Top Political News provided by The Washington Post©

• Trump declares national emergency on southern border in bid to build wall
  The action tests the limits of presidential power and is certain to lead to legal and political battles.
• Pence urges E.U. to denounce Maduro and recognize Guaidó as Venezuela’s leader
  In address at annual Munich Security Conference, the vice president also scolded NATO members over growing interaction with Russia.
• In declaring a national emergency, Trump reminds Republicans: It’s all about him
  For GOP lawmakers, loyalty with President Trump remains a one-way street. Having lost two rounds of negotiations, he dismissed their warnings and showed contempt for the separation of powers.
• White House press secretary Sarah Sanders joins list of those interviewed by Mueller team
  "I was happy to voluntarily sit down with them," she said.
• Conservatives can’t stop obsessing over Ocasio-Cortez. Their latest target: her boyfriend.
  First, it was her clothing. Then her dancing. Not to mention her credit score, her apartment, her hometown. Maybe it was only a matter of time before conservatives went after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Co...
• Trump’s national emergency declaration once again highlights his affinity for strongmen — and authoritarianism
  In national emergency declaration, Trump reminds Americans of the leadership style he values most.
• What exactly is a national emergency? Here’s what that means and what happens next.
  President Trump has declared the border an "emergency" to give him the power to use government funds to build his border wall.
• Trump’s declaration of national emergency faces political and legal challenges
  Unsatisfied with the funding in a bill passed by Congress, President Trump took executive action to try to secure about $6.5 billion more for border barriers.
• N.C. election officials will consider fate of congressional seat at Monday hearing
  The State Board of Elections will consider evidence of a ballot-tampering scheme in the 9th District and consider calling for a new election or certifying Republican Mark Harris’s 905-vote victory over Democrat Dan McCready.
• Democrats on ‘reassurance tour’ for European allies worried about Trump
  Pelosi is leading a group of newly elected Democrats eager to calm the fears of allies. Along with several GOP lawmakers, they are following in the footsteps of the late senator John McCain.
• ‘A recipe for disaster’? Trump’s border emergency drags the GOP into a risky fight ahead of 2020.
  It’s unclear whether even the most vocal critics of the move will risk the ire of the president’s political base by standing up against it.
• Conservatives can’t stop obsessing over Ocasio-Cortez. Their latest target: her boyfriend.
  First, it was her clothing. Then her dancing. Not to mention her credit score, her apartment, her hometown. Maybe it was only a matter of time before conservatives went after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Co...
• Trump declares national emergency on southern border in bid to build wall
  The action tests the limits of presidential power and is certain to lead to legal and political battles.
• Ethics officials questioned shifting explanations on Trump’s reimbursement to Michael Cohen for hush-money payment, House Oversight chairman says
  The revelation by Trump attorney Rudolph Giuliani that the president repaid Cohen prompted ethics officials to press the president’s lawyers about the payment.
• ‘A tremendous job ’: Trump uses border announcement to defend his presidency
  The president’s national-emergency declaration often took a back seat as he demanded credit for his list of administration accomplishments.
• Trump is ‘most excited’ about death penalty for drug dealers. Rights groups say it’s a terrible idea.
  While declaring a national emergency for border wall funding, Trump spoke about a conversation he had with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
• With a focus on tragic deaths, Trump’s national-emergency announcement raises an obvious question
  What about deadlier problems the country faces?
• Fact-checking Trump’s announcement of a national emergency
  The president's rambling news conference was replete with false and misleading claims.
• Supreme Court takes up Trump administration’s plan to ask about citizenship in census
  Opponents said the question, not asked of all households since 1950, could lead to an undercount of the U.S. population.
• Trump’s national emergency declaration once again highlights his affinity for strongmen — and authoritarianism
  In national emergency declaration, Trump reminds Americans of the leadership style he values most.
• Pence likens Nazi genocide to Iran’s threat to Israel and warns against anti-Semitic authoritarians
  The vice president, after a somber walking tour of the Auschwitz memorial, said “freedom-loving” people must confront authoritarianism and hate.
• Federal employees will wait longer for their grievances to be heard
  The Merit Systems Protection Board will have no one at the top on midnight Feb. 28, even after a Senate committee this week advanced two nominees.
• Former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld announces plan to challenge President Trump for Republican nomination
  Weld won two terms as governor but has not had a campaign victory since 1994. He was the Libertarian Party’s vice-presidential nominee in 2016.
