CNN/ORC Poll: Confidence drops in Trump transition  —  Washington (CNN)Donald Trump will become president Friday with an approval rating of just 40%, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll, the lowest of any recent president and 44 points below that of President Barack Obama, the 44th president.

Putin Says Doesn't Believe Trump Met Prostitutes in Russia  —  Attacks on Trump seek to undermine election result, Putin says  —  Unsubstantiated claims are ‘obvious fabrications,’ Putin says  —  Russian President Vladimir Putin said he doesn't believe that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump met …

How Repealing Portions of the Affordable Care Act Would Affect Health Insurance Coverage and Premiums  —  CBO reports on the estimated changes in health insurance coverage and premiums that would result from leaving the Affordable Care Act's insurance market reforms in place while repealing the law's mandate penalties and subsidies.

‘He Is Going to Test Our Democracy as It Has Never Been Tested’  —  Sometime early last fall, John Dean says he began having nightmares about a Trump presidency.  He would wake in the middle of the night, agitated and alarmed, struggling to calm his nerves.

LePage: Chellie Pingree should resign, John Lewis should thank white presidents  —  Republican Gov. Paul LePage had tough words Tuesday morning for Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree regarding her decision to skip President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday.

DisruptJ20 Releases Statement on Project Veritas Video — January 16, 2017  —  Contact: Lacy MacAuley, (202) 815-0288, lacymacauley@gmail.com  —  Legba Carrefour, (202) 297-4511, media@disruptj20.org  —  DisruptJ20 Releases Statement on Project Veritas Video

First on CNN: Trump's cabinet pick invested in company, then introduced a bill to help it  —  Tom Price in 60 seconds Story highlights  —  Washington (CNN)Rep. Tom Price last year purchased shares in a medical device manufacturer days before introducing legislation that would have directly benefited …

CIA Director John Brennan Rejects Donald Trump's Criticism  —  Outgoing CIA Director John Brennan rejected Donald Trump's suggestions that he may have leaked an unsubstantiated dossier on the president-elect while defending the U.S. intelligence community more broadly.

Lifelong Woodmont Country Club member resigns over Obama golf controversy  —  The mayor of a tony Maryland suburb resigned from a prominent golf club on Monday because the club might not welcome President Obama as a member.  —  Jeffrey Slavin, the mayor of the Montgomery County town of Somerset …

In ‘Brexit’ Speech, Theresa May Outlines a Clean Break for U.K.  —  LONDON — In a speech that holds the potential to define Britain's relations with its neighbors for decades to come, Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday charted a course toward a clean break with the European Union …

The Most Successful Democrat Since F.D.R.  —  When Barack Obama ran for president in 2008, he understood, without quite saying it, that there had been no highly successful Democratic president in decades.  —  Bill Clinton made the country a better place, but his biggest legislative plans failed and he was beset by scandal.

The Daily 202: Monica Crowley losing White House job shows that the rules of politics still apply for Donald Trump  —  THE BIG IDEA: Donald Trump and his team believe that the rules and norms of Washington do not apply to them.  They are wrong, and yesterday brought a significant proof point.

More Than 40 Democratic Lawmakers Are Boycotting Trump's Inauguration  —  The number of Democratic lawmakers refusing to attend Donald Trump's inauguration jumped significantly on Monday, with 42 House Democrats now planning to boycott Friday's ceremony, according to the Washington Post.

Betsy DeVos Wants to Use America's Schools to Build “God's Kingdom”  —  It's Christmastime in Holland, Michigan, and the northerly winds from Lake Macatawa bring a merciless chill to the small city covered in deep snow.  The sparkly lights on the trees in downtown luxury storefronts illuminate …

Trump Warns on House Republican Tax Plan  —  Donald Trump criticized a cornerstone of House Republicans' corporate-tax plan, which they had pitched as an alternative to his proposed import tariffs, creating another point of contention between the incoming president and congressional allies.

Scalpers taking losses on tickets to Trump inauguration, as secondary market interest on the mogul's swear-in wanes  —  Donald Trump will take office as one of the most unpopular President-elects in recent history — and even scalpers are feeling the pain.  —  Some flippers …