After clashes with first lady and others, Kelly may soon exit White House  —  The White House Chief of Staff has had an array of disputes with officials from the NSC and the East Wing in recent months.  —  ­ WASHINGTON — John Kelly, mired in conflicts with a widening array of officials …

Whitaker abandoned taxpayer-funded project in Iowa in 2016  —  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — While in private business, acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker walked away from a taxpayer-subsidized apartment-rehabilitation project in Iowa after years of cost overruns, delays and other problems, public records show.

Trump, stung by midterms and nervous about Mueller, retreats from traditional presidential duties … For weeks this fall, an ebullient President Trump traveled relentlessly to hold raise-the-rafters campaign rallies — sometimes three a day — in states where his presence was likely to help Republicans on the ballot.

Mueller seeking more details on Nigel Farage, key Russia inquiry target says  —  Robert Mueller is seeking more information about Nigel Farage for his investigation into Russian interference in US politics, according to a target of the inquiry who expects to be criminally charged.

BREAKING: Florida election: Judge orders recount extended for PBC to Nov. 20  —  A Leon County circuit judge has ruled that recounts in Palm Beach County for all state races in question be extended to Nov. 20, about five days after the original 3 p.m. Thursday deadline.

Whitaker's Appointment Is Unconstitutional  —  President Donald Trump appointed Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general last week, despite the fact that he cannot legally hold the office.  While the president could fix his mistake with any lesser official and in any normal time …

Amazon selects New York City and Northern Virginia for new headquarters  —  Amazon to invest $5 billion and create more than 50,000 jobs across the two new headquarters, and announces Nashville as new Operations Center of Excellence with more than 5,000 jobs.

Hate crimes rose 17 percent last year, according to new FBI data  —  Hate crimes in America rose 17 percent last year, the third consecutive year that such crimes increased, according to newly released FBI data.  —  Law enforcement agencies reported 7,175 hate crimes occurred in 2017, up from 6,121 in 2016.

Only on AP: Bloomberg charts aggressive timeline on 2020 bid  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Having spent a fortune to help elect Democrats this fall, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared lifetime allegiance to the Democratic Party on Tuesday and outlined an aggressive timeline for deciding whether to run for president.

Will Dems work with us, or simply put partisan politics ahead of the country?  —  Last Tuesday I was proud to see that the American people voted keep Republicans in control of the U.S. Senate.  But we also learned that, come January, the Republican Senate majority will be dealing with a House …

Federal judge finds Georgia county violated Civil Rights Act by rejecting ballots  —  A federal judge on Tuesday found that Gwinnett County violated the Civil Rights Act in its handling of absentee ballots during last week's midterm elections, a ruling that will likely delay the overall vote tally …

“Who Gets to Live in Victimville?”:  Why I Participated in a New Docuseries on The Clinton Affair  —  Reliving the events of 1998 was traumatic, yes—but also worth it, if it helps another young person avoid being “That Woman"-ed.  —  It's the fall of 2018.  I'm sitting on the floor of my mom's apartment surrounded by My Past.

I Take Back My Praise of Jeff Flake's Book  —  He's a class act with a faint heart.  —  At some point or another, all book critics agonize over whether they've taken the wrong measure of a book.  They've overpraised; they've underpraised; they've dwelled too long on imperfections that hardly deserved the molecular scrutiny.

Remember the caravan?  After vote, focus on migrants fades  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Did someone say caravan?  —  One week after Election Day, President Donald Trump's daily drumbeat of warnings about a caravan of “bad thugs” and potential terrorists intent on invading the U.S. from Mexico has largely fallen silent.

D.C. man arrested on gun charge after relatives alert police to his alleged white nationalist outbursts  —  A D.C. man who described himself as a white nationalist to law enforcement officers and became a follower on social media of the accused Pittsburgh synagogue shooter has been arrested …

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds bluntly tells Steve King to decide future amid racism allegations  —  Rep. Steve King nearly halted his visit to an Iowa candidate forum after a man asked about similarities between King and the alleged synagogue shooter  —  OTTUMWA, Ia.

Feds Drop Burlington College Probe, According to Sanders Aide  —  A spokesperson for Jane O'Meara Sanders said Tuesday that federal authorities have concluded a long-running probe into her tenure as president of the now-shuttered Burlington College.  —  “Jane Sanders has been informed …

Republicans Launch Surprise Bid To Prevent Debate On U.S. Support For Bloody Saudi War  —  Critics of the war in Yemen said the move will make them more determined to have Congress tackle what the U.N. calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.  —  WASHINGTON Republican leadership …

Trump's Tax Cut Was Supposed to Change Corporate Behavior.  Here's What Happened.  —  Nearly a year after the tax cut, economic growth has accelerated.  Wage growth has not.  Companies are buying back stock and business investment is a mixed bag.  —  The $1.5 trillion tax overhaul …

The Professor At The Heart Of The Trump-Russia Probe Wants To Testify Before The Senate, A Lawyer Claims  —  LONDON — A lawyer closely associated with Joseph Mifsud claims that the Maltese professor, who allegedly delivered word of Hillary Clinton's stolen emails to Donald Trump's campaign, is willing to testify to the US Senate.

U.S. Budget Deficit Jumps to $100 Billion at Start of Fiscal Year  —  The U.S. recorded a $100.5 billion budget deficit in October, an increase of about 60 percent from a year earlier, as spending grew twice as fast as revenue.  —  The deficit widened from $63.2 billion in the same month last year …

CIA considered potential truth serum for terror suspects  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Shortly after 9/11, the CIA considered using a drug it thought might work like a truth serum and force terror suspects to give up information about potential attacks.  —  After months of research …

The Trump-GOP 2020 doomsday scenario  —  In private conversations after the midterms, many top Republicans and Democrats said that President Trump seemed to be heading into his 2020 re-election race in a relatively strong position.  —  The big picture: They couldn't be more wrong.

Justice Department Requires Six Broadcast Television Companies to Terminate and Refrain From Unlawful Sharing of Competitively Sensitive Information  —  Proposed Settlement Preserves Competition in Broadcast Television Advertising Markets Across the United States and Requires Cooperation in Ongoing Antitrust Division Investigation

Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex?  —  These should be boom times for sex.  —  The share of Americans who say sex between unmarried adults is “not wrong at all” is at an all-time high.  New cases of HIV are at an all-time low.  Most women can—at last—get birth control for free …

La Taqueria family buys its building, ending uncertainty surrounding its future  —  On the morning of Nov. 13, in the hallway outside a San Francisco courtroom, the fate of the Mission District's most famous taqueria was secured in a scrum of suits.  It took only a few minutes …

Steve King Called Me a ‘Junk Yard Dog’  —  What his press strategy tells us about the Republican Party and its base.  —  Mr. Rubenstein is assistant opinion editor at The Weekly Standard.  —  It's a strange thing to be called a junk yard dog.  It's especially strange when the person calling …

A week later it's clear the midterms did produce a blue wave - here are the three main factors that drove the Democrats' triumph  — One week ago, three distinct but overlapping currents combined to shift tidal forces in America's midterm elections — and smash the Republican Party's congressional fortress.