Maduro said Monday evening he had no intention of deviating from his plans to rewrite the constitution and go after a string of enemies

Trump personally dictated a statement in which Trump Jr. said that he and the Russian lawyer had “primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children”

“Jesus, we can’t just take back these assholes all at once—we need time to process one before we get the next”

"Until somebody shows us a way to get that elusive 50th vote, I think it's over”

"He deleted all those tweets for nothing."

Russia is preparing to send as many as 100,000 troops to the eastern edge of NATO territory at the end of the summer

The Trump administration insisted on Monday ... that its plan to rewrite the tax code would be a collaborative and ultimately successful process.

By the end of last week, the well-documented chaos in President Trump’s White House had reached such a crescendo that the New York Post’s Friday, July 28, cover characterized the administration’s key players as contestants in a game of Survivor.

Kelly was so upset with how President Donald Trump handled the firing of FBI Director James Comey that Kelly called Comey afterward and said he was considering resigning

Trump fired communications director Anthony Scaramucci on Monday at the urging of new White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, a clear sign that the retired Marine general is being empowered to manage what has been an unwieldy West Wing operation.

Trump has removed Anthony Scaramucci as communications director, a little more than a week after the former financier was named to the post

Sooner or later Kelly will have to defend the White House’s jabber about “fake news,” “alternative facts,” and “witch hunts.” He will have to ascribe to Trump virtues that he does not possess, and deny the moral lapses and quite possibly the crimes that he has committed.

The president's daughter and son-in-law continue to hold sway over personnel decisions, but last week's decision on transgender military service was a reminder that they have so far had little effect on his policies.

...he came bearing a message from the president: “Russia’s destabilizing activities, its support for rogue regimes, its activities in Ukraine, are unacceptable.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said it's “time to move on” from the issue after the failed votes, but Conway said that Trump “will not accept” those who believe that.

Although the reduction in American diplomatic staff had been announced on Friday, ... the president’s statement was the first to confirm the large number of embassy personnel involved.

In a series of tweets Sunday morning, Arthur Schwartz, a former spokesperson and self-described friend of ... Scaramucci, lit into ... Priebus, accusing him of having a mistress.

Health insurers have filed nearly two dozen lawsuits claiming the government owes them payments from a program meant to blunt their losses in the Obamacare marketplaces.

Though the device was supposedly wiped before it was sold by the government at auction, the hackers were able to uncover the results the machine tallied in 2002.

He was born during a lunar eclipse, they point out, which makes him more susceptible to the power of eclipses.

“It's very clear the president doesn't want me, at least, talking about the investigation. But I don't think his interests are necessarily the same as the public interest.”

Moon has persistently expressed a desire to reach out to North Korea. But in the wake of the North's latest ICBM test, a stern-looking Moon ... ordered his troops to conduct a live-fire exercise with U.S. forces and endorsed stronger pressure and sanctions against Pyongyang.

Some congressional Republicans are backing a proposal by Sen. Lindsey Graham they hope can get 50 Republican votes.

Trump threatened to end key Affordable Care Act subsidies to health insurance companies that help make insurance accessible to poorer Americans, a move that may critically destabilize health exchanges if it went ahead.

"Obama's complaints about Republicans stopping his agenda are BS since he had full control for two years. He can never take responsibility.

Priebus's departure is a further indication that ... the administration ... is planning to survive by going full thug. That's why Scaramucci was brought in, and why his profane indiscretions weren't enough to fire him.

He likes Kelly. He trusts Kelly. But what remains to be seen is whether Trump will listen to him as Kelly seeks to bring order to a White House beset by chaos.

Harland Dorrinson, who voted for Trump “because he promised that he would take my health care away from me on Day 1,” said that he was “very upset” that he will still receive that benefit.

“Bear with us. Once we have exhausted all possible alternatives, the Americans will do the right thing.”

What about Trump, exactly, reflects their values?

...the Senate can only consider one budget reconciliation bill per topic per year.

Trump’s actions appear aimed at destroying the fundamental independence of the Justice Department.

Sessions would, in a real sense, be collateral damage from Trump’s escalating war with Mueller. That’s because getting rid of Mueller would require getting rid of Sessions first.

Daily, the president’s boundless anger seems to find a new target: He is variously unhappy with his lawyer/his strategist/his press secretary. There is always someone else for Trump to blame, never himself.

As a senior White House staffer, the chief of staff would not ordinarily be tasked with such matters.

But the most remarkable takeaway from the defeat of repeal ought to be how close it came to passing.

“When you guys put somebody in the car and you’re protecting their head, you know, the way you put their hand over?”

"The United States will take all necessary steps to ensure the security of the American homeland and protect our allies in the region."

Trump ... sees Kelly as someone who dutifully follows through on his agenda and does not ever cause him problems, according to two White House officials.

“I made a mistake in trusting in a reporter,” Scaramucci tweeted on Thursday night. “It won’t happen again.”

But that “no” came from atop 50 other votes of opposition, not all of them easy.

