In a new poll, half of Republicans say they would support postponing the 2020 election if Trump proposed it  —  Critics of President Trump have repeatedly warned of his potential to undermine American democracy.  Among the concerns are his repeated assertions that he would have won …

More drama in Trumpland: Gorka publicly shuns Tillerson's effort to scale back North Korea red line  —  For those worried that President Trump might get into nuclear war with North Korea, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson provided some solace Wednesday.  “Americans should sleep well at night …

With Bank Subpoenas, Mueller Turns Up the Heat on Manafort  —  Investigators seek account records linked to Trump ex-adviser  —  Special counsel pressuring Manafort's son-in-law, associates  —  Follow @bpolitics for all the latest news, and sign up for our daily Balance of Power newsletter.

Judge orders new searches for Clinton Benghazi emails  —  Nine months after the presidential election was decided, a federal judge is ordering the State Department to try again to find emails Hillary Clinton wrote about the Benghazi attack.  —  U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled …

Study: Trump actions trigger health premium hikes for 2018  —  https://apnews.com/cc6b335865e24a4b843d c0e2c4cc6c7a  —  Link copied!  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's own actions are triggering double-digit premium increases on individual health insurance policies purchased …

Sebastian Gorka, the West Wing's Phony Foreign-Policy Guru  —  Gorka's a former Breitbart editor with Islamophobic views and ties to neo-Nazi extremists - and he has the ear of the president  —  The Breitbart News headline, back in November 2014, rang like a five-alarm fire bell: MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD OVERRUNS NATIONAL CATHEDRAL IN DC.

U.S. Ambassador Haley Loses Two Key Aides at United Nations  —  Chief of staff and communications director both resigned  —  Haley said on Twitter the men were leaving for family reasons  —  U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has lost two of her top aides …

White House Watch: Is Trump Preparing to Leave the Republican Party?  —  The president's latest fight with Mitch McConnell sure looks like he's laying the predicate to abandon the GOP.  —  President Donald Trump is inching closer to abandoning the Republican party, even as the GOP …

Trump pick Sam Clovis stoked birther conspiracy, called Eric Holder a ‘racist black’  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  (CNN)Sam Clovis, Donald Trump's pick to be chief scientist for the Department of Agriculture, pushed unfounded theories about then-President Barack Obama's upbringing and called …

The Democratic Party's Looming Fundraising Crisis  —  Halfway through Year One of the Trump presidency, the Democratic base is energized.  Its voters are showing up at rallies, crowding town hall forums, self-organizing into local groups and scaring Republican incumbents …

West Virginia Gov. Justice Asks Trump for $4.5 Billion to Save Eastern Coal  —  Miners in Western states say proposal goes against free market principles  —  West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is asking President Donald Trump to extend his support for the coal industry by providing some $4.5 billion …

Bill O'Reilly set to make first appearance on CNN  —  Throughout his reign as the undisputed king of cable news, Bill O'Reilly was synonymous with the Fox News Channel.  But next month, O'Reilly is set to make an unprecedented visit to one of Fox's rivals when he sits down for an interview with CNN's Michael Smerconish.

‘The perfect Alabama candidate’: Republicans warm to Vladimir Putin - video  —  Vladimir Putin's favorability ratings have tripled among Americans in recent years - and the polls say he's most popular among Republicans.  To find out why, Paul Lewis travels to deeply conservative Alabama …

Republicans limiting early voting in Marion County, letting it bloom in suburbs  —  Absentee voting in Hamilton County grew in 2016 with the addition of early polling places.  Why was Marion County limited to just one?  Stephen J. Beard / IndyStar  —  CONNECT

Blowback from staffer scandal burns Wasserman Schultz  —  The chatter about a House leadership post is gone.  So is talk of statewide office.  After Hillary Clinton's defeat, there's no prospect of an administration job for Debbie Wasserman Schultz.  —  One year after the Florida …

DNC Hack As Inside Job?  —  The Nation, hardly a bastion of right-wing conspiracists, picks up the story that the alleged Russian hack of the DNC was in fact an inside job.  This notion has percolated on the right for a while but now the Democracy Dies In Darkness crowd will need a bigger pillow.

Did Cuba launch acoustic attack on U.S. diplomats?  —  WASHINGTON — The two-year-old U.S. diplomatic relationship with Cuba was roiled Wednesday by what U.S. officials say was a string of bizarre incidents that left a group of American diplomats in Havana with severe hearing loss attributed to a covert sonic device.

The ‘No-Nonsense’ Judge Who Could Decide Trump's Fate … Robert Mueller may be the face of the independent investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. election, but a cybersecurity wonk on the federal bench may help decide Trump & Co.'s fate.  —  Behind the scenes, Beryl Howell is in a position to make pivotal decisions.

2016 confirmed as planet's hottest year  —  Last year was Earth's warmest on record, according to an international climate report issued Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that documents other record-breaking global warming trends of 2016.