Overnight Energy: Walden wins Energy gavel | Trump looks at Dems to head Energy, Interior

BREAKING: WALDEN TO HEAD ENERGY AND COMMERCE: Rep. Greg Walden will be the next chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Reuters reported Thursday that Trump is considering her for potential spots at the helm of the Interior or Energy Departments, both of which would intersect with Heitkamp's work on energy policies in the Senate.

The Carrier Deal: Donald Trump to the Rescue or Troubling Precedent?

President-elect Donald Trump traveled to Indiana Thursday afternoon to meet with officials at heating and air-conditioning company Carrier to celebrate a deal that will keep hundreds of the company's positions from being relocated to Mexico. Yet some are concerned about what kind of precedent the pact struck by the incoming administration will set for domestic companies going forward.

How Donald Trump got Carrier to stay

Carrier is getting a modest $7 million in financial incentives over the next 10 years from the state of Indiana to keep 1,000 jobs at an Indianapolis plant, sources familiar with the deal tells CNN. That is just a fraction of the estimated $65 million a year it expected to save if it had moved those jobs to Mexico.

Xavier Becerra to leave Congress for California attorney general post

Rep. Xavier Becerra announced Thursday he would be leaving Congress to serve as California's attorney general, a move that takes the senior Democrat out of Washington but not off the front lines of the battle against the Trump administration. California Gov. Jerry Brown named Becerra to the spot Thursday opened up by the departure of Kamala Harris, who won a US Senate seat this November.

‘Thank You Tour’: Trump victory lap heads for Indianapolis, Cincinnati

U.S. president-elect Donald Trump headed out on a victory lap Thursday, appearing first in Indiana to salute workers at a factory where he says he saved hundreds of jobs from moving to Mexico and then in Ohio on the first stop of a "Thank You Tour" to honour supporters in states that helped him to his stunning victory. Thursday's Midwest swing will be the first time that Trump, who has shown an early inclination to revel in the role of showman-in-chief, has barnstormed across the country since the campaign.

Dem admits: We ‘have no strategy,’ ‘no plan’ for retaking the House

A House Democrat lamented Thursday that his party has no plan and no strategy for rebuilding a Democratic majority in the House over the next few years. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., told MSNBC Thursday that he voted to keep Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in her leadership role in the House, but admitted that she and other Democratic leaders don't have a plan in place.

Washington Post urges Dems to support Price nomination to lead HHS

The Washington Post is calling on Senate Democrats to support Republican Rep. Tom Price as President-elect Trump's pick for secretary of Health and Human Services. The paper's editorial board on Wednesday night said Price has shown a seriousness on healthcare policy and that Democrats should be open to debating him when he's confirmed.

The 21st Century Cures Act clears the U.S. House

After years of hearings, negotiations, amendments, bipartisanship, and editing, the sweeping landmark 21st Century Cures Act has been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. Republican Fred Upton of St. Joseph and Democratic U.S. Representative Diana DeGette of Colorado co-sponsored the package of bills that is designed to simplify and expedite the process for approving new drugs and medical devices.

Pelosi accedes to critics’ changes

House Democrats will vote Thursday to adjust how they operate internally in the 115th Congress, a move that Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi hopes will placate members who complained that the caucus leadership is too closed off from rank and file lawmakers. Although his bid to replace the 76-year-old Californian as party leader failed Wednesday, her challenger, Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio, succeeded in forcing her to accept some of his proposed rule changes , most notably making the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairmanship an elected position.

Probe urged over alleged drug use at Bedford, Lowell VA sites

Elected officials and veterans advocates said Tuesday that they were deeply disturbed by allegations that employees at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford may be involved in selling drugs to patients. On Sunday, The Sun reported that the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was investigating an alleged drug-dealing ring at the hospital that includes employees and patients and may be linked to at least two overdose deaths in VA facilities.

Winning: Trump Visits Carrier in Indiana After Preserving 1,000 Jobs

President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence will visit Carrier Corp. in Indianapolis on Thursday, just two days after the company announced it had reached a deal with the incoming president that will save over 1,000 American jobs. A release on Wednesday provided a few details of the Trump-Pence event scheduled for Thursday afternoon at Carrier's Indianapolis facility.

With Carrier trip, Trump embraces theater of the presidency

The president-elect is flying to Indiana on Thursday for an event with officials from Carrier Corp., which is keeping about 1,000 jobs in the U.S. instead of moving them to Mexico. In doing so, he's showing an early deftness for the way the theater of the presidency can be used to shape perceptions of those who occupy the Oval Office.

Trump to take victory lap at factory, rally

In this Nov. 19, 2016, file photo, President-elect Donald Trump gives the thumbs-up as he arrive at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J. Trump, ethics attorneys and good-government groups are all grappling with how to navigate being a president with extraordinary international and domestic business ties. While others in government are bound by rules and regulations about their business ties, the president has fewer such restrictions.

Cop fatally shot while responding to domestic violence call

Motorcycle law enforcement officers lead a procession away from Tacoma General Hospital of an ambulance bearing the body of a the officer. SEATTLE - A police officer who was shot multiple times in Tacoma while responding to a domestic violence call died Wednesday night, while police worked to arrest a suspect they believed was still barricaded in the home with a gun, authorities said.

EDITORIAL: Is Trump’s vow to refrain from meddling with Medicare to be trusted?

One of the great challenges experienced by both the press and at least some of the public in understanding Donald Trump is caught up in what his defenders often cite: The press during the long campaign made the mistake of taking Trump literally but not seriously, while Trump's many followers took him seriously but not literally. So how does all that work out regarding the president-elect's stand on Medicare? During the campaign, Trump made a point of vowing that he would keep his hands off both Medicare and Social Security.

Timeline of planned Carrier factory closing in Indiana

President-elect Donald Trump is set on Thursday to trumpet a deal with furnace and air conditioner manufacturer Carrier Corp. that would reduce the planned 1,400 job cuts at an Indianapolis factory that became a political cause during the presidential campaign. Feb. 10: Company officials announce plans to shutter the Indianapolis factory, along with a 700-worker factory in the northeastern Indiana city of Huntington that is also owned by Carrier parent company United Technologies Corp. of Hartford, Connecticut.