The standoff between Trump and Sessions escalates … The public standoff between the White House and the nation's senior law enforcement official took another strange turn Tuesday as President Trump escalated his verbal attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who was urged by fellow conservatives to stand his ground.

There Is No End to the Lies  —  Republican senators vowed not to consider Obamacare repeal without a satisfactory replacement, and yet, that is exactly what they're doing now.  —  The reckless Republican decision to begin a chaotic Senate floor fight over the future of health care in America …

Many Republicans Doubt Clinton Won Popular Vote  —  A plurality of Republicans say President Donald Trump received more of the popular vote in 2016 than his Democratic rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  —  According to a new Morning Consult/POLITICO poll …

Wasserman Schultz aide arrested trying to leave the country  —  Imran Awan, a House staffer at the center of a criminal investigation potentially impacting dozens of Democratic lawmakers, has been arrested on bank fraud and is prevented from leaving the country while the charges are pending.

Russia Warns of ‘Painful’ Response If Trump Backs U.S. Sanctions  —  U.S. measures leave no room for better relations, Ryabkov says  —  Russia readying economic, political retaliation, senator says  —  Russia threatened to retaliate against new sanctions passed by the U.S. House of Representatives …

U.S. energy secretary duped into fake interview with Russian comedians  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry optimistically discussed expanding American coal exports to Ukraine and other energy matters during a lengthy phone call this month with a Russian prankster who Perry thought was Ukraine's prime minister.

To America, It Looks Like Chaos.  For Trump, It's Just Tuesday.  —  It started Monday morning with Donald Trump calling his own attorney general “beleaguered.”  It continued with an Air Force One flight to West Virginia and a rambling, partisan speech to thousands of hollering Boy Scouts.

Trump Finds Reason for the U.S. to Remain in Afghanistan: Minerals  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump, searching for a reason to keep the United States in Afghanistan after 16 years of war, has latched on to a prospect that tantalized previous administrations: Afghanistan's vast mineral wealth …

Sec. of State Tillerson ‘taking a little time off’ but not resigning  —  1.6k Shares  —  Rex Tillerson has no plans to resign as Secretary of State and is “just taking a little time off,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Tuesday amid reports Tillerson was considering stepping down.

Trump makes ‘presidential’ pitch at Ohio rally  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump returned to the campaign stage Tuesday, holding a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, where he defended his unconventional approach as necessary to change the country for the better.

Why the Scariest Nuclear Threat May Be Coming from Inside the White House  —  Donald Trump's secretary of energy, Rick Perry, once campaigned to abolish the $30 billion agency that he now runs, which oversees everything from our nuclear arsenal to the electrical grid.  The department's budget is now on the chopping block.

Senators on hot mic: Trump is ‘crazy,’ 'I'm worried'  —  At the end of a Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday morning, Chairman Susan Collins (R-Maine) didn't switch off her microphone.  Apparently speaking to Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the ranking Democrat of the committee …

As Interior Secretary Swaggers Through Parks, His Staff Rolls Back Regulations  —  WASHINGTON — Ryan Zinke, a former member of the Navy SEALs and lifelong Montana outdoorsman who now heads the Interior Department, loves to compare himself to Theodore Roosevelt, the father of American conservation.