Ethics Reviews Incomplete for Several of Trump’s Picks

Several of President-elect Donald Trump's Cabinet choices have not completed a full review to avoid conflicts of interest, the government's ethics office says, even as Republican senators move quickly to hold at least nine confirmation hearings next week. In a letter to Senate leaders, the director of the Office of Government Ethics described the current status of several nominees, some of whom are billionaires and millionaires, in the ethics process and expressed concern about the lack of ethics reviews just days from committee hearings.

Questions surround school trust lands in Bears Ears National Monument

Board members of the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration held an emergency session Friday to discuss what to do about 109,000 acres of school trust lands contained within the new Bears Ears National Monument. Tom Bachtell, SITLA's vice chairman, said the board had yet to "receive and comprehend the information necessary" to make an informed decision in the interest of the trust's beneficiaries regarding a land swap.

Trump Formally Nominates Former Sen. Coats as Intelligence Director

President-elect Donald Trump nominated former Indiana Senator Dan Coats as U.S. director of national intelligence, giving the retired lawmaker oversight of the spy agencies that have drawn skepticism from Trump. Coats, 73, probably would face close questioning by both Republicans and Democrats about how he views the intelligence community's conclusions that Russia hacked Democratic Party computer systems in order to meddle in the U.S. presidential campaign, which Trump has repeatedly questioned.

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Fitzhugh Touts Rural Credentials As He Mulls Governor’s Bid

State House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh is seriously considering joining the race to succeed term-limited Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam in 2018. The Ripley Democrat told reporters this week that he would have appeal for voters from both urban and rural areas of the state.

With weak leadership in DC, look for more federalism

WASHINGTON Before the election, conventional wisdom had the GOP coming apart, had the Tea Party at war with traditional Republicans, and had fiscal hawks battling social conservatives. After the election, it was the Democratic Party coming apart, losing an election to a reality TV star and losing touch with blue-collar white voters, once the core of Democratic support.

Spy agencies’ report clashes with Utah Rep. Chris Stewart’s denial of Russian preference for Trump

The findings of a newly released intelligence report contradict, in part, statements from Utah Rep. Chris Stewart, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, who previously said there "just isn't any" indication Russian hackers wanted to boost Donald Trump's chances to win the election. In December, Stewart dismissed as "BS" any news reports suggesting Russia meddled in the election with a clear aim to influence who won or lost.

How Trump and the GOP Are at Odds Over Alleged Russian Hack

Donald J. Trump has picked another fight with the elders of his own Republican Party, over whether Russia engaged in hacking aimed at influencing the US election. Trump has maintained that it is impossible to trace hacking attempts, that it isn't clear who was behind them, and that he knows a lot about hacking and knows things about these incidents that the rest of us do not know, which he would reveal last Tuesday or Wednesday .

Republicans Can’t Just Pretend Obamacare Never Happened

If you confine yourself to the Congressional Record, you would assume that Republicans methodically followed their game plan to dismantle Obamacare in the first week of the new session. The Senate passed the first phase of their repeal bill under a process called reconciliation, a budget procedure that requires only a simple majority in the Senate, without opportunity for filibuster.

Obama derides a recklessa plan to repeal now, replace later

President Barack Obama derided as "reckless" on Friday a Republican plan to repeal his health care law now and replace it later, predicting that the replacement may never come. In an opinion piece in the New England Journal of Medicine, Obama sought to dispel the notion that Republicans could fulfill their campaign promises to gut the Affordable Care Act immediately without risking devastating consequences for consumers.

Trump on border wall: Mexico will pay us back

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday tweeted that Mexico will reimburse American taxpayers for a new border wall and that U.S. money spent will be for the "sake of speed." His tweet came as congressional Republicans and his top aides consider a plan to ask Congress to ensure money is available in U.S. coffers for the wall without passing any new legislation.

The Latest: Ohio senator to oppose Sessions nomination

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio says he won't support his Senate colleague Jeff Sessions, who is President-elect Donald Trump's pick for attorney general. Brown says he met with Sessions this week and says the Alabama Republican has a civil rights record "at direct odds with the task of promoting justice and equality for all."

Trump insists – Mexico will pay us back’ for cost of his border wall

Congressional Republicans are already exploring ways to begin funding a barrier on the US southern border, starting as soon as April US president-elect Donald Trump on Friday tweeted that Mexico will reimburse American taxpayers for a new border wall and that US money spent will be for the "sake of speed". Trump said in a tweet early on Friday: "The dishonest media does not report that any money spent on building the Great Wall , will be paid back by Mexico later!" During his campaign, Trump repeatedly told voters if elected he would build a wall along the US southern border and make Mexico pay for it.

AP sources: Officials discuss what’s needed for border wall-Image1

Congressional Republicans and Donald Trump's transition team are exploring whether they can make good on Trump's promise to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border without passing a new bill. Under the evolving plan, the Trump administration would rely on existing legislation authorizing fencing and other technology along the southern border.