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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

Ex-Trump staffers reveal love child after campaign trail sex scandal  —  The very first sex scandal of Donald Trump's presidency has just resulted in the birth of a love child.  —  Married former White House communications director Jason Miller has fathered a son with Trump transition adviser …

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

Taylor Swift testifies that groping was ‘horrifying and shocking’  —  Denver (CNN)Pop star Taylor Swift delivered firm, even snarky testimony in a civil trial on Thursday in describing a “horrifying and shocking” June 2013 incident when a former radio DJ intentionally groped her.

Gulf Government Gave Secret $20 Million Gift To D.C. Think Tank  —  The United Arab Emirates is on pace to contribute $20 million over the course of 2016 and 2017 to the Middle East Institute, one of Washington's leading think tanks, according to a document obtained by The Intercept.

Stop Equating “Science” With Truth  —  Evolutionary psychology is just the most obvious example of science's flaws.  —  It's 2017, and people are still debating whether or not women are intellectually inferior to men, and whether we are entitled to a workplace that isn't toxic to people simply based on their gender and sex.

More drama in Trumpland: Gorka publicly shuns Tillerson's effort to scale back North Korea red line  —  Sebastian Gorka suggests that the secretary of state was out of his element.

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.

Inside the White House's struggle to find a new communications director … President Trump's team has struggled to find candidates willing to take over the White House press shop after observing months of upheaval, the departures of two successive communications directors and the president's refusal …

McCAIN CALLS FOR NEW STRATEGY FOR AFGHANISTAN  —  Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today announced an amendment he has filed to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 (NDAA) that offers a new strategy for success for the ongoing war in Afghanistan.

‘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 …