The White House Has No Plan for Confronting the Mueller Report  —  Nobody knows how the White House plans to respond to the Mueller report—including the people who work at the White House.  —  The special counsel is reportedly nearing the end of his probe.  Sentencing memos are dropping.

George H. W. Bush's Funeral Was the Corny, Feel-Good Moment That Washington Craves  —  What does it tell you that the feel-good events in Washington these days are funerals?  —  George Herbert Walker Bush was memorialized on Wednesday at the National Cathedral in the country's first state funeral …

Elizabeth Warren Stands by DNA Test.  But Around Her, Worries Abound.  —  WASHINGTON — The plan was straightforward: After years of being challenged by President Trump and others about a decades-old claim of Native American ancestry, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts would take a DNA test …

This Is How The Accusations Against Neil deGrasse Tyson Finally Came To Light  —  No one believed Tchiya Amet when she said Tyson had raped her in the 1980s.  Now, three other women tell BuzzFeed News that he harassed them, including one who's sharing her story publicly for the first time.

Saudi-funded lobbyist paid for 500 rooms at Trump's hotel after 2016 election  —  Lobbyists representing the Saudi government reserved blocks of rooms at President Trump's D.C. hotel within a month of Trump's election in 2016 — paying for an estimated 500 nights at the luxury hotel in just three months …

After a lot of conversation, reflection and prayer, I've decided that a 2020 campaign for president is not for me.  I've been overwhelmed by advice and encouragement from people from all over the country, known and unknown.  Humbled, in fact.  But knowing that the cruelty of our elections process …

Trump's slow-motion staff ‘shakeup’ stunts 2019 planning  —  President Donald Trump is still looking for a new United Nations ambassador.  He has no deputy national security adviser.  His attorney general and EPA administrator are serving in an acting capacity, and his constant badmouthing …

Over a thousand absentee ballots possibly destroyed in controversial North Carolina House race: report  —  Over a thousand absentee ballots from likely Democratic voters may have been destroyed in the race for North Carolina's 9th Congressional District last month as allegations of fraud on behalf of the Republican candidate mount.

Beto O'Rourke's team has been talking to Obama political operatives in Iowa and New Hampshire as 2020 momentum builds  — Democratic rising star Beto O'Rourke's team has been fielding calls from senior operatives who worked on President Obama's campaign in the pivotal states of Iowa and New Hampshire

Kamala Harris aide resigns after harassment, retaliation settlement surfaces  —  A longtime top staff member of U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris resigned Wednesday after The Sacramento Bee inquired about a $400,000 harassment and retaliation settlement resulting from his time working for Harris at the California Department of Justice.

Record imports push US trade gap to $55.5 billion in October  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Record imports in October drove the U.S. trade deficit to the highest level in a decade.  —  The Commerce Department said Thursday that the gap between the United States sells and what it buys …

The Wisconsin Senate approved 82 Scott Walker appointees in the lame duck: Here's the full list  —  There's been lots of talk about the Wisconsin Senate approving dozens of Gov. Scott Walker's appointments to state boards during its marathon lame-duck session Tuesday.

Don't condemn white nationalists, Veterans Affairs' diversity chief was told after Charlottesville, emails show  —  A top White House appointee at the Department of Veterans Affairs sought to silence the agency's chief diversity officer, who — in the aftermath of last year's racially charged violence …

Stocks drop again with Dow's two-day slide now totaling more than 1,000 points  —  Stocks fell sharply on Thursday as continuing fears over U.S.-China trade relations and concern over a possible global economic slowdown kept investors on edge.  —  The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 451 points …

Regular Folks All Over America Are Telling Joe Biden He Has to Run  —  Watery eyes, clenched chins, insistent grips of his arm: They don't just think Joe Biden should run for president, or just want him to.  They tell him he has to.  —  It's hard for him to tell them no. It's hard for him to tell himself no.

As Flynn Case Winds Down, Investigation of Turkish Lobbying Persists  —  WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors in Virginia are investigating a secret Turkish lobbying effort that once involved Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser, even as Mr. Flynn's role in the special counsel's …

Colorado's Hickenlooper staffs up for possible 2020 bid  —  DENVER (AP) — Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and his allies are taking new steps toward launching a presidential campaign, including interviews with dozens of potential staffers and hiring a pollster and national fundraiser, according to a person close to the Democrat.

Hugo Chavez's Failed Socialist Experiment Is Deadlier Than Ever  —  Hugo Chávez had barely been in office two months when Nelson Chitty La Roche, a burly, gruff, gun-toting lawmaker from the Venezuelan political establishment, told me he was fed up.  Chitty didn't care …

Kushners' Beachfront Strip Eligible for Trump's Poor-Area Tax Perks  —  The opportunity zones in the new tax law are supposed to attract investment to low-income areas.  But some of these neighborhoods aren't exactly struggling.  —  Pier Village promotes itself as a “jewel on the New Jersey coast.”

FBI email chain may provide most damning evidence of FISA abuses yet  —  Just before Thanksgiving, House Republicans amended the list of documents they'd like President Trump to declassify in the Russia investigation.  With little fanfare or explanation, the lawmakers led …

24 Amazon workers sent to hospital after robot accidentally unleashes bear spray  —  Twenty-four Amazon workers in New Jersey have been hospitalized after a robot accidentally tore a can of bear repellent spray in a warehouse, officials said.  —  The two dozen workers were treated at five local hospitals …

Goodlatte: House Leadership Blocked Trump-Backed Immigration Reform  —  The House GOP leadership is responsible for blocking a pro-American immigration reform package which was backed by President Donald Trump, a top House chairman said Tuesday.  —  The GOP leadership let the House immigration reform die …

Fox News Host Chris Wallace: Bush Funeral Shows Trump Not Part of ‘Presidents Club’  —  ‘It was as if a chill had descended on that front row’ when Trump arrived, Chris Wallace remarked.  —  Matt Wilstein  —  Some pundits viewed President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump sharing …

Trump on Coming Debt Crisis: 'I Won't Be Here' When It Blows Up  —  The president thinks the balancing of the nation's books is going to, ultimately, be a future president's problem.  —  Since the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump's aides and advisers have tried to convince him of the importance of tackling the national debt.

‘Just get over it’: Senators bicker over definition of Trump's wall  —  Democrats and Republicans can't even agree on the definition of a border wall — let alone the project itself — and the rift could lead to a partial government shutdown later this month.

An escaped inmate kicked down a sleeping woman's door.  But she had a gun.  —  The prisoners had been planning their escape for days.  —  Bruce McLaughlin Jr. and Timothy Dill put the jailbreak into motion sometime after 2 a.m. Tuesday.  It was the graveyard shift at the jail in Pickens County …