Cooper withdraws from solicitor general consideration  —  Chuck Cooper, the conservative Supreme Court litigator, is withdrawing his name from consideration to be the next solicitor general, opening the door for the husband of Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway to be appointed to the role.

Court Refuses to Reinstate Travel Ban, Dealing Trump Another Legal Loss  —  WASHINGTON — A three-judge federal appeals panel on Thursday unanimously refused to reinstate President Trump's targeted travel ban, delivering the latest and most stinging judicial rebuke to his effort …

Exclusive: In call with Putin, Trump denounced Obama-era nuclear arms treaty - sources  —  In his first call as president with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump denounced a treaty that caps U.S. and Russian deployment of nuclear warheads as a bad deal for the United States …

CNN host Chris Cuomo says ‘fake news’ insult is ‘equivalent of the n-word for journalists’  —  CNN host Chris Cuomo said on Thursday that he believes hurling the “fake news” insult at journalists is similar to when individuals use racial slurs against minorities.

Secrecy surrounds White House cybersecurity staff shakeup  —  The Obama-appointed chief information security officer was charged with keeping the president and his staff safe from cyber-threats posed by hackers and nation-state attackers.  —  The chief information security officer …

Gorsuch's Trump criticism might help his confirmation chances  —  Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch's surprise admission in a private meeting that he was “disheartened” and “demoralized” over President Donald Trump's attacks on the judiciary appeared carefully choreographed to demonstrate his independence from the person who chose him.

John McCain's brutal rejoinder to Sean Spicer  —  Donald Trump took on Sen. John McCain's status as a war hero and won the GOP nomination anyway.  —  Sean Spicer took on John McCain's expertise on military matters and got this: … The White House press secretary took an extraordinary position Wednesday …

Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus Want You to Know They Are Friends  —  “We're just finishing,” Steve Bannon told me.  “Reince is giving me my daily back massage.”  —  The two men burst into a fit of conspiratorial laughter.  —  “Off the record!”  Reince Priebus said.  —  “Off the record!”

The most disproportionately common injury in every state  —  What can medical codes tell us about getting hurt in America?  —  Every time you go to the doctor, your diagnosis is recorded as a medical code.  They're notoriously complicated—more than 3,000 ICD codes are used just to describe physical injuries.

Exclusive - Trump border ‘wall’ to cost $21.6 billion, take 3.5 years to build: internal report  —  President Donald Trump's “wall” along the U.S.-Mexico border would be a series of fences and walls that would cost as much as $21.6 billion, and take more than three years to construct …

California Farmers Backed Trump, but Now Fear Losing Field Workers  —  MERCED, Calif. — Jeff Marchini and others in the Central Valley here bet their farms on the election of Donald J. Trump.  His message of reducing regulations and taxes appealed to this Republican stronghold …

Trump: ‘Phenomenal’ Tax Cut Package Coming in 2-3 Weeks  —  'We're going to be announcing something I would say over the next two or three weeks that will be phenomenal'  —  President Trump to his conservative critics: I read you loud and clear!  —  After coming under criticism from many on the right …

STEVE BOOM, 48  —  Amazon founder Jeff Bezos would make almost any list of the world's most powerful people.  In retail, he's clearly on top, and in tech, he's close to it.  In book publishing, he would be the undisputed No. 1 for 10 years running.  In addition to a $65 billion stake in Amazon …

Trump to pay for Abe's Mar-a-Lago visit  —  President Donald Trump will personally foot the bill for the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort this weekend, a senior administration official said.  —  The trip will take place after Abe and Trump hold meetings at the White House on Friday.

“Great News!”:  White Nationalists See Sessions' Attorney General Confirmation As Major Step Toward Achieving Their Racist Goals  —  Jeff Sessions Confirmed By U.S. Senate For Attorney General Post  —  Sessions Confirmed On “A Near-Party-Line Vote.”  Jeff Sessions, who has served …

How We'll Stop a Rogue Federal Agency  —  Congress can defund Elizabeth Warren's unaccountable and unconstitutional CFPB.

Inside Chuck Schumer's Plan to Take on President Trump  —  Put Chuck Schumer and Donald Trump in a room together and you can't miss the connection.  They are the leaders of rival parties, sharp opponents on Twitter and in the press, but they live by the same words, as big and bold as the city that made them.

Democrat moves to force House debate on Trump's alleged business conflicts and Russia ties  —  BALTIMORE — In an escalation of Democratic efforts to highlight questions about President Trump's potential conflicts of interest and alleged ties to Russia, a senior House Democrat is dusting off …

Donald Trump's Cabinet Won't Include Chairman of CEA  —  The White House Council of Economic Advisers is being demoted by the Trump administration, which said in a statement Wednesday that the president's cabinet won't include the chairman of the CEA, an official that President Donald Trump also has yet to name.