Trump's real plan for 2018  —  President Trump today will unveil a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan that his own aides don't think will pass, and a $4 trillion budget that Axios' Jonathan Swan calls “science fiction.”  —  It's the strangest of year-ahead plans for a party that controls …

In big reversal, new Trump budget will give up on longtime Republican goal of eliminating deficit … President Trump on Monday will offer a budget plan that falls far short of eliminating the government's deficit over 10 years, conceding that huge tax cuts and new spending increases …

Obama Portraits Blend Paint and Politics, and Fact and Fiction  —  WASHINGTON — With the unveiling here Monday at the National Portrait Gallery of the official presidential likenesses of Barack Obama and the former first lady, Michelle Obama, this city of myriad monuments gets a couple of new ones …

Top Justice Department official Brand quit partly over fear she might be asked to oversee Russia probe  —  WASHINGTON — The Justice Department's No. 3 attorney had been unhappy with her job for months before the department announced her departure on Friday, according to multiple sources close to Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand.

First-class travel distinguishes Scott Pruitt's EPA tenure … Just days after helping orchestrate the United States' exit from a global climate accord last June, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt embarked on a whirlwind tour aimed at championing President Trump's agenda at home and abroad.

Pence: The United States is ready to talk with North Korea  —  Despite the mutual chilliness between U.S. and North Korean officials in South Korea last week, behind the scenes real progress was made toward a new diplomatic opening that could result in direct talks without preconditions between Washington and Pyongyang.

He Predicted The 2016 Fake News Crisis.  Now He's Worried About An Information Apocalypse.  —  In mid-2016, Aviv Ovadya realized there was something fundamentally wrong with the internet — so wrong that he abandoned his work and sounded an alarm.  A few weeks before the 2016 election …

Is Devin Nunes Obstructing Justice?  —  As public scrutiny exposes deep flaws in the memo from the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, about alleged F.B.I. surveillance abuses, the committee's Republicans are increasingly downplaying its significance.

In Louisville, Schumer Talks Bipartisanship, ‘Brooklyn Bourbon’  —  Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer used a visit to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's hometown Monday as a set up for this week's freewheeling immigration debate back at the Capitol.  —  The Democrat from New York …

The Education Department Officially Says It Will Reject Transgender Student Bathroom Complaints  —  Department officials have said they were considering the issue since last February — now, a department spokesperson tells BuzzFeed News the agency's position is set.

Vanessa Trump taken to hospital as precaution after suspicious letter sent to her home  —  President Donald Trump's daughter-in-law was taken to a Manhattan hospital as a precaution on Monday after a suspicious letter containing an unidentified substance was sent to her apartment, senior law enforcement and city officials told NBC News.

INSIDE THE TWO YEARS THAT SHOOK FACEBOOK—AND THE WORLD  —  How a confused, defensive social media giant steered itself into a disaster, and how Mark Zuckerberg is trying to fix it all.  —  ONE DAY IN late February of 2016, Mark Zuckerberg sent a memo to all of Facebook's employees to address some troubling behavior in the ranks.

Trump takes ‘shackles’ off ICE, which is slapping them on immigrants who thought they were safe … A week after he won the election, President Trump promised that his administration would round up millions of immigrant gang members and drug dealers.  And after he took office …

Trump Administration Plans To Defang Consumer Protection Watchdog  —  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created after the financial crisis to protect Americans from being ripped off by financial firms.  —  Now, President Trump's interim appointee to run the bureau Mick Mulvaney …

Analysis: The Generic Is Falling!  The Generic Is Falling!  —  I hear it all the time these days.  The Democratic electoral wave is petering out.  The generic ballot shows the Democrats' advantage is cratering.  President Donald Trump's job approval ratings are up.

Sessions invokes ‘Anglo American heritage’ of sheriff's office  —  Sessions: Crime rate going up is not a blip  —  Washington (CNN)Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday brought up sheriffs' “Anglo-American heritage” during remarks to law enforcement officials in Washington.

Exclusive: CIA Ex-Director Brennan's Perjury Peril  —  House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes next plans to investigate the role former CIA Director John Brennan and other Obama intelligence officials played in promoting the salacious and unverified Steele dossier on Donald Trump …

Unilever to Facebook and Google: Clean up ‘swamp’ or we'll pull ads  —  Social media giants grilled on ‘fake news’  —  Unilever is threatening to pull its advertising from digital platforms that it says have become a “swamp” of fake news, racism, sexism and extremism.