On July 28, North Korea launched a ballistic missile that reportedly flew for 45 minutes, reaching a peak altitude of 3,000 km, and a slightly longer range than the previous test.

Russia took its first steps on Friday to retaliate against proposed American sanctions for Moscow’s suspected meddling in last year’s election

"I imagine many of our colleagues on the other side are celebrating, probably pretty happy about this," a stunned seeming McConnell said from the Senate floor. "But the American people are hurting and they need relief."

The Senate Republicans’ push to dismantle Obamacare collapsed in dramatic fashion early Friday morning, when two centrist GOP women and Sen. John McCain of Arizona teamed up to sink an already scaled-back effort to dismantle the 2010 health care law.

Senate Republicans have still not released the actual text of whatever they will vote on at the end of their debate, probably Friday morning.

The road is very narrow, but it’s not impossible.

"An attorney general who doesn’t follow the law is not very effective in leading the Department of Justice,” Mr. Sessions said. “Knowing the integrity that’s required of the attorney general, I believe I made the right decision.”

Trump said his decision to ban transgender people from serving in the military ... came “after consultation with my generals and military experts.” It’s becoming clearer and clearer that he was lying.

(1) The White House has stated publicly, unambiguously, and repeatedly that President Trump's tweets are official White House declarations.

...the chairman of the Joint Chiefs wrote ... that there will be “no modifications” to the military’s transgender policy, until the White House drafts a formal request for a policy change.

Graham said his bill ... would mandate that any special counsel established to investigate either a president or his staff can't be fired “unless you have judicial review of the firing.”

“What I want to do is I want to fucking kill all the leakers and I want to get the President’s agenda on track so we can succeed for the American people”

Scaramucci’s Old Testament reference looks like a pretty direct threat to his “brother”: After all, in Genesis, Cain kills Abel.

The Senate on Thursday approved sweeping sanctions against Russia, forcing President Trump to decide whether to accept a tougher line against Moscow or issue a politically explosive veto

Senate Republicans have been trying to push through a repeal by using special budget rules that limit debate to 20 hours.

If we choose a registered voter at random, there is a 13.6 percent chance that she will be erroneously matched to at least one other voter somewhere in the country who shares her full name, birth month and birth year.

A federal court is expected to rule soon on whether Texas intentionally discriminated against minorities and failed to draw enough minority-majority districts when it adopted its current congressional map.

But lately, some in the centrist Tuesday Group have started to adopt the power-in-numbers strategy of the Freedom Caucus. And the get-tough approach is yielding results.

...the committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, reportedly swiped at Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) for what he said was protecting Kushner.

House GOP insiders feared they might not have the votes to pass the legislation because defense hawks wanted a ban on Pentagon-funded sex reassignment operations — something GOP leaders wouldn’t give them.

They spend how much on transgender medical services? $8.4 million? My God that’s like four screws and a couple of bolts on my ejection seat,” the F-35 told reporters

Trump has discussed with confidants and advisers in recent days the possibility of installing a new attorney general through a recess appointment if Jeff Sessions leaves the job, but he has been warned not to move to push him out

“Our president has given signals that he is reviewing the Constitution and, in the process of reviewing it, it has been published that the review includes that possibility of his considering pardoning himself”

“I think this is the most lawyered administration, at least within the first few months, I’ve ever seen in my lifetime,”

...if the president were to put that edict in an executive order rather than a tweet, the policy it purported to institute would be flatly unconstitutional.

Senate Republicans who almost never link arms in unison against a president from their party formed a cordon around Mr. Sessions, making it clear that they neither concurred with nor would tolerate Mr. Trump’s repeated threats to the attorney general’s tenure.

The disclosure highlights the extensive wealth Scaramucci has accumulated ... and also the challenge he faces in extracting himself from the potential conflicts his investments could pose.

Foreign governments are paying Trump; The Defamation lawsuit; The White House promotes Melania’s jewelry line; Kellyanne Conway endorses Ivanka’s clothing line; Wilbur Ross keeps investments that he affects as commerce secretary; Mar-a-Lago jacks up its rates; Trump’s campaign pays his businesses; The Kushners tout Jared’s White House connections to do business in China; Kushner fails to disclose key assets; Ivanka and Jared are still making a lot of money from their businesses; Trump’s products aren’t made in America; The government writes Trump a $15,000 check; The administration sidelines climate scientists

“I’m 9 years old and you are my favourite president,” Sanders read. “I like you so much I had a birthday about you.”

A bare-bones plan picks up some key GOP support, but centrists and conservatives are skeptical.

The Senate on Wednesday afternoon rejected a proposal to repeal major parts of the Affordable Care Act without providing a replacement.

Lawmakers in both parties slammed President Trump’s decision on Wednesday to bar transgender Americans from serving in the military

Overall, a majority of voters, 59 percent, believe Clinton won more votes than Trump, but 28 percent believe Trump won more votes.

