US a prepared to do morea in Syria if chemical weapons used again

After launching air strikes against a Syrian air base on Thursday, the U.S. indicated that while it had no plans for any further escalation against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, it could not be totally ruled out either. "We are prepared to do more, but we hope that will not be necessary," Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said during an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting on Friday.

Unganged, or how the Senate learned to stop worrying and love the Reid Option

Perhaps one of the most remarkable aspects of the showdown in the Senate this week was the lack of any visibly organized compromise effort. In 2005, when the upper chamber headed for a similar showdown over filibusters on judicial confirmations, a bipartisan group of 14 Senators led by John McCain imposed a compromise.

Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch confirmed to USA supreme court

The chamber's majority leader tore up the rulebook after Democrats mounted the first filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee in half a century. "After considering his record, watching his testimony in front of the Judiciary Committee and meeting with him twice, I will vote to confirm him to be the ninth justice on the Supreme Court", Manchin said at the time.

After Amtrak derailments, Booker and Menendez seek to block Trump’s transit cuts

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez and Cory Booker asked leaders of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee overseeing transportation to ensure federal funding for Amtrak and the Gateway Tunnel project. Their letter to U.S. Sens. Susan Collins , the subcommittee chairwoman, and Jack Reed , the ranking Democrat, came after Amtrak acknowledged responsibility for two recent derailments that tied up NJ Transit train traffic for days.

Trump adviser Steve Bannon attends NSC meeting after being removed

On Wednesday, establishment media reported Bannon was "booted" from the National Security Council, casting it in headlines as a demotion, while the White House insisted it was simply a matter of Bannon no longer being on a list of regular attendees of NSC "principals committee" meetings. The new memo also restores the director of National Intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the principals committee, which Bannon served on.

First months of Trump, GOP Congress produce few victories

President Donald Trump is approaching the end of his first 100 days in office without having signed a single major bill into law. Trump's top priority - repealing and replacing former President Barack Obama's landmark health care law - ran aground in the House in spite of Republican opposition to "Obamacare," the first time in recent memory that a newly elected president's first big initiative had imploded so spectacularly.

Gorsuch OK’d as new justice

The Senate confirmed Neil Gorsuch to become the newest associate justice on the Supreme Court Friday, elevating Donald Trump's nominee following a corrosive partisan confrontation that could have lasting impacts for the Senate and the court. Vice President Mike Pence was presiding as the Senate voted 54-45 in favor of Gorsuch, a 49-year-old veteran of the 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Denver whose conservative rulings make him an intellectual heir to the late Justice Antonin Scalia, whose seat he will fill.

Twitter case shows breadth of US power to probe anti-Trump statements

A 3D-printed logo for Twitter is seen in this picture illustration made in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina on January 26, 2016. An attempt by U.S. authorities to identify an anonymous critic of President Donald Trump on Twitter has set off alarm bells among Democratic and Republican lawmakers and civil liberties advocates fearful of a crackdown on dissent.

ROBERTS: The deadly liberal delusion

Does anybody here remember Blanche Lincoln? She was a two-term senator from Arkansas, a moderate Democrat who prospered in a red state by defying liberal power brokers like big labor. The unions and ultra-left pressure groups went after her big-time in 2010, backing a primary challenge by Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter.

In Syria, Trump and Obama faced same issue – and found different solutions

More than four years ago, President Barack Obama vowed action if Syria crossed a "red line" and used chemical weapons on its own people. But when hundreds of Syrians died in a chemical weapons attack in the Ghouta region outside Damascus in 2013, Obama failed to act.

Syrian warplanes take off from air base hit by US missiles

Assad's base in ruins: Dramatic satellite photos reveal how airfield that Trump pounded with 59 Tomahawks is 'almost completely destroyed' after punishment for deadly chemical weapon attack Kremlin tells US it is 'one step from war' as Trump warns he will hit Syria AGAIN after unleashing a surprise attack on Russia's ally Assad Did Russia bomb hospital to cover up Syrian gas horror? New U.S. probe on Kremlin involvement as U.N. ambassador warns America could strike 'more' Syria claims it KNEW America was about to launch airstrikes hours before the attack on its airbase and moved its planes out of the way Take your best shot, Donald: Syrian warplanes take off from airbase targeted by US cruise missiles just hours later as Assad mounts new attacks on town he gassed Putin makes his move after condemning Trump's 'illegal' air strike on Assad: Russian battleship is positioned between US ... (more)

61 Senators sign letter to preserve filibuster rules

A bipartisan group of 61 senators sent a letter to Senate leaders Friday urging them to maintain the 60-vote threshold for filibusters involving legislation, which they said is needed to ensure bipartisanship remains a component of passing bills through the chamber. The move comes in the wake of a contentious battle this week in the Senate over the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch when the Republicans who control the chamber used the "nuclear option" to neutralize the filibuster for nominees to the Supreme Court.

After benefiting from #DeleteUber, Lyft executive joins the Trump administration

As bad as the #DeleteUber movement has been for the ride-sharing giant and CEO Travis Kalanick, it's been just as good for their main rival, Lyft. While Lyft's net worth is dwarfed by Uber by a factor of at least 10 , it saw a surge in popularity in late January and early February as Uber was hammered by social media users for Kalanick's role in President Donald Trump's economic advisory forum and accusations that the company tried to undermine a taxi strike against Trump's executive order on immigration.