If You Think It's Bad for Mainstream Democrats Now, Just Wait  —  It is always darkest, John McCain used to say, before it gets totally black.  So it is for the American center-left right now.  Bernie Sanders is currently favored to win the nomination, a prospect that would make Donald Trump …

Iowa blowback scorches Tom Perez  —  Democrats are fuming that it took a full day for Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez to issue a statement on the caucus debacle in Iowa — and three full days for him to go before national viewers to explain what's going on.

Secret Service has paid rates as high as $650 a night for rooms at Trump's properties  —  President Trump's company charges the Secret Service for the rooms agents use while protecting him at his luxury properties — billing U.S. taxpayers at rates as high as $650 per night …

White House Weighs Ouster of Aide Who Testified Against Trump  — Army's Vindman could be removed as part of a broader sweep  — Some officials may be reassigned from NSC in impeachment wake  —  The White House is weighing a plan to dismiss Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council …

Joe Walsh ends Republican primary challenge against Trump  —  GOPer: If a Democratic President had done this, she would have already been impeached & removed  —  (CNN)Former US Rep. Joe Walsh is ending his uphill challenge against Donald Trump for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination …

From vindictive to vulgar, Trump lets loose after impeachment acquittal  —  In 1999, on the day he was acquitted in a Senate impeachment trial, President Clinton appeared alone in the Rose Garden and, in exceedingly brief remarks, offered a contrite apology to the nation and a fervent call for reconciliation.

China Tightens Wuhan Lockdown in ‘Wartime’ Battle With Coronavirus  —  With infections doubling every four days and more than 600 deaths, China intensified its response in Wuhan, with house-to-house temperature checks and mass confinements at quarantine centers.

Fox News Internal Document Bashes Pro-Trump Fox Regulars for Spreading ‘Disinformation’  —  In a dossier obtained by The Daily Beast, Fox's research unit advises colleagues to be wary of “disinformation” from several Trump-boosting on-air regulars, including Giuliani.

Trump's State of the Union speech was a white supremacist vision of America  —  President Trump defiled the majesty of the East Room of the White House with a vulgar display of vindictiveness that shocked even those of us who didn't expect anything less.  For more than an hour …

Women of color bolt Warren's Nevada campaign in frustration  —  A half-dozen women of color have departed Elizabeth Warren's Nevada campaign in the run-up to the state's caucuses with complaints of a toxic work environment in which minorities felt tokenized and senior leadership was at loggerheads.

Trump's former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer will endorse Mike Bloomberg for president  —  Richard Spencer, fired for objecting to Trump's intervention in the Gallagher case, will be the first Trump appointee to back a possible Trump opponent.  —  NORFOLK, Virginia — Richard Spencer …

Mitt Romney's ‘profile in courage’  —  For years Mitt Romney had a reputation as a flip-flopper, an opportunist, a politician who would tailor his beliefs to fit whichever group he was trying to please.  —  Running for office in deep-blue Massachusetts in 1994 and 2002, he pronounced himself strongly pro-choice.

January adds a much stronger-than-expected 225,000 jobs, with a boost from warm weather  —  By Jeff Cox@JEFF.COX.7528@JEFFCOXCNBCCOM  — Nonfarm payrolls surged 225,000 for the month, well above Wall Street estimates for a 158,000 gain.  — The unemployment rate ticked higher to 3.6% …

Federal Agencies Use Cellphone Location Data for Immigration Enforcement  —  Commercial database that maps movements of millions of cellphones is deployed by immigration and border authorities  —  WASHINGTON—The Trump administration has bought access to a commercial database that maps …

How Trump Wins Again  —  Are Democrats going to give this election away?  —  As several people have noticed, this was the most politically successful week of the Trump presidency.  —  First, President Trump's job approval numbers are rising.  When the impeachment inquiry got rolling in October his Gallup approval rating was 39.

Treasury Department Hands Over Hunter Biden Info After Withholding Trump's Tax Records  —  The impeachment trial is over, but Senate Republicans are pressing forward with an investigation into the Bidens.  —  WASHINGTON ― The Treasury Department has given congressional Republicans …

President's Chicago tax appeal on Trump Tower is under investigation  —  State inspector general, Pritzker administration are looking into allegation a Republican state agency head pressured staff to slash by $1M the $2.5M in property taxes Donald Trump paid in 2012.

Kushner: Abbas, Olmert jealous they couldn't bring about peace themselves  —  Jared Kushner spoke out against Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday, saying that they are jealous of the peace plan for having the potential to accomplish what they could not.

Steel Tariffs and U.S. Jobs Revisited  —  Harvard University and University of California, Davis  —  The Issue:  —  It has been nearly two years since the Trump administration first imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum.  New data and research are beginning to emerge on the impact that these tariffs …

Mulvaney's job in doubt now that impeachment dust has settled  —  Mulvaney confesses to quid pro quo: Get over it  —  Washington (CNN)With a five-month impeachment saga behind them, White House aides are bracing for the prospect of another staff shake-up in the West Wing as President Donald Trump looks …

The Democrats' Unserious Week  —  The fiasco in Iowa, the foolishness at the State of the Union—do they realize how bad they look?  —  Democrats, when they're feeling alarmed or mischievous, will often say that Ronald Reagan would not recognize the current Republican Party.