GOP shoves tax overhaul ahead; shutdown still a threat

Republicans held together and shoved their signature tax overhaul a crucial step ahead Tuesday as wavering GOP senators showed a growing openness. But its fate remained uncertain, and a planned White House summit aimed at averting a government shutdown was derailed when President Donald Trump savaged top Democrats and declared on Twitter, "I don't see a deal!" "It's time to stop tweeting and start leading," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer retorted after he and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi rebuffed the budget meeting with Trump and top Republicans.

Judge sides with Trump’s pick to take over consumer agency

President Donald Trump scored a victory Tuesday when a federal judge refused to block the president's choice to temporarily run the nation's top consumer financial watchdog and, for the moment, ended a two-way battle for leadership of the agency. Judge Timothy Kelly declined to stop the Republican president from putting Mick Mulvaney in place as the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

No feeling of party loyalty for Johnson, a key Senate holdout for the GOP tax bill

Sen. Ron Johnson watched angrily last fall as his fellow Republicans gave up on his reelection campaign, convinced he was doomed and that their dollars and hours would be better spent elsewhere. A year later, Johnson is still in the Senate but also a key holdout vote in the Republican effort to overhaul the tax code - and those political calculations, along with the ill will they bred, are coming back to haunt Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his fellow heads of the GOP.

Senators debate likely effects of GOP tax plan

Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Tim Scott face off against Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders at CNN's tax reform debate on November 28, 2017. WASHINGTON -- While Congress continues to push for tax reform, senators from across the aisle debated Tuesday evening over the likely ramifications of the GOP tax bill.

Why I voted ‘no’ on the Republican tax plan: Dana Rohrabacher

John Marshall, America's fourth chief justice, proclaimed in an early case before the court, "[T]he power to tax involves the power to destroy." When the tax bill came to a vote, I was aware that taking away more hard-earned income from families living in the neighborhoods throughout our district would destroy their hopes and dreams - or at least cause them great hardship.

Committee sends Republican tax bill to Senate floor; vote could come this week

The Republican push to rewrite the tax code gained momentum Tuesday after a Senate panel advanced the measure and several wavering lawmakers signaled that they are leaning toward backing the bill. Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee unanimously voted to send the party's tax package to the Senate floor, setting up a final vote as soon as this week.

Tax bill advances, final Senate vote uncertain

A key Senate committee advanced a sweeping tax package to the full Senate on Tuesday, handing Republican leaders a victory as they try to pass the nation's first tax overhaul in 31 years. The Senate Budget Committee voted 12-11 to advance the bill as two committee Republicans who had said they were considering voting against the measure - Bob Corker of Tennessee and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin - backed the legislation.

Air Force: Lapse in Kelley case was part ofa

Review: The reporting failure in the Kelley case was by Office of Special Investigation officials and Air Force security force personnel at Holloman. Mourners showed up to a roadside memorial in Sutherland Springs, Texas on Sunday -- a week after a deadly massacre at a church left 26 dead, including an unborn baby.

Top Dems pull out of White House meeting after Trump attack

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., left, and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., center, head to the Senate floor for votes on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday evening, Nov. 27, 2017. President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans are scrambling to change a Republican tax bill in an effort to win over holdout GOP senators and pass a tax package by the end of the year.

John McCain, families of Code Talkers slam Trump over – Pocahontas’ jab

Senator John McCain is blasting President Donald Trump on Twitter over Trump's use of a White House event honoring Navajo war veterans to make a racially-charged joke about Democrat Elizabeth Warren. The US Senator from Arizona said Trump's joke calling Warren "Pocahontas" was an "insult" to the sacrifices made by the Code Talkers during World War II.

Fed chair nominee Powell pledges to a respond decisivelya to economic threats

The U.S. Federal Reserve should "respond decisively" to any new economic crisis, Fed chair nominee Jerome Powell told the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, positioning himself as an heir to the central bank policies of current chair Janet Yellen and her predecessor Ben Bernanke. At his confirmation hearing before the banking panel, President Trump's nominee to take over as Fed chair endorsed the core ideas that have defined U.S. central banking since the financial crisis of 2007 to 2009 - a willingness to move aggressively against a downturn, and an insistence on flexibility and independence from political influence in setting policy.

The Latest: Dems pullout of WH meeting after Trump’s tweet

President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans are scrambling to change a Republic... . Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., a member of the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee, leaves the Senate floor during votes on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday evening, Nov. 27, 2017.

Trumpa s a Pocahontasa jab stuns families of Navajo war vets

Families of Navajo war veterans who were honoured at the White House say they were dumbfounded that President Donald Trump used the event to take a political jab at a Massachusetts senator, demeaning their work with an unbreakable code that helped the U.S. win World War II. Trump turned to a nickname he often deployed for Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren during the 2016 presidential campaign: Pocahontas.

Trump-installed consumer agency head sets hiring freeze, halts new rules

The fight for control of the U.S. consumer watchdog agency intensified on Monday as Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump's pick to run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau , imposed a hiring freeze and halted any new regulations. In a partisan showdown over the CFPB, which was created to crack down on predatory financial practices, Mulvaney is being sued by Leandra English, an Obama-era appointee to the agency who argues that she is the consumer bureau's rightful leader.

Senate tax drama intensifies as bill faces key panel vote

President Donald Trump's drive to overhaul the U.S. tax code headed toward a new drama on Tuesday in the Senate, where a pair of Republican lawmakers demanded changes to the party's tax bill in exchange for their help in moving the measure forward. Trump was due to lobby Republicans at their weekly policy luncheon in the U.S. Capitol, with the Senate poised for a possible vote on tax legislation as early as Thursday.

Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore calls allegations ‘dirty politics’

Embattled Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore said on Monday the allegations of sexual misconduct against him were evidence of the moral failings of leaders in Washington and meant to distract attention from the real issues. Hitting the campaign trail for the first time in more than two weeks, when the charges first disrupted the race, Moore said the allegations were false and malicious and politicians in both parties were desperate to see him fail.

Roy Moore: ‘Fake’ accuser claims rape, abortion; Richard Shelby votes; what we know today

Monday was the deadline to register to vote ahead of the Dec. 12 special election between Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones. Here's a look at the latest in the contentious race: "The president is not planning any trip to Alabama at this time and frankly his schedule doesn't permit him doing anything between now and election day," Sanders told reporters.

At Capitol, Franken apologizes and sees long fight for trust

Choose your news! Select the text alerts you want to receive: breaking news, prep sports scores, school closings, weather, and more. AP photo Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., returns to his office after talking to the media Monday on Capitol Hill in Washington.