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President Trump announces Neil Gorsuch as his nominee for Supreme Court

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This is our look at President Trump’s administration and the rest of Washington:

Protests continue around the country

The hashtag #ResistTrumpTuesdays trended Tuesday, as protests against President Trump’s immigration policies and Cabinet nominees continued around the country. Protests took place in Brooklyn; Kansas City, Mo.; Miami; Minneapolis; New Brunswick, N.J.; Tucson; and Worcester, Mass., as well as outside of lawmakers’ offices in Washington, D.C.

In Brooklyn, thousands of protesters marched to the apartment building of U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to demand that he reject President Trump’s Cabinet picks.

In Minneapolis, protesters gathered to object to Trump’s ban on travelers from Muslim-majority countries.

And in Tucson, a peaceful crowd outside John McCain’s office urged the senator, who had called Trump’s refugee ban a “self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism,” to take action against the executive order.

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Neil Gorsuch could fall somewhere between his hero, Justice Scalia, and former boss, centrist Justice Kennedy

Judge Neil M. Gorsuch was resting midway down a Colorado ski slope last year when his cellphone rang with the news that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had died.

“I immediately lost what breath I had left,” Gorsuch recalled in an April speech, “and I am not embarrassed to admit that I couldn’t see the rest of the way down the mountain for the tears.”

Now, as President Trump’s pick to replace Scalia on the high court, Gorsuch is seen by many on the right as a fitting replacement for the iconic jurist that Gorsuch considered a “lion of the law.”

Like Scalia, Gorsuch, 49, who serves on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, is a well-respected conservative who believes judges should decide cases based on the law as it was understood when passed, not on how they think it should be. He’s a clear, impassioned writer, albeit without Scalia’s flare for biting sarcasm.

But Gorsuch also evokes the qualities of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, for whom Gorsuch worked as a law clerk. (If confirmed, Gorsuch would join three justices who previously clerked on the high court, but he would be the first ever to serve alongside the justice he or she worked for.)

Like Kennedy, 80, Gorsuch is a Westerner with a polite, congenial manner who at times has won praise from liberals. He may be more conservative than Kennedy when it comes to expanding individual rights, but he seems to lack Scalia’s fervor for overturning liberal precedents from decades past.

Which way Gorsuch skews could be pivotal for the future of the court. Conservatives clearly hope he’ll be more like Scalia than Kennedy, a centrist swing vote who has often joined liberals on issues such as gay marriage and abortion. Some conservatives have even expressed hope that Gorsuch’s personal history with Kennedy might enable him to draw the Reagan-appointee back toward the right.

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Trump chooses Neil Gorsuch, a conservative seen as likely to be confirmed, for Supreme Court

President Trump nominated federal Judge Neil M. Gorsuch on Tuesday to the Supreme Court to fill the seat of the late Antonin Scalia, choosing from his short list an appeals court judge from Denver seen as most likely to win Senate confirmation.

Because Scalia was a stalwart conservative, Trump’s choice is not likely to change the balance of the court. But it does set the stage for a bruising partisan fight over a man who could help determine law on gun rights, immigration, police use of force and transgender rights.

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Watch: President Trump announces Neil Gorsuch as Supreme Court nominee

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Trump administration is radicalizing Democratic voters, creating a challenge for the party, Rep. Adam Schiff says

(Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

As protests spread over policy announcements from the Trump administration, Democrats must work to encourage participation in politics, but face a danger of the party becoming too radicalized, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) said Tuesday.

“The radical nature of this government is radicalizing Democrats, and that’s going to pose a real challenge to the Democratic Party, which is to draw on the energy and the activism and the passion that is out there, but not let it turn us into what we despised about the tea party,” Schiff said.

During a meeting with reporters and editors in the Los Angeles Times’ Washington bureau, Schiff also discussed his role as the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Select Intelligence Committee under a Trump administration and how Democrats will manage in the minority.

Ever since the election, party leaders have been debating: “Did we lose because we were too far to the left and we had too small a tent, or did we lose because we are too mainstream and didn’t energize the base?” Schiff asked.

“We are obviously having that debate, but there’s a whole new element, which is the reaction to the Trump administration that makes this different in kind, certainly different in intensity, than I think we’ve ever seen after an election,” he said.

“The more radical the administration is, the more radicalized our base becomes, which just feeds the Breitbart crowd, and who knows where that ends.”

Democratic leaders have to channel public reaction to Trump’s actions into progress, rather than deadlock, Schiff said.

Reaction to Democrats seen as working with the Trump administration has been strong. Monday night, for example, protesters marched on Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s home and office voicing fears she would back Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general. The senator from California announced Tuesday that she would oppose Sessions.

Several groups calling themselves “indivisible” have popped up in cities across the country as focal points for efforts to organize.

“We have two of the most capable strategists as the head of our House and Senate Democrats,” Schiff added, referring to House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and Senate Democratic leader Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York.

“If anybody can grapple with this, they can, but it’s going to be a challenging and moving target day to day.”

“I just hope that we can channel that energy in a way where we can provide a check on this administration because I’ve never been more worried about the country’s future than I am right now,” he said.

Schiff said part of his role as the ranking Democrat on the House Select Intelligence Committee will be pushing back when the Trump administration puts out inaccurate information about the intelligence community and its findings.

Trump has repeatedly dismissed or sought to minimize the intelligence community’s findings that Russia sought to intervene in the 2016 election to benefit him. Schiff said he’s concerned about what else the administration might be willing to dismiss.

“I think that will be kind of a new frontier,” he said. “How do we contradict a president making representations about what the intelligence community has to say when the information is classified?”

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Trump administration signals that some temporary bans on entry into the U.S. could become permanent

Trump’s orders put a greater emphasis on deporting those convicted of crimes and those in the country illegally who were charged with crimes not yet adjudicated

The Trump administration doubled down Tuesday on its commitment to transforming the nation’s border law enforcement, signaling that some of the temporary bans on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries are likely to be made permanent and elevating a deportations official to run the top immigration enforcement agency.