DeVos, a devout Christian, stands accused of quietly privatising schools, rescinding discrimination guidelines and neutering her own department’s civil rights office.

The intimidation of journalists has escalated on Capitol Hill in recent weeks as the Senate has inched toward voting on Trumpcare.

McCabe has remained in place while the president’s nominee to run the F.B.I., Christopher A. Wray, goes through the confirmation process.

...announcing that cities and states could lose millions of dollars in federal grants unless they began cooperating with immigration agents.

'I will not vote for this bill as it is today,' says senator before voting in its favour

Moscow defends North Korea in a way that’s designed to get both the Russian public and the international community to see Russia as a great power.

The abrupt announcement seemed to stun military leaders, even though Trump said in a series of tweets that he consulted with "my generals and military experts."

Before the Magnitsky Act, Putin could guarantee them impunity and this system of illegal wealth accumulation worked smoothly.

NATO member Turkey said in April it had reached a "final stage" in talks to procure the air missile defense system. Turkey will not be able to integrate the Russian S-400 into the NATO system.

The Senate voted narrowly on Tuesday to begin debate on a bill to repeal major provisions of the Affordable Care Act, but hours later, Republican leaders suffered a setback when their most comprehensive plan to replace President Barack Obama’s health law fell far short of the votes it needed.

The plan, which has been nicknamed “skinny repeal,” would eliminate the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, the employer mandate and a tax on medical devices, at least for a few years.

The 419-3 vote brings President Trump one step closer to a choice he has strained to avoid: whether to sign legislation embraced by Republicans in both the House and the Senate that undercuts his attempts to ratchet down tensions with Moscow, or to veto the bill even as Russia-related scandal consumes his administration.

“I’m very disappointed with the attorney general, but we will see what happens,” Trump said in a Rose Garden news conference alongside Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri. “Time will tell. Time will tell.”

"Should the U.S. dare to show even the slightest sign of attempt to remove our supreme leadership, we will strike a merciless blow at the heart of the U.S. with our powerful nuclear hammer, honed and hardened over time"

Behind the new assessment, officials said, was a growing recognition that they underestimated the determination of Kim Jung-un, North Korea’s leader, to race ahead with a weapon that could reach American soil, even if it is crudely engineered and inaccurate.

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday rescinded subpoenas for two key witnesses in the Russia imbroglio ... as part of agreements in which they'd agree to talk with the committee behind closed doors.

Manafort gave the investigators notes he had taken during the meeting

“I’m going to fire everybody — that’s how,” Mr. Scaramucci told reporters in the White House driveway, when asked how he planned to identify who had been disclosing information to reporters without authorization and ensure that the leaks stopped.

China's military has been increasing the strength and number of its forces along its 880-mile border with North Korea

Over the weekend, two Chinese J-10 fighter jets intercepted a U.S. Navy surveillance plane in international airspace over the East China Sea

Republican leaders have not yet said which version of their legislation they will be debating.

The next step is floor debate on the legislation to overhaul the Affordable Care Act even though there aren't any guarantees the votes are there to eventually pass it -- and it's unclear what a final bill will look like.

“When they say he endorsed me, I went to Alabama,” Trump said. “I had 40,000 people. He was a senator from Alabama. I won the state by a lot, massive numbers. A lot of the states I won by massive numbers. But he was a senator, he looks at 40,000 people and he probably says, 'What do I have to lose?’ And he endorsed me. So it’s not like a great loyal thing about the endorsement. But I’m very disappointed in Jeff Sessions.”

McConnell and his leadership team are throwing everything they have at wavering senators: the threat of political disaster if they fail, an open amendment process to allow their ideas to be debated — and the argument that a flawed Senate bill can be fixed later in conference negotiations with the House.

...standing before all 40,000 of them, he bragged about the “record” crowd size, bashed President Barack Obama, criticized the “fake media” and trashed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. In the lengthy 35-minute speech, the president threatened to fire his Health and Human Services Secretary if he couldn’t convince members of Congress to vote for the Republican health-care bill.

McCain is expected to get GOP leadership one vote closer to beginning debate on health care legislation, which is on the verge of collapsing.

“if it was a guy from south Texas I might ask him to step outside and settle this Aaron Burr-style.”

Trump appeared to be referring to a Post story last week on the phasing out of a covert Obama administration program in which the CIA armed and trained moderate Syrian rebels battling forces loyal to Assad in the country’s civil war. The Post reported that the Russian government had long opposed the program, seeing it as an assault on its interests.

...questioning why the Justice Department chief has not done more to investigate alleged “crimes” by Hillary Clinton and those who have leaked information to the media.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center ... sought to stop the commission from acquiring the voter data, claiming that the panel should have conducted a privacy impact assessment before asking states for the personal information. But the judge ... said the panel did not qualify as a federal agency, so it was not required to conduct and publish a privacy assessment.

Replacing Sessions is viewed by some Trump associates as potentially being part of a strategy to fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and end his investigation of whether the Trump campaign coordinated with the Kremlin to influence the 2016 election

For the 39th time, top presidential adviser (and son-in-law) Jared Kushner has revised his financial disclosure forms. Kushner disclosed 77 additional assets, collectively worth millions of dollars.