• What exactly is a national emergency? Here’s what that means and what happens next.
  President Trump has declared the border an "emergency" to give him the power to use government funds to build his border wall.

Roll Call©

• Former Reps. Mia Love, Luis Gutiérrez join CNN as commentators
  Reps. Mia Love and Luis Gutiérrez have wasted no time finding new gigs after leaving Congress last week. Love, a Utah Republican and the only black female Republican in the last Congress, and Gutiérrez, a longtime Chicago-based Democrat, have joined CNN as political commentators.
• Trump’s use of border agents for wall pitch raises legal, ethical questions
  President Donald Trump was meeting privately with U.S. Border Patrol agents in the Oval Office Thursday when he suddenly told them, “Let’s go out, see the press.” His idea was for them to explain to reporters “the importance of the wall.” But the spectacle that ensued raises legal and ethical questions. Experts said the president’s use of the officers in what amounted to a border barrier infomercial on afternoon cable television likely did not run astray of a 1939 law that bars most federal employees from conducting political activities while in their official roles. But they indicated other federal laws and guidelines might have been breached in just the latest example of the 45th president’s insistence on making a splash almost daily and eviscerating Washington norms that have been followed by Republican and Democratic presidents alike for decades.
• First big bipartisan vote establishes House select committee on modernizing Congress
  Taking its first bipartisan vote of the 116th Congress, the House voted Friday to establish a select committee to come up with recommendations for modernizing the legislative branch.  The 418-12 bipartisan vote was even more significant because it is part of the House Democrats’ rules package. House rules are crafted by the majority party, and they rarely draw votes from the minority.
• Trump, Democrats remain ‘far apart’ on shutdown deal as talks resume
  President Donald Trump and congressional leaders, including top Democrats that oppose his proposed southern border wall, will try again Friday to make progress on ending a partial government shutdown. But the odds of a breakthrough appear small. “Without a wall, you cannot have border security. Without a very strong form of barrier — call it what you will — but without a wall, you cannot have border security,” Trump said Thursday during a surprise visit to the White House briefing room, his first formal appearance there.
• Ailing Rep. Walter Jones to have private swearing-in ceremony
  Rep. Walter Jones will be sworn into the new session of Congress privately at his home in Farmville, North Carolina, because he could not be in Washington this week due to an unspecified illness. “Congressman Jones has been dealing with a medical issue and will be sworn in today,” spokesman Joshua Bowlen said.
• We will ‘impeach the motherf---er,’ new Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib says of Trump
  In the steady stream of political sound bites, nothing cuts through the noise quite like what Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib said of President Donald Trump Thursday night. “We’re going to go in there, and we’re going to impeach the motherf---er,” the Michigan freshman congresswoman said to rapturous applause from a group of supporters just hours after she was sworn into the 116th Congress.
• Daines, Lankford to serve on both Appropriations and Finance
  Sens. Steve Daines of Montana and James Lankford of Oklahoma will become the first senators since Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. in 1944 to serve simultaneously on the Appropriations and Finance committees, according to panel historical records reviewed by Roll Call. The two Republicans received waivers from Senate GOP conference rules that limit senators to service on just one of the four so-called Super A committees — Appropriations, Finance, Armed Services and Foreign Relations.
• House Democrats unveil first major legislative package of voting, campaign finance and ethics overhauls
  Automatic voter registration, independent redistricting commissions, super PAC restrictions, forced release of presidential tax returns — these are just a handful of the provisions in a massive government overhaul package House Democrats will formally unveil Friday, according to a summary of the legislation obtained by Roll Call.  The package is being introduced as H.R. 1 to show that it’s the top priority of the new Democratic majority. Committees with jurisdiction over the measures will hold markups on the legislation before the package is brought to the floor sometime later this month or early in February. 
• House Democrats pass government funding bills, Pelosi jokes she’d give Trump $1 for a wall
  The new House Democratic majority passed two government funding bills Thursday to open shuttered federal agencies that President Donald Trump has said he will not sign, as Republicans predicted the partial government shutdown will be a long one.  Before the votes Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated that Democrats will not agree to a border wall but joked that she’d give Trump $1 for it.
