Behind closed doors, Republican lawmakers fret about how to repeal Obamacare  —  PHILADELPHIA — Republican lawmakers aired sharp concerns about their party's quick push to repeal the Affordable Care Act inside a closed-door meeting Thursday, according to a recording of the session obtained by The Washington Post.

Trump's First Week: Governing Without a Script  —  The new president seems to be running his administration much like he ran his company and campaign, eager to weigh in on every issue and willing to make last-minute calls  —  A directive to revive two controversial oil pipelines awaited …

Trump Orders Suspension of All Refugees, Immigrants From Some Muslim Nations  —  President Donald Trump made good on his campaign promises for “extreme vetting” Friday afternoon, signing an executive memorandum that makes sweeping changes to U.S. refugee and immigration policy the White House …

Brody File Exclusive: President Trump Says Persecuted Christians Will Be Given Priority As Refugees  —  In an exclusive interview with The Brody File, President Donald Trump says persecuted Christians will be given priority when it comes to applying for refugee status in the United States.

Trump fails to mention Jews in Holocaust remembrance statement  —  In a departure from predecessors on both sides of the political aisle, President Trump's statement Friday marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day did not mention the deaths of six million Jews — a lapse the head …

Donald Trump Blows Up the U.S.-Mexico Relationship  —  Since Ronald Reagan was first elected, in 1980, every new American President has met with his Mexican counterpart shortly after winning the White House.  Reagan travelled to Mexico before his swearing in and welcomed Mexican President …

Reversing course, Trump administration will continue Obamacare outreach  —  The Trump administration has reversed plans to scrap all Obamacare outreach in the finals days of the law's enrollment period, a day after the move sparked outcry from the law's supporters and health insurers.

Calexit backers can begin collecting signatures to qualify for 2018 ballot  —  Backers of a proposed constitutional amendment seeking California's secession from the U.S. can begin collecting voter signatures to qualify for the 2018 ballot, the secretary of state's office said Thursday.

No, the White House didn't Photoshop an image of the president's hand  —  Dana Schwartz, a writer for the New York Observer, claimed to have noticed something interesting about one of the photos displayed during President Trump's interview with ABC News that aired this week.

How Author Timothy Tyson Found the Woman at the Center of the Emmett Till Case  —  With a renewed cultural interest in the 1955 murder that catalyzed the 20th century civil rights movement, an interview with the author of a new book who tracked down the long-hidden woman at its center.

McConnell to Trump: Do not lift sanctions on Russia  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan are drawing a hard line against easing sanctions on Russia, issuing stern warnings ahead of President Donald Trump's first official communication with Vladimir Putin since his inauguration last week.

McConnell all but rules out filibuster change  —  (R-Ky.) on Friday all but ruled out the possibility of a change to the filibuster rule this year.  —  McConnell made his comment in an interview with The Hill one day after President Trump said he wants Senate Republicans to strip Democrats …

The end of Sarah Palin is here … Remember how former Alaska governor Sarah Palin was going to use her political celebrity to build an army of like-minded politicians via her political action committee?  —  Yeah, not so much.  —  Michael Beckel of the Center for Public Integrity flagged for me this news …

Huge shakeup at ‘Today’ to make way for Megyn Kelly  —  More On:  —  NBC is canceling the third hour of “Today” to make way for new star Megyn Kelly, sources exclusively confirm to Page Six.  —  We're told Kelly will take over either the 9 a.m. hour from Tamron Hall and Al Roker or will replace Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford.

Melania Trump wins round in libel suit over blogger's ‘escort’ claims  —  First lady Melania Trump prevailed Friday in the first round of a $150 million libel suit she filed against a Maryland blogger over a report he published last summer about claims that Trump worked as a “high-end escort.”

Mikhail Gorbachev: ‘It All Looks as if the World Is Preparing for War’  —  Mikhail Gorbachev was the president of the Soviet Union and is the author of The New Russia.  —  The world today is overwhelmed with problems.  Policymakers seem to be confused and at a loss.

Orwell's “1984” and Trump's America  —  I have, I'm afraid, a terrible confession to make: I have never been a huge fan of George Orwell's “1984.”  It always seemed, in its extrapolations from present to future, too pat, a little lacking in the imaginative extrapolations we want from dystopian literature.