The Austin Statesman reports: Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Thursday said that, if he can help it, the planned movie on former state Sen. Wendy Davis’ 2013 filibuster won’t be shot in the Texas Senate chamber. “If I have anything to do with that, I’m not going to let them use the Senate chamber to shoot because they have …

The Daily Beast reports: On Tuesday afternoon, senior White House officials reached out to Sen. Orrin Hatch’s (R-UT) office with an urgent request. They needed the Utah Republican to put together a statement praising his former chief of staff and then-White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter. At issue was a story that was about to pop from the British tabloid, …

USA Today reports: President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were thrown out of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics on Friday night after causing a scene at Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium. OK, full disclosure, it was a pair of hysterically accurate impersonators who had heads turning everywhere they went, with the Trump lookalike clad in a …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump signed a major budget plan into law Friday, ending the year’s second government shutdown hours after it started. Both chambers of Congress passed a short-term funding bill in the wee hours of Friday and cleared the way for a massive boost to military and domestic spending hours after funding lapsed at midnight. The government partially …

The New York Times reports: Among the many people agitated this week over John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, was President Trump. And among the people the president called to express dissatisfaction, according to those close to him, was none other than Reince Priebus, the previous chief of staff, who also irritated Mr. Trump. The idea that …

The Hill reports: Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) said on Friday that he could understand why Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) neighbor, who attacked him last year, was annoyed with him after Paul blocked a deal from keeping the government open on Thursday. “When Rand Paul pulls a stunt like this, it easy to understand why it’s difficult to be Rand Paul’s …

CBS News reports: Omarosa Manigault Newman, the former reality show star who went to work in the White House and then went back to reality television after being fired, said on CBS’ “Celebrity Big Brother” on Thursday that she wouldn’t vote for President Trump again “in a million years, never.” Newman said she found it hard to separate her long-time …

The Daily Beast reports: Facebook is testing a “downvote” button with certain users, effectively creating the “dislike” button long predicted by memes and articles since inception of the Like button. The test appeared for several users on Thursday in the comment section of posts within Facebook groups and on old Facebook memories content. Users shared screenshots with The Daily Beast. …

The Hill reports: The State Department on Thursday called a recent military parade in North Korea a “dog and pony show,” even amid reports that the Trump administration is planning a military procession of its own. CNN’s Michelle Kosinski tweeted the swipe from a State Department official. The comment came after media reports surfaced that top Pentagon officials are in …

Forbes reports: When Donald Trump told the The New York Times in 2005 that Graff Diamonds gave him a $1 million discount on Melania Knauss’ engagement ring, the future president of the United States was not telling the truth, Forbes has learned. Graff Diamonds’ billionaire chairman Laurence Graff said in a January 26 email sent from his home in Gstaad, …

The Huffington Post reports: White House spokesman Raj Shah dismissed former aide Omarosa Manigault Newman’s recent disparaging comments about President Donald Trump, telling reporters during a Thursday press conference that she was forced out of the role. “Omarosa was fired three times on ‘The Apprentice,’ and this was the fourth time we let her go,” Shah said, referencing Newman’s previous …

The Associated Press reports: Dow Jones industrials plunged over 1,000 points Thursday, bringing the index down 10 percent from the record it reached two weeks ago. Stocks started to fall in early trading and extended their losses throughout the morning. The market’s turmoil began last Friday and has continued this week as investors worried about early signs of inflation. Analysts …

Fox News executive vice president John Moody writes: Unless it’s changed overnight, the motto of the Olympics, since 1894, has been “Faster, Higher, Stronger.” It appears the U.S. Olympic Committee would like to change that to “Darker, Gayer, Different.” If your goal is to win medals, that won’t work. A USOC official was quoted this week expressing pride (what else?) …

Heavy.com reports: White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah will fill in for Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders today in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House. Before joining the administration, Shah called President Trump a “deplorable,” and also worked on campaign ads against him. During high school, Shah volunteered for Representative Chris Shays and interned …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has drawn jeers for suggesting that people in pain should consider over-the-counter Bufferin instead of opioids. On Wednesday, Sessions was in Tampa, touting the Trump administration’s efforts to combat drug abuse and trafficking. This time, he broadened his suggestion to aspirin. “I am operating on the assumption that this country …

Raw Story reports: Former Vice President Joe Biden suggested President Donald Trump may be compromised by Russia and its president. Biden sat down Thursday for an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell, who asked the former vice president why Trump was “so reluctant to take on Vladimir Putin.” “Look, you know, I want to give every American, including the president, the …

The Toronto Sun reports: Toronto police have now recovered the remains of six individuals in an investigation into what they have described as the work of a serial killer. Bruce McArthur, 66, has been charged with five counts of first-degree murder in the disappearances of Andrew Kinsman, Selim Esen, Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi and Dean Lisowick. Speaking Thursday at a …

Reuters reports: The Pentagon on Thursday said it was not certain that the Washington-area would host a parade requested by President Donald Trump to honor the U.S. military. “We don’t know that. There are options and we will explore those and the president will ultimately decide,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White, adding that the U.S. Army was taking the lead …

The Hill reports: Former White House aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman said she was “haunted” by President Trump’s tweets during her time in the White House in a new clip from “Celebrity Big Brother.” In the teaser, posted by the show’s Twitter account, Manigault-Newman, who also starred in the first season of The Apprentice with Trump, breaks down in tears opening up …

CBS News reports: In a sign of increasing partisan hostilities, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee plan to construct a wall – a physical partition – separating Republican and Democratic staff members in the committee’s secure spaces, according to multiple committee sources. It’s expected to happen this spring. For now, some Republican committee members deny knowing anything about it, while …