Top Political News provided by The Washington Post©

• Name-calling, insults and scandals dominate all-day impeachment hearing
  No controversy even marginally related to the House impeachment proceeding was overlooked as Republicans and Democrats waged a battle over articles.
• Facing blowback, Bernie Sanders retracts endorsement of controversial candidate
  Cenk Uygur has made demeaning comments about women, spurring a harsh reaction from some activists and liberals.
• Trump says Democrats have become ‘Party of Hate’ after House panel votes to oust him
  The full House is expected to vote next week on two articles of impeachment, which accuse the president of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
• Supreme Court will take up Trump’s broad claims of protection from investigation
  The president has mounted a vigorous effort to protect financial records from prosecutors and Congress.
• Trump has described the same conversation about Israel four times. Each time, the name of his Jewish friend changed.
  On at least four occasions over about three months, President Trump has told the same story about his Israel policies with one major variation.
• McConnell indicates he’ll let Trump’s lawyers dictate Trump’s impeachment trial
  Other Republicans have avoided even commenting on impeachment because they'll be jurors. McConnell apparently has no qualms about appearing impartial.
• What you need to know about the impeachment case against Donald Trump
  What is impeachment, how does it work and other questions, answered.
• House set for historic floor vote next week after committee approves two articles of impeachment against Trump
  With the party-line vote, Trump became the fourth president in history to face impeachment for “high crimes and misdemeanors.
• Fact-based impeachment can’t penetrate the pro-Trump Web
  The president’s supporters flock to online sites where they can build their own version of events.
• Five questions — and answers — about Trump, Ukraine and impeachment
  What is the impeachment drama actually about? What do Democrats and Republicans say? What will happen next week — and next year?
• Trump promised Zelensky a White House meeting. More than a dozen other leaders got one instead.
  The list includes representatives of a number of countries with authoritarian leaders — and one at war with Ukraine.
• McConnell’s vow of ‘total coordination’ with White House on Senate impeachment trial angers Democrats
  “I think it was pretty bad for who is essentially the foreman of the jury to announce the verdict,” said Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.).
• Pete Buttigieg takes aim at Democratic ‘purity tests’
  Pete Buttigieg, facing recent liberal attacks, denounces Democrats’ “purity tests” at a Washington Post event.
• Where the 2020 Democrats stand on gun control
  Democrats are clamoring to tighten the nation’s gun laws after years of outrage following mass shootings and pent up frustration with inaction in Congress.
• Trump claims his polls numbers have gone ‘through the roof’ thanks to impeachment. Define ‘roof.’
  ‘Sat on the floor’ is more accurate.
• Several Democratic candidates threaten to skip next week’s presidential debate in Los Angeles
  Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and Andrew Yang said they would not cross picket lines amid a labor dispute at Loyola Marymount University.
• Trump has described the same conversation about Israel four times. Each time, the name of his Jewish friend changed.
  On at least four occasions over about three months, President Trump has told the same story about his Israel policies with one major variation.
• The House did something unusual: It voted on a Friday
  Fridays are often travel days for members of Congress.
• McConnell indicates he’ll let Trump’s lawyers dictate Trump’s impeachment trial
  Other Republicans have avoided even commenting on impeachment because they'll be jurors. McConnell apparently has no qualms about appearing impartial.
• What you need to know about the impeachment case against Donald Trump
  What is impeachment, how does it work and other questions, answered.
• Michelle Obama tells Greta Thunberg to ‘ignore the doubters’ after Trump’s latest attack
  The former first lady encouraged the teen climate activist after an attack from the president.
• Johnson’s victory shakes up Britain and may hit the U.S.
  Labour’s crushing defeat carries warnings, though imperfect, for Democrats ahead of 2020.
• What happens to the Trump D.C. hotel? Answers to five questions on the president’s emoluments battle.
• ‘I really like you’: Iowa voters give Amy Klobuchar another look
  The Midwestern moderate is drawing standing-room crowds. But though audiences find her appealing, they aren’t ready to commit.

Roll Call©

• Campus notebook: Which impeachment lawyer makes more?