• Pelosi Invites Trump for State of the Union
  Nancy Pelosi, hours after being sworn in as speaker Thursday, invited President Donald Trump to give his upcoming State of the Union speech before a joint session of Congress. “In the spirit of our Constitution, I invite you to deliver your State of the Union address before a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019 in the House Chamber,” the California Democrat wrote in a letter to the president Thursday evening.
• House adopts rules package with few Democratic defections over PAYGO provision
  The House on Thursday adopted the bulk of a rules package for the 116th Congress that featured dozens of changes designed to restore more committee and bipartisan involvement in the legislative process, increase transparency and clamp down on ethics violations.  The measure, adopted 234 to 197, was crafted by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rules Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., with input from members across all factions of the House Democratic majority.
• Senate set to assert itself on Syria sanctions, Middle East policy early in 2019
  The Senate is moving quickly to assert its point-of-view on U.S. policy regarding Syria and in the broader Middle East, and it could serve as a rebuttal to the decision by President Donald Trump to pull back U.S. forces from Syria. Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio introduced the first piece of legislation on the first day of the new Congress (designated as S 1), and it could lay a marker  on the situation in Syria and the Middle East. The backers include the new chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
• Chaplain Patrick J. Conroy outlasts Ryan; continues his role in new Congress
  Father Patrick J. Conroy will remain in his role as House chaplain for the 116th Congress, after a year full of turmoil surrounding the role. The House voice voted Thursday afternoon to install the House officers —   but not without an extra hurdle for the chaplain.
• Trump congratulates Pelosi in briefing room, stumps for ‘wall’ by any other name
  President Donald Trump made a surprise appearance Thursday in the White House briefing room, congratulating Speaker Nancy Pelosi on taking back the gavel and predicting they will work together on substantial legislation. “It’s a very very great achievement and hopefully we’re going to work together and get lots of things done, like infrastructure,” Trump said.
• For Senate, a day of pomp and ceremony marred by shutdown clouds
  The Senate opened a new Congress Thursday with a partial government shutdown still underway. But the day was still reserved for more ceremony than substance. After swearing-in the newly elected and re-elected senators on the Senate floor just after noon on Thursday as outlined in the Constitution, Vice President Mike Pence made his way to the Old Senate Chamber for the traditional photo ops and ceremonial swearings-in for most of the third of the Senate on the ballot this past November.
• Here are the 15 Democrats who didn’t vote for Pelosi as speaker
  Nancy Pelosi of California was elected speaker of the House on Thursday, returning the gavel to her hands eight years after she lost it when Republicans took control of the chamber in 2011.  There were 15 Democrats who voted against her in the roll call vote.
• Pelosi elected speaker with 15 Democratic defections
  House Democrats, in their first act of the 116th Congress on Thursday, officially elected Nancy Pelosi to serve as speaker, returning the gavel to the longtime Democratic leader eight years after she last held it. The speaker election was not without controversy, however. The California Democrat had to cut a handful of deals over the past two months with would-be opponents to shore up the support needed to win the floor vote, even though no one was challenging her for the post.
• Feinstein signals 2020 support for Biden over Harris
  Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Thursday that it would be difficult not to support former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. if he runs for president in 2020. “I’ve worked with him, I saw him in action, I saw him as vice president, I saw his growth, his ability, and I saw his humanity,” the longtime senator told reporters. “He’s an incredible human being, so it’s very hard for me, if he runs, to ignore that.”
• Ammar Campa-Najjar will challenge indicted Duncan Hunter again in 2020
  Ammar Campa-Najjar nearly defeated California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter last year as the incumbent faced a trial on charges of illegally misusing campaign funds. Next year, Campa-Najjar will try again. The Democratic challenger filed a statement of candidacy form with the Federal Election Commission on Monday declaring his intention to run once more for the 50th District seat in 2020.
• House Ethics reminds members and staff of rules for life after Congress
  In a memo released Thursday with just hours left in the 115th Congress, the House Ethics Committee reminded departing lawmakers of criminal restrictions on certain job-hunting practices. Outgoing members and staff have been planning their next career moves for months. The memo reminds members to “familiarize themselves with ... the criminal restrictions on post-employment communications.” It also says that members should be careful when negotiating for future employment, especially with anyone who could be “substantially affected by the Member’s performance of official duties.”
• ‘Trump Show,’ Act III: What to watch as House Democrats take control
  Act III of the Trump presidency, which can often feel like an off-Broadway production, officially begins at noon Thursday when Democrats take control of the House and everything changes for Donald Trump. Republicans controlled the House for the first two years, or acts, of the “Trump Show,” but their oversight was conducted with a light touch. And they never hit a breaking point with Trump and his unique approach to and views about the presidency.
