GOP senator held up Trump nominee, demanding to see border wall contracts after Army Corps panned construction firm he prefers  —  A Republican senator held up the confirmation of a White House budget official this week in an attempt to obtain sensitive information about border wall contracts he's …

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Chief of Staff and Communications Director Will Depart Her Office  —  Two of Rep. Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez's top staffers are leaving her office.  —  Saikat Chakrabarti, her chief of staff, and Corbin Trent, her director of communications — who …

Biden holds two-to-one lead over Sanders in post-debate poll  —  Former Vice President Joe Biden has a 2-to-1 lead nationally over the next closest Democratic presidential contender after the second round of debates, according to the latest Harvard CAPS/Harris Poll.

Russian-backed Kentucky mill makes PR push amid Democratic concerns  —  Braidy Industries, which is developing a new Kentucky aluminum mill partially backed by the Russian aluminum giant Rusal, has hired a firm with ties to Sen. Mitch McConnell (r-Ky.) to give the project a public relations boost …

Trump Won't Let No. 2 Spy Chief Take Over When Coats Leaves  —  WASHINGTON — The White House is planning to block Sue Gordon, the nation's No. 2 intelligence official, from rising to the role of acting director of national intelligence when Dan Coats steps down this month …

Iran's Foreign Minister Was Invited to Meet Trump in the Oval Office  —  Last month, amid a rapid-fire escalation in tensions between Washington and Tehran, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, received an unexpected invitation—to meet President Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

Deprived of Power, House Republicans Head for the Exits  —  WASHINGTON — Imagine being swept out of power in Congress and relegated to the role of spectator and naysayer as your political opponents dictate the terms of legislative debate.  Add in the specter of a painful slog to re-election …

Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-Excellence  —  A former dean of the Yale Law School sounds a warning.  —  Anyone who has followed the news from college campuses over the past few years knows they are experiencing forms of unrest unseen since the late 1960s.  —  Now, as then, campuses have become an arena for political combat.

Look at the Mueller Report as a Detective Story.  It Will Blow Your Mind.  —  It may turn out to be a film noir.  The investigators uncovered the plot, but the society is too rotten to do anything about it.  —  Ms. Jurecic is the managing editor of Lawfare.

Abstract  —  The Roberts Court has recently handed several high-profile wins in labor and employment law cases to anti-labor and pro-employer forces.  This paper argues that those decisions replicate crucial moves made by some infamous Lochner-era cases—and that those same moves continue …

Anti-Muslim Activist Laura Loomer to Run for Congress  —  Banned from every major social media network, Laura Loomer will almost certainly lose her challenge to Rep. Lois Frankel.  —  Anti-Muslim activist Laura Loomer launched a congressional bid on Friday, setting herself up for almost certain defeat …

An elite D.C. girls' school thought its founding nuns taught slaves to read.  Instead, they sold them off for as much as they could.  —  The cash-strapped nuns were desperate to sell their slaves.  —  It was the 1820s, and debt was piling up for Mother Agnes Brent, superior of the Georgetown Visitation Convent in Washington.

A reporter says the White House suspended his credentials in an ‘attempt to stifle the free press’  —  Brian Karem, the chief White House correspondent for Playboy magazine, said Friday that his press pass is being suspended for 30 days in what he called an “anti-First Amendment move.”

Trump's Judicial Legacy  —  Toggle more options  —  President Trump has now appointed nearly one in four of all federal circuit court judges, cementing an important part of his legacy.  The picks are far less diverse than his predecessor's.  —  STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Gilroy Garlic Festival shooter killed himself, coroner says, contradicting police version of events  —  The Gilroy Garlic Festival gunman killed himself, the county medical examiner concluded Friday, contradicting an earlier police account that three officers had shot him dead within a minute.

Pelosi Statement on Progress of House Investigations  —  Washington, D.C. - Speaker Nancy Pelosi released this statement on the progress of the House's investigations:  —  “When we take the oath of office, we solemnly vow 'to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies …

Emails show Stephen Miller pressed hard to limit green cards  —  White House senior adviser Stephen Miller wasn't getting an immigration regulation he wanted.  So he sent a series of scorching emails to top immigration officials, calling the department an “embarrassment” for not acting faster, according to emails obtained by POLITICO.

Top Kidney Charity Directed Aid to Patients at DaVita and Fresenius Clinics, Lawsuit Claims  —  A whistle-blower said the leading charity favored patients from the major dialysis chains because the companies were its biggest donors.  —  One of the nation's largest public charities steered financial aid …

Nikki Haley hits Trump's ‘unnecessary’ response to Cummings break-in  —  Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Friday pushed back against President Trump's tweet in which he appeared to mock an attempted robbery at the home of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.).

Garner, Pantaleo, de Blasio and truth: Let's be honest about how New York City got here  —  Bill de Blasio is gaslighting New Yorkers again.  —  “Today, for the first time in these long five years, the system of justice is working,” he said Friday, after a deputy NYPD commissioner issued a secret …

Delaney Super PAC's Biggest Donor is Wife of Former Health Care CEO  —  The $50,000 donation is one of many ways individuals tied to the health care industry are supporting the anti-Medicare for All candidate.  —  EDITED BY  —  As former Maryland representative John Delaney campaigns …

The Problem With Greta Thunberg's Climate Activism  —  Her radical approach is at odds with democracy.  —  Mr. Caldwell is the author of “Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West.”  —  Climate activists in Western Europe had already been radicalizing …