Administration officials, led by newly sworn-in Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, moved to allay the havoc that marked the roll-out of the ban and another on refugees. They briefed reporters and planned to head to Capitol Hill later today in an apparent effort to smooth relations after reports that lawmakers and other stakeholders were left out of the crafting of the executive order on toughened vetting at border entry points.

In a news conference, Kelly and other top Homeland Security officials conceded some problems, including poor communication. But they insisted that all court orders were followed over the weekend, rebutted reports that some legal residents were denied access to attorneys at airports and said they everyone detained by border agents was treated with “dignity and respect.”

“The vast majority of the 1.7 billion Muslims that live on this planet, the vast majority of them have, all other things being equal, have access to the United States,” Kelly told reporters. “And a relatively small number right now are being held up for a period of time until we can take a look at what their procedures are,” he said, seeming to acknowledge that mostly Muslims have been affected by the ban.

The moves signaled that the White House remained committed to remaking border law enforcement even in the face of widespread confusion and condemnation of President Trump’s order.

Kelly said for the first time that the some of the restrictions that caused confusion and sparked protests over the weekend could be extended well into the future.

“Some of those countries that are currently on the list may not be taken off the list anytime soon,” he said.

Trump also named a longtime deportation officer, Thomas D. Homan, as acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Homan, who will oversee the execution of Trump’s immigration enforcement order, was most recently in charge of the agency’s 5,000 deportation officers, a force Trump said he would triple to 15,000.

Trump’s orders put a greater emphasis on deporting not only those convicted of crimes, but also people in the country illegally who were charged with crimes not yet adjudicated, those who receive an improper welfare benefit and even those who have not been charged but are believed to have committed “acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense.”

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White House tries to ban the word ‘ban,’ hours after president uses it himself

"This is not a ban," spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters in a fiery news briefing.
“This is not a ban,” spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters in a fiery news briefing.
(Alex Wong / Getty Images)

President Trump used the word “ban” in a tweet as recently as Monday to describe his new executive order suspending travel from seven Muslim-majority countries and halting the refugee program for several months.

But facing backlash from many directions, the White House adamantly insisted Tuesday that the word is verboten.

“This is not a ban,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters in a fiery news briefing.

“When we use words like ‘travel ban,’” he said later, “that misrepresents what it is. It’s seven countries previously identified by the Obama administration, where, frankly, we don’t get the information that we need for people coming into this country.”

In fact, people from the seven banned countries — Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Libya — cannot enter the United States under the order. Spicer appeared to be making a renewed effort to distinguish the order from the all-out ban on Muslims entering the country that Trump proposed during the campaign.

Many around the world see the newest policy as an outgrowth of that proposal.

Trump himself conceded a religious connection when he said in an interview on Friday that he wanted to make it easier for Syrian Christians to enter the country. And former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani told Fox News that the order sprang from a group he formed at Trump’s request to create a legal framework that would accomplish the campaign goal of a “Muslim ban.”

But amid confusion and worldwide criticism in recent days, the Trump administration has tried to temper some of the more incendiary rhetoric around the proposal.

Even the words “extreme vetting,” a favorite Trump slogan, were called into question by Spicer on Tuesday.

“Calling for tougher vetting [of] individual travelers from seven nations is not extreme,” he said. “It is reasonable and necessary to protect our country.”

But changing the ban branding around the program at this point will be difficult. Here’s Trump’s tweet from Monday:

And Spicer himself used the term ban as recently as Sunday:

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Senate confirms Elaine Chao as secretary of Transportation

Elaine Chao testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on Jan. 11, 2017.
(Zach Gibson / AP)

The Senate has confirmed Elaine Chao to serve as Transportation secretary in the Trump administration. The vote was 93 to 6 on Tuesday.

Chao is an experienced Washington hand. She was Labor secretary under President George W. Bush and is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Chao would be a lead actor in pursuing Trump’s promise to invest $1 trillion to improve highways, rail service and other infrastructure projects.

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Speaker Paul Ryan defends Trump’s immigrant and refugee ban, as Congress grumbles about being left out

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday stood by President Trump’s temporary ban on refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations and indicated that he was confident the administration could fix the “confusing” rollout without action from Congress.

“What is happening is something we support,” said Ryan, whose office was the target of a sit-in by protesters opposed to Trump’s order. “We need to pause and we need to make sure that the vetting standards are up to snuff so we can guarantee the safety and security of our country.”

Congress was blindsided by Trump’s executive action -- Ryan learned about it as the public did when the White House announced it Friday afternoon. Many GOP lawmakers have raised concerns.

During a private meeting in the Capitol basement Tuesday, Republican lawmakers were counseled on how to handle protesters and office sit-ins happening across the country.

“It’s regrettable that there was some confusion on the rollout of this,” Ryan said. “No one wanted to see people with green cards or special immigrant visas, like translators, get caught up in all of this.”

Ryan also said he was concerned the ban could be used as propaganda by terrorist groups.

“The rhetoric surrounding this could be used as a recruiting tool, and I think that’s dangerous,” he said.

Still, Republicans leaders as well as rank-and-file GOP lawmakers largely agreed with the president’s move to halt refugee admissions for 120 days, and to temporarily ban citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, unless they are Christians or other religious minorities.

“The president was well within his right to issue an executive order,” said Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), chairman of the House Rules Committee.

“Do I feel let out? I feel like everybody was left out,” he said. “I wish they communicated it. I wish they had gotten more information to people. I wish they had measured three times and sawed once.”

Lawmakers have shown little appetite for Congress to get involved, and suggested the chaos that erupted at airports over the weekend was just part of a learning curve at the White House.

“I support the thrust of the executive order,” said Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.), who nevertheless said the administration should have been better prepared and will need to “get your act together.”

Last year, Ryan had strongly condemned Trump’s campaign-trail call for a Muslim ban.

