Trump threatens to declare national emergency to get wall funding – live

President says ‘we can call it a national emergency’ to bypass Congress and build wall ‘quickly’ at press conference

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Asked if he would turn down the automatic raise coming his way during the government shutdown, ⁦@VP⁩ Pence says “yes.” pic.twitter.com/Z6vPc14Cuf

Trump also said he would consider asking his Cabinet officials not to accept the $10,000 raise due to take effect for them tomorrow.

Donald Trump seems to confirm ABC News reporting that his administration is considering building a wall without the consent or appropriation of Congress by declaring a national emergency.

“I can do it if I want,” Trump said. “We can call a national emergency and build it very quickly.”

"I can do it if I want," Trump now saying he is "allowed" to build the wall himself without congressional approval or appropriation. "We can call a national emergency and build it very quickly."

President Trump just said he could declare a national emergency to build the wall unilaterally without Congress. So this whole shutdown is... what, then?

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‘Immoral’: Nancy Pelosi on Trump’s border wall – video

Nancy Pelosi, the newly elected House speaker, insisted Trump's border wall would not receive funding as the partial US government shutdown hit the two-week mark on Friday. Pelosi described the wall as 'an old way of thinking, it isn't cost effective'

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Trump blames shutdown on 2020 election despite claiming he would take responsibility – live

Donald Trump tweeted an image mocking Senator Elizabeth Warren’s campaign for president.

It features the slogan “Warren: 1/2020th,” an apparent reference to the much-derided DNA test the Massachusetts Democrat took finding she had a small fraction of Native American heritage.

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein says former Vice President Joe Biden is her top pick for a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.

“I’ve watched him as vice president, I’ve seen him operate, I’ve seen him perform,” the California Democrat told Politico. “He brings a level of experience and seniority which I think is really important.”

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Gov.-elect Tim Walz names first 5 commissioners

From the back left Jennifer Ho, Housing Finance Agency, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Department of Transportation, Alice Roberts-Davis, Department of Administration, Nora Slawik, Metropolitan Council, and Myron Frans, Department of Management, stood behind Governor-elect Tim Walz and Lt. Governor-elect Peggy Flanagan at the State Capitol in St. Paul Tuesday.

With Senate passage, bill to prevent shutdown goes to House

The Senate approved legislation to temporarily fund the government, a key step toward averting a federal shutdown after President Donald Trump backed off his demand for money for a border wall with Mexico. Senators passed the measure, which would keep government running to Feb. 8, by voice vote without a roll call Wednesday night.

Senate approves bill to keep government running into 2019

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., left, and Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, right, arrives to speak to reporters about the possibility of a partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018. Congress and President Donald Trump continue to bicker over his demand that lawmakers fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, pushing the government to the brink of a partial shutdown at midnight Friday.

Under fire in Congress, Trump defends move to pull U.S. troops from Syria Source: Cox Media Group

A day after blindsiding members of his own party in Congress with a decision to withdraw U.S. military forces fighting against the Islamic State in Syria, President Donald Trump on Thursday defended his move, once more making the case that American troops should be on home soil, not embroiled in military action on the other side of the globe. "Getting out of Syria was no surprise," the President tweeted before sunrise on Thursday.

Sherrill Names Legislative Staff

Representative-Elect Mikie Sherrill has named Ethan Saxon, a 12-year veteran of the legislative branch, as her chief of staff, senior campaign staff Kellie Doucette and Jill Hirsch as district directors, and Jackie Burns as communications director. "We're building a team of skilled, passionate, and committed people who are dedicated to serving the people of our community," said Congresswoman-Elect Sherrill.

O’Rourke’s liberal credentials questioned as he eyes 2020

During this year's Texas Senate race, some home-state Democrats grumbled that Beto O'Rourke wasn't softening his liberal positions enough to finish a near-upset of Ted Cruz. Now, as the outgoing congressman mulls a 2020 White House run, a small but vocal segment of activists is suggesting he's not liberal enough, arguing he's more about feel-good flash than commitment to values that will excite his party's ascendant leftist wing.

Arizona’s New Sen. McSally Faces Uncertain Political Future

To the surprise of no one, Republican Rep. Martha McSally was appointed to the U.S. Senate Tuesday and will serve two more years of the term of the late Sen. John McCain, R.-Ariz. "I'm going to commit to holding myself to the standard of service that Sen. McCain exemplified -- putting country before self, and always striving to do the right thing for Arizonans," McSally told reporters in Phoenix, shortly after Republican Gov. Doug Ducey announced her appointment.

U.S. needs a different role in Yemen

In other parts of the globe, like the Republic of Yemen, lethal forces are stalking victims whom Americans cannot always picture in complicated political scenarios we may not quickly grasp. So the average American blinks, and in that blink opportunists make deals with undemocratic, unprincipled bullies.

Elizabeth Warren’s new bill: let the US government manufacture…

Senator Elizabeth Warren has introduced a bill called the Affordable Drug Manufacturing Act , which allows the US government to manufacture generic versions of drugs "in cases in which no company is manufacturing a drug, when only one or two companies manufacture a drug and its price has spiked, when the drug is in shortage, or when a medicine listed as essential by the World Health Organization faces limited competition and high prices."

McConnell says he’s in talks with White House after Democrats reject his offer to avoid shutdown

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday said he's in talks with the Trump administration about ways to avoid a partial government shutdown after Democratic lawmakers rejected his offer aimed at averting the closure. The Kentucky Republican offered $1.6 billion for border security, as outlined in a bipartisan Senate bill, along with $1 billion that President Donald Trump could use on the Mexican border, according to an Associated Press report .

When Republicans decide to love an activist judge: The Affordable…

President Donald Trump talks about drug prices during a visit to the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 25. He's pictured with HHS Secretary Alex Azar. On Friday, members of the GOP hailed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor striking down the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional.