Obama prepares to block sale of new offshore drilling rights in much of U.S. Arctic, Atlantic

President Barack Obama is preparing to block the sale of new offshore drilling rights in much of the U.S. Arctic and parts of the Atlantic, a move that could indefinitely restrict oil production there, according to two people familiar with the decision. Obama will invoke a provision in a 1953 law that gives him wide latitude to withdraw U.S. waters from future oil and gas leasing, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

Obama grants clemency to 231 people

President Barack Obama on Monday granted clemency to 231 individuals, the largest single day act of his presidency and totaling 1,324 total while in office. Obama granted 153 commutations, bringing the total number of commutations while he's been in office to 1,176, including 395 life sentences.

Net Neutrality Rule to Get Scrutiny From FCC Republicans – Soon’

Republicans poised to control the Federal Communications Commission next month said they'd revisit the net neutrality regulation "as soon as possible," laying out plans to address a rule they've opposed and that Democrats support. The statement Monday from Commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly indicates that opponents of the rule such as top broadband providers AT&T Inc. and Comcast Corp. may not need to wait for Congress to grapple with the regulation that requires equal treatment of web traffic.

Look in the mirror and accept you lost, Trump aides tell Democrats

Donald Trump's top aides have said the US president-elect is not ready to accept the finding by intelligence officials that Moscow hacked Democratic emails in a bid to elevate the billionaire property mogul. President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the LaddA A Peebles Stadium, in n Mobile, Ala.

Half of Americans approve of Trump’s transition handling

Fifty percent of Americans say they approve of the way President-elect Donald Trump is handling the transition and his preparations to take the Oval Office, while 41 percent disapprove, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. But Trump's approval score is significantly below Barack Obama's in December 2008 and Bill Clinton's in December 1992 .

Report: Obama Is Setting Up Shadow Government to Undermine Trump Starting on Inauguration Day

Author Ed Klein told Pete Hegseth on Fox and Friends Weekend this morning that Barack Obama is setting up a shadow government in Washington DC to undermine President Trump after Inauguration Day. Ed Klein: For the past 100 years every president who is outgoing has packed up his stuff gone home and not criticized his successor.

“Outraged for black womanhood” By Sir Ronald Sanders

After a lifetime in Caribbean and international politics, I thought the time had long since passed when I could be outraged by any event. But I was outraged last week and I continue to seethe over the fact that Pamela Ramsey Taylor , the director of a Clay County, West Virginia, non-profit who was removed from her post after she called Michelle Obama an " ape in heels " in a November Facebook post, will be re-instated in her job on December 23. What signal does this re-instatement send to Americans, black and white? Indeed, what statement does it make to the rest of the world? This is not only blatant racism getting a pass; it is a most disturbing endorsement of it.

Trump aides push back on suggestions of Russian meddling

President-elect Donald Trump's incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, second from right, attends a meeting with former White House Chiefs of Staff in the office of current White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough at the White House in Washington, Friday, Dec. 16, 2016. From left are, Andrew Card, Bill Daley, Samuel Skinner, Priebus and Rahm Emanuel.

Priebus to intelligence agencies: ‘Stand in front of a camera and make the case’ on Russian hacking

President-elect Donald Trump's incoming chief of staff continued to cast doubt on the American intelligence community's finding that Russia was responsible for hacks into Democratic emails in an effort to help Trump defeat Hillary Clinton. "It sure would be nice to hear from everybody.

Trump says Michelle Obamaa s a no hopea comment about the past

President-elect Donald Trump said first lady Michelle Obama "must have been talking about the past" when she said there's no sense of hope after his election. Trump, speaking Saturday at the final rally of his postelection "thank you" tour, then resisted escalating the spat further, suggesting "she made that statement not meaning it the way it came out."

Michelle Obama Feels Hopeless

Michelle Obama is feted and loved around the world for no other apparent reason than the fact that she walks around with a vagina that has ancestral roots in the Dark Continent. Eight years ago when her mulatto hubby was running for president, she flashed her giant white teeth and purplish gums to announce: For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback.

Trump says Michelle Obama’s ‘no hope’ comment about the past

President-elect Donald Trump said first lady Michelle Obama "must have been talking about the past" when she said there's no sense of hope after his election. Trump, speaking Saturday at the final rally of his postelection "thank you" tour, then resisted escalating the spat further, suggesting "she made that statement not meaning it the way it came out."

FAQ: Who are Oregon’s electors and what’s their role in electing the next president?

Oregon presidential electors Shirley Cairns and Sam Sappington sign documents after casting ballots for President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at the Oregon state Capitol in Salem on Dec. 17, 2012. Members of the Electoral College cast the final, official votes in the presidential election.