News

CNBC reports: Democrats emerged from what they called a “contentious” two-hour meeting at the White House on Friday showing little optimism about ending a partial government shutdown. Bipartisan congressional leaders huddled with President Donald Trump as they try to break an impasse over the president’s demand for $5 billion to build his proposed border wall. The president threatened to keep …

NBC News reports: Newly elected Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Friday shied away from moving forward with impeachment at this time, calling it a “divisive” option and saying that a colleague’s use of an expletive to describe President Donald Trump was no “worse” than some of the language the president himself has used. “I do think that we …

From the right wing Daily Caller: Republican Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts will announce his retirement at a press conference in Kansas Friday afternoon, two sources close with Roberts told The Daily Caller News Foundation. Roberts, 84, will make the announcement around 11:15 E.T. in his home state. Roberts, who has served in the Senate since 1997, will announce his retirement …

Politico reports: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is floating an income tax rate as high as 60 to 70 percent on the highest-earning Americans to combat carbon emissions. Speaking with Anderson Cooper in a “60 Minutes” interview scheduled to air Sunday, Ocasio-Cortez said a dramatic increase in taxes could support her “Green New Deal” goal of eliminating the use of fossil …

Deutsche Welle reports: Germany’s digital defense body is “intensively” investigating the apparent data leak that saw data of hundreds of politicians from across the political spectrum being published online, a spokesman for the Federal Office for IT Safety (BSI) said on Friday. The hack targeted all of Germany’s political parties currently represented in the federal parliament, except for the far-right …

The Hill reports: Thousands of people have signed a petition in New York City to rename the block in front of Trump Tower after former President Obama. A MoveOn petition started by Elizabeth Rowin is calling for the stretch of Fifth Avenue between 56th and 57th Streets to be renamed “President Barack H. Obama Avenue.” The petition would require President …

Via press release from Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen: Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, introduced two Constitutional Amendments today on the opening day of the new Congress. The first would eliminate the Electoral College and provide for the direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States. The second would limit …

The Arizona Republic reports: On Thursday, U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat, took her ceremonial oath of office using a copy of the Constitution rather than a religious book, as most members usually do. Sinema’s move, while legally irrelevant, may only heighten speculation that she is an atheist. Vice President Mike Pence ended Sinema’s oath with the usual words, “so …

CNN reports: House Democrats late on Thursday approved a legislative package aimed at ending the partial government shutdown, while rejecting President Donald Trump’s demand for additional funding for a border wall, despite a White House veto threat. As a result, the legislation is expected to be dead on arrival in the Senate, leaving congressional Democrats and the administration at a …

The Daily Beast reports: Well, it’s one way to make a name for yourself after being sworn into Congress for the first time. Hours after Rep. Rashida Tlaib made headlines for being sworn in as one of the two first Muslim female members of Congress on Thursday (alongside Minnesota’s Ilhan Omar), she told a cheering crowd about her mission against …

The Greenville News reports: Former U.S. Congressman Trey Gowdy, who elevated his profile in American politics leading several high-profile government investigations, has joined the Greenville office of power law firm Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough to take on a similar role. The Spartanburg Republican’s eight-year congressional tenure ended Thursday, and Gowdy told The Greenville News he has no plans to …

Science News reports: NASA’s Juno orbiter has captured images of a volcanic plume on Jupiter’s moon Io during the mission’s 17th flyby of the giant planet. Four instruments onboard Juno — a camera called JunoCam, the Stellar Reference Unit, the Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper and the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph — observed Io for over an hour, providing a glimpse of …

Politico reports: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) supports holding hearings on Medicare for all, her spokesman said Thursday, marking a major step forward for supporters of a single-payer health system. Some Democrats have been talking about holding hearings on the issue, but Pelosi’s backing is seen as a boost for those efforts. Pelosi had said last year only that Medicare for …

Issued today by the State Department: Exercise increased caution in China due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws as well as special restrictions on dual U.S.-Chinese nationals. Chinese authorities have asserted broad authority to prohibit U.S. citizens from leaving China by using ‘exit bans,’ sometimes keeping U.S. citizens in China for years. China uses exit bans coercively: to compel U.S. …

Reuters reports: Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who faces a potentially tough re-election in 2020, says Congress should re-open the federal government, even without a deal on funding President Trump’s border wall. Gardner is the first Senate Republican to call for ending the partial shutdown even without a deal on President Trump’s demand for $5 billion to fund a border wall. …

The Washington Post reports: The House of Representatives elected Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as speaker for a second time on Thursday, the first day of a new, divided Congress that is more likely to confront President Trump. The 78-year-old California Democrat secured the votes of 220 members out of a total of 430 present. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), the top …

Politico reports: Dianne Feinstein’s California colleague Kamala Harris may run for president. But Feinstein already has her preferred candidate in mind: Joe Biden. The Democratic senator, fresh off reelection to a fifth term, told a pair of reporters on Thursday morning that the former vice president and Delaware senator is the ideal choice to run against President Donald Trump. This …

The New York Post reports: ‘L’ of a plot twist! Less than a month after deeming the 15-month total shutdown of the L-train tunnel linking Manhattan and Brooklyn “vital,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday backpedaled at the 11th hour and announced a piecemeal approach that will allow the line to still run 24/7. Rather than the long-anticipated complete year-plus closure …

The Hill reports: It’s a huge day in the House, with Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) set to be elected to a second stint as Speaker, and Democrats ready to take control of the body and pass legislation that would end the shutdown. The day will begin with the Speaker’s vote and also include the swearing in of new members. Votes …

The New York Times reports: The Russian authorities have brought espionage charges against an American citizen, Paul N. Whelan, who faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, the news agency Interfax reported on Thursday. Mr. Whelan’s lawyer, Vladimir A. Zherebenkov, who said he spent much of Wednesday with Mr. Whelan, said he had found his client in an …