Cotton: US ‘Should Be Taking More Steps’ to Prep for NKorea War

Sen. Tom Cotton said the United States "should be taking more steps" to prepare for war with North Korea, the Arkansas Republican told the Washington Examiner one day before the president announced he would meet with Kim Jong Un. Cotton made the comments in a podcast interview with the Examiner last week, before President Donald Trump's surprising announcement.

Trump Chose Pompeo as Kindred Spirit to Take Over U.S. Diplomacy

Mike Pompeo had an audition for his new job as secretary of state just about every morning at the White House, where the CIA director gave President Donald Trump his top-secret intelligence briefing. Pompeo has "tremendous energy, tremendous intellect," Trump told reporters at the White House Tuesday shortly after tweeting that he was firing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and giving the job of top diplomat to the former Republican congressman from Kansas.

Walker reaches to center in volatile Wisconsin

Not long ago, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was the voice of a conservative revolution in the heartland, a Republican at the vanguard and a possible future president. Today, he's the voice of concern, warning his party - at home and nationally - that change is coming again.

Republicans Abandon Tax Cut Message in Pennsylvania Election

Republicans have backed away from messaging about the tax cut bill during the run-up to the special congressional election in Pennsylvania Tuesday, Politico reported . Republican groups are now attacking the Democratic candidate Conor Lamb's record as a prosecutor and talking about sanctuary cities as they aim to push state Rep. Rick Saccone to a win, the report said.

President Trump fires Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

President Donald Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday and said he would nominate CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace him, in a major staff reshuffle just as Trump dives into high-stakes talks with North Korea. Trump announced the change in a tweet early Tuesday just four hours after Tillerson returned to Washington from a trip to Africa.

Intel Chair Nunes: No Collusion, But Russia, Putin Are ‘Dangerous’

The House Intelligence Committee interviewed several dozens of witnesses, but in the end simply was not able to find evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Russian, Chairman Devin Nunes insisted Tuesday. However, the California Republican told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" that Russia "is bad" and its leader, President Vladimir Putin, is dangerous.

5 things to know about today’s special election in western Pennsylvania

A Scranton Times-Tribune All Access subscription gets you complete access to both our print and digital publications, delivered to your home, desktop and mobile devices 7 days a week Manage your account Manage your account 24 hours a day. You can activate all access, pay your bill, update your account information, pause home delivery while you're away or ask a question.

Donald Trump Jr.: ‘It’s Important to Elect Republicans Who Will Work With the President’

On the last day of the campaign for the special election in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District, Donald Trump Jr. toured a candy factory in Washington County to urge locals to turn out for Rick Saccone, the Republican running for the House seat against Democrat Conor Lamb. Trump was the third member of his family to visit the district in the past few weeks in an all-out effort to help bring Saccone over a finish line that he has been lagging behind in the past 10 days.

Pennsylvania election will be seen as a bellwether for November even…

If Democratic contender Conor Lamb wins Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District on Tuesday, it will send shock waves across the political landscape. President Trump won here by 20 percentage points in 2016, and many strategists see this mostly white, working-class district as a testing ground for the November midterms.

The Latest: Polls open in western Pennsylvania

Polls are open in western Pennsylvania as voters settle a high profile special congressional race being watched for clues to the upcoming midterm elections. Republican Rick Saccone is trying to stave off an upset by Democrat Conor Lamb in a Pittsburgh-area district that backed President Donald Trump by 20 percentage points in 2016.

Republican House Intelligence Committee finds ‘no evidence’ of Trump collusion

House Intelligence Committee Republicans say they have found no evidence that President Donald Trump and his affiliates colluded with Russian officials to sway the 2016 election or that the Kremlin sought to help him, a conclusion at odds with Democrats' takeaways from the congressional panel's year-long probe and the apparent trajectory of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. The findings are part of a 150-page draft report that Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, who oversees the committee's Russia probe, announced on Monday.

Trump says ‘no problem’ shutting government, dismaying GOP

Unnerving fellow Republicans, President Donald Trump declared Monday he would have "no problem" shutting down the federal government this fall if Congress won't come up with more money for border security. Trump's threat, his second in two days, put him further at odds with his own party in Congress, where many Republicans are facing tough re-election fights this November.

Fate hazy for GOP bill helping dying patients try new drugs

A leading House Democrat announced his opposition Monday to a Republican bill making it easier for some terminally ill patients to try experimental drugs, clouding the measure's fate. Republicans are hoping for House approval today, seven months after a similar package cleared the Senate.

Europe, U.S. senator push back as Trump seeks lower EU tariffs

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will urge the European Union to lower its trade barriers, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday, calling them unfair to U.S. farmers and industry, a view rejected by the EU and challenged by a Republican senator. The European Commission accused Trump of"cherry-picking" data to distort the debate in a transatlantic dispute over U.S. metals tariffs that threatens to become a trade war.

Possible Kennedy retirement would give Trump opportunity to tilt SCOTUS

"Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy might retire from the bench as early as this summer, a GOP senator said, and if true, President Trump would be able to nominate a justice who could tilt the nation's highest court well to the right [sic] for the foreseeable future. Kennedy, the 81-year-old swing vote appointed to the court by former President Ronald Reagan, has served on the bench for 29 years.