  Two lawyers with prominent roles in the House impeachment inquiry — Stephen Castor, the Republican general counsel for the Oversight Committee, and Daniel Goldman, a senior advisor for the Intelligence Committee Democrats — testified alongside one another Monday. One difference in the two, besides the parties they represent on their respective panels, is their salaries. According to payroll records from August, Castor makes an annual salary of $165,000—that’s $3,000 more than Goldman makes.
• Justices decide to wade into separation-of-powers showdown
  The Supreme Court on Friday stepped into the political and legal fight over whether Congress can obtain President Donald Trump’s financial and tax records. The justices agreed to decide two cases in the first separation-of-powers showdown between Congress and Trump to reach the high court. The issue lands there just as the House prepares a floor vote on articles of impeachment.
• Curbing unexpected medical bills has bipartisan backing in Congress
  Many Americans have been to the hospital in an emergency, or for a procedure, only to get a huge bill after because a doctor treating them doesn’t take their insurance. Republicans and Democrats have reached agreement on legislation to ban so-called surprise billing. CQ Roll Call reporter Mary Ellen McIntire joins the podcast to explain the likely outcome of this bill. Claire McAndrew, Director of Campaigns and Partnerships at FamiliesUSA, which advocates for health care consumers, also joins the show. Show notes: 
• ‘Yule’ get fewer calories with ‘impeachment lite’ — Congressional Hits and Misses
  Lawmakers got in the yuletide spirit this week while the House Judiciary Committee debated articles of impeachment, which President Donald Trump dubbed “impeachment lite.” “They’re getting ready to vote for their Christmas present,” Rep. Doug Collins said of House Democrats’ impeachment push. All that plus giant imitation sugar packets, cellphone interruptions and December’s obligatory “winter is coming” reference.
• Analysis: Impeachment’s no ‘game changer’ and other pet peeves
  After weeks of public hearings, I’m ready to take a stand on impeachment. Well, not quite. Actually, there are more than a few pieces of the impeachment coverage, arguments, and narrative that are driving me crazy. And writing a few hundred words seems like a semi-healthy way to attempt to set the record straight. Impeachment is not a game-changer until proven otherwise. I’m skeptical that impeachment will fundamentally alter the electoral landscape, in part, because it has not dramatically swayed voters’ opinions of the president so far. According to Friday’s RealClearPolitics average, President Donald Trump’s job approval rating was 44 percent compared to 54 percent disapprove. On Sept. 24, when Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the formal impeachment inquiry, it was 45 percent approve and 52 percent disapprove. Maybe something can be historic and politically insignificant at the same time.
• Trump appears to back short Senate impeachment trial
  On the day the House Judiciary Committee approved impeachment articles against him, President Donald Trump claimed it is strengthening him politically. And with those articles headed to the House floor next week he appears warming to a quick election-year Senate trial. In brief but animated remarks, the president defiantly declared of the shape and length of an expected Senate trial: “I’ll do whatever I want.”
• War on Christmas (decorations) comes to Capitol Hill
  Rep. Val Demings was overheard this week telling a reporter she felt “pressure” to step up her office’s holiday decorations after fellow Florida Rep.  Charlie Crist displayed a quintessential light-up palm tree and flamingo outside his. The 7.5-foot inflatable holiday Mickey Mouse (she represents the Orlando area, home to Disney World) that guards her door declined to comment on the matter — perhaps because he heard about the unfortunate fate of a nearby air-filled brethren.
• Photos of the Week
  During what was scheduled to be the final week of Congress before the Christmas recess, a deal on funding the government, an agreement on the trade agreement that would replace NAFTA, and advancement of the articles of impeachment set up an extra week of work on Capitol Hill. Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone.
• Try again: Lofgren rejects House Clerk’s eyebrow-raising choice
  Rep. Sean Duffy left Congress months ago, but his office remains without a chief after a key lawmaker rejected an attempt to install a recent college graduate with no legislative experience and who is the daughter of a House official. Duffy’s last chief of staff, Pete Meachum, departed the post on Dec. 6.