In recent days, Ryan, like other congressional leaders, was forced to dial up the administration with his questions and concerns about the order, conferring Monday with Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.

“I am very pleased and confident that he is, on a going-forward basis, going to make sure that things are done correctly,” Ryan said.

Pressed on whether Congress would have a role, Ryan did not indicate any immediate legislative action.

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Democrats boycott Senate committee votes on Price, Mnuchin

Senate Democrats speak with reporters after boycotting Finance Committee confirmation votes.
(JIM WATSON / AFP/Getty Images)

Senate Democrats on Tuesday boycotted a committee vote on two of President Trump’s top Cabinet nominees -- Tom Price to lead Health and Human Services and Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury secretary.

Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) blasted the Democratic move as he sat in a hearing room with only Republicans on the dais.

“They ought to be embarrassed. It’s the most pathetic treatment I’ve seen in my 40 years in the United States Senate,” Hatch said.

“I think they should stop posturing and acting like idiots,” he said.

At least one Democrat needs to be present for the committee to vote on the nominations, Hatch said. He recessed the hearing until further notice, saying he hoped a vote could take place later Tuesday.

But asked mid-afternoon if he thought the committee would be able to meet Tuesday, Hatch said it “doesn’t look like it.”

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the committee’s top Democrat, said Price and Mnuchin “have misled the public and held back important information about their backgrounds.”

“Until questions are answered, Democrats believe the committee should not move forward with either nomination,” Wyden said.

“This is about getting answers to questions, plain and simple,” he said. “Ethics laws are not optional, and nominees do not have a right to treat disclosure like a shell game.”

Liberal groups cheered the boycott while Senate Republican leaders decried it as Democratic obstructionism.

“They are manufacturing issues on a daily basis to drag this process out,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kent.) said of the confirmations of Trump’s nominees.

“I don’t see how they can explain to the American people how it is appropriate to prevent the administration from getting up and getting started,” he said.

Democrats have said Mnuchin, a wealthy Wall Street executive, misled the committee in his response to a written question about foreclosures at Pasadena’s OneWest Bank while he ran it from 2009-15.

Democrats pointed to a report Sunday by the Columbus Dispatch that Mnuchin denied that OneWest engaged in so-called robo-signing of mortgage documents.

The paper said its analysis of nearly four dozen foreclosure cases in Ohio’s Franklin County in 2010 showed that the bank “frequently used robo-signers.”

The Columbus Dispatch cited a foreclosure involving a mortgage signed by Erica Johnson-Seck, a OneWest vice president who said in a deposition in a 2009 Florida case that she signed an average of 750 documents a week.

Barney Keller, a spokesman for Mnuchin, said Monday that several courts had dismissed cases involving allegations of robo-signing by Johnson-Seck.

“The media is picking on a hardworking bank employee whose reputation has been maligned but whose work has been upheld by numerous courts all around the country in the face of scurrilous and false allegations,” Keller said.

Democrats also have problems with Price, a six-term congressman and former orthopedic surgeon who has distinguished himself in conservative circles for his staunch opposition to the Affordable Care Act and his plans to slash federal healthcare spending.

His nomination has become among Trump’s most controversial, in part because of his hostility to government safety net programs, including Medicaid and Medicare.

Democrats have also been increasingly critical of Price’s extensive trading in healthcare stocks while he has been in Congress, and in some cases while he has pushed legislation that would benefit his portfolio.

Price has denied any wrongdoing.

Also drawing criticism is Price’s purchase of discounted shares in an Australian biotech firm, Innate Immunotherapeutics, which he was offered through a private deal not available to general shareholders.

Price also denied that this was improper, and Senate Republicans have rallied to his side, saying he did not violate any ethics rules.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said he and the other Democrats on the committee want Mnuchin and Price to explain their “lies” either in person before the committee or in new written answers.

“I want them to disclose this information that they seem not to want to disclose,” Brown said.

12:10 p.m.: This post was updated with additional comments from Hatch as well as from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Sherrod Brown.

8:00 a.m.: This post has been updated with additional information and background.

8:07 a.m.: This post has been updated with additional information.

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White House aides who wrote Trump’s travel ban see it as just the start

(Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press)

Even as confusion, internal dissent and widespread condemnation greeted President Trump’s travel ban and crackdown on refugees this weekend, senior White House aides say they are only getting started.

Trump and his aides justified Friday’s executive order, which blocked travel from seven majority-Muslim countries for 90 days and halted refugees from around the world for 120, on security grounds — an issue that they say they take seriously. But their ultimate goal is far broader.

Trump’s top advisors on immigration, including chief strategist Steve Bannon and senior advisor Stephen Miller, see themselves as launching a radical experiment to fundamentally transform how the U.S. decides who is allowed into the country and to block a generation of people who, in their view, won’t assimilate into American society.

That project may live or die in the next three months, as the Trump administration reviews whether and how to expand the visa ban and alter vetting procedures. White House aides are considering new, onerous security checks that could effectively limit travel into the U.S. by people from majority-Muslim countries to a trickle.

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Why corporations can’t risk keeping silent about Trump’s immigration ban

Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz said the Seattle coffee company is developing plans to hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years.
Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz said the Seattle coffee company is developing plans to hire 10,000 refugees over the next five years.
(Richard Drew / Associated Press)

Corporate America generally prefers to stay quiet about partisan politics. Pick one side of a hot-button issue, the thinking goes, and you’ll risk losing customers on the other side.

But like so many norms before it, President Trump has turned this one on its head.

A growing number of companies are deciding it’s a bigger risk to their investors and bottom line to stay quiet than it is to protest Trump’s ban on refugees and travel from seven Muslim-majority nations, betting vocal opposition to the executive order scores them a moral and fiscal victory.

While it was possible for companies to take a wait-and-see approach leading up to Trump’s inauguration, many firms can no longer ignore the White House’s policy given the effect the order is already having on employees either stranded or fearful of traveling.

