The Latest: WikiLeaks says it reveals CIA hacking tools

The Latest on the publication by WikiLeaks of what it described as thousands of pages of confidential files about CIA hacking activities : Among the confidential documents published by WikiLeaks were a series of files purportedly attached to the CIA’s Operational Support Branch.

Headlines for March 7, 2017: What to Know

The toughest task before congressional GOP leadership will be to convince enough Republicans that their replacement of the Affordable Care Act, already dubbed “Obamacare Lite,” will satisfy constituents-especially those who finally secured health insurance under President Barack Obama’s signature piece of legislation. The GOP alternative fundamentally changes how health care would be financed for people who don’t have insurance through work, using tax breaks instead of a government subsidy.

Becker College president selected to lead UMass Dartmouth

Robert E. Johnson, president of Becker College for the past seven years, was named the new chancellor of UMass Dartmouth on Tuesday. The University of Massachusetts board of trustees approved his nomination, which was recommended by UMass President Martin T. Meehan, in a unanimous vote, Meehan said in a tweet.

The Latest: Kansas governor warns dry weather will remain

Grass fires fanned by gusting winds scorched swaths of Kansas grassland Monday, forcing the evacuations of several towns and the closur… . Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Chaplain Jeff Thompson passes bags of chips to, from left to right, Suzanne Morgan, Carol Shaylor and Linda Nimmo Monday, March 6, 2017, inside an evacuation center at the Kansa… .

Guests of Honor Trump surprises ecstatic White House tour group

With a portrait of then-first lady Hillary Clinton looming over his right shoulder, President Trump surprised a group of visitors Tuesday on the first public tour of the White House since the inauguration. Trump was greeted with boisterous applause and cheers from the group of about 50 tourists, mostly children, who were gathered in the basement of the White House residence.

Democrats grill Rod Rosenstein on Russia

Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein faced a barrage of questions from Democratic senators Tuesday about how he would handle investigations into Russian meddling in last year’s election if he is confirmed to serve as the No. 2 official at Department of Justice.

OU backs Senate letter calling to double security funds for Jewish, Muslim instiutions

The Orthodox Union is backing a bipartisan letter circulating in the Senate that calls for doubling security funding for non-profits, citing threats to both Jewish and Muslim institutions. “At a time when children being evacuated from daycare centers in response to repeated bomb threats and mosques are deliberately being set on fire, we must ensure that all organizations that face these threats have the support they need,” says the letter to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly authored by Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.

Ruddy to MSNBC: Trump Campaign Had ‘Consensus’ on Surveillance

President Donald Trump was “pretty upset” over the weekend about his belief that former President Barack Obama had targeted him, Newsmax CEO Christopher Ruddy said Monday, adding that he had not seen Trump with “this level of anger about something in a long time.” “I saw him twice on Saturday, once at the lunch hour and then again at dinner, and I would describe him as not being a happy camper,” Ruddy told Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.”

Wesley Pruden

Some of our grown-ups are missing, just when we need them most, and our Democratic friends need more powerful meds. The ink on the streets of Washington is knee-deep and toxic.

Bill Whalen

Years ago, the political strategist Dick Morris liked to suggest that America’s chief executive suffered from a split personality – a “Saturday night Bill Clinton” who lacked good moral judgment; a more pious “Sunday morning President Clinton” who was a devoted public servant. “Sunday Trump” is an orgy of panel shows dedicated to the controversy du jour – this weekend, Trump alleging that his predecessor ordered wiretaps for Trump Tower.

Marc A. Thiessen

Here is what Attorney General Jeff Sessions should have said when he stepped up to the podium and addressed reporters last week at the Justice Department: “At long last, have you left no sense of decency?” Sessions is the victim of the type of McCarthyite character assassination that the left used to condemn. Remember when accusing people without evidence of coordinating with the Kremlin was frowned upon? No longer, apparently.

Charles Lane:

The American people support more federal spending on infrastructure such as roads, buildings and waterways – 75 percent are in favor, according to a year-old Gallup poll. And so President Donald Trump’s call for a 10-year, $1 trillion “national rebuilding” plan was one of the few parts of his address to Congress on Tuesday that might have been the same if Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders had won in November.

Sessions amends confirmation hearing testimony: Darcy cartoon

Monday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions officially amended his confirmation hearing testimony to acknowledge he met with Russia’s ambassador in Cleveland during the Republican National Convention, and in his Senate office in September. Sessions made the clarification in a three-page letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Victor Davis Hanson

Clinton 08/27/15: The modern malleability of gender and race 08/20/15: Big government as the new Terminator 08/13/15: The Trump catharsis 08/06/15: History’s complexity should discourage retroactive morality 07/30/15: America needs a sensible approach to illegal immigration 07/23/15: The way of all appeasement 07/16/15: Contrary to progressive belief, human nature can’t be changed 07/13/15: Putin’s Recipe for Power 07/09/15: America’s greatest threat 07/02/15: We are all Californians now 06/25/15: Debt has been redefined as equality and fairness — abroad and here 06/18/15: The new world map 06/11/15: When everything seemed possible 06/04/15: Crossing the global border 05/28/15: Knocking on war’s door 05/21/15: Think like a lib — or else 05/14/15: The forgotten realities of World War II 05/07/15: No law, no civilization 04/30/15: An ironic drought in California 04/23/15: Clinton vs.

House GOP releases bill replacing Obama health care overhaul

House Republicans on Monday released their long-awaited plan for unraveling former President Barack Obama’s health care law, a package that would scale back the government’s role in helping people afford coverage and likely leave more Americans uninsured. House committees planned to begin voting on the 123-page legislation Wednesday, launching what could be the year’s defining battle in Congress and capping seven years of Republican vows to repeal the 2010 law.