Republican senators are set to vote on a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act Tuesday. They just don't know what's in it.

Below the leadership level, Republicans are defying Trump more often, and McConnell and Ryan aren’t always standing in their way. You can see this defiance in the bipartisan Senate investigation of the Russia scandal. You can see it in the deal on Russian sanctions.

For weeks, conversations with Tillerson friends outside of Washington have left the impression that he, despite his frustrations, was determined to stay on the job at least through the end of the year.

Trump has responded to this problem with what Walter Williams calls an “anti-analytic” strategy. The administration’s budget has proposed major cuts to programs of policy-relevant scientific research on climate and the environment

Also note the exceptional care that went into Kushner’s characterization of the meeting. He claims he arrived just late enough to miss the incriminating part of the meeting.

Kushner said he did not read an email forwarded by the younger Mr. Trump saying that the Russian government was providing dirt about Mrs. Clinton as part of its effort to help the Trump campaign.

Now it is clear that those sanctions not only are staying in place, but are about to be modestly expanded — exactly the outcome the two presidents sought to avoid.

Kushner is scheduled to meet behind closed doors with the Senate Intelligence Committee on Monday, then be questioned — again in private — by the House Intelligence Committee the following day.

...after the network appeared to falsely blame the newspaper for leaking intelligence information that it said led to a top ISIS leader's escape

“The scandals are about the president’s lies,” replied Stelter. “About voter fraud; about wire-tapping; his repeated lies about those issues. That’s the scandal.”

"The truth of the matter is that the president isn't going to have to pardon anybody because the Russia thing is a nonsensical thing," Scaramucci continued.

Although nothing in the Constitution or federal law explicitly says presidents are immune from indictment while they remain in office, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel has asserted that they are.

“His rejection of Paris was a bell in the night; it has inspired so many people to come out and stand up.”

In previous tweets, the Wall Street financier called Hillary Clinton “incredibly competent” and appeared to be at odds with his new boss on issues such as gun control, climate change, Islam and illegal immigration.

—Anthony Scaramucci, incoming White House communications director.

“Both Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort, through their attorneys, have agreed to negotiate to provide the committee with documents and be interviewed by committee members and staff prior to a public hearing”

The new legislation sharply limits the president’s ability to suspend or terminate the sanctions — a remarkable handcuffing by a Republican-led Congress six months into Mr. Trump’s tenure.

The president's defense of his pardon powers came days after The Post reported that he and his legal team have discussed his power to pardon aides, family members and, possibly, even himself.

“Two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said that Scaramucci is being primed to eventually take on the position of chief of staff.”

Nope. Absolutely not.

Sessions pressed his immigration agenda on Friday in Philadelphia, a so-called sanctuary city that limits its cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Russia’s ambassador to Washington told his superiors in Moscow that he discussed campaign-related matters, including policy issues important to Moscow, with Jeff Sessions during the 2016 presidential race

Scaramucci has a contentious relationship with both Spicer and Priebus, each of whom vehemently objected to Trump’s decision to install him in the top communications job.

That's why it's useful to look at Alexander Hamilton's defense of the pardon power, which he lays out in Federalist No. 74. Hamilton notes that "humanity and good policy" require that such a power ought to remain in the hands of the president — rather than dispersed among the many members of Congress — because "the sense of responsibility" he would feel in having such enormous power over another person's fate would ensure that he exercised it with "scrupulousness and caution."

The mother of all conditions is known as the Byrd Rule. The rule came about in the 1980s, after Sen. Robert Byrd ... grew frustrated with reconciliation. His colleagues were using it to advance all sorts of policies, not just those related to spending and revenue.

...telling President Trump he vehemently disagreed with the appointment of the New York financier Anthony Scaramucci as communications director.

Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz will no longer lead the legal team responding to the ongoing Russian investigations and has taken a reduced role

Bannon, chastened by internal rivalries and by President Donald Trump’s growing suspicion that he is looking out for his own interests, is in a self-imposed exile, having chosen to step back from Trump’s inner circle for the sake of self-preservation

Such transparency, Conway said, is within the spirit of the Trump administration, which has refused to release the president’s tax returns and has closed visitor logs to the public.

Trump has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with the probe

It’s Made in America Week at the White House...

“There’s a pretty clear and easy answer to this and it’s 'yes,'” Thomas Bossert said when asked whether the Russians worked to manipulate the U.S. election

FBI investigators and others are looking at Russian purchases of apartments in Trump buildings, Trump’s involvement in a controversial SoHo development in New York with Russian associates, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow and Trump’s sale of a Florida mansion to a Russian oligarch in 2008

Trump’s persistent overtures toward Russia are placing him increasingly at odds with his national security and foreign policy advisers, who have long urged a more cautious approach to dealing with the foreign adversary.

