Trump considering declaring national emergency to secure wall funding: Sources  —  President Donald Trump is seriously considering potential options to circumvent Congress, including declaring a national emergency, to reprogram funds from the Department of Defense and elsewhere to help pay …

While federal workers go without pay, senior Trump administration officials are poised to get $10,000 raises.  —  While many federal workers go without pay and the government is partially shut down, hundreds of senior Trump political appointees are poised to receive annual raises of about $10,000 a year.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Suggests Super Wealthy be Taxed Up to 70% to Fund ‘Green New Deal’  —  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sat with Anderson Cooper for an upcoming 60 Minutes interview set to air this Sunday, a portion of which has been released as a promotion.

US citizen held in Moscow on espionage charges seeks Irish consular assistance  —  A former US Marine arrested last week on espionage charges in Russia has sought Irish consular assistance.  —  Canadian-born Paul Whelan is a US citizen and also holds an Irish passport.

Run or retire?  Pat Roberts will announce his decision on 2020 Senate race Friday  —  Sen. Pat Roberts will announce Friday whether he plans to end his political career or kick off another campaign as he approaches his fourth decade in Congress.  —  Roberts, R-Kansas, will announce …

US employers added a stellar 312,000 jobs in December  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. employers dramatically stepped up their hiring in December, adding 312,000 jobs in an encouraging display of strength for an economy in the midst of a trade war, slowing global growth and a partial shutdown of the federal government.

US official: airstrike kills terrorist behind USS Cole bombing  —  Washington (CNN)The terrorist behind the 2000 attack on the USS Cole is believed to have been killed in a US airstrike in Yemen on Tuesday, according to a US administration official.  —  Jamel Ahmed Mohammed Ali Al-Badawi …

Donald Trump Was Never Vetted  —  “When a man becomes president,” said Rudy Giuliani not long ago, “he shouldn't be subject to a review of his entire life.”  Putting aside for the moment whether such a review should or should not take place, Giuliani has correctly identified what is happening.

Mainstream Media Is Blowing Its Coverage Of Elizabeth Warren's DNA Test  —  Tribal leaders and Native people say the senator is an ally — and they support her look at her ancestry.  But hardly anyone asked them.  —  WASHINGTON Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was positioned to make a strong bid …

Bob Brady waves goodbye to Congress and wants to smoke some pot ... if it is legal |  Philly Clout  —  Brady on Thursday ended two decades of service in the U.S. House.  That got us thinking about something Brady told us two weeks ago as we trailed him from Philadelphia to the District of Columbia in the final weeks of his term.

CREW Files Conflict of Interest Complaint Against Ivanka Trump  —  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  —  Washington — Ivanka Trump appears to have violated federal conflict of interest law by personally and substantially participating in the Trump administration's implementation of a new tax law authorizing …

Posing as gay men on Twitter, a troll goes viral with attempts to falsely tie the LGBTQ community to pedophilia  —  Various efforts to tie the LGBTQ community to pedophilia have been linked back to fringe internet message board 4chan.  —  Around Christmas day, Karl Krause …

Supreme Court to hear cases on partisan gerrymandering  —  The Supreme Court once again will take up unresolved constitutional questions about partisan gerrymandering, agreeing Friday to consider rulings from two lower courts that found congressional maps in North Carolina and Maryland so extreme that they violated the rights of voters.

Mark Zuckerberg vs. the Times  —  What's Next: Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives are fed up with The New York Times after weeks of what they see as overtly antagonistic coverage that betrays an anti-Facebook bias, several sources at the social media giant tell me.

The $9 Billion Upcharge: How Insurers Kept Extra Cash From Medicare  —  CVS, UnitedHealth, Humana and other health insurers' bids to manage Part D prescription-drug plans for seniors have been consistently off in ways that benefit the companies at the expense of taxpayers

White Nationalist Podcast Hosts: Tucker Carlson Does What We Do ‘For an Audience of Millions’  —  Two of the white nationalist movement's most popular podcast hosts agree that Fox News host Tucker Carlson is repeating their talking points “for an audience of millions across the country.”

Trump's sons are running the business — and their big hotel expansion is at a standstill  —  Shortly after Donald Trump entered the White House, his eldest sons announced ambitious plans to open a new line of hotels called Scion that would target young, hip customers mostly in places where their father had proven popular with voters.

House Democrats officially unveil their first bill in the majority: a sweeping anti-corruption proposal  —  Democrats will take up voting rights, campaign finance reform, and a lobbying crackdown — all in their first bill of the year.  —  House Democrats will unveil full details …

‘An Irony’: Shutdown Fight Over Border Security Takes Toll On Immigration Enforcement  —  Updated 5:49 pm E.T.  —  The government shutdown began with the president's demand for border security money.  But it has also halted E-Verify, a federal program that's supposed to prevent immigrants from working here illegally.