Only a week ago it seemed foolish to speak out against a president who has admonished individual companies on social media such as Carrier, Boeing and General Motors. Now the pendulum has swung the other way. Companies, mostly in technology but increasingly in other sectors, have decided that it’s not enough just to speak out against the immigration order. They believe that they must also take headline-grabbing action.

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Op-Ed: Trump is taking the Bannon Way, and it will end in disaster

Bannon has said he’s a ‘Leninist’ but he’s really more of a Trotskyist because he fancies himself the leader of an international populist-nationalist right wing movement, exporting anti-’globalist’ revolution. In that role, his status as an enabler of Trump’s instinct to shoot — or tweet — from the hip seems especially ominous. The Bannon way might work on the campaign trail, but it doesn’t translate into good governance. It’s possible — and one must hope — that Trump can learn this fact on the job.  But what if he doesn’t? He could put the country in serious peril.

— Jonah Goldberg

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Trump will leave LGBTQ protections in place

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

The White House says President Trump will leave intact a 2014 executive order that protects federal workers from anti-LGBTQ discrimination.

In a statement released early Tuesday, the White House said Trump “is determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ community” and that he “continues to be respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights, just as he was throughout the election.”

The Trump administration has vowed to roll back much of President Obama’s work from the last eight years and had been scrutinizing the 2014 order. The directive protects people from LGBTQ discrimination while working for federal contractors.

The recent statement says the protections will remain intact “at the direction” of Trump.

Here is the text of Obama’s executive order, signed on July 21, 2014:

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including 40 U.S.C. 121, and in order to provide for a uniform policy for the Federal Government to prohibit discrimination and take further steps to promote economy and efficiency in Federal Government procurement by prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Amending Executive Order 11478. The first sentence of section 1 of Executive Order 11478 of August 8, 1969, as amended, is revised by substituting “sexual orientation, gender identity” for “sexual orientation”.

Sec. 2. Amending Executive Order 11246. Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965, as amended, is hereby further amended as follows:

(a) The first sentence of numbered paragraph (1) of section 202 is revised by substituting “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin” for “sex, or national origin”.

(b) The second sentence of numbered paragraph (1) of section 202 is revised by substituting “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin” for “sex or national origin”.

(c) Numbered paragraph (2) of section 202 is revised by substituting “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin” for “sex or national origin”.

(d) Paragraph (d) of section 203 is revised by substituting “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin” for “sex or national origin”.

Sec. 3. Regulations. Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Labor shall prepare regulations to implement the requirements of section 2 of this order.

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an agency or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.Sec. 5. Effective Date. This order shall become effective immediately, and section 2 of this order shall apply to contracts entered into on or after the effective date of the rules promulgated by the Department of Labor under section 3 of this order.

Update

6:45 a.m.: This article was updated with the text of the 2014 executive order.

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Trump aims for Democrats after firing acting attorney general

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Why people are calling the acting attorney general’s firing the ‘Monday Night Massacre’

On Monday evening, the White House released a statement saying acting Atty. Gen. Sally Yates had been fired for instructing Justice Department lawyers not to defend President Trump’s travel ban.

Yates has “betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States,” the White House said.

“Monday Night Massacre” was trending on Twitter within the hour.

In 1973, President Nixon ordered the firing of special prosecutor Archibald Cox because he wouldn’t obey Nixon’s order to stop looking into Watergate. Two of the Justice Department’s top leaders resigned in protest rather than following Nixon’s directive to fire Cox. It became known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” an instance of the president using his power to punish political enemies within the Justice Department.

Though the Justice Department is part of the executive branch, it is traditionally largely independent from the office of the president in order to ensure the integrity of law enforcement and its investigations.

(Steve Brodner / For The Times)

Read more: An illustrated guide to the key figures in Nixon’s ‘Saturday Night Massacre’

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Trump fires Justice Department’s top official after she refuses to defend his refugee ban

Sally Yates.
(J. David Ake / Associated Press)

President Trump fired acting Atty. Gen. Sally Yates on Monday, just hours after she announced that the department would not defend his controversial executive order banning refugees and travelers from certain countries.

Yates has “betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States,” the White House said in a statement. “It is time to get serious about protecting our country.”

The move came after Yates sent a letter to Justice Department lawyers saying that she questioned the lawfulness of Trump’s executive order.

“My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts,” Yates wrote.

“At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities, nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful,” she wrote. “Consequently, for as long as I am the acting attorney general, the Department of Justice will not present arguments in defense of the executive order unless and until I become convinced that it is appropriate to do so.”

Yates was a holdover from the Obama administration. But because Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions, has not been confirmed and no other senior Justice Department officials have been appointed, firing her was expected to cause significant problems within the department.

Among other issues, Yates is the only person in the department currently authorized to sign warrants for wiretapping in foreign espionage cases involving the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Trump replaced Yates with Dana J. Boente, a three-decade veteran of the Justice Department who was appointed in 2015 by former President Obama as U.S. attorney for the eastern district of Virginia.

6:37 p.m.: The story was updated with Trump’s decision to fire Yates.

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U.S. service member killed in Yemen identified as Navy SEAL from Illinois

A Navy SEAL from the Virginia-based elite unit known as SEAL Team 6 was killed Sunday during an unusual nighttime raid that put U.S. troops on the ground against Al Qaeda leaders in the middle of war-torn Yemen.

The fallen sailor was identified Monday as Chief Special Warfare Operator William “Ryan” Owens, 36, of Peoria, Ill..

Three other Americans were wounded in the raid and an MV-22 Osprey had to be destroyed after the aircraft suffered a “hard landing” and couldn’t fly. Another U.S. service member was injured in that crash.

The raid marked the first known counter-terrorism operation and first confirmed combat fatality under President Trump.