• Rules package would renew ‘Gephardt Rule’ with a major twist
  A proposed House rules package wouldn’t just reinstate the old rule that let the chamber avoid separate votes on the statutory debt ceiling 20 times in three decades starting in 1980.  The new rules offered by House Democratic leaders, set for floor debate Thursday, would turbocharge the old “Gephardt rule” into something completely new. It would allow the chamber to spin off a resolution “suspending” the debt ceiling to the Senate, without a House vote, once the House adopts its own version of a budget resolution.
• Dick Durbin says he’s running for Senate re-election in 2020, unofficially
  Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin said Thursday that he intends to run for re-election in 2020. The Democrat from Illinois said he would be seeking a fifth term when asked during a CNN interview.
• Rep. Hank Johnson compares Trump to Hitler in a foreboding speech
  Rep. Hank Johnson warned his constituents against creeping authoritarianism in an intense speech peppered with historical references Tuesday, likening the political moment that brought President Donald Trump to power to the rise of Adolf Hitler. “Our democracy teeters on the brink of failure,” the Georgia Democrat said at an event held by the Atlanta NAACP earlier this week. “Americans elected an authoritarian, racist, anti-immigrant strongman to the nation’s highest office.”
• Brad Sherman to introduce impeachment articles against Trump on first day of Democratic Congress
  Rep. Brad Sherman is wasting no time letting President Donald Trump feel the pressure from a Democrat-controlled House. The California Democrat plans to reintroduce articles of impeachment against Trump on Thursday, the first day Democrats retake a majority they have not enjoyed in the House since 2011.
• Divided government will pose an obstacle to lawmaking in 2019
  Washington tends to work best when one party controls both Congress and the White House. It’s most gridlocked, usually, when control of Congress is split. The Congress of the past two years demonstrated the first principle. By any honest measure, President Donald Trump and his Republican colleagues in the House and Senate got a lot done in 2017 and 2018.
• Shutdown, House Democrats’ divisions set tone as new era of divided government begins
  A new era of divided government has arrived. Democrats officially take control of the House on Thursday as the 116th Congress convenes on the 13th day of a partial government shutdown. The day’s floor proceedings will offer a preview of what’s to come over the next two years as House Democrats define how far left their caucus will tilt heading into the 2020 cycle and decide whether there’s any room to cooperate with President Donald Trump as he seeks re-election.
• An initial rating of the 2020 presidential race
  I didn’t expect Donald Trump to win in 2016, and after his election I wrote an entire column in The Washington Post examining my analysis and mistakes. Now older, hopefully a little wiser, and definitely more cautious, I turn to the 2020 presidential contest, which has already started. My initial rating is based on a combination of Trump’s current standing, his electoral performance in 2016, his party’s performance in 2018, questions about the Democratic Party’s ability to unite behind a broadly appealing nominee next year, and assumptions about the economy and state of the nation a year and a half from now.
• Senators Confirm Slew of Trump Nominees in Final Hours of 115th Congress
  As a practical matter, the 115th Congress is finally history. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the announcement that the Senate will convene for a pro forma session at 11:50 a.m. Thursday, but there will be no real business until after noon arrives, when the new Congress begins, as outlined in the Constitution. 
• Report: Allegations Against Tom Garrett Illustrate How Not to Use Official Resources
  A report released Wednesday by the House Ethics Committee on allegations against Rep Tom Garrett sought to remind House members and staff of guidelines for using official resources and staff and the role of spouses in Congressional offices. A statement from the panel said that the committee will lose jurisdiction over the matter before a full report can be issued. But it sought to use Garrett’s situation to provide guidance to the House community.
• After Holiday Lull, Trump-Era Action Returns to White House
  Congressional leaders emerged from a Situation Room border security briefing Wednesday with Donald Trump without a deal to end a partial government shutdown, but the president showed anew how he often is driven by a belief public opinion will shift and force political foes to fold. “A lot of people are going to come around to my way of thinking,” Trump said last week of his unilateral decision to withdraw all U.S. military troops from Syria. And on Wednesday, the commander in chief made clear he believes if he merely has Homeland Security officials explain to Democratic congressional leaders why his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall is necessary, they will, in his words, “come around” and give him more than $5 billion and agree to reopen a quarter of the federal government.
