The political lexicon of a billionaire populist

President Trump, trailed by senior counselor Stephen K. Bannon, boards Air Force One to return to Washington after spending the weekend at the Mar-a-Lago Club. From the start of his presidential campaign, Donald Trump pledged "total change," delivering his promises with a scorched-earth political vocabulary - "Lyin' Ted," "Crooked Hillary," "drain the swamp," "lock her up."

Top Democrat Would Support Challenge to Electoral Vote Certification

The second-ranking House Democrat, Steny Hoyer of Maryland, would support an effort to challenge certification of the votes that will formally put Trump in the White House on Friday, he told ABC News Political Director Rick Klein on the Powerhouse Politics podcast. Congress is slated to count the Electoral College ballots to officially elect Donald Trump as President on Friday, but a few House Democrats, led by Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Colorado, are weighing options to protest the Electoral College votes.

GOP Congressman says Trump’s conflicts of interest are OK because George Washington kept his house

Donald Trump's aides are reportedly floating the idea that instead of putting his considerable business assets and holdings into a blind trust a S-a Ssomething other presidents have used to avoid conflicts of interest a S-a She might put his funds into a not-actually-blind-at-all "half-blind trust." Rep. Tom Cole said on Wednesday that he does not think Trump needs to disentangle himself.

Even before 2016 is over, the race for 2020 is well underway

Shown here at a March presidential debate, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, left, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, right, are among those pondering 2020 runs in the event of a loss by this year's GOP nominee Donald Trump, center. Long before the first polling places opened on Election Day 2016, the race for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination was already underway.

Paul Ryan’s Wife Is a Liberal Who Voted Twice for Obama?

We found no evidence to support the claim that Paul Ryan's wife is a liberal or that she twice voted for President Barack Obama. I received an email "One more reason to blow up the status quo of Washington Elites!!!! My goodness!!!! A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing--Why won't Speaker Paul Ryan stand up fr Republican Principals? Married to Janna Little, a left wing progressive, anti-constitutional, big government George Soros supporter who voted for Barack Hussein Obama twice.

GOP congressman: No, the election isn’t rigged

Oklahoma GOP Rep. Tom Cole, who is supporting Donald Trump for president, said Tuesday he doesn't agree with the Republican nominee that the election is "rigged." After noting he agrees with Trump that "the media" has been unfair and that "the elites" have mobilized against him, Cole said: "If you're talking about the actual election process, no, I don't agree ... It doesn't occur on a scale vast enough to change the outcome of a presidential election."

Election officials, Clinton team brace for fallout from Trump’s ‘rigged’ claims

Donald Trump's escalating effort to undermine the presidential election as "rigged" has alarmed government officials administering the vote as well as Democratic and Republican leaders, who are anxiously preparing for the possibility of unrest or even violence on Election Day and for an extended battle over the integrity of the outcome. Hillary Clinton's advisers are privately worried that Trump's calls for his supporters to stand watch at polling places in cities such as Philadelphia for any hint of fraud will result in intimidation tactics that might threaten her supporters and suppress the votes of African-Americans and other minorities.

Pipeline fight threatens Obama’s tribal legacy

Tribes and their allies say President Obama can cement his legacy on American Indian issues by rejecting a controversial pipeline project near tribal land in North Dakota. Obama has looked to bring tribes into the fold as president, hosting an annual gathering of American Indian leaders that culminated with a summit this week.

Senate’s odd couple forge unlikely alliance on environment

In this May 19, 2016, file photo, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., embraces the committee's ranking member Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. One is a Brooklyn-born, northern California liberal who carved out time in a two-decade Senate career to write a politics-sex-and-power thriller or two.

Senatea s odd couple: Boxer, Inhofe forge unlikely alliance

The oddest of Senate odd couples - California Democrat Barbara Boxer and Oklahoma Republican Jim Inhofe - have accomplished something highly unusual in this bitter election year: significant, bipartisan legislation on the environment that has become law. Boxer, a staunch liberal, calls climate change the "greatest challenge to hit the planet," battles against offshore drilling, rails about the dangers of nuclear power and has pushed to restrict greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

Senators might skip town ASAP – Sat, 10 Sep 2016 PST

The Senate's scheduled to be in session through Oct. 3, but lawmakers could attempt to finish up next week. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., have said they are working to hammer out a deal on a continuing resolution to fund the government WASHINGTON - The Senate's scheduled to be in session through Oct. 3, but lawmakers could attempt to finish up next week.

Oklahoma lawmakers hope to address funding for defense, Zika virus in short D.C. session

As Congress returns this week for a brief session, Oklahoma lawmakers are hoping to resolve some critical funding conflicts over defense and the Zika virus and get final approval of their own long-delayed legislation. The federal budget year ends on Sept.

Rep. Tom Cole: GOP Has ‘Not Done a Very Good Job’ on Race

There are millions of conservative African Americans in the United States, but Republicans have not "done a very good job" of taking the party's message into the nation's communities, Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole said Tuesday. "It takes understanding," the Deputy Majority Whip told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program.

The next chapter of the gun-control showdown comes to the House this week

The House will vote on gun-control legislation this week as part of a broader package of counterterrorism measures, but it will do little to end the political discord between Republicans and Democrats over how Congress should respond to the recent mass shooting in Orlando. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Friday announced there would be a vote this week on legislation that incorporates a broad swath of Republican proposals to counter radicalization in the United States.

Veteran congressmen from Oklahoma face primary challengers

Oklahoma's longest-serving U.S. House members face primary election challengers who say the incumbents' time in Washington has left them out of touch with constituents and their votes do not represent voters' values. Congressman Frank Lucas faces fellow Republican Desiree Brown of Hennessey in the June 28 primary race, with Lucas seeking a 12th term in the sprawling western Oklahoma district.

Donald Trump’s ‘Pocahontas’ attack on Elizabeth Warren …

It was a bad time for Sen. Cory Gardner to be caught in an elevator with a reporter. Donald Trump had just referred to Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts as "Pocahontas" - again - and the Republican freshman from Colorado was struggling to figure out how to respond.