Cory Booker seizes big moment with historic move against another senator

Sen. Cory Booker will make history Wednesday when he becomes the first sitting senator to testify against another sitting senator for a Cabinet post as he fights Jeff Sessions' nomination to become President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general. The decision has thrust Booker, a New Jersey Democrat and fixture on lists of potential 2020 presidential candidates, into the limelight.

Here are all the Trump Cabinet confirmations hearings scheduled for Wednesday

After the first full day of grilling for President-elect Donald Trump's choices for Cabinet positions, Congress has more hearings scheduled Wednesday. Trump's secretary of state nominee, Rex Tillerson, will testify before the Senate Foreign Relations committee at 9 am.

Russia denies having compromising material on Donald Trump

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said reports that Trump was the subject of "Kompromat" - a Russian term for compromising information intended to be used against someone - were an "attempt to harm our bilateral relationship." CNN reported Tuesday that intelligence officials last week presented Barack Obama and Trump with a two-page synopsis of memos about the President-elect compiled by a former British intelligence official.

Kremlin denies that Russian agents compromised Donald Trump

A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday dismissed as an ''absolute fantasy'' allegations that the Kremlin has collected compromising information about President-elect Donald Trump. ''The Kremlin has no compromising dossier on Trump, such information isn't consistent with reality and is nothing but an absolute fantasy,'' Dmitry Peskov, who handles Putin's day-to-day communications, told journalists.

Capehart Donald Trump taps Mar-a-Lago pal with Mass. ties for Irish ambassador

WASHINGTON It was a weekday evening in November, soon after Donald Trump's surprising election victory, and the Mar-a-Lago elite filed into Trump's exclusive Palm Beach club for dinner. As Brian Burns and his wife, Eileen, walked through the gold-plated lobby, the president-elect stopped Burns with an offer.

Evan Vucci/AP Rex Tillerson likely to face pointed questions from both sides

Friend of Russia and foe of sanctions in his corporate life, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, is an unorthodox choice for a Republican White House. He may feel perfectly at home in Trump's iconoclastic administration.

Intelligence Briefings on Russia Cited Unproven Trump Claims

The chiefs of US intelligence agencies last week presented President Obama and President-elect Donald Trump with a summary of unsubstantiated reports that Russia had collected compromising and salacious personal information about Trump, two officials with knowledge of the briefing said. The summary is based on memos generated by political operatives seeking to derail Trump's candidacy.

Emotional Obama comforts, encourages US in farewell speech

President Obama bid farewell to the nation on Tuesday in an emotional speech that sought to comfort a country on edge over rapid economic changes, persistent security threats and the election of Donald Trump. Forceful at times and tearful at others, Obama's valedictory speech in his hometown of Chicago was a public meditation on the many trials the U.S. faces as Obama takes his exit.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., left,

After debating seven hours through the night, the Senate voted early Thursday to take the first real step toward repealing Obamacare - a top goal of congressional Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump. Obamacare takes first real step closer to repeal after Senate vote After debating seven hours through the night, the Senate voted early Thursday to take the first real step toward repealing Obamacare - a top goal of congressional Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump.

The Latest: Trump says he may maintain some Russia sanctions

President-elect Donald Trump says he will probably maintain some of the Obama administration's recent sanctions against Russia, although he adds that he might do away with them if Russia works with the U.S. on battling terrorists and achieving other goals. Trump tells The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday night that "if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions?" The Journal also asked Trump if he is committed to the "One China" policy, in which the U.S. doesn't officially recognize Taiwan's breakaway government.

In subtle rebuke to Trump, Clinton extols diplomacy

Hillary Clinton, making a rare public appearance after her presidential election loss, offered an impassioned tribute to the power of diplomacy on Tuesday evening, saying the United States will "weather every storm on the horizon" by staying true to its "universal values." While she never mentioned Donald Trump by name, Clinton's short address at the opening of a new State Department museum was a rebuke of the president-elect, who's already broken decades of diplomatic protocol through his interactions with foreign leaders during his transition.

Trump rally makes stock options great again for some CEOs

Donald Trump once described Jamie Dimon as "the worst banker in the United States," but the president-elect has helped make the boss of JPMorgan Chase & Co $50 million richer. Dimon is the top beneficiary among the 30 chief executives who run companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average index from a stock rally inspired by Trump's election, according to a Reuters analysis of their option grants.

Jared Kushner, Beware of Jamie Gorelick

More than a few of my Washington allies noticed a seemingly unremarkable bit of news in a Monday Washington Post article that they thought I ought to see. The article concerned Jared Kushner's appointment as adviser to his father-in-law Donald Trump.

Inmatesa uncertainty on Guantanamo prisona s 15th anniversary

The looming presidency of Donald Trump has created a deep sense of uncertainty for inmates at Guantanamo on the 15th anniversary of the arrival of the first prisoners at the U.S. base in Cuba. Nineteen of the remaining 55 prisoners are cleared for release and could be freed in the final days of Barack Obama's presidency, part of an effort to shrink the prison since the administration couldn't close it on his watch.