Steele writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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Protests against Trump’s ban on certain immigrants continue across the country

Protesters rally at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 29, demonstrating against the immigration ban imposed by President Trump.
Protesters rally at Los Angeles International Airport on Jan. 29, demonstrating against the immigration ban imposed by President Trump.
(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

After a weekend of turmoil at many of the nation’s airports following President Trump’s executive order to suspend the U.S. refugee program and temporarily prohibit entry to citizens of seven predominantly Muslim nations, federal officials said all people being detained on arrival to the U.S. had been released. But that hasn’t put a stop to demands to lift the travel ban.

Protests continued to be held and organized throughout the country — incluidng in New York, New Orleans, Colorado and Connecticut. According to Ground Game, an online platform for organizing, at least a dozen demonstrations were planned for this week in what the group described as a “fight against Islamophobia and Fascism.”

Calls to rally, demonstrate and protest swept social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook.

In Louisville, Ky., a rally was planned for Monday evening at the Muhammad Ali Center, in what organizers said would be a gathering “for American values” and “to voice support for our nation and our city, which was founded and is strengthened by immigrants.” In Hattiesburg, Miss., there was call to join “a peaceful vigil in solidarity with refugees, immigrants, and Muslims” on the University of Southern Mississippi campus on Monday evening.

Declaring that “Jersey City stands with our Muslim and immigrant community,” organizers in that New Jersey city called on people to come to a pedestrian mall on Monday to stand “in solidarity and peace as we show our strength in diversity as one of the most diverse cities in the nation.”

Other demonstrations were planned for later in the week in cities nationwide, including Tuesday in Tuscon, where organizers encouraged people to “stand in solidarity with Senator (John) McCain’s strong public statement opposing the executive order banning refugees and Legal Permanent Residents from Muslim countries!”

Similar actions were planned on Tuesday at the South Carolina State House in Columbia and at the Worchester City Hall and Common in Massachusetts, while organizers in San Francisco, under the banner #NoBanNoWallSF, urged residents to join “the resistance against Donald Trump’s racist and exclusionary Executive Orders” on Saturday.

“We will not allow our country to be divided by hate and religious persecution,” read a statement from #NoBanNoWallSF posted on Facebook.

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Obama carefully weighs in on refugee ban, says he is ‘heartened’ by public response

(Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images)

Former President Obama has offered his first public comment on the conduct of his successor, saying through a spokesman that he “is heartened” by public demonstrations against the Trump administration’s controversial move to temporarily ban refugees and block all admissions from seven countries.

“President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country,” Kevin Lewis, a spokesperson for the former president, said in a statement emailed to reporters Monday.

“In his final official speech as President, he spoke about the important role of citizen and how all Americans have a responsibility to be the guardians of our democracy--not just during an election but every day. Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake.”

Lewis also said in the statement that Obama “fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion.”

Trump aides deny that his executive order, released Friday, involves religious discrimination. The order temporarily blocked travel to the U.S. by residents of seven predominantly Muslim nations, but left many of the Islamic world’s largest population centers unaffected, they note. The order also included an exception for believers of “minority religions” in those countries, a provision that Trump explicitly said would help Christians.

Obama’s statement is notable less for its content than for the fact that it was issued at all. It reflected the delicate balance he feels he must strike between showing a degree of deference to the new president and speaking out on issues he sees as critically important.

The statement tiptoed around the content of the order, focusing more on the former president’s interest in citizen engagement.

Obama said before leaving office that he expected to choose carefully when to comment on the actions of his successor and would focus less on “normal functioning of politics” and more on “certain issues or certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake,” as he put it in his final news conference.

Monday’s statement did point, though, to comments Obama made at a news conference in November 2015, when he called the idea of a religious test for immigration policy “shameful” and “not American.”

“We don’t have religious tests to our compassion,” he said at the time.

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GOP-led Congress worries about its role in the Trump era

It’s what congressional Republicans had long dreamed about: a majority in both chambers to advance conservative policies and a president from the same party to sign them into law.

But the Trump White House isn’t turning out exactly the way they envisioned.

The GOP establishment is experiencing whiplash after a week of President Trump bulldozing through the norms of policy and protocol — dashing off executive orders without warning, escalating a diplomatic crisis with the country’s closest southern neighbor, triggering global confusion with a new refugee policy and generally hijacking party leaders’ agenda and replacing it with his own.

Rather than the hoped-for collaborative new relationship between the White House and Congress, GOP officials complain that Trump is brushing aside their advice, failing to fully engage on drafting tough legislative packages like tax reform and Obamacare, and bypassing Congress by relying on executive actions, something they frequently complained about under President Obama.

At the same time, Trump’s unilateral moves continue to blindside Republicans and direct the national focus toward topics many in the party would rather avoid, whether that’s how to pay for building the border wall with Mexico, warming ties with Russia, investigating false claims about voter fraud or, most recently, implementing sweeping new policies on refugees and visas.

In the name of party unity, many Republicans so far have refrained from publicly attacking the new president. But for some, the new refugee policy crossed the line, signaling the first major rift in their already fraught partnership.

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Washington state sues Trump over immigration order

President Trump signed an executive order Friday that suspends all immigration for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days.
President Trump signed an executive order Friday that suspends all immigration for citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries for 90 days.
(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

Opening a new legal front, lawyers for the state of Washington filed suit Monday seeking to block President Trump’s executive order temporarily banning foreign refugees from entering the United States.

“No one is above the law, not even the president,” Atty. Gen. Bob Ferguson said in announcing the federal lawsuit. “And in the courtroom, it is not the loudest voice that prevails. It’s the Constitution.”

Over the weekend, a federal judge in Brooklyn issued an order curtailing portions of Trump’s executive order, issued Friday, which temporary halts migration from seven predominantly Muslim countries for at least 90 days and also closed the nation to refugees for at least the next four months. Other challenges are pending.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Seattle was the first taken by a state attorney general, and its provenance was no surprise. Washington state and others along the West Coast voted overwhelmingly for Democrat Hillary Clinton in November and have emerged as a hotbed of anti-Trump sentiment.

“We will not yield,” said Democratic Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who joined Ferguson at a Seattle news conference. “We will not be leveraged. We will not be threatened. We will not be intimidated. We will not be bullied by this.”