• On Day 12 of Partial Shutdown, No ‘Particular Progress Was Made’
  Despite another White House meeting among principals, President Donald Trump and congressional leaders made little progress over resolving a partial government shutdown now in its 12th day. “We had a good discussion. Obviously the border security issue — I don’t think any particular progress was made today. But we talked about all aspects of it and it was a civil discussion. And we’re hopeful that somehow in the coming days and weeks we’ll be able to reach an agreement,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said upon returning to the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon. 
• Mitt Romney, Rand Paul Preview GOP Debate Over Donald Trump in New Congress
  Two Republicans with among the largest national profiles of senators in the new Congress aren’t wasting any time in drawing the contours of a debate that is sure to run over for the next two years. Namely, the extent to which members of the Senate GOP hitch their wagons to President Donald Trump as an election cycle gets underway with a map that might be more favorable to the Democrats.
• Opposition to Pay-As-You-Go Proposal Prevents Unity on House Democrats’ Rules Package
  House Democrats’ rules for the 116th Congress contain a wide array of consensus changes, but a pay-as-you-go provision that would require offsets for deficit-increasing legislation is preventing party unity on the package.  At least two progressive members, California Rep. Ro Khanna and New York Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, said they will oppose the rules package because of the provision. 
• Frederica Wilson Takes Shot at John Kelly on His Way out the Door: ‘Good Riddance’
  Rep. Frederica Wilson has three words for John Kelly on his last day in the White House: “Good riddance. Goodbye.” Wilson issued her parting words for the outgoing chief of staff and retired Marine general in a tweet Wednesday.
• Trump Accuses Democrats of Playing Politics With Shutdown
  President Donald Trump on Wednesday accused Democrats of playing politics over the partial government shutdown, saying during a cabinet meeting he sees Democrats as focused “on 2020.” Asked how long the shutdown might last, Trump responded: “As long as it takes.” He also indicated to reporters he might negotiate with Democrats to a border barrier funding amount less than his $5 billion demand. Democratic aides have grumbled that he has yet to be clear about just what he would accept, helping to stall pre-Christmas talks.
• Harry Reid Calls Trump ‘Weird’ and ‘Amoral,’ but Has Few Words for Chuck Schumer
  Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sounds like he couldn’t have handled government shutdown negotiations much differently than his onetime colleagues in congressional Democratic leadership.   “You can’t legislate when you have a chief executive who’s weird, for lack of a better description,” the former Nevada senator told The New York Times Magazine, referring to President Donald Trump’s insistence on getting $5 billion for a southern border wall and his rejection of a stopgap spending bill that would have averted a shutdown that left government workers without the assurance of future paychecks just before Christmas.
• Rep. Robert Pittenger Won’t Run Even if ‘Ballot Harvesting’ Probe Causes Primary Do-Over
  Should an investigation into fraud allegations in the race for North Carolina’s 9th District trigger a new primary contest, the incumbent won’t be a candidate. Rep. Robert Pittenger — who was ousted in a May primary election that has attracted national attention for absentee ballot irregularities favorable to winner Mark Harris — said Monday that he won’t run again. 
• Trump Compares His Win, Romney’s Loss in Responding to Harsh Critique
  Donald Trump on Wednesday fired back at Sen.-elect Mitt Romney after the onetime GOP nominee for president wrote in an op-ed that the sitting president “has not risen to the mantle of the office.” As he waits to be sworn in on Thursday as the junior senator from Utah, the former Massachusetts governor provoked the president Tuesday with a Washington Post opinion piece that harshly criticized Trump. And in classic counter-puncher fashion, Trump questioned in a Wednesday morning tweet whether Romney would be “a Flake,” a reference to outgoing Arizona GOP Sen. Jeff Flake, who clashed with Trump but ultimately opted to leave office after Trump’s base in his state abandoned him.
• Trump Invites Congressional Leaders to WH for Border Security Briefing
  President Donald Trump has invited congressional leaders to the White House Wednesday for a briefing on border security, according to a congressional source. The top two incoming leaders of each party in both chambers were invited: Democrats Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer, Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin and Republicans Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, Mitch McConnell and John Thune.
