How Trump and Schumer Came Close to a Deal Over Cheeseburgers  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the Senate, came close to an agreement to avert a government shutdown over lunch on Friday.  But their consensus broke down later …

TrumpShutdown beats #SchumerShutdown in hashtag battle to assign blame  —  The battle between congressional Democrats and Republicans to blame each other for the shutdown of the federal government today also played out on a wider and virtual sphere on Twitter.

Patrick Meehan, Congressman Combating Harassment, Settled His Own Misconduct Case  —  WASHINGTON — Representative Patrick Meehan, a Pennsylvania Republican who has taken a leading role in fighting sexual harassment in Congress, used thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to settle …

Amid Trump's inaugural festivities, members of Russia's elite anticipated a thaw between Moscow and Washington … In the days before Donald Trump's inauguration, a wealthy Russian pharmaceutical executive named Alexey Repik arrived in Washington, expressing excitement about the new administration.

Missouri governor: ‘no blackmail,’ ‘no violence’ in affair  —  JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — In his first interview since acknowledging an extramarital affair, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens said Saturday that there was “no blackmail” and “no threat of violence” by him in what he described as a months-long …

Minnesota woman strikes St. Kate's  —  St. Catherine University (a/k/a St. Kate's, formerly St. Catherine College) sits on a leafy 110-acre campus in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul.  It is located a few blocks down the street from my high school alma mater and within shouting distance …

Who's in and who's out as the West Wing grapples with shutdown  —  The press wranglers have gone home.  The in-house White House makeup artist isn't expecting to report to work on Monday.  Assistants to senior White House staffers are getting an unplanned, unpaid vacation from work.

Nicolle Wallace's Road From the White House to 30 Rock  —  How a former aide to George W. Bush and campaign strategist for John McCain's 2008 presidential run has became a somewhat unlikely TV star at MSNBC.  —  In the basement of the Mexican restaurant Anejo TriBeCa last December …

Devin Nunes's Mystery Memo: Repeating the Cycle of Distraction  —  Representative Devin Nunes / Center for Strategic and International Studies  —  Forget the Steele dossier.  There's a hot new sub rosa document in Washington: a classified four-page memo prepared by House intelligence …

Texas judge interrupts jury, says God told him defendant is not guilty  —  A state district judge in Comal County said God told him to intervene in jury deliberations to sway jurors to return a not guilty verdict in the trial of a Buda woman accused of trafficking a teen girl for sex.

Overseas military families lose AFN; access to other services remains unclear  —  KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Defense Department personnel and their families overseas woke up Saturday to much confusion, uncertainty and some anger about how their lives would be affected by the U.S. government shutdown.

Tens of thousands turn out for Women's March in downtown Los Angeles  —  Calling for equal rights for women and waving “Dump Trump” signs, tens of thousands of demonstrators converged on downtown Los Angeles on Saturday to take part in the second Women's March in L.A., one of dozens of similar protests held around the country.