GOP nears Senate OK of tax bill after flurry of final dealsabout 1 hour ago

Republicans used a burst of eleventh-hour horse-trading Friday to edge to the brink of Senate passage of a $1.4 trillion tax bill, as a party starved all year for a major legislative triumph took a giant step toward giving President Donald Trump one of his top priorities by Christmas. "We have the votes," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declared after leaders swayed holdout senators by agreeing to fatten tax breaks for millions of businesses and let people deduct much of their local property taxes.

GOP nears Senate OK of tax bill after flurry of final deals

President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans are scrambling to change a Republican tax... . Pausing for a reporter's question, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and other senators squeeze into an elevator as they rush to the chamber to vote on amendments as the Republican leadership works to craft their sweeping tax ... .

U.S. states gird for fight as Trump targets consumer finance watchdog

Pennsylvania's Attorney General is leading the charge among his Democratic peers preparing to shore up protections for borrowers and savers while President Donald Trump follows through on a pledge to defang a powerful consumer finance watchdog. FILE PHOTO: Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney arrives to speak to the media at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau , where he began work earlier in the day after being named acting director by U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, U.S. on November 27, 2017.

Flynn prepared to testify Trump directed him to contact Russians -ABC

ABC News reported today that former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn is prepared to testify that President Donald Trump directed him to make contact with Russians when he was a presidential candidate. Reuters could not immediately verify the report, which cited a Flynn confidant.

Trump White House Furiously Tries To Distance Itself From Michael Flynn

One of the ways the White House brushed aside the first three indictments in the Russia investigation was by noting they weren't directed at anyone serving in the administration. George Papadopoulos and Paul Manafort were on the campaign - in limited roles , officials claimed - and Rick Gates was simply Manafort's business partner.

Flynn’s guilty plea confirms he talked Russian sanctions, misled FBI

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to misleading the FBI about conversations he had with Russia's ambassador to the United States. His guilty plea marks an escalation of the special counsel's probe into Trump campaign ties to Russia, and also corroborates anonymously-sourced media reports about Flynn's contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Trump: Dems will lose voters because they are weak on crime

President Donald Trump lashed out Friday after a jury acquitted a Mexican man in the killing of a woman on a San Francisco pier, calling the verdict "disgraceful" and suggesting Democrats will pay a price for being "weak on Crime." Trump launched an aggressive series of tweets over the 2015 shooting of Kate Steinle, which he often cited during his presidential campaign to push for a wall on the Mexican border.

ABC: Flynn to testify that candidate Trump ordered him to make…

Oh my . What, we wondered , did Michael Flynn have that led Robert Mueller to let him off with a relatively minor plea deal to one count of lying to investigators? According to ABC's Brian Ross, it's that Donald Trump ordered Michael Flynn to make contact with the Russians as a candidate - but for what purpose? And is that illegal? JUST IN: @BrianRoss on @ABC News Special Report: Michael Flynn promised "full cooperation to the Mueller team" and is prepared to testify that as a candidate, Donald Trump "directed him to make contact with the Russians."

Acquittal of Mexican in San Francisco shooting a complete travesty, says Trump

Donald Trump has condemned a jury's verdict that a Mexican man is not guilty of murdering a woman on a San Francisco pier. In a pre-dawn tweet, the president said the cleared man, Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, "came back and back over the weakly protected Obama border, always committing crimes and being violent".

Senate GOP hustles to meet tax bill holdouts’ demands

Senate Republicans are stepping quickly to meet competing demands of holdout GOP senators for a tax overhaul package expected to add $1 trillion to the nation's deficit over 10 years. The Republicans eye a crucial final vote Friday on the $1.4 trillion Senate bill carrying the hopes of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party to preserve their majorities in next year's elections.

Conservative activist arrested at City Council meeting sues…

An Inglewood police officer talks to outspoken conservative activist Arthur Schaper at a town hall meeting held by Maxine Waters in May. An Inglewood police officer talks to outspoken conservative activist Arthur Schaper at a town hall meeting held by Maxine Waters in May. Arthur Christopher Schaper sat in the back of the Huntington Park City Council chambers, wearing a "Make America Great Again" cap and a Donald Trump flag around his shoulders like a cape. The council warned him he was disrupting the June meeting.

Senate GOP could scale back tax cuts

By MARCY GORDON and STEPHEN OHLEMACHER Associated Press WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans weighed scaling back the tax cuts in their massive package to secure crucial support as congressional analysts said Thursday the legislation would add $1 trillion to the nation's debt over the next decade.

Donald Trump Draws Pathetically Small Audience At The National Christmas Tree Lighting

For a man who is so obsessed with size, tonight's pathetically tiny showing at the Washington, DC Christmas Tree Lighting has got to really sting. After all, Donald Trump promises that we can finally say "Merry Christmas" again...which would imply that we haven't been saying it, forever.

Trump invited to deliver State of the Union address

Washington, Dec 1 - US House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said he has formally invited President Donald Trump to deliver his first State of the Union address on January 30, 2018. I'm formally inviting President Trump to address a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, January 30, to report on the state of the union, Ryan told reporters on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Latest: Tillerson here, working, Trump spokeswoman says

The Washington Post says it won't distribute any more columns by Garrison Keillor because he didn't reveal he was under investigation in his most recent effort. The Washington Post says it won't distribute any more columns by Garrison Keillor because he didn't reveal he was under investigation in his most recent effort.

Officials: Trump mulls calling Jerusalem Israel’s capital

In this March 17, 2003, file photo, an Israeli border policemen guards the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv as other Israelis line up for U.S. visas. U.S. officials say President Donald Trump is poised to again delay his campaign promise to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

White House has plan to replace top diplomat with CIA chief

The White House has developed a plan to oust Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has had an increasingly tense relationship with President Donald Trump, and replace him with CIA director Mike Pompeo within weeks, senior administration officials said on Thursday. Under the plan, Republican Senator Tom Cotton would be tapped to replace Pompeo at the Central Intelligence Agency, the New York Times reported, citing senior officials.