Trump’s order, which has sparked demonstrations across the country, brought an outpouring of objection from Insley’s Democratic colleagues around the country.

“President Trump’s recent executive orders that divide and discriminate do not reflect the values enshrined in the U.S. Constitution or the principles we stand for as Oregonians,” said Gov. Kate Brown.

“A single executive order… does not define who we are as a country,” said Connecticut Gov. Daniel P. Malloy. “We are a nation of immigrants and must continue to fight for the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses yearning to breath free.”

In Massachusetts, another state that voted overwhelmingly for Clinton, Republican Gov. Charlie Baker joined the chorus of Democratic criticism, saying the travel ban would undermine the international relations forged by the state’s business, academic and healthcare communities.

“The confusion for families is real. The unexpected disruption for law-abiding people is real,” Baker said. “…Thankfully, the federal courts will have an opportunity to straighten this out and it is my hope they do so, and do so quickly.”

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How a top conservative radio host took on Trump, lost his audience and faith, but gained a new perspective

Charlie Sykes, right, interviews Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) before Wisconsin's 2016 primary
(Morry Gash/Associated Press)

For nearly 25 years, Charlie Sykes was one of the most powerful and influential voices in Wisconsin.

He cheer-led policies that turned this historically progressive state into a model of conservative governance. He made and destroyed political careers, using his perch on Milwaukee talk radio to help vault figures such as House Speaker Paul Ryan and Gov. Scott Walker to national prominence.

But for the moment Sykes was speechless. He sank into the brown leather banquette of a suburban steakhouse. He stammered. He sighed.

“When you’ve devoted your whole life to certain beliefs and you think now they have been undermined and that you might have been deluded about things,” he began. “So. So. Um...”

In 2016 Sykes emerged as one of Donald Trump’s most prominent critics, a stance that outraged listeners, strained longstanding friendships and left him questioning much of what he once held true.

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Pentagon compiling a list of Iraqis who aided the U.S. military and wants them shielded from Trump’s travel ban

The Pentagon is compiling a list of Iraqi citizens who have worked with the U.S. military and is recommending that they be exempt from President Trump’s temporary ban on entry to the U.S. by people from Iraq and six other predominantly Muslim countries, according to the U.S. military.

The move could potentially shield tens of thousands of Iraqi interpreters, advisors, and others who have assisted the American military from the president’s controversial executive action that blocked visitors from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen.

Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters Monday that the list will include names of individuals who have “demonstrated their commitment” to helping the United States.

“Even people that are doing seemingly benign things in support of us — whether as a linguist, a driver, anything else — they often do that at great personal risk,” he said. “So people who take these risks are really making a tangible signal of support to the United States, and that’s something that will, and should be, recognized.”

The list would not require any changes to the president’s order, but rather serve as guidance to the Department of Homeland Security and the White House in implementing the new policy.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer later pushed back against blanket exemptions.

“We recognize that people have served this country, we should make sure that in those cases they’re helped out,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean that we just give them a pass.”

Trump, who signed the order at the Pentagon on Friday, did not consult Defense Secretary James N. Mattis or Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the temporary suspensions of entry to visitors from the seven nations, according to U.S. officials.

The executive action put the U.S. military in a difficult position because it works closely with the Iraqi government on a range of issues, including the fight against Islamic State, which necessitates travel between the two countries.

For instance, Iraqi military pilots train to fly F-16 fighter jets at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. It’s not clear those pilots, who are active in the fight against Islamic State, could arrive in the U.S. for the training.

1:10 p.m.: This post was updated with White House response.

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Trump signs order on rulemaking: For every regulation added, agencies have to cut 2 others

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

President Trump signed an executive order Monday designed to fulfill his campaign pledge reduce red tape for businesses.

The two-page order requires that when a federal agency proposes new regulations, “it shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed.”

“We want to make the life easier for small businesses” and big business, Trump said Monday from the Roosevelt Room of the White House, where he met with nine representatives of the small-business sector.

Trump said he hoped to see “up to 75%” of federal regulations eliminated during his presidency.

“Regulation has been horrible for big business, but it’s been worse for small business,” Trump said.

He also reiterated his promise to gut the Dodd-Frank Act, the financial regulatory overhaul that was passed after the financial crisis.

“Dodd-Frank is a disaster,” he said. “We’re going to be doing a big number on Dodd-Frank.”

Consumer advocates who backed the law say that eliminating it would help Wall Street and other players in the financial sector at the expense of consumers.

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U.S. diplomats to protest Trump’s travel ban order

Protesters of President Trump's immigration order block traffic at LAX.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

A number of U.S. diplomats are condemning President Trump’s ban on some Muslim immigrants and visitors, saying the abrupt order does not make the U.S. safer and will only stoke anti-American fervor overseas.

The complaint, being made through the State Department’s so-called dissent channel, echoes criticism coming from human rights attorneys, legal experts and lawmakers from both political parties, as well as world leaders.

It is significant because it represents the viewpoint of the men and women who must carry out Trump’s unconventional and often provocative foreign policy.

“A policy which closes our doors to over 200-million legitimate travelers in the hopes of preventing a small number of travelers who intend to harm Americans ... will not achieve its aim of making our country safer,” said a draft version of the memo that was circulating Monday and was reviewed by the Los Angeles Times. It was first reported by ABC News.

“Moreover, such a policy runs counter to core American values of non-discrimination, fair play and extending a warm welcome to foreign visitors and immigrants.”

The White House was quickly dismissive of the dissent and seemed to suggest the diplomats should quit if they disagree with a policy.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said the diplomats’ raising of opposition “does call into question whether or not they should continue” to work in the State Department.

It was not clear how many officials would sign the memo.

Dissent channel memos are in theory not made public. The mechanism is designed to allow diplomats to offer an alternative policy without fear of retaliation.

Acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner confirmed the existence of the memo but declined to comment on its contents.

