News

CBS News reports: Senate Republicans unveiled a “discussion draft” of the bill Thursday of their plan to repeal and replace Obamacare that would end the health care law’s penalties for people who don’t buy insurance, cut back an expansion of Medicaid, but would keep more protections for people with pre-existing conditions, compared to a House-passed bill. The measure would also …

TIME Magazine reports: Contradicting rhetoric from his presidential campaign, President Donald Trump explained why he chose Wall Street billionaires for several of his Cabinet roles during a campaign-style rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Wednesday evening. “So somebody said, ‘Why did you appoint a rich person to be in charge of the economy?’ I said, ‘Because that’s the kind of thinking …

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump’s son-in-law and chief Middle East adviser, Jared Kushner, has arrived in Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories for a whistlestop visit aimed at restarting the long-dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Kushner’s carefully managed visit – conducted far from media scrutiny and lasting less than a day – comes amid scant indication of any imminent breakthrough between …

Via press release from the United Nations: The world population is now at least 7.6 billion, up from 7.4 billion last year, spurred by the relatively high levels of fertility in developing countries – despite an overall drop in the number of children people have around the globe – the United Nations today reported. The concentration of global population growth …

Fox News reports: Democrats did hold on to a seat in California earlier this month. But Republicans are now boasting a “5-0” record in special elections for seats Democrats sought to flip — counting Georgia twice, as Ossoff was unable to lock down an outright win in the initial contest and lost to Handel in the runoff. The Georgia race …

Raw Story reports: Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Wednesday bluntly shot down any doubts about whether Russia was responsible for the hacking of the Democratic National Committee that was intended to disrupt the 2016 presidential election. “The Russian government, at the direction of Vladimir Putin himself, orchestrated cyber attacks on our nation for the purpose of …

The Hill reports: A bill that slaps new sanctions on Russia, and passed the Senate almost unanimously, has hit a major stumbling block in the House. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said the legislation has been flagged by the House parliamentarian as a “blue slip” violation, referring to the constitutional requirement that revenue bills originate in the House. “The House obviously …

CNN reports: Republican Karen Handel has won Georgia’s high-stakes special election, CNN projects, the most expensive US House race on record. A little after 9:45 p.m. ET, Handel led Democrat Jon Ossoff by 5.7 percentage points, with 136 out of 208 precincts counted and 190,000 votes reported. At a Hyatt Regency in northern Atlanta, more than 100 Handel supporters packed …

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: Heavy rain made for a wet afternoon in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, although it was unclear if the deluge will have much of an effect on voting as the hours ticked closer to the end of Tuesday’s nationally watched runoff between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff. The National Weather Service said storms would likely …

CNBC reports: A federal judge has rejected, for now, Martin Shkreli’s bid to reduce his criminal release bail from $5 million to $2 million during a hearing that exposed his high tax debts, legal fees, and off-beat collectibles. Shkreli’s lawyer Benjamin Brafman also said that the accused securities fraudster, who claimed to be worth up to $70 million when he …

Yahoo News reports: More than two years after leaving the Obama administration, former Attorney General Eric Holder is reentering the political fray. His goal: to lead the legal resistance to Donald Trump’s agenda — and perhaps even run against the president in 2020. Seized by a sense of urgency to oppose Trump and restore what he regards as America’s best …

The Hill reports: A Republican lawmaker introduced legislation on Tuesday to allow trained members of Congress to carry guns for self-defense in the wake of last week’s shooting at a GOP baseball practice. Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) wants to ensure all lawmakers can qualify for concealed-carry permits that could be used in any state, regardless of local laws. “The tragic …

Raw Story reports: President Donald Trump on Tuesday acknowledged that his plan to contain North Korea has been a failure — but he gave the Chinese government credit for at least putting forth a good effort to help him out. Trump’s plan at the start of his administration was to rely on the Chinese government to use its leverage over …

Will this be Sean Spicer’s final briefing? After yesterday’s flurry of reports, many are surprised that this one is even happening. CNBC reports: White House press secretary Sean Spicer holds a press briefing on Tuesday afternoon, his first on camera in more than a week. It comes after reports that the White House is considering moving Spicer out of the …

CBS News reports: An armed Russian jet came within five feet of a U.S. reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports. A U.S. official said Tuesday that the Russian aircraft came within five feet of a wing tip for a U.S. RC-135 reconnaissance plane. The Russian jet then passed under the U.S. aircraft …

Somebody is very worried: President Trump on Monday called out Democrat Jon Ossoff for living outside of the sixth Congressional district in Georgia where he is running for a House seat. Trump’s criticism of Ossoff comes on the eve of the closely watched special election in Georgia to fill the seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. …

The International Business Times reports: If Donald Trump were impeached, as some Democrats would like, Mike Pence “would be worse” for domestic policy than the current president, U.S. Sen. Al Franken told International Business Times. But the vice president would be less dangerous on foreign policy, said Franken. “Pence ran the transition and some of the very worst nominees, I …

CNBC reports: With the government still using floppy disks and checking for Y2K compliance, the private sector’s creativity will help move the Trump administration past the turn of the century, according to Jared Kushner. Major technology executives met with Kushner on Monday to gather ideas for modernizing the government. Kushner, who is also President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, helps lead the …

The Washington Post reports: The Supreme Court declared Monday that it will consider whether gerrymandered election maps favoring one political party over another violate the Constitution, a potentially fundamental change in the way American elections are conducted. The justices regularly are called to invalidate state electoral maps that have been illegally drawn to reduce the influence of racial minorities by …

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: President Donald Trump made a last-ditch appeal to Georgia’s 6th District voters Monday, tweeting that they should back Republican Karen Handel during tomorrow’s special election in order to block Democrats’ tax, health care and border security agenda. Trump and several of his top White House advisers are said to be closely watching Tuesday’s special election to …