Pelosi has edge over Trump on budget negotiations, CBS News poll shows  —  Seven in 10 Americans don't think the issue of a border wall is worth a government shutdown, which they say is now having a negative impact on the country.  But partisans don't want their own side to budge …

Venezuelan opposition leader declares himself president; U.S. promptly recognizes him as interim president  —  CARACAS, Venezuela — President Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday faced the gravest challenge to his authority since assuming power in 2013, as the U.S.-backed opposition claimed …

Pelosi tells Trump: No State of the Union address in the House until government is opened  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will not allow President Trump to deliver the State of the Union in the House chamber next week, writing to him on Wednesday afternoon that he can give …

Who knew?  Trump's top White House attorney is Covington Catholic High School graduate  —  The nationwide firestorm surrounding Covington Catholic has brought to light that one of the Greater Cincinnati high school's most prominent graduates happens to be President Trump's top White House attorney.

Biden's Paid Speech Buoyed the G.O.P. in Midwest Battleground  — A speech by Joe Biden in October helped Fred Upton, a vulnerable Republican, win re-election in Michigan.  — Mr. Biden, who earned $200,000 for the speech, stunned Democrats and elated Republicans by praising Mr. Upton …

Giuliani's media blitz draws ire of Trump and some allies  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Rudy Giuliani's latest media blitz, which was filled with a dizzying array of misstatements and hurried clarifications, agitated President Donald Trump and some of his allies, who have raised the possibility …

Medicare For All Looks Good In New Poll, But There's A Big Asterisk  —  Some of the most popular counter-arguments make voters skittish.  —  Americans are pretty keen on the idea of creating a new government-run insurance program, or at least expanding an existing one …

Michael Cohen postpones House testimony, blames Trump “threats”  —  President Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen said that he will postpone his scheduled Feb. 7 testimony before the House Oversight Committee due to “threats against his family from President Trump and Mr. Giuliani,” …

Sheila Jackson Lee Leaves 2 Posts After Aide Says She Was Fired for Reporting Sexual Assault  —  WASHINGTON — Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, facing blowback from a lawsuit claiming she fired an aide who said she was sexually assaulted by a supervisor at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation …

Gawker 2.0 Implodes as Its Only Reporters Quit  —  The new site's only two full-time writers exited Wednesday in protest of editorial director Carson Griffith's offensive remarks about everything from race to penis size.  —  Gawker 2. is blowing up on the launchpad just two weeks after the site's …

Here's Video of Beto O'Rourke Singing “Blitzkrieg Bop” in a Sheep Mask and Onesie  —  By now, most people who follow national politics have probably heard that Beto O'Rourke, the former Democratic congressman from El Paso who is contemplating a run for president, once played bass in a punk rock band called Foss.

Islamberg Muslim Massacre Plot Suspect Invited Trump to His Eagle Scout Ceremony  —  One of four teens police say planned to attack an Islamic community in New York was an adamant supporter of the president and a wall on the southern border.  —  At first glance, 18-year-old Vincent Vetromile appeared …

The Trump-Era Overcorrection  —  It was like a scene out of left-wing protest literature: a group of white, parochial-school boys in “Make America Great Again” gear taunting an American Indian protester, jeering and laughing, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after attending the anti-abortion March for Life.

Trump Administration Grants South Carolina Foster Care Agencies Authority to Discriminate Against Jewish, Muslim Families  —  The Trump administration on Wednesday made a quiet move that opens the door for the religious right to use the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act to discriminate …

Federal Employees Going Through ‘a Little Bit of Pain’ but Border Wall Is ‘Bigger Than’ Them Says Lara Trump  —  The 800,000 furloughed federal employees and 400,000 working without pay due to the government shutdown over $5 billion dollars in funding for a wall on the U.S. southern border are going through …

White Supremacist Pleads Guilty to Killing Black Man in New York to Start a ‘Race War’  —  He hated black men.  He wanted to kill them, and he did.  —  In a videotaped confession, James Harris Jackson, a white Army veteran from Baltimore, told investigators that he spent several days …