After Ayers Turns Down Chief of Staff Job, Trump Is Left Without a Plan B  —  WASHINGTON — President Trump has often bragged about having his pick of only the best people to serve in his administration.  —  Being publicly rejected by his first choice for chief of staff …

Time's 2018 ‘Person of the Year’ is killed and imprisoned journalists  —  Time magazine is spotlighting a handful of journalists who have one thing in common: They were targeted for their work.  —  “The Guardians.”  —  That's what Time magazine is calling the journalists behind 2018's …

We are former senators.  The Senate has long stood in defense of democracy — and must again.  —  By 44 Former U.S. Senators  —  As former members of the U.S. Senate, Democrats and Republicans, it is our shared view that we are entering a dangerous period, and we feel an obligation to speak …

Emmer, NRCC Start to Rebuild for 2020  —  The incoming chair doesn't think the GOP is doomed in the suburbs or that Trump will be a liability in 2020.  —  Ally Mutnick and Kyle Trygstad  —  ADD TO BRIEFCASE  —  Rep. Tom Emmer spent last Monday in a briefing on an email hack that plagued …

How Michael Cohen could help the feds get the Trump Organization  —  Feds: Cohen broke the law at Trump's direction  —  New York (CNN)In most respects, Michael Cohen was a frustrating witness for New York investigators.  —  He toyed with, but wouldn't commit to, “full cooperation” with prosecutors, according to court filings.

How Theresa May blew Brexit  —  Shakespeare famously wrote of the “sceptered isle” of Britain acting as a moat “against the envy of less happier lands.”  Lately, the less happier lands are winning in a rout.  —  Britain is suffering a political meltdown as it struggles to make good on a historic vote …

McConnell to bring up criminal-justice bill for a Senate vote  —  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that the Senate will vote on a sweeping overhaul of the criminal justice system that has proven deeply controversial within the Senate Republican ranks.

How the IRS Was Gutted  —  An eight-year campaign to slash the agency's budget has left it understaffed, hamstrung and operating with archaic equipment.  The result: billions less to fund the government.  That's good news for corporations and the wealthy.  —  In the summer of 2008 …

Targets of U.S. Sanctions Hire Lobbyists With Trump Ties to Seek Relief  —  WASHINGTON — On a July evening, Trump administration officials and allies, including the president's personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, gathered with investors atop the Hay-Adams hotel overlooking the White House …

Maria Butina, accused Russian agent, reaches plea deal with prosecutors that includes cooperation  —  Maria Butina, a 30-year-old Russian gun rights activist who stands accused developing a covert influence operation in the United States, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and cooperate with federal …

Slate's Newly Unionized Writers and Editors Give OK to Strike  — Outlet's editorial staff authorize walkout by 52 to 1 vote  — Company's “right-to-work” stance riles its employees  —  Writers and editors at Slate have voted nearly unanimously to green-light a strike …

The Arctic is in even worse shape than you realize  —  The Arctic Ocean has lost 95 percent of its oldest, thickest ice.  If this thinning trend continues, scientists fear an added boost to global warming.  —  Over the past three decades of global warming, the oldest and thickest ice …

Accused of rape, former Baylor fraternity president gets no jail time after plea deal  —  A former Baylor University fraternity president who was accused of rape will not serve any jail time or be forced to register as a sex offender after a judge accepted a plea deal he had been offered by Texas prosecutors, according to news reports.

Thousands of mailed ballots in Florida were not counted  —  TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida officials say thousands of mailed ballots were not counted because they were delivered too late to state election offices.  —  The Department of State late last week informed a federal judge …

Michelle Obama's Book Sales Hit 3 Million as She Adds New Cities to 2019 Tour: 'I'm So Humbled'  —  Not only is Michelle Obama continuing her book tour after attending former President George H.W. Bush's funeral last week, she's adding new cities to the lineup!

Military will build border wall if Pelosi, Schumer don't agree to pay for it: Trump  —  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi are set to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday morning in hopes they can come to a budget agreement to avoid a partial government shutdown next week.

PolitiFact's Lie of the Year: Online smear machine tries to take down Parkland students  —  In the days after 17 people were viciously gunned down at a high school in Florida, the state's Republican governor called for tighter gun laws and President Donald Trump hosted victims' families in the State Dining Room.

How a powerful Russian propaganda machine chips away at Western notions of truth  —  The initial plan was a Cold War classic — brutal yet simple.  Two Russian agents would slip onto the property of a turncoat spy in Britain and daub his front door with a rare military-grade poison designed …

In an email to Tablet the Women's March wrote: … But whatever concerns were popping up were ultimately no match for the steamroller of the event's progress.  And when the day came, the reality far exceeded expectations.  Estimates for the March on Washington range between half a million …

Mnuchin doesn't want chief of staff  —  Editor's Note: This edition of Morning Money is published weekdays at 8 a.m. POLITICO Pro Financial Services subscribers hold exclusive early access to the newsletter each morning at 5:15 a.m. To learn more about POLITICO Pro's comprehensive policy …