• Judiciary Committee sends Trump impeachment articles to the House floor
  The House came one step closer to impeaching President Donald Trump after the Judiciary Committee on Friday morning approved charges that Trump obstructed Congress and abused his power. Next week, for the first time in more than two decades, and only the third time in U.S. history, the full House will consider articles of impeachment against a sitting president.
• Impeachment news roundup: Dec. 13
  After a 14-hour marathon on Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee took less than 10 minutes to approve the two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump on Friday. Both articles were approved on 23-17 party-line votes.
• Tax code typo is harming America’s restaurants
  OPINION — Washington, D.C., is my adopted home, and it is where my restaurants have been embraced, including Succotash in our Penn Quarter and National Harbor locations and MiVida in District Wharf. And we have plans to open several new locations including The Grill in District Wharf, and Gatsby and Mah-Ze-Dahr at Capitol Riverfront, the home of our World Series champions.
• The real war on Christmas: Who unplugged Perlmutter’s snowman?
  It was just a friendly Christmas decorating competition in the Longworth House Office Building halls. But then, an innocent snowman was slain. Kathryn Lyons investigates. Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone.
• Thornberry calls for US action to deter Iran aggression
  Iran is likely to attack more Western targets in the Middle East soon, and the United States will need to respond, Mac Thornberry of Texas, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said in an interview Thursday. “I expect Iran will take further provocative actions in the coming weeks,” Thornberry said on a C-SPAN “Newsmakers” program set to air Friday night.
• Gaetz's 2008 DUI resurfaces during impeachment debate
  Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., cited a New Yorker profile of Hunter Biden during amendment debate Thursday during the House Judiciary Committee’s markup on articles of impeachment. The profile alleged crack cocaine use by Hunter Biden, which Gaetz read out loud to the panel. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., was quick to respond, saying, “The pot calling the kettle black is not something we should do.” The idiom was a nod to Gaetz’s 2008 arrest for driving under the influence.
• Ivanka gets President Trump to make the pitch for paid leave
  “I had a very busy time and a very busy day, and my daughter said, ‘You will be here,’ so that was the end of that busy day,” President Donald Trump told a White House audience Thursday morning during a discussion on paid parental time off. Ivanka Trump, first daughter and presidential adviser, gathered Capitol Hill lawmakers, governors, a cabinet secretary — and, yes, the president — at the White House in an attempt to generate momentum for paid family leave.
• Appropriators reach spending agreement, fend off possibility of government shutdown
  Republicans and Democrats reached agreement “in principle” Thursday on $1.37 trillion in government funding, staving off the possibility of another shutdown just a week before spending is set to run out, according to Appropriations Committee leaders. The deal — reached just hours after a meeting between Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita M. Lowey and Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard C. Shelby— ends months of tense negotiations that revolved around border wall funding.
• At the Races: Walking and chewing
  By Bridget Bowman, Simone Pathé and Stephanie Akin Michigan Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens reminded a group of reporters yesterday, “It’s sort of the metaphor of walking and chewing gum at the same time that everybody likes to use around here.”
• Official: White House not worried Senate’s lack of input might sink USMCA
  The White House has no concerns that Republican senators might jump ship on President Donald Trump’s sweeping USMCA trade pact after they were told Thursday a deal with House Democrats will leave them unable to press for further changes. “We haven’t heard any Senate Republicans come out and say they’re opposing the deal on substance,” a White House official said Thursday, granted anonymity to be candid. “I have no concerns.”
• J. Brett Blanton on track to become next architect of the Capitol
  Most of J. Brett Blanton’s nomination hearing before the Senate Rules Committee to be the next architect of the Capitol on Thursday was essentially a one-on-one public interview between him and Chairman Roy Blunt, as the remaining 18 members of the committee were absent for the majority of the hearing. No opposition to Blanton, a Virginia resident, is evident, making him likely to be confirmed as the 12th architect of the Capitol. If confirmed, Blanton said he expects to start leading the agency by mid-January.