FBI director to visit new offices amid Trump wiretap claims

In this Feb. 9, 2017, file photo, FBI Director James Comey waits for the start of a meeting with Attorney General Jeff Session and the heads of federal law enforcement components at the Department of Justice in Washington. Comey is set to visit Massachusetts to mark the opening of the Boston FBI division’s new offices and to speak at a cybersecurity conference amid wiretapping accusations lodged by Republican President Donald Trump.

RIP, DNC

Here in the long-ago Democratic stronghold of Alabama, the party is all but dead, say some of its disheartened members. Consider: Not a single statewide office is held by a Democrat; the state legislature is dominated by Republicans with just 33 Democrats out of 105 House seats and eight of 35 Senate seats.

Connecticut WWII veteran receives Belgian Honor

When Ernest Maynard first put on his olive drab Army uniform some 74 years ago, he expected nothing in return, he said. On Monday, wearing that same uniform, Maynard was given the Belgian Fourragere for his service with the 92nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion with the 2nd United States Armored Division.

As president, Trump seeks answers on his own wiretap mystery

If Donald Trump wants to know whether he was the subject of surveillance by the U.S. government, he may be uniquely positioned to get an answer. In a series of weekend tweets, the president accused his predecessor, Barack Obama, of ordering wiretaps on his phones but offered no proof to back the claim.

Rapper gives $1 million to Chicago schools, blasts governor

Chance the Rapper’s unusual intervention into Chicago Public Schools’ funding crisis took an even more curious turn Monday when the Grammy-winner presented a $1 million check to city schools and urged Gov. Bruce Rauner to use his executive powers to help the nation’s third-largest district. The Republican governor, a former venture capitalist, responded by noting his own philanthropy and floating Chicago school funding ideas that would face tough odds in the Democratic-controlled Legislature.

The House Plan To Repeal And Replace Has Been Unveiled

House Republicans on Monday released their long-awaited plan for unraveling former President Barack Obama’s health care law, a package that would scale back the government’s role in helping people afford coverage and likely leave more Americans uninsured. House committees planned to begin voting on the 123-page legislation Wednesday, launching what could be the year’s defining battle in Congress and capping seven years of Republican vows to repeal the 2010 law.

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Conservative radio host Mark Levin shot back at CNN’s Brian Stelter over the Reliable Sources anchor’s “ad hominem attacks about ‘right wing’ radioa and conspiracy theory stuff.” Levin posted his open letter to the CNN journalist on his Facebook page Monday afternoon, after Stelter took the talker to task over his “incendiary idea” about a “silent coup” against President Trump by former president Barack Obama.

CAIR Blames White House ‘Islamophobes’ and ‘White Supremacists’ for New Travel Order

The Council on American-Islamic Relations on Monday blamed “Islamophobes” and “white supremacists” in the White House for President Trump’s new travel executive order or what CAIR has dubbed “Muslim ban 2.0.” “The driving force behind this Muslim ban are the Islamophobes and the white supremacists employed by the Trump administration, including [counterterrorism advisor] Sebastian Gorka, [chief strategist] Steve Bannon, and [senior policy advisor] Stephen Miller,” CAIR national executive director Nihad Awad told a press conference at the group’s Capitol Hill headquarters. “This order is just a preview of future anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant policy proposals being fed to President Trump by his Islamophobic advisors,” he added.

Uncertainty Over UK Ambassador’s Post; Interim Envoy Was Caught Up…

Lewis Lukens, currently interim charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in London, worked closely with then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the State Department from 2008-2011. London With a proposed state visit to the United Kingdom by President Donald Trump reportedly pushed back until the fall, there is also a hint of uncertainty about when Britain will see its next American ambassador.

GOP Senators Cry Foul Over Medicaid Expansion Repeal

The House Republican plan to phase out the Obamacare Medicaid expansion by 2020 may be a nonstarter for some Senate Republicans-and could potentially threaten the larger repeal-and-replace process. Shortly before House lawmakers revealed a revamped version of their Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill Monday evening, four Republican senators sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying they would not support an earlier draft from Feb. 10 that repeals Medicaid expansion because it “does not meet the test of stability for individuals currently enrolled in the program.”

Black’s Balancing Act: The Budget Gavel and a Possible Governor Run

Just three weeks into her new job as House Budget Committee chair-and 20 months before an election that could be pivotal to her political future-Diane Black already faces a tricky balancing act. The Tennessee Republican, whose foray into leadership came unexpectedly when Tom Price was tapped for the Cabinet last January, will now oversee the budget reconciliation process expected to serve as a vehicle for both Obamacare repeal and tax reform this year.

How protesters forced Rubio out of a second Florida office

A second office landlord in Florida has kicked Republican Sen. Marco Rubio out due to continued protests outside the two buildings both officials said were interfering with building operations. On Monday, Rubio’s spokesperson said the landlord at his Jacksonville office had alerted them that the month-to-month lease would be discontinued due to the distracting activity taking place out front of the facility.

Housing a Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson speaks

Ben Carson just referred to slaves as ‘immigrants’ Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson referred to slaves as “immigrants” while speaking Monday to department employees. Check out this story on jacksonsun.com: http://usat.ly/2mxkV0Q “That’s what America is about, a land of dreams and opportunity,” Carson said.

Reuters: GOP repeal plan will emerge this week

The Republican Party’s long-awaited plan to undo ObamaCare will finally emerge this week, according to Reuters . Two months into the new session of Congress and their first real opportunity to make good on promises to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the legislative language will get published for debate in the House and Senate.