• Trump: No Money for Wall, No Signature on Bill to Fund Government
  President Donald Trump on Monday evening signaled he would not sign an omnibus spending package House Democrats plan to bring to the floor later this week because it omits dollars for his proposed southern border barrier. “The Democrats will probably submit a Bill, being cute as always, which gives everything away but gives NOTHING to Border Security, namely the Wall. You see, without the Wall there can be no Border Security — the Tech “stuff” is just, by comparison, meaningless bells & whistles,” he tweeted.
• Man Charged in Eastern Market Suspicious Powder Incident
  Updated 2:43 p.m. | A suspicious powdery substance at the Eastern Market metro station on Capitol Hill prompted a huge emergency response Monday, including road closures and transit service changes. Around 8:45 a.m. a man sprinkled an unknown white powder on the platform and tracks at Eastern Market, before exiting the station via train. The same man also sprinkled power in the elevator at the Metro Center station, where he exited the metro, according to WMATA spokesperson Dan Stessel.
• House Democrats to Hold Votes Thursday on Spending Measures to Reopen Government
  House Democrats will vote Thursday, the first day of the new Congress in which they’ll be in the majority, to reopen the government with six full-year appropriations bills and a short-term continuing resolution for the Department of Homeland Security, according to a senior Democratic aide. The first votes of the 116th Congress will be to elect a speaker — expected to be longtime Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi — and then to adopt a rules package. The rules package will make the aforementioned appropriations legislation in order so that the Rules Committee does not have to adopt a separate rule to bring up the bills for debate.
• GOP Rep. Walter Jones Suggests Trump Pay for Part of His Wall
  Rep. Walter Jones is worried that President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall will add to the federal debt — so worried, in fact, that he’s proposing the president pony up some of his own money for the wall. “If Mexico isn’t going to be made to pay for a wall, that means funds must be found internally,” the North Carolina Republican said in a statement Friday.
• Trump Digs In For Border Wall Fight With Foe His Base Loves to Hate
  Striking a partial government shutdown-ending deal with Nancy Pelosi was always going to be difficult for Donald Trump — but then the president dug in over the weekend and made clear he is willing to endure a lengthy shutdown to placate his base. Senior Democratic Senate sources say Trump and his top lieutenants made only one serious offer to get nearly 800,000 federal workers back on the job, adding the president himself never seemed interested in cutting a deal with the Senate’s top Democrat, fellow New Yorker Charles E. Schumer.
• Elizabeth Warren Takes First Official Step to Run for President in 2020
  Sen. Elizabeth Warren took the first official step toward running for president in 2020, launching an exploratory committee on Monday to test out her chances of securing the Democratic nomination. The Massachusetts Democrat, widely seen as a vanguard of progressivism in her party, joined former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro as the second Democrat to launch an exploratory committee in recent weeks.
• McCarthy Names Top Republicans for House Ethics and Rules Committees
  House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy selected the top Republicans for the House Ethics and House Rules Committees in the new congress, which begins January 3. Texan Kenny Marchant will be the ranking member on the House Ethics Committee, replacing Indiana’s Susan W. Brooks who had served on the panel for three terms. House rules bar members from sitting on the House Ethics panel for more than three congresses, unless the member leads the panel in their fourth term.
• Rep. Mia Love MIA in Lame Duck Session
  Utah Rep. Mia Love has missed more votes in the lame duck session than any of the nearly three dozen other lawmakers who lost their reelection races in November, according to a recent analysis. The 4th District Republican was absent from a cluster of votes the week before Christmas as the federal government hurtled toward a partial shutdown. Altogether Love missed nearly 84 percent of votes since suffering her midterm loss, the most of any ousted member of Congress, according to an analysis by KUTV.
• White House to Freeze Pay for Federal Workers in 2019
  As the partial government shutdown grinds on, President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday evening that would freeze pay for federal workers  in 2019. Trump telegraphed the move in his February budget request for fiscal 2019 when he proposed a pay freeze for the roughly 2.1 million federal civilian workers. That plan was confirmed by a formal announcement in August required to head off steep pay raises that would automatically take effect under a 1990 law, which presidents of both parties routinely override.
• FEMA Relents on Flood Insurance
  The Federal Emergency Management Agency reversed course late Friday and said it would allow sales of new flood insurance policies during the partial government shutdown. “As of this evening, all [National Flood Insurance Program] insurers have been directed to resume normal operations immediately and advised that the program will be considered operational since December 21, 2018 without interruption,” FEMA said in a press release.

McClatchy©

• U.S. looks to send food aid to Haiti as violence brews humanitarian crisis
  The Trump administration is working on a plan to provide a humanitarian aid package to Haiti, where water, medicine and food are becoming increasingly scarce after nine days of consecutive … Click to Continue »
• Trump to talk about Venezuela on Monday at Florida International University
  President Donald Trump is headed to Miami on Monday to speak about the ongoing turmoil in Venezuela, a move that could embolden interim president Juan Guaidó and put further pressure … Click to Continue »
• How Parkland parents and lawmakers built relationships to help prevent school violence
  Days after the Parkland shootings just over a year ago, Fred Guttenberg and Marco Rubio met for the first time on national television. The Republican senator, who introduced pro-gun legislation … Click to Continue »
• A Venezuelan exile is top diplomat for Guaidó’s government in the U.S.
  For the past four years, Carlos Vecchio was a fixture at Venezuelan restaurants in Doral, standing beside lawmakers and community leaders as they railed against Nicolás Maduro’s consolidation of power. … Click to Continue »
• On offshore drilling, Mark Sanford and Joe Cunningham find their legacies are linked
  Mark Sanford was already out of office, settling back into civilian life by unpacking boxes of files and odds and ends from his years in Congress and the S.C. Governor’s … Click to Continue »
• Trump announces national emergency to get border wall funding
  In declaring his signing of an executive order to declare a national emergency, President Trump said on Feb. 15, "it's been signed many times before...there's rarely been a problem." … Click to Continue »
• All mail-in ballots in Bladen, Robeson were tainted, McCready says in asking for re-do
  Ballot harvesting by a Bladen County political operative “tainted” more ballots than the current margin in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, Democrat Dan McCready’s attorneys allege in documents filed to … Click to Continue »
• Cruz pushes for stiffer gold penalties against Venezuela’s Maduro
  Sen. Ted Cruz is leading a group of Republican lawmakers that has devised a plan to punish countries, industries or financial institutions caught moving gold for Venezuela or Iran. The … Click to Continue »
• PAC plans new effort to put a black candidate on the 2020 Democratic ticket
  A political group focused on electing African-American candidates says it is mounting an aggressive push to ensure a diverse 2020 Democratic presidential ticket, hoping to host a South Carolina primary … Click to Continue »
• McConnell’s opposition to Green New Deal comes as he backs coal
  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wants to put Democratic presidential candidates in an uncomfortable position by forcing them to vote on the controversial Green New Deal being pitched by rising … Click to Continue »
• Congressional Democrats bring fight to restore Voting Rights Act to North Carolina
  Halifax County, a majority-black county in northeastern North Carolina, shuttered two of its three early-voting sites during the 2018 elections due to cost issues brought on by a new state … Click to Continue »
• Hawley fights subpoena: ‘The judicial process does not exist to harass public servants’
  Lawyers for Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley have asked a Cole County judge to quash a subpoena that would require him to answer questions under oath about allegations he violated open … Click to Continue »
• ‘This is a stupid way to do business,’ Josh Hawley attacks Blunt-backed border bill
  Sen. Josh Hawley was one of 16 senators Thursday to reject a bipartisan border security bill that’s intended to keep the federal government open through September after the longest shutdown … Click to Continue »
• Trump to declare national emergency for border wall. We’re already under 31 others
  President Donald Trump is set to declare a national emergency to receive funding for his proposed border wall on the U.S.-Mexico border — which would make it the 32nd national … Click to Continue »
• ‘False choice:’ Kamala Harris among Democrats voting against deal to keep government open
  California Sen. Kamala Harris and three other Senate Democrats with presidential ambitions voted against a spending deal Thursday that would prevent another federal government shutdown. They represented four of the … Click to Continue »
• Kansas lawmakers sponsor bill calling same-sex marriages ‘parody’
  A handful of Kansas lawmakers are backing a bill that labels same-sex marriages “parody marriages” and seeks to stop the state from recognizing them. Another bill would create an “elevated … Click to Continue »
• Venezuela’s opposition acts like a government and makes plea for money
  In a display of their ability to act as a government, several Venezuelan opposition leaders traveled to Washington Thursday to share first steps of their plan to lead the country … Click to Continue »
• Worried Texas Republicans call for more national help in 2020