It is no surprise, but it is still a shock, to see how little President Trump understands about the independence of the Justice Department and the importance of the rule of law.

Leaders have reopened negotiations on their previous bill, reversing course from their plans to move to a vote on a straight repeal of ObamaCare.

White House reporters – and by extension the American public – have on more than this occasion received more detailed information about the president's conversations and whereabouts from foreign governments rather than from official channels in Washington.

The transcript ... oozes with brooding grievance and reflects the degree to which he has adopted a bunker mentality. It also underscores how much Robert Mueller’s escalating investigation bothers and preoccupies the president six months into his term.

The annual economic dialogue session in Washington ended with canceled news conferences, no joint statement and no new announcements on U.S. market access to China.

Anadolu Agency published a map Wednesday showing 10 locations where it says U.S. troops are located. The posts span a stretch of northern Syria controlled by Syrian Kurdish forces that the U.S. supports but Turkey considers terrorists.

The vote is a reward to the ultras who sabotaged repeal and replace by allowing them to posture one more time as purists who have not forsaken the true faith. It punishes the cautious senators who recoiled from huge Medicaid cuts by thrusting upon them a clear alternate they would prefer to evade.

With the end of the CIA program, U.S. involvement in Syria now consists of a vigorous air campaign against the Islamic State and a Pentagon-run train-and-equip program

“Some people are like, ‘This is bullshit, this is just an effort to undermine Trump,’ then some are like, ‘Trump needs to be removed from office.’ It’s all over the place.”

His office said Mr. McCain would decide when to return to the Senate as he consults with his medical advisers.

Republican leaders pledged to put the bill to a vote after their initial effort to repeal and replace Obamacare fell apart in stunning fashion

Trump: I want to either get it done or not get it done. If we don’t get it done, we are going to watch Obamacare go down the tubes, and we’ll blame the Democrats.

Lost amid the uproar over the commission’s request was a letter sent at the same time by the Justice Department’s civil rights division. It forced 44 states to provide extensive information on how they keep their voter rolls up-to-date.

The House is mad at the Senate. The Senate is mad at the House. Various factions in the House and Senate are mad at each other or mad at their leaders. Republican lawmakers have yet to turn on President Trump in any meaningful way. But they’re starting to turn on each other.

Spawned by Trump’s baseless claim that illegal voting cost him the popular vote ..., the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity will gather Wednesday to chart its agenda

The Senate bill ... was ultimately defeated by deep divisions within the party, a lack of a viable health care alternative and a president who, one staff member said, was growing bored in selling the bill and often undermined the best-laid plans of his aides with a quip or a tweet.

Mr. Kaveladze’s attendance also deepens questions about the apparent failure of Trump campaign officials to vet the backgrounds of the participants.

The Senate majority leader doesn’t appear to have the support necessary to pass a repeal-only bill, but seems determined to press ahead without it.

The hourlong conversation in Hamburg, Germany, took place at a private dinner among world leaders at a concert hall on the banks of the Elbe River ... with only a Kremlin interpreter present to listen to the exchange.

Yet on certain policy matters, Breitbart News is monitoring Trump’s follow-through and occasionally calling him out for not delivering what his base expected.

Trump declared that his plan was now to “let Obamacare fail”

The president said he was "disappointed" by Monday's collapse of the GOP replacement plan, known as the Better Care Reconciliation Act. He called Democrats "obstructionists" for not supporting the measure.

He’s now pivoting to a repeal-and-delay plan.

Two more GOP senators – Mike Lee of Utah and Jerry Moran of Kansas – came out in opposition to the bill, which means it cannot get enough support to pass.

“We hope to issue this week a new directive on asset forfeiture — especially for drug traffickers”

“We’ve signed more bills — and I’m talking about through the legislature — than any president, ever,” Mr. Trump said at a “Made in America” event at the White House. “For a while, Harry Truman had us. And now, I think, we have everybody.”

...fighting an effort to force him to testify in a lawsuit brought by protesters at a campaign rally in Kentucky last year who say they were roughed up following Trump's call to "get 'em out of here."

“It’s easier to rage against the machine when you’re not in control of the machine, No. 1. And the perception that we are in control of the machine is inaccurate”

About a quarter of Americans strongly approve of Trump’s job performance. A quarter think he’s doing a better job than past presidents. A quarter think America’s position in the world has gotten stronger since he was inaugurated. A quarter think that the way he acts is presidential.

That’s because the tactics McConnell is using to get his win — which have entailed previously unimaginable amounts of secrecy, speed, and utter disregard for public opinion — are a blueprint that future Senate majorities will surely use for their own purposes.

Trump, whose company outsources the manufacturing of many of its products to overseas factories, is unveiling “Made in America” week at the White House to promote products made in the United States.

...and it may delay his return to Washington by at least a week or two, medical experts said on Sunday.

These days, to the extent that most people know of the John Birch Society—that far-right group founded in the thick of the Cold War to fight communists and preach small government—it’s purely as a historical relic of a bygone era of sock hops and poodle skirts. But the John Birch Society lives.

