miller — Arrested for Uber Fight Over Trump ... 'Tis the Season??  —  “Silicon Valley” star T.J. Miller got arrested in Hollywood for allegedly making his Uber driver see stars, and not the good rating kind either.  —  Law enforcement sources tell us T.J.'s driver picked him up from the GQ Men …

Leftist Students Shouted ‘F*ck You B*itch’ at the Gay Director of a Pro-Trans Movie, Boys Don't Cry  —  There was a time not so long ago when the people shouting “f**k you bitch” at a gender-fluid gay filmmaker would have been bigoted right-wing conservatives.

Could a Last-Minute Suitor Woo Megyn Kelly Away from Fox News?  —  Despite an offer of more than $20 million from Fox, Kelly appears to be listening to some surprising suitors.  —  On Wednesday morning, Megyn Kelly was once again promoting her new memoir, Settle for More …

Balloon Pilot Who Killed 16 Was on Drugs and Had Five DWI Raps  —  NTSB documents on July crash reveal loopholes in oversight  —  Accident was worst fatal U.S. aviation accident since 2009  —  The pilot of a hot-air balloon that crashed last summer in Texas, killing himself and 15 sight-seeing passengers …

This is what happens when Donald Trump attacks a private citizen on Twitter  —  About a year ago, 18-year-old college student Lauren Batchelder stood up at a political forum in New Hampshire and told Donald Trump that she didn't think he was “a friend to women.”

Conway on Trump ‘Apprentice’ role: He'll do it in his spare time  —  (CNN)Kellyanne Conway on Friday defended President-elect Donald Trump's decision to remain an executive producer on NBC's “Celebrity Apprentice” even as he takes office, arguing that “presidents have a right to do things in their spare time.”