• Democratic Tri-Caucus to track diversity of witnesses in House hearings
  The chairs of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus announced Thursday that starting in January 2020 they will track the diversity of witnesses testifying in House committee hearings.  Collectively known as the Tri-Caucus, the groups want to ensure diversity of witnesses that help inform policies and legislation to ensure the laws Congress passes are “inclusive and work for Americans of all backgrounds.”
• After months of delay, DeVos touts limited student loan forgiveness plan
  Education Secretary Betsy DeVos sought to defend her department’s 18-month delay in processing rising numbers of student loan forgiveness claims, saying at a Thursday hearing that officials lacked a proper process to review them. Roughly 240,000 claims remain outstanding as DeVos has sought to change the department’s process to allow students who have been defrauded by colleges to have their federal student loans canceled.
• Nadler pushes votes on impeachment articles to Friday morning
  The House will come one step closer to impeaching President Donald Trump Friday when the Judiciary Committee is expected to approve charges of obstruction of Congress and abuse of power. The panel abruptly recessed after 11 p.m. Thursday night after more than 14 hours of debate just before they were expected to take final votes on the articles, extending the impeachment markup into a third day.
• James Lankford to chair Senate Ethics Committee
  Sen. James Lankford will take over as chairman of the Ethics Committee, succeeding Georgia Republican Johnny Isakson, who will retire at the end of the year, according to a senior Republican aide. The Oklahoma Republican will lead a six-member, bipartisan committee charged with investigating violations of Senate rules. The committee’s most recent actions were in April 2018, when it published a public letter of admonition to Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.
• Livestream: Articles of impeachment markup
  The House Judiciary Committee meets to debate the language in articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Opening statements of the markup began Wednesday night. Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone.
• Impeachment news roundup: Dec. 12
  As the House Judiciary Committee debated the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday again declined to explain to reporters why certain charges were left out of the articles. On Tuesday she was dismissive when asked why Democrats did not include obstruction of justice as outlined in the special counsel report on its investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and Trump’s campaign. During her weekly news conference on Thursday, it was the exclusion of bribery she didn’t want to explain.
• Ways and Means offers its own plan on surprise medical bills
  The House Ways and Means Committee released its own proposal Wednesday for ending surprise medical bills, potentially complicating an effort by some lawmakers to include a rival proposal in a year-end spending bill. Surprise out-of-network medical bills are unpopular among the public, both parties and President Donald Trump. But lawmakers disagree about the details of how to pay doctors and other medical providers when a patient unexpectedly gets out-of-network care at an inpatient hospital or in other unanticipated scenarios.
• Where the real battle for votes lies
  Call it President Donald Trump’s Guadalcanal: Like the tiny island U.S. Marines invaded in World War II to break Japan’s Asia-Pacific chokehold, little Juneau County, Wisconsin, is where Trump needs to halt the Democrats’ advance.  The struggle for 2020 hearts and minds is more than a referendum on the tweeter-in-chief’s behavior — it’s about the “future of work.” For counties like Juneau and others in battleground states, a thriving middle class means a restored American manufacturing base.
• Voting rights, a partisan issue? Yes, Republicans have fallen that far
  OPINION — Stacey Abrams has it right, for right now. She lost her 2018 race to be the governor of Georgia to Republican Brian Kemp, who as secretary of state was in charge of the election, a situation that would not pass the sniff test in North Korea. OK, that comparison is a little far-fetched, but only a little.
• These Democrats helped launch the impeachment inquiry. What’s their next move?
  Two months ago, seven freshman Democrats in the House published an op-ed column in The Washington Post that helped launch the impeachment inquiry. Now that the inquiry’s over, the freshmen are not saying what they will do next. The op-ed made clear the writers, who all have national security backgrounds, thought it would be “an impeachable offense” if reports were true that President Donald Trump pressured the Ukrainian president to investigate a political rival while withholding aid to the country.
• Capitol Ink | Woke
  Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone.
• Amid impeachment saga, a kitchen sink of legislative dealing
  The holiday rush on Capitol Hill is in full swing, and the bipartisan legislative lethargy is showing signs of easing even as the House debates articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Senate and House negotiators are still trying to reach an agreement on a bundle of spending bills, but there has been a relative abundance of other bipartisan deal-making and even actual legislation passing in the Senate.
