With No Warning, House Republicans Vote to Hobble Independent Ethics Office  —  House Republicans, defying their top leaders, voted Monday to significantly curtail the power of an independent ethics office set up in 2008 in the aftermath of corruption scandals that sent three members of Congress to jail.

Kellyanne Conway on Congressional ethics panel and agenda, Trump's info on Russia  —  Kellyanne Conway, one of President-elect Donald Trump's top advisors, weighs in on the new ethics panel, Russia's hacking of the election and repealing Obamacare.  She says that though there are some aspects …

WikiLeaks founder: Obama admin trying to ‘delegitimize’ Trump  —  WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says there's an “obvious” reason the Obama administration has focused on Russia's alleged role in Democratic hacks leading up to Donald Trump  —  's electoral win.

Inside Trump's strategy to remodel the Supreme Court  —  Donald Trump has narrowed his short list for his first Supreme Court pick down to roughly a half-dozen finalists but the president-elect and his top advisers are already thinking about a second selection, as they seek to quickly remodel …

Exclusive: Trump team seeks agency records on border barriers, surveillance  —  In a wide-ranging request for documents and analysis, President-elect Donald Trump's transition team asked the Department of Homeland Security last month to assess all assets available for border wall and barrier construction.

Op-Ed Leaving for Las Vegas: California's minimum wage law leaves businesses no choice  —  The “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign on July 14, 2009.  (Sarah Gerke / Sarah Gerke)  —  Houman Salem  —  California's minimum wage jumped to $10.50 an hour at the start of the new year.

Ford cancels Mexico plant.  Will create 700 U.S. jobs in ‘vote of confidence’ in Trump  —  Ford CEO: U.S. plant expansion is ‘vote of confidence’ in Trump  —  Ford is canceling plans to build a new plant in Mexico.  It will invest $700 million in Michigan instead, creating 700 new U.S. jobs.

Ex-CIA agent on Spicer: ‘What the hell is that dude talking about?’  —  A former CIA operative on Tuesday slammed incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer for saying there is “zero evidence” of Russian interference in last year's election.  —  “What the hell is that dude talking about?”

The Snapchat Presidency of Donald Trump  —  Normal leaders come up with policy proposals in a certain conventional way.  They gather their advisers around them and they debate alternatives — with briefing papers, intelligence briefings and implementation strategies.  —  Donald Trump doesn't do that.

The Champions of the 401(k) Lament the Revolution They Started  —  The dominant vehicle for retirement savings has fallen short of its early backers' rosy expectations; longer life spans, high fees and stock-market declines  —  Herbert Whitehouse was one of the first in the U.S. to suggest workers use a 401(k).

Schumer regime promises a sharp break from Reid  —  It's been hard to tell lately that Harry Reid and Joe Manchin even belong to the same party.  When Reid attacked Donald Trump after the election, Manchin called his own party leader an “absolute embarrassment”; Reid fired back that Manchin was just …

Hitler's ‘Mein Kampf’ becomes German bestseller  —  Berlin (AFP) - The first reprint of Adolf Hitler's “Mein Kampf” in Germany since World War II has proved a surprise bestseller, heading for its sixth print run, its publisher said Tuesday.  —  The Institute of Contemporary History of Munich …

GM defends practices after Trump tweet  —  General Motors defended its business practices on Tuesday after President-elect Donald Trump  —  ripped the carmaker for making cars in Mexico and sending them back to the United States.  —  GM, the nation's biggest automaker …

The media's hypocrisy and hyperventilating in the age of Trump  —  Facts are stubborn things.  Unfortunately in the age of Twitter journalism, too many reporters find such details to be both onerous and optional.  —  This past week, I met twice with President-elect Donald Trump attempting to secure an interview for inauguration week.

New date for Trump's press conference: January 11  —  Press secretary Josh Earnest's advice for his successor Sean Spicer  —  Presidents-elect normally answer questions at a press conference a few days after the election.  But Donald Trump has gone almost two months without holding one.

The 2018 midterms are nearly two years away.  Start paying attention now.  —  When 2009 began, the Republican Party looked like a smoking pile of rubble.  The GOP had lost the presidency, and much of their outgoing president's legacy seemed set to be reversed.  They had fallen into the minority in both houses of Congress.

Why Tillerson and Perry may fuel the uranium, nuclear sectors  —  In a world anxious about notable political shakeups, but hopeful about new paths for public policies both here at home and abroad, the U.S. nuclear sector may be reenergized under President-Elect Trump through his nomination of Rex Tillerson …

Bruce Springsteen questions Donald Trump's competence  —  Bruce Springsteen has been candid about his dislike for President-elect Donald Trump before, and the “Born to Run” singer talked at length about his feelings on the upcoming presidency on a new episode of Marc Maron's WTF podcast.