  Texas Republicans have long coasted to re-election while ignoring their Democratic opponents. Not anymore. For 2020, GOP incumbents in what has historically been one of the most solidly red states … Click to Continue »
• Democrats demand detailed plans for defeating Trump in 2020
  They can’t ignore Donald Trump forever. With the exception of a few tweets and barbed asides, the Democratic presidential candidates have spent the opening weeks of the 2020 campaign avoiding … Click to Continue »
• U.S. House committee advances bill to close ‘Charleston loophole’
  The U.S. House of Representatives took its first formal action Wednesday night to respond to the Mother Emanuel AME Church shooting in Charleston, S.C. — nearly three and a half … Click to Continue »
• Accusations of socialism drive GOP’s 2019 (and 2020) playbook
  Republicans are determined to paint Democrats as out-of-control, out-of-their minds socialists. And they think Democrats are helping. President Donald Trump set the tone in his State of the Union address … Click to Continue »
• Trump and Colombian president huddle on how to get aid to Venezuelans
  President Donald Trump and his Colombian counterpart -- the two Western Hemisphere leaders with the most at stake in ousting Nicolás Maduro -- huddled Wednesday at the White House to … Click to Continue »
• ‘Most mergers do not create jobs.’ Sprint, T-Mobile tell Congress theirs is different
  Executives from Sprint and T-Mobile Wednesday sought to persuade skeptical congressional Democrats that a proposed $26 billion merger won’t eliminate thousands of jobs or raise prices on consumers. The deal … Click to Continue »
• Mitch McConnell is a 2020 target but Democrats don’t yet have anyone to take him on
  Democrats are eager to find a candidate to take on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2020, but no top tier challenger has jumped in yet. Matt Jones, a well-known … Click to Continue »
• GOP isn’t giving up on California House seats, but even Republicans say wins are unlikely
  Fresh off severe losses at the ballot box, Republicans are laying plans to reclaim ground in blue California. They’re ranking the seven California congressional seats that Democrats flipped in November … Click to Continue »
• NC congressman’s attempt to undo stricter asylum rules is not part of border deal
  Rep. David Price’s attempt to deny money for the implementation of stricter asylum rules was not included in a compromise homeland security bill. Price, a North Carolina Democrat, was a … Click to Continue »
• Court issues subpoena to Sen. Josh Hawley in lawsuit against Gov. Mike Parson
  Sen. Josh Hawley was already facing questions about his handling of Missouri’s Sunshine Law as attorney general. Now, he might have to provide answers under oath. The Cole County Circuit … Click to Continue »
• Trump wants more money for border security. Missouri Sen. Blunt knows where to look
  If President Donald Trump isn’t satisfied with the amount of money for border security in a proposed deal Congress could pass this week, Sen. Roy Blunt knows where he can … Click to Continue »
• Democrats willing to pay for 55 miles of new barrier. Trump ‘not happy.’
  Despite promising there would be no new wall, the Democrats have agreed to pay for 55 miles of new construction along the southern border, according to Republican negotiators. Senate Republicans … Click to Continue »
• Former astronaut Mark Kelly announces run for Senate
  Watch former astronaut and Navy veteran Mark Kelly campaign announcement that he is running for U.S. Senate in Arizona. The announcement was tweeted on February 12, 2019. Kelly is married to former Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. … Click to Continue »

Politico©

• Pelosi: 'Open discussion' on whether Trump could be indicted in office
• DNC chair praises George H.W. Bush: He 'put country over party every day'
• How will Trump take Amazon move? 'He will think Bezos made this decision to stick it to him.'
• Kasich: ‘A pox on both houses’ for Kavanaugh confirmation process
• Avenatti stars in ‘avenging angel’ role
  For the third time this year, the attorney and 2020 presidential prospect has rolled a grenade into the Trump White House.
• The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics
  Every week political cartoonists throughout the country and across the political spectrum apply their ink-stained skills to capture the foibles, memes, hypocrisies and other head-slapping events in the world of politics. The fruits of these labors are hundreds of cartoons that entertain and enrage readers of all political stripes. Here’s an offering of the best of this week’s crop, picked fresh off the Toonosphere. Edited by Matt Wuerker.
• Behind the scenes as the Kavanaugh nomination hit the rocks
• Former Trump aides break their silence on Woodward book
  Rob Porter, Gary Cohn and Chris Christie are accusing the veteran journalist of creating a misleading portrait of the West Wing.
• New sexual misconduct allegations emerge against CBS boss
• Booker heading to Iowa in October