‘Learning Curve’ as Rick Perry Pursues a Job He Initially Misunderstood  —  WASHINGTON — When President-elect Donald J. Trump offered Rick Perry the job of energy secretary five weeks ago, Mr. Perry gladly accepted, believing he was taking on a role as a global ambassador for the American oil …

Trump to announce Sonny Perdue for Agriculture  —  President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to be the next Agriculture secretary, transition officials have informed POLITICO, making a pick that's likely to please farm groups while angering those who have called for more diversity in his Cabinet.

FBI, 5 other agencies probe possible covert Kremlin aid to Trump  —  WASHINGTON  —  The FBI and five other law enforcement and intelligence agencies have collaborated for months in an investigation into Russian attempts to influence the November election, including whether money …

At Dinner Honoring Mike Pence, Donald Trump Touches Many Bases  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald J. Trump, in a free-flowing speech Wednesday evening at a dinner honoring his running mate, Mike Pence, jabbed at his new Republican allies and his critics alike, questioned the ethics of …

Is Donald Trump Writing His Inaugural Address from a Mar-a-Lago Receptionist's Desk?  An Investigation … As tends to be the case with the president-elect's social-media statements, there is much to discuss.  First, there's the fact that Trump seems to be drafting his first speech as POTUS with a ... Sharpie.

Ash Carter: I don't support commuting Chelsea Manning's sentence  —  Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday that he did not support the move by President Barack Obama to commute the sentence of Army Pvt. Chelsea Manning.  —  “All I'll say about the Manning case is I did not support …

From Headline to Photograph, a Fake News Masterpiece  —  ANNAPOLIS, Md. — It was early fall, and Donald J. Trump, behind in the polls, seemed to be preparing a rationale in case a winner like him somehow managed to lose.  “I'm afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest …

Trump Cabinet nominees meet growing ethical questions  —  Three of Donald Trump's Cabinet picks came under growing fire Wednesday on ethical issues, potentially jeopardizing their nominations.  —  The most serious concerns surround personal investments by Trump's health and human services nominee …

McCain still ‘very concerned’ about Tillerson  —  Rex Tillerson's nomination is still up in the air.  —  John McCain said on Wednesday evening that he remains undecided about supporting the secretary of state hopeful's nomination, an adjustment from his stance earlier this week …

Democrats in the Wilderness  —  Standing with some 30,000 people in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia the night before the election watching Hillary Clinton speak, exhausted aides were already worrying about what would come next.  They expected her to win, of course …

Trump's threat to the liberal ‘deep state’  —  One of the best books on American history, Arthur Schlesinger's “The Age of Jackson,” began with Jackson's inauguration, when the rowdy backwoodsmen who came to celebrate their hero's triumph frightened the horses and shocked the locals.

Trump is our president: Jonathan Turley  —  In the end, the protests are not about legitimacy.  —  It is inaugural week and Washington is again the rallying point for hundreds of thousands of people.  Indeed, my house in McLean, Virginia is hosting roughly a dozen people from Illinois and Florida.

Trump's nuclear wake-up call  —  By the time he is sworn in tomorrow, Donald Trump will have undergone a haunting rite of passage: the classified briefing given to every incoming president that explains how he can order a nuclear attack.  —  While neither U.S. nor Trump officials would confirm …

Why liberals just love to set terrorists free  —  What is it about progressives like President Obama — and even pretend progressives like Gov. Cuomo — that makes them so forgiving of terrorists?  —  Obama, on his way out the door, Tuesday commuted the effective life sentence …

Caitlyn Jenner is attending the inauguration  —  President-elect Donald Trump is being urged by some advisers to save at least one dance, as he celebrates his inauguration on Friday night, for a very special Republican lady — Caitlyn Jenner.  —  “It's a brilliant idea,” a member of the incoming administration told me.

Comey ‘enthusiastic’ about Bill Clinton probe in 2001, FBI memo says  —  FBI Director James Comey—blamed by many Democrats for costing Hillary Clinton the presidential election last year—was excited about pursuing a criminal investigation into President Bill Clinton's most controversial pardons …

McConnell breaks with Trump on NATO  —  Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell  —  (R-Ky.) broke with President-elect Donald Trump  —  's position on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Wednesday, calling Russia “a big problem” in an interview with McClatchy.