Privately, Republicans said the delay could be as little as a week as McCain recovers in Arizona, though others worried it could stretch for several weeks and jeopardize the entire repeal effort.

“Following a routine annual physical, Sen. John McCain underwent a procedure to remove a blood clot from above his left eye on Friday, July 14 at Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix.”

Derided as “junk insurance,” the plans had very low premiums but often came with five-figure deductibles. Many failed to pay for medical care that is now deemed essential.

Given the pattern of the last few days, it is hard to see why anyone would assume that the public has received a full and honest reckoning of the June 9 meeting—or why anyone would give Trump Jr. and the White House the benefit of the doubt.

families making $10,000 or less risk losing more than 60 percent of their household income to health care costs. What’s more, America’s wealthiest families would actually benefit — gaining more than $5,000 in income through tax and benefit changes.

It bears all the hallmarks of a professionally planned, carefully orchestrated intelligence soft pitch designed to gauge receptivity, while leaving room for plausible deniability in case the approach is rejected.

"The deception, Chris, is mind-boggling. And there are still people who are out there who believe we’re making it up. And one day they’re gonna realize we’re not and look around and go, Where are we, and why are we getting told all these lies?"

Unfortunately for these voters and others who wrote in, the Trump administration did not redact any of their personal information from the emails before releasing them to the public. In some cases, the emails contain not only names, but email addresses, home addresses, phone numbers and places of employment of people worried about such information being made available to the public.

A federal judge in Hawaii ruled late Thursday that the Trump administration’s temporary ban ... should not prevent grandparents and other close relatives of residents from entering the United States.

Akhmetshin has been reported to have ties to Russian intelligence agencies, though he denies those links.

“I mean, we were promised systemic, hard evidence of systemic, sustained, furtive collusion that not only interfered with our election process but indeed dictated the electoral outcome,” Conway said

Once you’ve said “I’m in,” it makes no difference that the meeting was a bust, that the intermediary brought no such goods. What matters is what Donald Jr. thought going into the meeting

“It’s about honesty and about your vulnerability to having things exposed. It’s troubling that those things weren’t disclosed originally.”

“I said to him, ‘Were you involved in the meddling with the election?’” Mr. Trump recalled. “He said, ‘Absolutely not. I was not involved.’ He was very strong on it. I then said to him, in a totally different way, ‘Were you involved with the meddling?’ He said, ‘I was not — absolutely not.’”

It basically boiled down to this: Trump Jr. is a “young man” who was taken advantage of by a Russian lawyer who wouldn't even have been in this country if it weren't for the Obama administration.

“Call me. Don’t be afraid, you piece of shit. Stand up. If you don’t call, you’re just afraid.” And later: “I already know where you live, I’m on you. You might as well call me. You will see me. I promise. Bro.”

During the 2016 campaign, Simpson’s firm hired the British spy Christopher Steele, who ultimately produced the infamous dossier, which suggests Trump took part in an intricate Kremlin-backed plot to ascend to the White House.

...revising their bill to help hold down insurance costs for consumers while allowing insurers to sell new low-cost, stripped down policies.

Mr. Trump, for his own inaugural parade, had expressed a desire to infuse it with tanks and fighter jets. That wish was not granted, but Mr. Trump remains transfixed by displays of military power.

The truth is that the law is actually working reasonably well, and even the part that has shown the most weakness — the health insurance marketplaces — has been stabilizing.

On June 12, a judge had ordered the agency to provide the information within 30 days, a deadline that passed on Wednesday.

"We write with some concern that the two events may be connected — and that the Department may have settled the case at a loss for the United States in order to obscure the underlying facts."

Even the best-behaved teen is likely to encounter a situation where he or she is tempted to collude with Russia.

Trump plans to get behind a bill ... that, if signed into law, would, by 2027, slash in half the number of legal immigrants entering the country each year

“Everybody gets opposition research,” says Painter, “just like everybody gets campaign contributions. But we don't get either one from foreign nationals.”

Independent analysts say that while the CBO is sometimes mistaken, the agency's analyses do not betray any partisan bias

But even as the White House labors to present a business-as-usual facade, there is evidence that Mr. Trump’s family will be drawn deeper into the investigation.

The invitation by France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, might not only give Mr. Trump a brief respite from his domestic political woes, but also establish Mr. Macron’s standing as Mr. Trump’s primary point of contact in Western Europe.

...but would return from the break if the Senate passes its bill to repeal Obamacare.

...examining whether the Trump campaign’s digital operation – overseen by Jared Kushner – helped guide Russia’s sophisticated voter targeting and fake news attacks on Hillary Clinton in 2016.

The Global Times said the main role of the base would be to support Chinese warships operating in the region in anti-piracy and humanitarian operations.

The giant block is estimated to cover an area of roughly 6,000 sq km

He is expected to say in his opening statement: “I will never allow the F.B.I.’s work to be driven by anything other than the facts, the law and the impartial pursuit of justice. Period.”

