The real reason Trump allies are attacking Mueller  —  President Donald Trump insists he's not going to fire Robert Mueller, but that's not stopping Republicans and others close to the president from orchestrating a relentless stream of attacks on the credibility and integrity of the special counsel and his team of Russia investigators.

Who are we as a country?  Time to decide: Sally Yates  —  Stand up and speak out on America's core founding values.  We are not living in ordinary times, and it's not enough to admire them from afar.  —  Over the course of our nation's history, we have faced inflection points …

‘Silicon Valley’ Star T.J. Miller Accused of Sexually Assaulting and Punching a Woman … Warning: This story includes graphic content.  —  An alleged victim of former Silicon Valley star T.J. Miller is coming forward with accusations that Miller hit and sexually assaulted her while in college.

Public opposition to tax bill grows as vote approaches  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  — Trump's 35% approval is a new low in CNN polling, below previous first-year presidents at this point  —  WASHINGTON (CNN)With the House of Representatives set to vote on the Republican tax reform bill Tuesday …

Heritage's New President  —  The Heritage Foundation Names Kay Coles James New President … The Heritage Foundation today announced Kay Coles James will become the sixth president in the think tank's 44-year history.  James will officially take over as president from founder Edwin J. Feulner on Jan. 1, 2018.

The Senate's Russia Investigation Is Now Looking Into Jill Stein, A Former Campaign Staffer Says  —  The Senate Intelligence Committee has asked Green Party candidate Jill Stein's campaign to turn over documents, a former employee says.  Stein is expected to release them publicly as well.

White House Blatantly Admits Trump Probably Didn't Read His Own National Security Strategy  —  Trump national security spokesman Michael Anton said he “can't say” whether the commander-in-chief of the world's most powerful military has read the 55-page document.

Trump talked about rescinding Gorsuch's nomination … For nearly eight months, President Trump has boasted that appointing Neil M. Gorsuch to the Supreme Court ranks high among his signature achievements.  —  But earlier this year, Trump talked about rescinding Gorsuch's nomination …

The G.O.P. Tax Bill Is Unworkable  —  With the House of Representatives set to pass the final version of the Republican tax bill on Tuesday, and a vote in the Senate expected later in the week, here is a prediction: no matter which party controls Congress after next year's midterms …

Democrats have a new Southern strategy  —  MAGIC WALL: Jones' big Alabama win & its impact on 2018  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  (CNN)With Doug Jones' upset victory in last week's Alabama US Senate race, Democrats are solidifying a new model for rebuilding their tattered competitiveness in the South.

Bob Corker's suspicious yes on the tax bill  —  IT IS HARD to say what is most damning about the process Republicans used to produce their $1.5 trillion overhaul of the tax code.  Is it the suggestion by critics that a key senator dropped his opposition because of a last-minute change that would benefit him personally?

Conservatism Can't Survive Donald Trump Intact  —  On Monday morning the conservative-media world woke up to a savagely personal attack in National Review on the Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin.  The outburst might seem a textbook case of the narcissism of petty differences within the conservative world.

‘I Was An Easy Pickup’: How Trump Lost Manchin on Taxes  —  Subscribe to Off Message on Apple Podcasts here.  Subscribe via Stitcher here.  —  During the transition last year and several times since, Donald Trump repeatedly pushed Joe Manchin to switch parties and become a Republican …

Leaked memo schooled Tillerson on human rights  —  Three months into his tenure as secretary of state, Rex Tillerson alarmed veteran diplomats with remarks that sounded like a potential shift in American foreign policy: The U.S., he said, should be careful not to let values like human rights create …

Former Pentagon UFO official: ‘We may not be alone’  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  (CNN)A former Pentagon official who led a recently revealed government program to research potential UFOs said Monday evening that he believes there is evidence of alien life reaching Earth.

Amtrak derailment: Train was traveling at 80 mph in 30-mph zone  —  The train that careened off a bridge outside Tacoma, Washington, killing three people was traveling at 80 mph on a 30-mph stretch of track, federal investigators confirmed late Monday.  —  During a late-night briefing with reporters …

Trump's first year is starting to look like a big win  —  Republicans have tried, on and off, to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling since the 1980s.  The effort has always engendered intense opposition and always been abandoned.  A provision for drilling in ANWR …

Senate panel rejects Trump's nominee to lead Ex-Im Bank  —  The Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday rejected President Trump  —  's nominee to lead the Export-Import Bank.  —  The panel in a 10-13 vote declined to advance the nomination of Scott Garrett  —  , a former Republican congressman from New Jersey.

Decades after the company tried to tackle sexual misconduct at two Chicago plants, continued abuse raises questions about the possibility of change. … CHICAGO — The jobs were the best they would ever have: collecting union wages while working at Ford, one of America's most storied companies.

We're witnessing the wholesale looting of America  —  Unchecked by norms or political prudence, it's smash-and-grab time for the GOP.  —  Over the course of 2017, both in Congress and in the executive branch, we have watched the task of government devolve into the full-scale looting of America.