Senate health-care draft repeals Obamacare taxes, provides bigger subsidies for low-income Americans than House bill  —  Senate leaders on Wednesday were putting the final touches on legislation that would reshape a big piece of the U.S. health-care system by dramatically rolling back Medicaid …

Pelosi faces growing doubts among Dems after Georgia loss  —  House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats put a brave face on Wednesday morning after a disappointing loss in the Georgia special election, yet there is no disguising the unhappiness in the party ranks.

Intel chiefs tell investigators Trump suggested they refute collusion with Russians  — Coats and Rogers said interactions with Trump about the Russia investigation were odd, uncomfortable  —  (CNN)Two of the nation's top intelligence officials told Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team …

Trump Turns an Iowa Rally Into a Venting Session  —  CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — President Trump said on Wednesday that he was crafting legislation to bar new immigrants from receiving welfare for at least five years.  He announced the proposal in a conquering-hero-returns speech in Iowa …

Trumps suggests creating law that has been enacted since 1996  —  President Trump in a rally on Wednesday evening said immigrants who enter the United States should not be eligible for welfare benefits for five years, though such a law has already existed for 20 years.

Jon Ossoff spent six times more than Karen Handel but complains about ‘money in politics’  —  Down south in Georgia last night, a woman overcame the odds to win a seat in Congress and prove that money can't always buy elections.  Unfortunately for Democrats, that underdog named Karen Handel is a Republican.

FBI Fired Sebastian Gorka for Anti-Muslim Diatribes … The inflammatory pundit Sebastian Gorka worked for the FBI while he was a paid consultant to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, lecturing bureau employees on counterterrorism issues.  —  Until the FBI terminated Gorka for his over-the-top Islamophobic rhetoric.

Trump appointee is a Saudi government lobbyist  —  Richard Hohlt earning six figures from kingdom bent on influencing Trump  —  President Donald Trump talks with Saudi King Salman as they pose for photos with leaders at the Arab Islamic American Summit, at the King Abdulaziz Conference Center …

Judiciary Committee to continue Russia probe after Mueller meeting  —  Top members of the Judiciary Committee indicated Wednesday that they will move forward with their own investigation into Russia's election meddling, after meeting with special counsel Robert Mueller.

Op-Ed The case for restricting hate speech  —  Members of the Westboro Baptist Church picket in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on Oct. 6, 2010.  (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)  —  As a sociologist and legal scholar, I struggle to explain the boundaries of free speech to undergraduates.

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Tom Cotton Intern Calls British ‘Faggots’ and Paul Ryan a ‘Cuck’ in Audio Recording  —  GOP Senator Tom Cotton's intern is not shy about spouting off incendiary comments, as the young Republican calls Speaker Paul Ryan “a cuck” and the British “faggots.”

Spicer: Publicity-Hungry Reporters Want to ‘Become YouTube Stars’  —  White House press secretary defends use of off-camera briefings to prioritize ‘substantive discussions’  —  White House press secretary Sean Spicer pushed back on reporters' complaints that on-camera news briefings have been limited …

White House Tries to Get G.O.P. to Water Down Russia Sanctions Bill  —  WASHINGTON — The White House is quietly lobbying House Republicans to weaken a bill overwhelmingly passed by the Senate last week that would slap tough new sanctions on Russia for its meddling in the 2016 election …

Woman demanding white doctor ‘not an isolated incident,’ says OMA's president-elect  —  ‘When someone accuses you that way or treats you that way you feel like an alien,’ says Dr. Nadia Alam  —  A woman who demanded that a “white doctor” treat her son at a walk-in clinic in Mississauga …

ISIS Destroys Al Nuri Mosque, Another Loss for Mosul  —  BAGHDAD — As the bloody battle to retake Mosul from the Islamic State ground on for months, with losses in lives and infrastructure piling up, soldiers and civilians kept in their minds an image of what victory would look like …

Not quite half of American teens have had sex by 18.  That's actually low.  —  American teens may be becoming more conservative about sex.  —  According to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report reflecting data from 2011 to 2015, about 42 percent of girls and about 44 percent …

A Bunch Of CIA Staff Got Fired For Stealing Snacks From Vending Machines  —  The group of employees shared a vending machine hack to steal more than $3,000 in snacks.  —  Several CIA contractors were kicked out of the agency for stealing more than $3,000 in snacks from vending machines …

Priebus keeps tight grip on the RNC  —  President Donald Trump's embattled chief of staff, Reince Priebus, has been keeping an unusually tight grip on the Republican National Committee even while internal turmoil and a stalled legislative agenda have left his full-time job in peril.

The GOP's Suburban Nightmare  —  Surveying the Democratic wreckage after a disastrous 1952 campaign, Robert Taft, the typically taciturn Ohio Republican senator, made a bold prediction about the opposition.  “The Democratic Party,” the one-time Senate majority leader asserted …