Sources: Trump will ask Congress, not Mexico, to pay for border wall  — The Trump transition team says he his preference is to fund the border wall through the appropriations process  — The move would break a key campaign promise when Trump promised to force Mexico to pay for the wall

U.S. intercepts capture senior Russian officials celebrating Trump win  —  Senior officials in the Russian government celebrated Donald Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton as a geopolitical win for Moscow, according to U.S. officials who said that American intelligence agencies intercepted communications …

President Obama Talks Race Relations, Calls Alleged Hate Crime in Facebook Video ‘Terrible’  —  President Obama said “we appear to have seen” a hate crime in the alleged attack on a Chicago man captured on Facebook.  —  “It's terrible,” the president said about the incident, during an interview with ABC affiliate WLS in Chicago.

Former CIA director James Woolsey quits Trump transition team  —  Former CIA director R. James Woolsey Jr., a veteran of four presidential administrations and one of the nation's leading intelligence experts, resigned Thursday from President-elect Donald Trump's transition team …

In Break With Precedent, Obama Envoys Are Denied Extensions Past Inauguration Day  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump's transition staff has issued a blanket edict requiring politically appointed ambassadors to leave their overseas posts by Inauguration Day …

Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump Tangled Over Hair, ‘P*ssy’  —  Just days after the departure of host Megyn Kelly from Fox News, the network replaced one of its few Trump skeptics with Tucker Carlson, an unabashed booster of the president-elect.  —  But Carlson—who recently compared …

House Republicans revive obscure rule that could allow them to slash the pay of individual federal workers to $1  —  House Republicans this week reinstated an arcane procedural rule that enables lawmakers to reach deep into the budget and slash the pay of an individual federal worker …

FBI: DNC rebuffed request to examine computer servers  —  Clapper: Russia hacks a multi-faceted campaign  —  Washington (CNN)The Democratic National Committee “rebuffed” a request from the FBI to examine its computer services after it was allegedly hacked by Russia during the 2016 election …

Trump's Debts Are Widely Held on Wall Street, Creating New Potential Conflicts  —  More than 150 financial institutions hold debts connected to president-elect, analysis shows  —  The debts of President-elect Donald Trump and his businesses are scattered across Wall Street banks …

Dan Coats Expected to Be Named Intelligence Director  —  Retired Senator Dan Coats of Indiana is expected to be named director of national intelligence.  —  Trump Toyota tweet has Republicans and allies divided over import tariffs.  —  Anti-Trump lawyers have one more Hail Mary to stop a President Donald J. Trump.

Trump makes calls against Kasich's pick for Ohio GOP chair  —  COLUMBUS - On Friday, President-elect Donald Trump and Gov. John Kasich will face off in their latest battle for the hearts and minds of Ohio Republicans — and Trump himself on Thursday entered the fray.

‘Grow up, Donald... Time to be an adult,’ Biden says in PBS NewsHour interview  —  Vice President Joe Biden urged Donald Trump to “grow up” on Thursday, criticizing the incoming president's attacks on the U.S. intelligence community and his grasp of health care policy, which is now up for debate …

Trump's Twitter feed traumatizes Washington  —  Donald Trump's unique, chaos theory of presidential communications is upending Washington, leaving lawmakers, government officials and lobbyists aghast that they are beholden to a single leader's whims, not to mention the uncertainty about his true thoughts and intentions.

Democratic lawmakers considering challenge to Trump's Electoral College victory  —  Several House Democrats are weighing a formal challenge to Donald Trump's election on Friday, when Congress meets in joint session to certify Trump's Electoral College victory.

The Health Care Plan Trump Voters Really Want  —  This week Republicans in Congress began their effort to repeal and potentially replace the Affordable Care Act.  But after listening to working-class supporters of Donald J. Trump — people who are enrolled in the very health care marketplaces created …

Trump's Systematic Attack on U.S. Institutions  —  There is no T-E-A-M in “I.”  —  This was the obvious lesson as Donald Trump sold out House Republicans this week.  GOP members had sought to quietly defang an anti-corruption watchdog office.  After angry constituents phoned House offices …

KING: Stop using the attack on a mentally challenged white man in Chicago to promote a racist agenda against Black Lives Matter  —  In Chicago, at least four young black men and women did something truly awful.  On a damn Facebook Live video made public Wednesday, they allegedly kidnapped …

Less shrinkage: This is your aging brain on the Mediterranean diet  —  The study looked at a group of 562 Scots in their 70s over a three-year period.  Those whose eating habits resembled the diet experienced, on average, half the brain shrinkage that was normal for the group.  (Jan. 5, 2017)