• OMB: Ukraine aid delay was consistent with law, past practice
  The White House budget office on Wednesday defended its temporary withholding of almost $400 million in Ukraine security-related funds earlier this year, saying the episode was in keeping with longstanding authorities that allow the executive branch to control the flow of appropriated funds. “It was OMB’s understanding that a brief period was needed, prior to the funds expiring, to engage in a policy process regarding those funds,” says the nine-page Office of Management and Budget letter to the Government Accountability Office, which had inquired about the legality of the move. “OMB took appropriate action, in light of a pending policy process, to ensure that funds were not obligated prematurely in a manner that could conflict with the President’s foreign policy.”
• Judiciary kicks off impeachment articles markup with expected polarization
  The House Judiciary Committee’s markup of two articles of impeachment charging President Donald Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress kicked off Wednesday with Chairman Jerrold Nadler trying to set a “solemn” tone and ranking member Doug Collins accusing that of being a ruse.  Nadler opened the markup with a note about why he was breaking the custom of having only the chairman and the ranking member deliver opening statements to provide each panel member the opportunity to give five minutes of opening remarks.
• As Super Bowl LIV draws near, Congress still tackling one of the event’s biggest problems
  The question of whether the Super Bowl attracts higher volumes of human trafficking in its host city has long been debated. At the least, it provides a megaplatform, and opportunity, for awareness. “We do have a comprehensive approach for Miami-Dade, and that’s been put together over the years, but the advantage of the Super Bowl for us is to educate the entire community,” Rep. Donna E. Shalala told HOH.
• Study shows growing ocean damage as protection bills languish
  As lawmakers push legislation to protect the nation’s coastal waters, scientists are placing much of the blame for degrading ocean conditions on emissions from large energy companies including Exxon Mobil Corp., which was cleared Tuesday in a long-running climate court case. A study published Wednesday in the scientific journal Environmental Research Letters found that carbon emissions from the largest energy and cement companies are responsible for more than half of a damaging side effect: increasing acidity in the planet’s oceans, which harms marine life and coastal economies.
• In scrutinizing IG report on FBI, senators differ on what’s important
  Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz told a Senate Committee on Wednesday that although the FBI’s counterintelligence probe of Donald Trump’s campaign was not motivated by political bias, the agency misled a surveillance court in seeking to obtain warrants for tracking a campaign surrogate. Lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee, however, remained divided along party lines in what they chose to focus on during Horowitz’s testimony, which came a day after his office released the 434-page report of its investigation.
• Lowey: Spending deal looking more likely this week
  Congress and the Trump administration could reach agreement on full-year spending bills as soon as Thursday, according to House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita M. Lowey. “If all goes well, we could have a deal by the end of the day tomorrow,” Lowey said Wednesday evening after reviewing an offer Republicans sent over midday. “I think their offer was real and we’re discussing it and we can find some agreement.”
• Passion play: Trump drags FBI ‘lovers’ Strzok and Page into 2020 race
  This time, Donald Trump was less animated while dramatizing the pillow talk. But the president still went there Tuesday night, eager to turn two former FBI employees into characters in the 2020 campaign narrative he’s building. And some of his congressional GOP allies are happy to help. “I love you so much, Lisa. Please, Lisa! Lisa, I’ve never loved anyone like you. We won’t allow this to happen to our Lisa,” Trump told an arena full of supporters in Hershey, Pennsylvania. “Please tell me you love me, Lisa! I love you, Peter. I love you! I love you like I’ve never loved anyone!”
• Congress poised to pass paid parental leave for federal workers
  About 2 million federal employees are about to be guaranteed 12 weeks of paid parental leave under a bill soon to be signed into law by President Donald Trump, but several experts say the cost of such a benefit may discourage Democrats’ hopes of it spurring broader adoption in private industry. The provision, folded into a defense bill months in the working, would give all federal civilian employees three months of paid leave for the birth, adoption or fostering of a child. Democrats originally pushed for a broader set of benefits to cover family relations and illnesses but praised the measure’s inclusion. Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, who chairs the Oversight and Reform Committee, touted the provision as “long overdue.”  
