Next week: House, Senate move on tax reform
House and Senate Republicans will take up separate tax reform proposals next week as they race to complete legislation by the end of the year.
Washington
Trump says he backs U.S. intelligence agencies, clarifies Putin’s denial of election meddling
President Trump clarified Sunday that he believes the assessment of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia meddled in last year’s presidential election, but also said he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is ‘sincere’ in his denials of interference.
Washington GOP tries to oust Republican nominee Roy Moore in Alabama Senate race
Washington Republicans moved quickly Thursday to try to oust their candidate in the Alabama Senate race, former state Chief Justice Roy Moore, after a newspaper reported he had enticed an underage girl into a sexual encounter decades ago.
Roy Moore Responds: ‘Obama-Clinton Machine, Forces of Evil’ Trying to Silence ‘Christian Conservatives Like Me’
Judge Roy Moore (R-Ala.) released several tweets in response to a Washington Post report that he committed sexual misconduct on a 14-year-old girl in the 1970s.
Senate’s Tax Reform Bill Will Give American Families a $1,500 Tax Cut
The Senate plans to introduce their version of tax reform today, which will give a typical American family a tax cut of nearly $1,500, according to a two-page summary of the bill.
Believers from different faiths rally around Colorado cake-baker before Supreme Court case
Masterpiece Cakeshop’s Jack Phillips may be an evangelical Christian, but he has a host of supporters from other faiths behind him as he takes his religious-freedom case next month to the Supreme Court.
Pence: ‘Bureaucratic failures’ led to Texas church shooting, meets with victims’ relatives
Vice President Mike Pence, visiting the Texas church where a gunman killed 26 worshippers, said Wednesday that ‘bureaucratic failures’ contributed to the tragedy by allowing the murderer to purchase a weapon illegally.
US carriers in rare Pacific op amid North Korea tensions
Three US aircraft carriers will stage joint drills in the western Pacific for the first time in a decade, the US Navy said Thursday (Nov 9), as tensions in the region over North Korea reach fever pitch.
Lebanon’s plunge into political crisis raises specter of war with Israel
Even for a country often used as a battleground by regional powers and their proxies, the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri has opened a new period of political uncertainty and fear in Lebanon.
German court: Government must issue ‘intersex’ birth certificates in addition to male, female
Germany’s constitutional court has given the country’s parliament until Dec. 31, 2018, to pass legislation authorizing ‘intersex’ birth certificates, the BBC reported Wednesday.
First openly transgender state legislator elected in Virginia
Virginia House of Delegates candidate Danica Roem (D) has defeated longtime Del. Robert Marshall (R), becoming Virginia’s first openly transgender elected official, according to The Washington Post.
For GOP, Virginia reveals dangers of Trump and a do-nothing Congress
The Democratic Party’s sweeping victory in Virginia on Tuesday put a major scare into Republicans in Congress and signaled the severe damage President Trump’s unpopularity could cause in 2018.
Democrats the big winners in 2017 state, local elections
Democrats came out victorious in several of Tuesday’s key elections, including gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, leaving the party motivated for the upcoming 2018 election.
A Saudi-orchestrated resignation throws Lebanon into turmoil
Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s abrupt resignation over the weekend was bizarre even by the often twisted standards of Lebanese politics: He made the surprise announcement from the Saudi capital in a pre-recorded message on a Saudi-owned TV station.
Air Force admits bureaucratic error allowed Texas shooter to buy gun used in mass shooting
The man who police say shot and killed 26 people in a Texas church was able to purchase firearms because the Air Force failed to enter his assault conviction into a federal database.
Russia dossier investigators suspect reporters were paid to spread collusion claims
The role of reporters is taking on added importance in federal court battles over the infamous Russia dossier that leveled unverified charges of collusion against the Donald Trump campaign.
Brazile says she found DNC deep in debt from Obama, controlled by Clinton a year before nomination
Former Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile says President Obama decimated the party’s finances to win re-election in 2012 and that Hillary Clinton’s campaign took control of the DNC long before she defeated Sen. Bernard Sanders for the party’s presidential nomination last year.
Earth’s ozone hole shrivels to smallest since 1988
The ozone hole over Antarctica shrank to its smallest peak since 1988, NASA said Thursday.
House passes bill to nix Obamacare panel
The House on Thursday passed a bill to repeal a panel created by Obamacare to cut Medicare if it spends too much.
Former Sanders surrogates pounce on the DNC after Donna Brazile’s bombshell reveal of a Clinton takeover
Former surrogates of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., from the 2016 campaign are fuming about the Democratic National Committee in response to Donna Brazile’s disclosure of “proof” that the Hillary Clinton campaign took over the DNC’s finances and operations in an effort to tip the scales in Clinton’s favor for the party’s presidential nomination in 2016.