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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

‘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 …

CNN Poll: Nearly seven in 10 judge Congress a failure so far  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  — Approval of the current Republican leaders in Congress has dropped from 39% in January to just 24% now  — 68% of Americans judge the GOP Congress a failure so far after last month's repeal and replace plan died

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.