• Latest additions to National Film Registry a political smorgasbord
  The 2019 additions to the National Film Registry, unveiled Wednesday by the Library of Congress, provide film buffs with a wide array of works with contemporary political relevance — spanning from 1903’s “Emigrants Landing at Ellis Island” to 2003’s “The Fog of War.” “The National Film Registry has become an important record of American history, culture and creativity,” Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement announcing the list. Not everything is political, of course, and some of the movies are there simply because they found a way into the public’s imagination, like Kevin Smith’s 1994 slacker day-in-the-life comedy “Clerks,” or recorded a singular moment, like Martin Scorsese’s 1978 concert film “The Last Waltz,” which chronicled The Band’s final performance in San Francisco.  
• Powerful patrons duel over California projects in final spending package
  The top Democratic and Republican leaders in the House are pushing for their own home-state projects in this year’s final spending bills — a spectacular park overlooking San Francisco Bay and a dam across the largest reservoir in California — but without agreement from each other in the negotiations’ final days. The two items in dispute — the Presidio park project championed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Shasta Dam expansion sought by House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy — are among some 200 disagreements that need to be resolved by leadership to finish up the appropriations legislation.
• FAA review predicted fatalities after first Boeing 737 Max crash
    About a month after a Boeing 737 Max plunged into the Java Sea, killing 189 people in October 2018, the FAA privately conducted a grim analysis that predicted more fatal crashes for the aircraft, according to a report released at a House hearing Wednesday.
• House urges Supreme Court to enforce subpoenas for Trump’s financial records
  The House cited 2020 election security concerns Wednesday when it urged the Supreme Court not to delay the enforcement of congressional subpoenas for financial records of President Donald Trump and his business from Deutsche Bank and Capital One Financial Corporation. Any harm to Trump for allowing the enforcement of the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees would be less severe than Congress not getting information it needs to protect the elections from foreign influence, House attorneys argued in a Supreme Court filing.
• Impeachment news roundup: Dec. 11
  The House Judiciary Committee began marking up articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening and is expected to vote on them Thursday. In his opening statement, Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler addressed why impeaching Trump was warranted when a presidential election is less than a year away. 
• With scores to settle, Trump slams ‘crooked bastard’ Schiff over impeachment
  ANALYSIS — President Donald Trump went to Hershey, Pennsylvania, with a few scores to settle hours after House Democrats unveiled two articles of impeachment they appear poised to pass next week. For more than an hour, Trump railed against House Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff and Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a throng of supporters inside the Giant Center booed, cheered and laughed — depending on the insult of the moment. He dubbed Schiff a “dishonest guy” and a “crooked bastard” and claimed the speaker has “absolutely no control” over a caucus that has lurched dramatically to the left.
• Ivanka Trump’s paid leave summit marks turning point in long battle to get Republican buy-in
  Ivanka Trump’s White House summit on paid family leave marks a significant turning point in her quest to get Republicans on board her pet issue.  Soon after Donald Trump arrived at the White House in 2017, some skeptics comforted themselves knowing that the first daughter and adviser to the president would be there to sand down some of her father’s rougher edges. But so far, Ivanka has been one of the quieter voices in an administration driven by hard-liners such as immigration specialist Stephen Miller.
• Elizabeth Warren’s big bad idea: Taxing our way to prosperity
  OPINION — Last week, a New York Times headline caught my eye. “Could tax increases speed up the economy? Democrats say yes.” The story, written by Jim Tankersley, explained that Elizabeth Warren is “leading a liberal rebellion” against the “long-held economic view that large tax increases slow economic growth.” Given the miserable track record of redistribution politics as economic theory and the strength of today’s free-market economy, I had to read on. Was this a case of economic illiteracy on the part of Warren and her fellow quasi-socialists who seem to be driving the Democratic debate? Or was this latest fascination with redistribution of wealth a focus group-tested battle cry for the base? Or maybe this was just the latest iteration of Democrats’ failed economic theories last seen in 2010 when Joe Biden promised a recession-weary America a “summer of recovery” that didn’t happen.
