Confirmation vote for CIA nominee exposes Democratic rift Source: AP

The political schism in the Democratic Party is playing out in the confirmation vote for Gina Haspel as CIA director, as support from red-state senators facing re-election bumps up against a more liberal flank eyeing potential 2020 presidential bids and rejecting the nominee over the agency's clouded history of torture. Haspel's confirmation became all but certain with a favorable 10-5 vote Wednesday by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Gina Haspel, Trump’s pick to lead CIA, wins support of Senate Intelligence Committee

The Senate Intelligence Committee moved Wednesday to recommend Gina Haspel for CIA director, setting up a floor vote that her opponents say will signal to the world whether the United States condemns or condones torture. With two of 51 Republicans committed to voting against Haspel, and five Democrats already indicating they will support her, it appears she is set to become the agency's first female director.

GOP moves ahead with judicial nominee Ryan W. Bounds for the 9th Circuit over Democrats’ objections

Senate Republicans pressed ahead with one of President Trump's appeals court picks Wednesday despite opposition from both home-state senators, in what Democrats said marks a new low in the GOP's push to fill the courts with conservative judges. Both Sen. Ron Wyden and Sen. Jeff Merkley, Oregon's two Democratic senators, are opposing Ryan W. Bounds , a lawyer Mr. Trump has tapped to sit on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Jeff Flake will ‘certainly’ contribute to Democrat Joe Manchin…

Republican Sen. Jeff Flake said he will donate to Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in the event that controversial coal baron Don Blankenship wins the GOP primary in West Virginia on Tuesday. "I hope that [Blankenship] doesn't get through the primary," Flake told reporters on Monday.

GOP Senators Losing Their Cool Over White House Vetting Fails

Republican senators are growing increasingly frustrated with the White House for foisting upon them a parade of controversial cabinet nominees whom they believe haven't gone through a proper vetting process. Throughout much of the Trump presidency, those frustrations have been shielded from public view out of deference to the president's right to pick his own team.

VA nominee Ronny Jackson in jeopardy as Senate delays hearing amid ‘serious allegations’

WASHINGTON President Trump's nomination of Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs is in peril as the Senate delayed his confirmation hearing amid concerns about his record.

Republican Congresswoman Shares Her Own #MeToo Story From When She Was 17 Years Old

In the Wall Street Journal today, Representative Martha McSally spoke publicly for the first time about being sexually abused by her high school track coach when she was 17 years old. After her father died when she was in middle school, McSally focused on sports, running cross-country and track and throwing the javelin for her high school in Rhode Island.

Pompeo on track for committee approval after Rand Paul flips vote

Sen. Rand Paul announced Monday that he will support the nomination of Mike Pompeo to be secretary of state, a last-minute reversal that now avoids a historic rebuke of the President's pick to be the country's top diplomat. The Kentucky Republican's decision will now allow Pompeo to be reported favorably out of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.

Trump’s NASA nominee is confirmed after Senate drama

The lawmakers narrowly confirmed Rep. Jim Bridenstine to be the next NASA administrator after Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, who held his vote back for several minutes while he huddled with GOP leaders on the floor, finally voted yes. The vote was 50-49.

Kasich’s New Hampshire trip will create buzz

John Kasich's return to New Hampshire this week is likely to get widespread media coverage as a significant milestone toward what many view as his inevitable 2020 presidential campaign. Within the past month, the state that traditionally hosts the nation's first presidential primary already has had visits from President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake - all potential GOP rivals for Ohio's governor.

Mayor, administrator visit federal reps in Washington, D.C.

Mayor Doug Nicholls and City Administrator Greg Wilkinson recently visited Washington, D.C., to promote issues that are important to Yuma. Accompanied by Ron Hamm, the city's legislative consultant, Nicholls and Wilkinson met with the Congressional delegation representing Yuma and various federal agencies to discuss the city's priorities for fiscal year 2018-19.

Trump fumes at Mueller probe; some Republicans warn him not to move against special counsel

President Trump stepped up his attacks against Robert S. Mueller III on Sunday even as some Republican allies cautioned the president against any move to fire the special counsel, who is carrying out a broad investigation arising from Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election. Tensions over the Mueller probe gained intensity from the firing late Friday night of Andrew McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI.

Trump Assails Mueller, Drawing Rebukes From Republicans

President Trump on Sunday abandoned a strategy of showing deference to the special counsel examining Russia 's interference in the 2016 presidential election, lashing out at what he characterized as a partisan investigation and alarming Republicans who feared he might seek to shut it down. Mr. Trump has long suggested that allegations that he or his campaign conspired with Russia to influence the election were a "hoax" and part of a "witch hunt," but until this weekend he had largely heeded the advice of lawyers who counseled him not to directly attack Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, for fear of antagonizing prosecutors.

The Wall Street Journal: Facebook sparks international furor over third-party access to user data

Facebook Inc. ignited a firestorm over how it manages third-party access to its users' information, after the social network said a firm with ties to the 2016 Trump campaign improperly kept data for years despite saying it had destroyed those records. over the weekend for not providing more information about how the data firm, Cambridge Analytica, came to access information about potentially tens of millions of the social network's members without their explicit permission.

Jeff Flake Says Republican Party a Might Not Deserve to Leada

U.S. Senator Jeff Flake walks past journalists after announcing he will not run for reelection on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, October 24, 2017. Senator Jeff Flake threw shade on his own political party Thursday, saying the GOP "might not deserve to lead" given its support of President Trump.