Spicer searching for candidates to take over White House briefing  —  White House press secretary Sean Spicer is leading a search for his own replacement at the briefing room podium as part of a larger plan to shake up the White House communications operations, according to two people with knowledge of the effort.

Senate GOP Plans Health-Care Vote Next Week  —  Senate GOP leaders are planning to vote next week on legislation to repeal large chunks of the Affordable Care Act, even though they don't yet appear to have secured enough support to pass it.

GOP considers cancelling August recess to salvage agenda  —  Alarmed by the stalemate on healthcare reform, lack of progress on tax reform and appropriations bills that are far behind schedule, Republican lawmakers across Congress are increasingly willing to consider cancelling the month-long August recess.

The Daily 202: Congressional shooting clouds final days of Georgia special election  —  THE BIG IDEA:  —  JOHNS CREEK, Ga.—When Republican congressional candidate Karen Handel went table to table greeting patrons at Marlow's Tavern on Friday night, almost everyone asked her about the letters.

Megyn Kelly's Alex Jones interview got lots of attention, but not many viewers  —  Jones vs. Kelly: Battle between new and old media  —  Megyn Kelly's much talked about interview with Alex Jones got plenty of attention for Kelly and NBC, both good and bad, but not many viewers.

Otto Warmbier, American student detained in North Korea for 17 months, dies  —  Otto Warmbier, the American student who was imprisoned in North Korea for more than 17 months and was returned home to Ohio last week, has died, his family said Monday.  —  “It is our sad duty to report that our son …

A Muslim Teen Was Kidnapped And Murdered Outside A Virginia Mosque  —  A man has been charged with murder after police found the body believed to be that of 17-year-old Nabra Hassanen, who went missing after leaving a mosque this weekend.  Police said they currently had no information to indicate that this was a hate crime.

Russia to treat US jets in Syria as ‘targets’ after America guns down first regime warplane  —  Communication channel between Washington and Moscow to be suspended immediately  —  Russia has said it will treat US warplanes operating in parts of Syria where its air forces are present as …

Mother with knife killed by police was pregnant and had mental-health issues, family says  —  Seattle police on Sunday shot and killed a 30-year-old old woman who had called officers to report an attempted burglary and then displayed a knife, SPD said.  Police took three children from the home …

New Study Shows What Really Happened in the 2016 Election  —  The Democracy Fund Voter Study Group has a new survey of the electorate that explodes many of the myths that we believe about American politics.  Lee Drutman has a fascinating report delving into the data.

The Trump Administration Has A New Plan For Dealing With Russia  —  A classified document by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson lays out a new path for Russia and the US.  But does the president, weighed down by scandal and investigation, support it?  —  As the White House fends off accusations …

Three shootings in 8 hours.  Eight wounded.  Some tourists say they won't be back.  —  “Multiple people down!”  Bubba Hinson exclaimed as he live-streamed a video of what started as a mob stalling traffic, but turned into a mass shooting on Ocean Boulevard early Sunday morning.

Black Monday for the Climatistas  —  Most climatistas are going to call today “Black Monday,” because today has dealt a double-whammy of what Al Gore would call inconvenient news.  —  • First, an article out today in Nature Geoscience ponders the problem of why observed temperatures …

Let's Consider Secession  —  This past week has made me realize the situation in this country is unlikely to get better.  We have 320 million people who hate each other and the left shows no signs of toning down rhetoric after last week's mass assassination attempt.  If anything, too many of them regret there were no deaths.

Supreme Court unanimously reaffirms: There is no ‘hate speech’ exception to the First Amendment  —  From today's opinion by Justice Samuel Alito (for four justices) in Matal v. Tam, the “Slants” case: … Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote separately, also for four justices, but on this point the opinions agreed:

George W. Bush and Barack Obama Both Popular in Retirement  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Former President George W. Bush's national image continues to improve in his retirement, with his favorable rating rising seven percentage points over the past year to 59%.  This continues the fairly steady improvement …

GOP Data Firm Accidentally Leaks Personal Details of Nearly 200 Million American Voters  —  Political data gathered on more than 198 million US citizens was exposed this month after a marketing firm contracted by the Republican National Committee stored internal documents on a publicly accessible Amazon server.

A Top Presidential Public Defender Was Also a Twitter Critic  —  WASHINGTON — In April, Mark Corallo, the spokesman for President Trump's personal legal team, used Twitter to suggest — twice — that Vice President Mike Pence, not Mr. Trump, should be the Republican nominee for president in 2020.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry says CO2 is not the main driver of climate change  — Energy Secretary Rick Perry says he does not believe CO2 emissions from human activity are the primary driver of climate change.  — That view is at odds with the conclusions of the Environmental Protection Agency …