• House Democrats abandon crimes in Trump impeachment articles
  House Democrats spoke for months about how investigations had established crimes that President Donald Trump committed, but on Tuesday they did not specifically include those allegations in articles of impeachment under the constitutional standard of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” The two articles of impeachment Democrats filed — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — stayed away from detailing where Trump might have broken the law with his dealings with Ukraine or interactions with the special counsel probe into Russian interference with the 2016 election.
• National Democratic groups litigate 2020 in the courts
  More than in previous election cycles, national Democratic groups are making litigation over election and voting laws a key part of their 2020 strategy.  A handful of Democratic groups are currently litigating about a dozen cases over what they see as unfair election laws and maps across the country. 

McClatchy©

• FBI arrests Hialeah cop accused of sexual assault by four women and girls
  FBI agents walked into Hialeah’s police department Friday morning and arrested a decorated officer, Sgt. Jesús Menocal Jr., who has faced allegations over the past four years that he sexually … Click to Continue »
• Did Parnas and Fruman take South Korean cash? Court filing is new twist in Ukraine mystery
  In another twist to the bizarre political saga involving South Florida businessmen Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, a recent court filing suggested that the pair might have drawn on foreign … Click to Continue »
• House committee passes articles of impeachment
  The House Judiciary Committee voted to pass both articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump 23-17 on December 13, 2019. … Click to Continue »
• Freshman Democrat Allred to vote ‘yes’ on articles of impeachment
  Colin Allred, a Texas Democrat who earlier this week was unsure how to vote on impeachment, said Friday he’s a yes. “Next week I intend to vote yes, as it … Click to Continue »
• Military families can’t sue for medical malpractice. But the law may soon change.
  Legislation named after a Fort Bragg, N.C., soldier that will allow some members of the military to file claims to be compensated by the government for medical malpractice is one … Click to Continue »
• Why Democrat Josh Harder attended White House Christmas party during impeachment
  California Rep. Josh Harder was one of six Democrats who went to the White House Christmas party Thursday night, just as their fellow House Democrats were taking a huge step … Click to Continue »
• All the 2020 Democrats are threatening to skip the next debate in LA. Here’s why
  All the 2020 candidates who qualified for the next Democratic presidential debate have vowed to bow out of the event because they don’t want to cross a picket line to … Click to Continue »
• State Department limited release of Pompeo contacts with Giuliani. A judge wants more
  A federal judge ordered the State Department on Friday to expand its search for records of communication between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy … Click to Continue »
• Klobuchar rallies Miami union workers as part of economic policy roll-out
  Speaking to a modest crowd of about 40 union workers and activists in her one-on-one style, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said if she becomes president, America will have a president … Click to Continue »
• Kansas Rep. Watkins just updated his voter registration. He may have to do it again
  Freshman Republican Rep. Steve Watkins’ updated his voter registration address this week in the face of a voter fraud investigation, but his new address may not actually be correct. Watkins’ … Click to Continue »
• Here’s who could save money on prescription drugs under Democrats’ bill
  California Democrats are touting the thousands of dollars that people with diabetes, HIV, arthritis asthma and cancer could save if a bill to lower drug costs that passed the House … Click to Continue »
• As House impeachment efforts advance, SC lawmakers could play critical roles
  As the impeachment inquiry marches on in the U.S. House of Representatives, some South Carolina lawmakers are facing down a pivotal moment in their political careers. But for others, the … Click to Continue »
• Democrat Michael Bloomberg will open his NC headquarters Sunday in Charlotte
  Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg plans to open his campaign’s first field office in the country Sunday — in Charlotte. The former New York mayor will appear at the uptown … Click to Continue »
• Groundbreaking bill will allow military members to sue for medical malpractice
  Fort Bragg misdiagnosed Sgt. First Class Richard Stayskal’s cancer as pneumonia. A groundbreaking bill expected to be signed by President Trump will allow military families to sue the government for medical malpractice. … Click to Continue »
• Trump may not get public witnesses in Senate trial after McConnell warns of ‘spectacle’
  Despite President Donald Trump calling for public witnesses in an expected Senate impeachment trial, White House officials are privately conceding that will be unlikely given signals from Senate Majority Leader … Click to Continue »
• DOJ charges 10 former NFL players in fraudulent health insurance scheme
  The Department of Justice announced it is charging 10 former NFL players on two separate indictments with conspiracy, wire fraud and health care fraud. The charges allege the players made fraudulent health care claims for equipment they never used. … Click to Continue »
• Hundreds of California voters are being registered with the wrong party. Is DMV to blame?
