First on CNN: Hundreds of TSA screeners, working without pay, calling out sick at major airports  —  Where can't you travel during the shutdown?  —  Washington (CNN)Hundreds of Transportation Security Administration officers, who are required to work without paychecks through …

Trump Referred to Shutdown as ‘Strike’ in Profanity-Laced Meeting With Democratic Leaders  —  The president also dropped three f-bombs and claimed Democrats wanted him impeached.  —  During Friday's meeting at the White House over the ongoing shutdown standoff, President Donald Trump …

Millions face delayed tax refunds, cuts to food stamps as White House scrambles to deal with shutdown's consequences  —  Food stamps for 38 million low-income Americans face severe reductions and more than $140 billion in tax refunds are at risk of being frozen or delayed if the government shutdown stretches …

Proud Boys Founder Gavin McInnes Can Get Back To Antifa After He Battles His Neighbors  —  McInnes is complaining that his neighbors' anti-hate yard signs are an attack on him and his family.  —  Gavin McInnes' ongoing fight against his detractors has spilled over into his tony neighborhood outside …

Three dead in national parks as shutdown wears on  —  Trump administration officials decided to leave the scenic parks open even as the Interior Department has halted most of its operations — a departure from previous extended shutdowns  —  Three days after most of the federal workforce …

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 …

Trump claims support from past presidents for the wall: Clinton, Bush and Obama beg to differ  —  President Donald Trump claimed without evidence on Friday that past presidents have privately confided to him that they regret not building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mueller grand jury gets 6 month extension  —  Washington (CNN)Special counsel Robert Mueller's federal grand jury has been extended by six months.  —  The grand jury, based in Washington, DC, was seated for an 18-month term that began in July 2017 and was set to expire in the coming days.

Congress Is Examining Decision to Lift Sanctions on Russian's Firms  —  WASHINGTON — Congress is reviewing the Trump administration's decision to lift sanctions on companies owned by Oleg V. Deripaska, an influential Russian oligarch with close ties to President Vladimir V. Putin, Democrats said on Friday.

Fact Check: Did the U.S. catch 4,000 terrorists at the southern border in 2018?  —  Said one ex-official, “Terrorists trying to infiltrate the U.S. across our southern border was more of a theoretical vulnerability than an actual one.”  —  WASHINGTON — White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders …

The Price of Trump's Migrant Deterrence Strategy: New Chaos on the Border  —  A crisis is emerging at migrant shelters as the Trump administration focuses, as one official put it, on “how can we deter, rather than how can we handle.”  —  EL PASO — At a migrant shelter near the Mexican border …

Elizabeth Warren Campaigns in Iowa: ‘This is How It Starts’  —  COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Senator Elizabeth Warren hit the presidential campaign trail in southwestern Iowa on Friday evening, making her the first declared major candidate to host an event in the pivotal state and kicking off …

Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand gauges Wall Street executives' interest in backing a potential 2020 presidential run  — Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has been reaching out to Wall Street executives about supporting a potential 2020 run for president.  — The New York Democrat's effort comes …

FBI Investigating Fake Texts Sent to GOP House Members  —  Person impersonating aide to Vice President Mike Pence sought whereabouts of certain lawmakers  —  WASHINGTON—The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating fake text messages sent to some House Republican lawmakers …

Former Weekly Standard staffers find new home at The Bulwark, a conservative site unafraid to take on Trump  —  New York (CNN)A handful of writers and editors who worked at The Weekly Standard, the now-defunct conservative magazine that was deeply critical of President Donald Trump until its sudden demise in December, have a new home.

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.

Trump Wanted Out of Syria Immediately.  Now U.S. Says ‘No Timeline’ to Leave.  —  Trump's snap decision prompted the resignation of Jim Mattis.  According to a senior State Department official, now it's going to be a while before U.S. troops depart.  —  In the latest revision to a wartime decision …

Fox News guest to Tucker Carlson: It's ‘almost impossible to find’ sexism these days  —  Fox News host Tucker Carlson is famous for challenging guests on dubious statements.  He badgers them; he goads them; he needles them; and when they fail to meet his standards, he goes with the high-pitched laugh.

Children heading to Disney World in church van among 7 victims in fiery I-75 crash  —  Five children heading to Disney World in a church van from Louisiana died along with two truck drivers in fiery crash on Interstate 75 in north Florida, the Florida Highway Patrol said Friday.  —  Published Earlier Today

Transgender pride flag hung in Congress by Rep. Jennifer Wexton  —  The new congresswoman from the 10th district of Virginia said she hung it to honor trans friends and family.  —  Newly elected Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-Va., started her term with a statement of transgender equality by hanging …

EXCLUSIVE: ‘They got nothing!’  Roger Stone says he is being ‘harassed’ by Mueller investigators who ‘tracked down his temporary maid to ask if he was meeting with Russians at his home and went through his garbage’  — Roger Stone, 66, claims he is being harassed by prosecutors …

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 …

Recently re-elected Maine lawmaker quits Republican Party  —  AUGUSTA, Maine — A state legislator from York County left the Republican Party on Thursday without explaining his decision to unenroll, reducing the party's minority in the Maine House of Representatives to 56 and becoming the seventh independent in the chamber.

After four years covering the Nats, goodbye for now  —  (This goodbye post was interrupted by emerging Bryce Harper news, as so many important moments of my life — including attending a friend's in-progress wedding — have been over the past four years.  I hope it is worth your wait …