Some appointees are reviewing rules their previous employers sought to weaken or kill, and at least two may be positioned to profit if certain regulations are undone.

While Donald Trump Jr. has been the main focus of the controversy because he set up the meeting, Mr. Kushner faces potential trouble because he currently works in the White House and neglected to mention the encounter on forms he filled out for a background check to obtain a security clearance.

McConnell ... plans to release an updated Republican health care bill on Thursday and is delaying the body's annual August recess by two weeks in an effort to generate momentum for the beleaguered legislation.

Senate Republican leaders ... vowed on Tuesday to press ahead with their effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, with a new version of their bill on Thursday and a vote next week — regardless of the deep divisions in the party.

A handful of Republican operatives close to the White House are scrambling to Trump Jr.’s defense and have begun what could be an extensive campaign to try to discredit some of the journalists who have been reporting on the matter.

“This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.”

Fox said the program had been mistaken in suggesting that memos written by Comey and provided to congressional investigators contained “top secret” information. Instead, the material had a lower-level security classification.

The Russian lawyer who met with Donald Trump Jr. during the presidential campaign denied ... that she had any connection to the Kremlin and insisted she met with President Donald Trump’s son in 2016 to discuss sanctions between Russia and the U.S.

Today, for the first time on a question asked since 2010, a majority (58%) of Republicans say colleges and universities are having a negative effect on the way things are going in the country, while 36% say they have a positive effect.

...from the Russian perspective, whether the younger Mr. Trump and his associates knew it at the time or not, the issues of adoptions and sanctions are so inextricably linked as to be practically synonymous.

Xi is referred to as "President Xi of the Republic of China" by the Office of Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Of course, Xi is, in fact, the President of the People's Republic of China, while the Republic of China is what the government of Taiwan calls itself -- a rather important distinction

...the first indication that someone from President Trump's inner circle met with Russians during the campaign.

It is not true, though, that each memo contained classified information — or, at least, it’s not true that each memo was marked as being classified.

Why does Trump double-down every time it seems like he should retreat? Because Steve Bannon is back in his boss’s good graces.

When he was first asked about the meeting on Saturday, Donald Trump Jr. said that it was primarily about adoptions and mentioned nothing about Mrs. Clinton.

Trump's pledge to partner with Putin on cybersecurity drew swift and stern denunciations from both Democratic and Republican officials, who described the U.S. president as dangerously naive for trusting his Russian counterpart.

“I have been very clear in my discussions with Russian leadership, on more than one occasion, that it is necessary for Russia to take the first steps to de-escalate the situation in the eastern part of Ukraine”

"These are the ones. You're right about that,” Mr Trump responded.

“We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at that time and there was no follow-up,” Trump Jr. said

Advisers like Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller gain new momentum in the White House’s ongoing ideological battle.

...the most legally controversial of Kasowitz's arguments is his contention that Trump is immune from suit in state courts during the time he serves as president.

"A certain level of hyperbole is to be expected in the heat of a political campaign, he wrote, and such statements are legally protected speech."

Trump later returned to take his place. "Ivanka didn't take the floor during her brief 'tenure'," one source said.

Trump on Saturday called his highly-anticipated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit "tremendous,"

B-1 Lancer bombers from Guam flew over the Korean Peninsula Friday

“It’s an honor to be with you,” President Trump told Russian President Vladi­mir Putin Friday as they met for the first time.

The agreement came after months of negotiations among the three countries.

The growing international isolation of the United States under President Trump was starkly apparent Friday as the leaders of major world economies mounted a nearly united opposition front against Washington on issues ranging from climate to free trade.

...as usually reliable Republican senators from red states blanched at its impact on rural communities.

In very concrete terms, through speech and action, the president signaled a willingness to align the United States with Vladimir Putin’s worldview, and took steps to advance this realignment. He endorsed, nearly in its totality, the narrative the Russian leader has worked so meticulously to construct.

...a friendly encounter that ended in confusion over whether Trump had agreed to absolve the Kremlin of any wrongdoing.

While examining a piece of "Critical Space Flight Hardware" that was labeled "DO NOT TOUCH," Pence went ahead and, well, touched it.

Trump reportedly told Russia’s Vladimir Putin ... that allegations Russia had interfered in the 2016 election were being “exaggerated.”

“Somebody for some reason appears to be shopping a fairly convincing fake NSA document that purports to directly implicate somebody from the Trump campaign in working with the Russians on their attack on the election. It is a forgery.”

Tucked away in the report, however, was evidence that the health insurance marketplaces set up by Obamacare were relatively stable in 2016.

1. It fails the smell test spectacularly 2. The FBI requested the servers 3. Podesta wouldn't have had control over this decision

As rival factions inside the White House continue to battle over urgent foreign policy decisions, a key ally of Donald Trump’s chief strategist Stephen Bannon is leaving the National Security Council

The reason the views of only those four intelligence agencies, not all 17, were included in the assessment is simple: They were the ones tracking and analyzing the Russian campaign. The rest were doing other work.

