GOP senator calls on Congress to end shutdown without border deal  —  Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who faces a potentially tough re-election in 2020, says Congress should re-open the federal government, even without a deal on funding President Trump's border wall.

White House Mulls Jim Webb, Ex-Democratic Senator, as Next Defense Secretary  —  WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is considering Jim Webb, a former Democratic senator and Reagan-era secretary of the Navy, to be the next defense secretary, according to three officials …

Ex-US marine accused of spying in Russia is British citizen  —  Paul Whelan revealed to be dual national after being arrested in Moscow for ‘act of espionage’  —  The former US marine who is being held in Moscow on charges of spying is a British citizen, it has emerged.

Bernie Sanders' fans can't be allowed to poison another Democratic primary with personal attacks  —  Bashing Beto O'Rourke (and every other Democrat) doesn't help liberals' cause in 2020.  It only helps Trump.  —  I'm hardly the only political observer who blames Hillary Clinton's general election defeat …

Feds charge powerful Ald.  Edward Burke with attempted extortion  —  Ald.  Edward Burke has been charged with attempted extortion after the FBI raided his City Hall and Southwest Side ward offices.  —  Longtime Ald.  Edward Burke, one of Chicago's most powerful figures and a vestige …

House Democrats plan to hold hearings on Medicare for All  —  The new Democratic majority in the House will hold the first hearings on Medicare-for-All legislation, a longtime goal of the party's left, after Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi lent her support for the process.

The terrifying depths of Donald Trump's ignorance, in a single quote  —  It's been two years since a reality-television mogul, billionaire real estate grifter and sleazy beauty-pageant impresario who somehow ended up on the Republican ticket in the 2016 U.S. presidential election …

How the Border Patrol union became Trump's closest shutdown allies  —  Union officials: it's okay if our agents don't get paid on time, as long as we get the wall.  —  President Donald Trump's hastily called “press conference” on Thursday afternoon — in which neither he nor press secretary …

Mitt Romney supports the status quo.  But for everyone else, it's infuriating  —  Newly-elected Utah senator Mitt Romney kicked off 2019 with an op-ed in the Washington Post that savaged Donald Trump's character and leadership.  Romney's attack and Trump's response Wednesday morning on Twitter …

Undocumented Worker Says Trump Resort Shielded Her From Secret Service  —  A former employee of the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey said that her name was removed from a list of workers to be vetted by the Secret Service after she reminded management that she was unlawfully in the United States …

Nancy Pelosi Just Outlined Her Agenda for the Most Diverse Congress Ever  —  Newly-elected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday after Democrats officially took control of the legislative body, invoking two Presidents while laying out her leadership agenda.

Justice Dept. investigating whether Zinke lied to inspector general  —  The Justice Department's public integrity section is examining whether newly departed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke lied to his agency's inspector general investigators, according to three people familiar with the matter …

That Viral Video of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Dancing Is a Meta-Meme  —  THURSDAY MARKED ONE of the most important days in congressional history for diversity.  A record 102 women took office, 35 whom were newly-elected.  They include Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, the first Muslim women …

Iran ‘can do what they want’ in Syria: Trump's comments defy the position of his top aides  —  In his first Cabinet meeting of the year, President Trump stuck a dagger in a major initiative advanced by his foreign policy team: Iran's leaders, the president said, “can do what they want” in Syria.

Before you run against Trump, you have to run against Hillary (if you're a woman)  —  Just hours after Elizabeth Warren announced her plans to run for president, a question began surfacing about a possible weakness.  It wasn't derived from opposition research into some facet of her life.

Louis C.K. — and his critics — are a plague on comedy  —  American comedy is slowly dying, under assault from two opposing forces.  From without, PC scolds seek to silence comics whose edgy material makes them feel “unsafe.”  And from within, a growing number of comedians have come …

Why Trump's Generals Have Abandoned Ship  —  After a couple of tumultuous years, President Donald Trump seems to have reached the conclusion that he has had quite enough of generals.  Now, as a retired admiral, I have certainly been annoyed over the years by a number of generals.

Congressman Cohen Introduces Constitutional Amendments  —  Would eliminate the Electoral College, limit Presidential pardon power  —  WASHINGTON - Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced two Constitutional Amendments today on the opening day of the new Congress.

Former NYT editor claims publisher drafted letter “all but apologizing” to China for tough story  —  In her new book Merchants of Truth, former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson claims that the news outlet's publisher drafted a letter “all but apologizing” to the Chinese government …

As Democrats take the House, GOP takes a beating along motorcade route  —  As Democrats prepared to take over the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday morning, an anti-Trump political action committee took aim at the GOP with a new billboard along the presidential motorcade route in West Palm Beach.

Who Killed The Weekly Standard?  —  The Weekly Standard was killed last month, an act that had both a clear culprit and a muddy forensic trail.  For twenty-three years, it was the most influential, and often the most interesting, publication of the American right, championing a less dreary …

Pelosi Invites President Trump to Deliver State of the Union Address  —  Washington, D.C. - Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent the following letter today to President Trump inviting him to deliver a State of the Union address to a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday, January 29, 2019.

As Trump Holds Firm on Shutdown, He Never Mentions One Group: Federal Workers  —  WASHINGTON — He has talked about the need for “protection” along the country's southern border.  He has said he is willing to keep the government shut down indefinitely to ensure the funding of the wall he says will provide that protection.