Why are Republicans accused of racism?  Because we're silent on things like this.  —  Tim Scott, a Republican, represents South Carolina in the U.S. Senate.  —  Over the past two years, Republicans have focused on spreading opportunity, and it has paid dividends: From the creation …

Exasperated Democrats try to rein in Ocasio-Cortez  —  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is already making enemies in the House Democratic Caucus — and some of its members are mounting an operation to bring the anti-establishment, democratic socialist with 2.2 million Twitter followers into the fold.

GoFundMe Border Wall Campaign Implodes, Turns to Kris Kobach and Sheriff Clarke  —  The wall won't build itself.  —  A decorated veteran who raised more than $20 million to finance construction of a wall along the southern U.S. border has announced that he will instead use the money to finance …

Abrams goes to DC to discuss potential 2020 Senate bid  —  Stacey Abrams met with leading Senate Democrats in Washington this week to discuss a potential 2020 challenge to U.S. Sen. David Perdue as she weighs her next step.  —  The Democrat met separately on Thursday with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer …

The International Crisis of Donald Trump  —  While Washington melts down over the government shutdown, the worst-case scenario for the President's foreign policy has actually happened.  —  Congressional committees, like the priorities of the politicians who run them, change with the times.

Evaluating Trump's economic policies, 2 years in  —  How have Trump's economic policies fared during the first two years of his term?  Paul Solman sits down with the president's top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, to discuss recent stock market volatility, the Federal Reserve, tariffs …

Exclusive: Trump team should be allowed to ‘correct’ final Mueller report, says Giuliani  —  Rudy Giuliani says President Trump's legal team should be allowed to “correct” special counsel Robert Mueller's final report before Congress or the American people get the chance to read it.

Trump Organization Hires Lawyer to Oversee Responses to Democrats' Investigations  —  Company retains Stefan Passantino, who worked until last year in the White House Counsel's Office  —  The Trump Organization has hired a lawyer who formerly worked in the White House Counsel's Office …

Families of Sandy Hook shooting victims win legal victory in lawsuit against InfoWars, Alex Jones  —  Six families of victims killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School won a legal victory Friday in their fight against controversial radio and internet personality Alex Jones.

Trump Sold $35 Million Of Real Estate In 2018  —  Donald Trump sold an estimated $35 million worth of real estate while serving in the White House last year, according to a Forbes analysis of local property records and federal filings.  Although the president delegated day-to-day management …

APNewsBreak: US approved thousands of child bride requests  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of requests by men to bring in child and adolescent brides to live in the United States were approved over the past decade, according to government data obtained by The Associated Press.

The Shutdown Has Foggy Bottom in a Funk  —  While diplomats file for unemployment benefits and seek school lunches for their children, Mike Pompeo is making unpaid workers organize a big ambassadors' conference in D.C.  —  Diplomats are filing for unemployment benefits.

CNN requests KUSI for local view on the border, declines our reporter after finding out wall works  —  SAN DIEGO (KUSI) - Thursday morning, CNN called the KUSI Newsroom asking if one of our reporters could give them a local view of the debate surrounding the border wall and government shutdown.

Trump's Ambassador Finds Few Friends in Germany  —  Since arriving in Berlin as U.S. ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell has flouted diplomatic conventions and attempted to interfere in domestic politics.  He has since become politically isolated in the German capital.  —  Photos

‘Could you make these guys essential?’:  Mortgage industry gets shutdown relief after appeal to senior Treasury officials  —  After an intense lobbying campaign by the mortgage industry, the Treasury Department this week restarted a program that had been sidelined by the partial government shutdown …

US official says troop withdrawal from Syria has started  —  BAGHDAD (AP) — After days of back and forth over U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pullout American troops from Syria, a U.S. military official said Friday the process of withdrawal has begun, declining to comment on specific timetables or movements.

Most Americans Call Shutdown ‘Embarrassing’ As It's Set To Become Longest In History  —  Three-quarters of Americans say the government shutdown, now tied for the longest in U.S. history, is “embarrassing for the country,” including a majority of Republicans, a new NPR/Ipsos Poll finds.

Why Jim Yong Kim's move has shaken up the World Bank  —  The day after suddenly announcing that he was ditching the presidency of the World Bank for a Wall Street private equity firm, Jim Yong Kim made an appearance before staff to muster an explanation.  —  In the packed atrium …

Ginsburg absence shakes court: White House makes preparations, coming weeks seen as key  —  White House preparing for possible departure of ailing Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, reports say  —  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's absence this week from Supreme Court oral arguments …

After nearly 70 years, Florida Clemency Board pardons Groveland Four  —  After nearly 70 years, all members of the Groveland Four — four young black men falsely accused of raping a white woman in Lake County — were pardoned by a unanimous vote Friday.  —  The Florida Cabinet met …

Freedom Caucus members tell Trump to back off wall emergency  —  A core group of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus is urging President Donald Trump against the explosive step of declaring a national emergency to build his wall.  —  Multiple Republicans in the conservative group …

A Seattle TV station aired doctored footage of Trump's Oval Office speech.  The employee has been fired.  —  On Tuesday night, an estimated 43.3 million Americans hunkered down to watch President Trump make an Oval Office pitch for his border wall.  With the federal government shutdown stretching …

EXCLUSIVE: Transcripts of Lisa Page's Closed-Door Testimonies Provide New Revelations in Spygate Scandal  —  Transcripts of two closed-door testimonies by Lisa Page, the former assistant general counsel at the FBI, have provided new insights into the actions of the FBI, DOJ, and others …

EXCLUSIVE: The Rock slams snowflakes as ‘looking for reasons to be offended’  —  THE world's biggest movie star Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has body slammed Britain's growing snowflake culture.  —  He “laid the smackdown” on PC softies in an exclusive chat with the Daily Star.

Why is Congress so dumb?  —  We lawmakers dumped our in-house experts.  Now lobbyists do the thinking for us.  —  In a year of congressional lowlights, the hearings we held with Silicon Valley leaders last fall may have been the lowest.  One of my colleagues in the House asked Google CEO Sundar Pichai …

A new migrant caravan is forming in Central America, with plans to leave next week  —  MEXICO CITY — Another migrant caravan is forming in Honduras, with plans to set out next week on a journey that will once again test the immigration policies of Mexico and the United States.

When you read Kamala Harris's book, you'll come away with one thought  —  President Trump has ruined certain words for me forever.  I can't hear the phrase “both sides” without suffering the PTSD that comes from remembering how he gave aid and comfort to the “very fine people,” …

Documents Show NRA and GOP Candidates Coordinated Ads in Key Senate Races  —  The National Rifle Association appears to have illegally coordinated its political advertising with Republican candidates in at least three recent high-profile Senate races, according to Federal Communications Commission records.

Bloomberg says he'd self-fund possible 2020 White House bid  —  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that if he runs for president, he'll pay for it himself, defending candidates who use personal riches to bankroll campaigns.  —  Bloomberg's comments to reporters …

Is a Portland Professor Being Railroaded by His University for Criticizing Social-Justice Research?  —  Last fall, it was revealed that a trio of researchers, the philosopher Peter Boghossian, the mathematician James Lindsay, and the medieval-studies independent scholar Helen Pluckrose …