  At least 600 Californians, including lifelong Republicans and Democrats, have had their voter registration unexpectedly changed, and several county elections officials are pinning much of the blame on the state’s … Click to Continue »
• Trump’s tweet on California fires drives firefighter union to Joe Biden for 2020
  Brian Rice, a longtime California firefighter, was furious. Shortly after California’s deadly Camp Fire claimed the lives of 85 people in Paradise, President Donald Trump urged the state to prevent … Click to Continue »
• Elizabeth Warren opens Kansas City campaign office, hires Missouri director
  Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren will open a Kansas City campaign office Saturday as the Massachusetts senator looks to get a head start on the March 10 Missouri primary. Several candidates … Click to Continue »
• ‘Wall Street Pete’: Activists heckle presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg at fundraiser
  Pete Buttigieg was heckled outside a fundraising event in New York City on Dec. 11. Protesters chanted “Wall Street Pete” as he left the building. Activists had tried to disrupt the fundraising event, but they were barred from entering. … Click to Continue »
• Congressional map changes spur Democrats to dive into races in Wake, Guilford
  Updated at 3:50 p.m. Dec. 12 with the latest developments. Experts and observers predicted that North Carolina’s new 2020 congressional map — passed last month by state lawmakers and approved … Click to Continue »
• Fact check: Was Devin Nunes ‘vindicated’ by report on FBI’s Trump investigation?
  Rep. Devin Nunes this week said he was vindicated by a new inspector general report that detailed the origins of the FBI’s surveillance of President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, … Click to Continue »
• Beyond the Bubble podcast episode 7: Impeachment and a major trade deal — in the same week?!
  Beyond the Bubble Episode 7 Subscribe here to receive weekly episodes in the feed of your favorite podcasting app: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts McClatchy political … Click to Continue »
• ‘We are not whipping this legislation,’ Pelosi says about articles of impeachment
  During a regularly scheduled weekly news conference, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi answered a question about concerns that members were being lobbied for their impeachment votes. … Click to Continue »
• Charleston to host 2020 Democratic presidential debate days before SC primary
  The 10th Democratic presidential debate will take place at Charleston’s Gaillard Center just days before South Carolina’s 2020 Democratic presidential primary on Feb. 29, the Democratic National Committee announced on … Click to Continue »
• Bloomberg apologizes for stop and frisk, vows to win over Californians by tackling poverty
  Michael Bloomberg is banking his presidential campaign on the idea that an “evolutionary rather than revolutionary” message will resonate with Californian voters. The former New York City mayor, who has … Click to Continue »
• North Carolina’s David Price says he’ll vote for both articles of impeachment
  Story updated Dec. 13 after House Judiciary Committee approved two articles of impeachment. Democratic U.S. House members David Price and GK Butterfield will vote for both articles of impeachment in … Click to Continue »
• Bloomberg zeroes in on California housing crisis as he campaigns in Stockton, San Francisco
  Michael Bloomberg is making housing affordability a focal point of his presidential campaign, and will roll out some general principles on housing policy during his first visit to California as … Click to Continue »
• Pompeo is being sued for records of Trump’s meetings with Putin. A judge will hear the case.
  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is being sued over allegedly failing to preserve official notes about President Donald Trump’s meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and a court ruled on … Click to Continue »
• Are Republicans ready to tackle immigration legislation? A House vote signals maybe
  Conservatives who often fear associating themselves with legislation to expand legal immigration showed significant support Wednesday for a House bill that would do just that. Thirty-four House Republicans joined all … Click to Continue »