For Trump and Sessions, a warm beginning turned into an icy standoff  —  They met more than a decade ago, when the genteel junior senator from Alabama invited the brash real estate mogul to testify on Capitol Hill about the renovation of the United Nations.  Jeff Sessions was taken by Donald Trump …

Ivanka and Jared find their limits in Trump's White House  —  By one measurement, last week was a good one for Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.  —  President Donald Trump's daughter and son-in-law had been double-teaming for weeks to persuade him to oust chief of staff Reince Priebus …

Sen. Jeff Flake says Republican Party has “lost its way”  —  Sen. Jeff Flake says the Republican Party has “lost its way,” and is urging members to turn back to what he calls “traditional conservatism” — after a particularly contentious week in Washington.  —  “We've given in to nativism and protectionism.

NJ gov gets in Cubs fan's face: 'You're a big shot'  —  Brad Joseph says the governor made contact with him with his knee and asked if he wanted to ‘do something’ and ‘start something’  —  HIDE TRANSCRIPT SHOW TRANSCRIPT  —  MILWAUKEE —  New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie paused …

Dem campaign chief vows no litmus test on abortion  —  Democrats will not withhold financial support for candidates who oppose abortion rights, the chairman of the party's campaign arm in the House said in an interview with The Hill.  —  Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) …

RNC Tells Staff To Preserve All Documents Related To 2016 Campaign  —  Republican National Committee employees have been asked to preserve all documents related to last year's presidential campaign — a step RNC lawyers describe as precautionary, but necessary, as investigations continue into Russia's meddling in the election.

HBO hacked: Upcoming episodes, Game of Thrones data leaked online  —  HBO chairman: ‘Disruptive, unsettling, and disturbing for all of us’  —  HBO has joined the ranks of Hollywood entertainment companies to suffer a major cyber attack.  —  EW has learned that upcoming episodes …

Putin's Bet on a Trump Presidency Backfires Spectacularly  —  A little more than a year after the Russian effort to interfere in the American presidential election came to light, the diplomatic fallout — an unraveling of the relationship between Moscow and Washington on a scale not seen in decades — is taking its toll.

Ryan Zinke, Trump's Cowboy Enforcer, Is Ready for His Closeup  —  He raised eyebrows for his threats against Senator Lisa Murkowski after she voted to block the Republican health care bill; he raised ire for slashing Obama-era environmental protections.  And all the while, Ryan Zinke …

Who Ate Republicans' Brains?  —  When the tweeter-in-chief castigated Senate Republicans as “total quitters” for failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act, he couldn't have been more wrong.  In fact, they showed zombie-like relentlessness in their determination to take health care away …

McConnell wages war down South  —  Mitch McConnell is unleashing the full force of his political machine in an all-out push to stop two far-right conservatives who threaten to make his life miserable in the Senate.  —  The Republican leader is aiming to thwart Rep. Mo Brooks …

in Politics  —  The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Monday shows that 39% of Likely U.S. Voters approve of President Trump's job performance.  Sixty-one percent (61%) disapprove.  —  The latest figures for Trump include 26% who Strongly Approve of the way Trump is performing and 49% who Strongly Disapprove.

Blind woman banished to back pew with service dog  —  Why she said she was humiliated: … COLLEGE PARK, Ga. - The way Cynthia Coleman was treated at her new church made her feel like a leper, she said.  —  “They just left me no choice.  It was like, ‘either you move to that back pew or you leave their church,’” she recalled.

Sam Shepard, Pulitzer-Winning Playwright and Actor, Is Dead at 73  —  Sam Shepard, the celebrated avant-garde playwright and Oscar-nominated actor, died on Thursday at his home in Kentucky.  He was 73.  —  A spokesman for the Shepard family said the cause was complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

How the Trump Administration Broke the State Department  —  Morale has hit rock bottom at Foggy Bottom, as American foreign service officers languish and Rex Tillerson builds a mini-empire. … THE OFFICE FURNITURE STARTED APPEARING WEEKS AGO.  —  Employees at the State Department …

Six Hours of Chaos: A Wild Day Inside India's Overrun Courtrooms  —  With 30 million pending cases, the country's dysfunctional legal system is hobbling its emergence as a global economic power  —  ALLAHABAD, India—At India's largest courthouse one recent Thursday, the wheels of justice began their slow grind at 10 a.m.