Highlights From Jeff Sessions’ Confirmation Hearing — So Far

Senator Jeff Sessions, President-elect Trump's nominee for attorney general, went before his colleagues today in a marathon confirmation hearing -- now on its fifth hour and still ongoing. If confirmed, and so far it looks like Sessions will be confirmed, the Republican Senator from Alabama will become the head of the Department of Justice and the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer in the federal government.

About 11.5 million people signed up for Obamacare plans November 1-December 24

The federal government forms for applying for health coverage are seen at a rally held by supporters of the Affordable Care Act, widely referred to as ''Obamacare'', outside the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center in Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. on October 4, 2013. Roughly 11.5 million people signed up for individual health plan coverage under U.S. President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, an increase of 286,000 from a year earlier, according to government figures released on Tuesday.

Republicans have no choice but to keep the rug under Obamacare’s newly insured

Democratic rhetoric over the past few days would have us believe that the "Republican plan to replace Obamacare" is "nonexistent," as a New York Times op-ed by Nicholas Kristof declares . The Republicans have no shortage of plans , but their real dilemma is that Obamacare added some 20 million previously uninsured Americans to the insurance rolls, and the Republicans have no choice but to allocate the funds to maintain coverage for those newly insured.

Volkswagen Executive Arrested for Alleged Role in Emissions a Conspiracya

Volkswagen executive Oliver Schmidt was arrested by the FBI on Saturday for his alleged role in the company's suspected "scheme" to cheat emissions standards, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday. Schmidt, who led the automaker's U.S. environmental regulatory compliance office from 2012 to 2015, allegedly conspired with other VW employees to defraud the federal government - and American consumers - by concealing the installation of a device designed to cheat emissions tests.

D.C. officials vow to fight for uninsured if Obamacare repeal passes

D.C. officials have vowed not to leave the city's most vulnerable residents without health insurance if Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act, despite the possibility of a $623 million shortfall for health care in the District. As the chairman of the D.C. Council's newly formed Health Committee, Vincent Gray is uniquely positioned to take the lead in dealing with the aftermath of a dismantled ACA in the District.

Ap Fact Check: Despite woes Obamacare not in ‘death spiral’

As congressional Republicans prepare to repeal the health law, they are working to portray it as a mess of Democrats' making, and themselves as the ones who will clean up that mess. In the process they are exaggerating the law's very real problems, according to health care experts, who largely believe that the Affordable Care Act's troubles with high prices and lack of competition could be addressed with bipartisan solutions.

Obama presses Trump not to back away from clean energy

WASHINGTON >> President Barack Obama cast the adoption of clean energy in the U.S. as “irreversible,” putting pressure Monday on President-elect Donald Trump not to back away from a core strategy to fight climate change. Obama, penning an opinion article in the journal Science, sought to frame the argument in a way that might appeal to the president-elect: in economic terms.

Walters: Reasons why Ziegler wona t face April challenge

There are several reasons why Supreme Court Justice Annette Ziegler, a member of the court's five-justice conservative majority, will not be challenged in the April 4 election for a second 10-year term. She will be the first justice in 11 years to be unopposed.

America has just installed a democratically illegitimate democracy

Donald Trump has won the presidency after narrowly carrying a few states to put him above 270 electoral votes.But according... As the Senate and House of Representatives begin a new session, it's worth noting the fact that America was never a democracy at its founding, and is not a democracy now. House Speaker Paul Ryan has been talking about a peaceful transfer of power.

Vermont Senate Leader Uncertainty abounding in Trump era

A top Vermont lawmaker says getting down to crafting the state's budget and priorities will be difficult without knowing how the policies of the incoming Trump administration will affect decisions on Medicaid, cleaning up Lake Champlain, and a variety of other issues. Legislators are prepared to work with the office of Republican Gov. Phil Scott, the congressional delegation and other states, controlled by both Republicans and Democrats, to find common ground, said Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe, a Democrat-Progressive from Burlington.

McConnell says Senate will act this week on Obamacare repeal, ‘rapid’ replacement

The U.S. Senate will take its first steps toward repealing President Barack Obama's signature health care reform act by the end of the week, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday. Speaking on CBS's "Face the Nation," McConnell said: "There ought not to be a great gap" between repealing the act and replacing it and that Republicans would be "replacing it rapidly after repealing it."

The top-10 issues facing Colorado lawmakers in the 2017 session

The 2016 election returned a split legislature that will face the same questions this year with the addition of a new complication - a new Donald Trump administration promising big changes. Republican and Democratic legislative leaders are easing toward agreements to earmark money for road construction and overhaul legal remedies for construction defects, but significant details remain unresolved.

Another leading Alabama Democrat endorses Jeff Sessions

Sue Bell Cobb, former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, has endorsed Sen. Jeff Sessions in a letter to Sen. Charles Grassley, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Montgomery Advertiser describes Cobb as "one of Alabama's most prominent Democrats."