Since May, hackers have been penetrating the computer networks of companies that operate nuclear power stations and other energy facilities

"If my side is unable to agree on an adequate replacement, then some kind of action with regard to the private health insurance market must occur"

Trump’s attempt to soften the accusation against Russia — whatever the motivation — is helped by the fact that the government agencies involved in the probes relied largely on classified information to find the Russians culpable of meddling. With that in mind, we’ve cobbled together the publicly available information to demonstrate why a layperson might have reasonable confidence that Russia was behind the election hacks

A federal judge in Hawaii declined on Thursday to clarify who should be allowed to bypass President Trump’s recently reinstated travel ban — a small victory for the administration in the ongoing legal battle

While this is the first time the administration has publicly declared its interest in using the Justice Department as a tool for stifling dissent, Trump has been encouraging Time Warner to discipline its news network for months now.

He later said that "nobody really knows for sure"

“There isn’t much more I could accomplish at the Office of Government Ethics, given the current situation”

The contrast between what’s happening in cities and the decentralized philosophy Republicans have championed from Washington is striking.

The mixed messages surprised Russia experts in Washington, who warned that it weakens Trump’s position both with his European counterparts ... and with Putin.

The lawsuit ... accuses DeVos of illegally delaying the regulations aimed at predatory colleges, which were finalized by the Obama administration and had been set to take effect on July 1.

"I think it could very well have been Russia, but I think it could well have been other countries. I won’t be specific," Trump said

I think it's a legitimate story that the sort of people who post Trump-fluffing memes also post bigoted garbage — that this is the community that the White House looks to for inspiration.

The straggling health bill has backed up other major priorities, setting the stage for a government shutdown or even a default in the fall if the debt ceiling is not raised in time.

Trump will land in Poland Wednesday and is guaranteed a rapturous reception: Supportive crowds literally will be bused in to cheer for him.

Even the most limited strike risks staggering casualties, because North Korea could retaliate with the thousands of artillery pieces it has positioned along its border with the South.

"Self-restraint, which is a choice, is all that separates armistice and war. As this Alliance missile live fire shows, we are able to change our choice when so ordered by our Alliance national leaders"

Now nearly six months into his presidency, Trump is set to finally meet Putin at a summit this week in Hamburg

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, taunted the United States, saying the launch was a Fourth of July “gift” to the Trump administration.

The vast majority of states are pushing back against the Trump administration’s request for personal voter information as part of a supposed probe into election fraud.

North Korea appeared to use a Chinese truck originally sold for hauling timber to transport and erect a ballistic missile that was successfully launched on Tuesday, highlighting the challenge of enforcing sanctions to curb its weapons program.

9:00 a.m. Military honor guard to fire a volley for each of Trump’s 304 electoral votes

...the U.S. Court of Appeals ... concluded that the EPA had the right to reconsider a 2016 rule limiting methane and smog-forming pollutants emitted by oil and gas wells but could not delay the effective date while it sought to rewrite the regulation.

The missile took off from the Banghyon airfield in the northwestern town of Kusong and flew 578 miles before landing in the sea between North Korea and Japan

“Trying to hold companies to standards that our current administration is not living up to was creating a cognitive dissonance that I could not overcome”

“If you watch Russian TV on any given day, “ says Anton, 70 percent of it is global affairs, much from the U.S. “You’d think you live in the U.S., there’s so much coverage,” he says. And, since relatively few Russians travel abroad, “the coverage has credibility—which is not true about domestic affairs. And that coverage is devoted to a single theme: the model of Western liberal democracy is broken.”

‘We’re asking Britain to be on standby to take to the streets with just hours’ notice if necessary’

The USS Stethem, an American guided-missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Triton Island, a small landmass in the Paracel Islands chain

Trump on Sunday tweeted a video of a WWE broadcast that had been edited to show him beating up a man with a CNN logo on his face.

Trading broadsides on everything from tax and climate policy to a California ban on state-sponsored travel to the Lone Star State, the two poles of American politics have in recent days revived a feud

It seems clear, at this point, that the White House would prefer not to hold regular press briefings. But President Trump and his aides do not want to be the ones to pull the plug. They want journalists to do it.

McConnell is sticking to his current plan of trying to simultaneously repeal and replace Obamacare, despite a call from President Donald Trump and some conservative members of his conference to separate the two tasks.

The comments were curious because a March 2 memo from Sessions' chief of staff, Jody Hunt, said the attorney general's decision to recuse himself from all investigations related to the 2016 presidential race extended to media inquiries on that topic.

“The fake media is trying to silence us,” Mr. Trump told the crowd at the concert hall ... “But we will not let them. Because the people know the truth. The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House. But I’m president and they’re not.”

“At some point in the future, we’re going to look back and say how did we do it without space?”

The banned grandmas of Instagram! A collection of photos of grandmothers banned from entering the United States under Trump's Muslim Ban.

...and reiterated that an era of "strategic patience" over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs had ended.