Dear Family and Friends,  —  This is the message I have sent to Choir:  —  Dear President Jarrett and Choir,  —  Today is my birthday.  (Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you...........)  —  It is with a sad and heavy heart that I submit my resignation to you and to Choir.

Obama settling old grudges — but not against Russian, Israeli leaders  —  Is President Obama using his final weeks in office to settle personal grudges against Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?  Obama certainly appears to be settling scores …

Putin says he won't deport U.S. diplomats as he looks to cultivate relations with Trump  —  MOSCOW — In a rare break from the diplomatic tradition of reciprocal punishment, Russian President Vladi­mir Putin said Friday he would not deport U.S. diplomats in a tit-for-tat response …

Judge halts North Carolina law stripping incoming Dem governor's power  —  A North Carolina judge has temporarily blocked a law passed by the state's Republican-controlled legislature that limits the incoming governor's powers over election boards.  —  A superior court judge ruled Friday …

Trump considering Conway's husband for solicitor general: report  —  is considering George Conway, husband of top adviser and former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, to be the next U.S. solicitor general, Bloomberg reported Friday citing two sources familiar with the matter.

Something About This Russia Story Stinks  —  Nearly a decade and a half after the Iraq-WMD faceplant, the American press is again asked to co-sign a dubious intelligence assessment  —  In an extraordinary development Thursday, the Obama administration announced a series of sanctions against Russia.

What Chuck Todd gets about Trump  —  Chuck Todd has interviewed Donald Trump many times, and he's noticed something somewhat disquieting about the unquiet president-elect.  —  The man doesn't laugh — not in a normal, spontaneous, regular-human kind of way.  —  “[It] drives me crazy.  Do you know what?

Fired Miami cops joked about using black neighborhoods for target practice  —  Three rookie Miami police officers fired two days before Christmas joked in a group chat with other cops about using predominately black neighborhoods for target practice, an internal affairs investigation found this month.

DC restaurants to donate part of Trump inauguration profits: report  —  A coalition of Washington, D.C., restaurants is promising to donate part of its inauguration weekend profits to charity, according to a new report.  —  A group of 14 restaurants is planning to make donations to various groups after Donald Trump

Trump's Border Wall, Deportation Plans Face Pushback From GOP  —  Republican critics in Congress chafe at his deportation calls  —  GOP leaders in House, Senate want fencing, not a ‘wall’  —  Donald Trump's pledges to deport undocumented immigrants and build a U.S.-Mexico border wall …

Obama to huddle with Hill Democrats on saving Obamacare  —  President Barack Obama will head to Capitol Hill Wednesday to meet with congressional Democrats about how to shield Obamacare from Republican efforts to dismantle it, a Capitol Hill source told POLITICO.

Mar-a-Lago sold tickets to New Year's Eve party with Trump  —  Mar-a-Lago, the pricey private resort in Palm Beach, Florida, sold hundreds of tickets at more than $500 a piece to an annual New Year's Eve extravaganza planned for Saturday night that will feature a very special guest …

Mural defaced at GOP headquarters  —  A mural at the Wayne County Republican Party headquarters on Center Street has been vandalized.  —  GOP officials said it appeared someone came up the outside stairs at the back of the building sometime after Monday and gained entry by kicking in a door.

Self-Driving Cars Will Make Organ Shortages Even Worse  —  We need to prepare for that now.  —  Much has been said about the ways we expect our oncoming fleet of driverless cars to change the way we live—remaking us all into passengers, rewiring our economy, retooling our views of ownership, and reshaping our cities and roads.

Cupcake defender interviews for Ag secretary job  —  Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller may be famous for granting cupcakes “amnesty” from school nutrition rules and calling Hillary Clinton a “c—” on Twitter, but, as he angles for a job in the Trump cabinet, he wants to talk about local vegetables.

Alt-right leader's book hits No. 1 on Amazon  —  A forthcoming book from controversial alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos has snagged the top spot on Amazon a day after the $250,000 book deal was announced.  —  Yiannopoulos's “Dangerous,” due out in March, was the No. 1 ranked book Friday on Amazon's list of best sellers.

Donald Trump supporter ‘films barrage of abuse he receives for wearing a #buildthewall T-shirt’ INSIDE his California apartment building  —  A Donald Trump supporter claims he was verbally attacked by his anti-Trump neighbors because he was wearing one of the president-elect's T-shirts.

Rep. Meadows targets campus rape rule as unfair to ‘often-innocent accused’  —  Incoming Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows recommended that the Trump administration roll back 2011 campus sexual assault guidelines that “deny the often-innocent accused basic due process rights.”