“The dissent channel is a longstanding official vehicle for State Department employees to convey alternative views and perspectives on policy issues,” he said. “... It allows State employees to express divergent policy views candidly and privately to senior leadership.”

The agency is still waiting for a boss. Trump’s pick for secretary of State, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate this week.

The last time a dissent-channel memo was reported publicly was last year, when about 50 diplomats protested Obama administration policy in Syria, which they described as “inaction.”

12:20 p.m.: This story was updated with White House comment.

8:40 a.m.: This story was updated with comment from a State Department spokesman.

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Trump to announce his Supreme Court choice Tuesday -- in prime time

(Susan Walsh / Associated Press)

President Trump will announce his first Supreme Court nomination in prime time on Tuesday, he tweeted this morning.

The announcement was moved up two days amid the continued fallout from the executive action Trump signed temporarily banning refugee admissions from some countries. Trump had tweeted last week that he would announce his high-court decision Thursday.

In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network on Friday, Trump said his administration was doing some final vetting of his choice to replace the late Antonin Scalia, and that the pick would be from among the list of 20 names he issued during the election campaign.

“I think the person I pick will be big, big,” he said. “I think people are going to love it. I think evangelicals, Christians will love my pick. And will be represented very fairly.”

Times Supreme Court reporter David Savage profiled each of the leading contenders: Judge Thomas Hardiman of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Judge William H. Pryor Jr. from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The move could prompt a major clash with Senate Democrats, who have warned the president against a choice outside what they consider the “mainstream.” Some are threatening to block any choice in retaliation for Senate Republicans’ refusal to even hold hearings on President Obama’s choice to replace Scalia, Merrick Garland.

Democrats’ 2013 change to Senate rules that allowed most nominations to advance with a simple majority vote exempted Supreme Court nominations, meaning that Democrats could potentially filibuster the choice.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appeared to rule out any further rule change in an interview last week, though Trump urged him to consider doing so.

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As Hollywood gathered at the SAG Awards, some entertainers joined LAX protest

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Protesters fill lower level of LAX’s Tom Bradley International Terminal

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LAX traffic at standstill

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After police advance, most LAX protesters move to sidewalks

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Police officers and protesters face off at LAX

At a rally at Los Angeles International Airport, police officers are confronting protesters, some of whom are blocking traffic.

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This New York doctor went to visit family in Sudan, and now he’s stuck

Dr. Kamal Fadlalla
(Dr. Kamal Fadlalla / For The Times)

Dr. Kamal Fadlalla, a hospital resident who has been working in New York for the last 20 months, was stuck in Sudan on Sunday, having gone there to see his family earlier this month.

He had left Jan. 13, was due to return Feb. 4 but tried to return on Friday after hearing about President Trump’s executive order on immigration, which suspended entry for people from seven countries, including Sudan.

He made it past passport control, all the way to the gate at the airport in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital.

“One hour before departure they called my name,” he said, and summoned him to the ticket counter, along with other New York-bound Sudanese passengers. “When I got to the counter, they said there was a notice from Customs and Border Protection that ... they had to offload us from the flight. I was shocked.”

Fadlalla, 33, hoped for a reprieve as other passengers gathered, all stuck.

“One family, they came back from Dubai, she was a mother of three or four kids. She was waiting overnight at the Dubai airport. There were also two passengers turned back from New York,” he said. “It was a very tough night on me,”

He stayed for several hours, then returned to his mother’s home in Madani, two hours south.

Fadlalla is a second-year resident in internal medicine at Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn. He is hoping to specialize in hematology and oncology.

The Committee for Interns and Residents found an attorney to represent him, he said, but he had not received any news about how a New York federal judge’s ruling late Saturday, which halted the deportations of people who had arrived in the U.S. with valid visas, could affect him.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. My vacation is going to end and I have to join the hospital next week. It’s going to be tough on me,” Fadlalla said. “I don’t know for how long I’m going to stay here. I don’t know what I’m going to do. My visa is valid for three months. I’m really stuck. I have my house there, my utilities, my work, my patients, my colleagues. It was my life for the past 20 months. And I’m stuck here.”

Fadlalla is from northern Sudan, and describes himself as a “moderate Muslim.” He said the executive order won’t make the U.S. safer by barring valid visa holders like him because, “I’ve been through the whole process of visa interviews.”

He had planned to take board exams next year, and if he misses them, his schooling will be delayed. He had wanted to stay and work in New York, too.

“All my life is there. Now I’m stuck here. I don’t know what to do,” he said. “It’s going to really affect my life, my patients, my colleagues and their work schedule.”

He said the executive order has shocked others in Sudan, too.

“They’re talking about human rights. Everybody knows the United States is about freedom,” he said. “Everybody knows America is a free country, a country of chances for everybody. Still, people have hope in those protesting at airports all over the United States” and attorneys who have volunteered to help immigrants and refugees, he said.

He said the order is especially worrying for aspiring Sudanese medical residents who have been preparing to “match” with a hospital in March to study in the United States.

“A lot of my colleagues who are preparing for exams are really, really worried about this,” Fadlalla said. “I’m really worried about the future of these young people. They study a lot and spend a lot of money, a lot of effort to enter the United States. I’m concerned about my future and my colleagues’ future.”

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California’s congressional Republicans hold their fire on Trump’s refugee order

Only a few of the state’s 14 Republican representatives have publicly commented on an executive order signed by President Trump on Friday that barred refugees and green card holders from seven countries from entering the country.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Tulare) released a statement Sunday night saying that some tweaks are needed, but that his background as chairman of the House Select Intelligence Committee leads him to support the executive order.

“In light of attempts by jihadist groups to infiltrate fighters into refugee flows to the West, along with Europe’s tragic experience coping with this problem, the Trump administration’s executive order on refugees is a common-sense security measure to prevent terror attacks on the homeland,” Nunes said. “While accommodations should be made for green card holders and those who’ve assisted the U.S. armed forces, this is a useful temporary measure on seven nations of concern until we can verify who is entering the United States.”

Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) told the Washington Post that the executive order is “the right call to keep America safe,” but he hopes the cases of people traveling on visas who were prevented from reentering the country are resolved quickly.

Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) said Sunday on Twitter that the rollout has created confusion, and that executive orders aren’t the way to fix the country’s long-term problems.

Several of California’s 38 Democratic congressional representatives and the state’s two senators were out in force over the weekend demanding the release of refugees and green card holders as well as an end to the executive order.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) announced she would file two pieces of legislation in response. One would immediately rescind the president’s order. The second would limit executive authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act to prevent a president from unilaterally banning groups of immigrants.

“It’s clear that the president gave little consideration to the chaos and heartbreak that would result from this order,” she said in a statement.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) joined protesters outside the White House on Sunday afternoon.

In Los Angeles, Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) joined protesters at Los Angeles International Airport. On Saturday, Reps. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), Nanette Barragán (D-San Pedro) and Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) joined the initial protests at the airport, and worked to get some of those being held released.

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) accompanied protesters at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday.

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Legal moves come too late for Iranian man who arrived at LAX after Trump’s order

Ali Vayeghan arrived at 7:15 p.m. Friday from Tehran. He was going to stay with relatives, then go to Indiana, to join his wife, who arrived in the U.S. four months ahead of him, and his son.

But he never emerged from customs. His niece said he was put on a plane to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at 3:15 p.m. Saturday.

The ACLU was trying to prevent his deportation but arrived with paperwork 45 minutes too late.

The family spoke to him by phone after he landed in Dubai, where he was waiting to be put on a flight to Tehran.

“He’s literally crying in the airport in Dubai,” Ali Vayeghan’s niece, Marjan Vayghan, said.

On Sunday afternoon, a federal judge in Los Angeles ordered authorities to transport Vayeghan back to the U.S. and admit him under the terms of his visa, which is set to expire Feb. 14.

U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee said in her order that Vayeghan had demonstrated “a strong likelihood of success in establishing that removal violates the Establishment Clause, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and his rights to Equal Protection guaranteed by the United States Constitution.”

But by the time the order came down, Vayeghan was on a plane bound for Tehran.

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The political climate is a hot topic at the Screen Actors Guild awards

The Actor statue watches over the red carpet at the Shrine Auditorium.
The Actor statue watches over the red carpet at the Shrine Auditorium.
(Matt Sayles / Invision / Associated Press)

Stars on the red carpet and at the winner’s podium tonight in Los Angeles are not keeping their mouths shut on current affairs.

The 23rd Screen Actors Guild awards are being held at the Shrine Auditorium.

Here’s what they have had to say so far:

I want you all to know that I am the daughter of an immigrant. My father fled religious persecution in Nazi-occupied France, and I’m an American patriot, and I love this country, and because I love this country, I am horrified by its blemishes and this immigrant ban is a blemish and it is un-American.

— Julia Louis-Dreyfus, accepting her award for her role in “Veep”

We need to vote. Had we all voted, we wouldn’t be here. You don’t like it, you don’t have nothing to say if you didn’t vote. Get a clipboard, get organized and get in it. Don’t sit back on the sidelines. Get in it. This is a fight for the country right now. It’s worth fighting for.  

— Courtney B. Vance, nominated for his performance in “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”

For the first time ever in my lifetime, I’ve been concerned about where it’s going to go. It doesn’t seem to be that it’s going to go in a very positive direction.  

— Claire Foy, nominated for her role as Queen Elizabeth in the Netflix series “The Crown”

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Green card holders will not be blocked by Trump’s order, Homeland Security says

(Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

The Trump administration backed away from one of the most controversial parts of its new executive order on immigration Sunday evening, saying that permanent U.S. residents in most cases will not be affected by the new rules.

Since the president issued the order Friday, confusion has been rampant over the effects on permanent residents, noncitizens who hold so-called green cards that allow them to live and work legally in the U.S.

Many were stopped and detained at airports for many hours on Friday and Saturday and, in some cases, reported that they had been threatened with being returned to their home countries. An undetermined number of other green card holders were stopped from boarding U.S.-bound planes.

Late Sunday, however, the secretary of Homeland Security, retired Gen. John Kelly, issued a statement changing the policy.

“I hereby deem the entry of lawful permanent residents to be in the national interest,” Kelly wrote.

Green card holders from one of the seven countries covered by the 90-day ban will still need to request a waiver to gain reentry to the U.S. if they have traveled abroad. But unless officials have “significant derogatory information” about a green card holder that indicates “a serious threat to public safety and welfare, lawful permanent resident status will be a dispositive factor” in deciding the case, Kelly’s statement said.

A White House official, briefing reporters about the change in policy, said that about 170 people have applied for a waiver to the ban so far, and all 170 have received a waiver and have been allowed to enter the U.S.

The seven countries affected by the ban are Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

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Uber fights immigration order -- and #DeleteUber hashtag -- with $3-million legal fund for drivers

Hours after Lyft’s co-founders announced a $1-million donation to the American Civil Liberties Union to “defend the
Constitution,” Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick pulled out his pocket book as well.

Kalanick promised in a Facebook post that the company would create a $3-million legal defense fund to help drivers affected by the Trump administration’s move to restrict immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries. The fund will help drivers with immigration and translation services. Kalanick also said the San Francisco ride-hailing company will provide 24/7 legal support to drivers stuck outside the country and compensate them for lost earnings. Drivers eligible for assistance were directed to contact the company via an online form.

Although the announcement was greeted with some support on Facebook and Twitter, many saw it as too little too late. The company had come under fire a day earlier for advertising on Twitter that it was operating at New York’s Kennedy International Airport during a taxi strike protesting the executive order.

That gaffe, coupled with Kalanick’s involvement in a panel advising President Trump on economic issues, helped spawn the Twitter hashtag #DeleteUber, which encouraged customers to delete the app from their phones in protest.

“You are 20 hours too late,” one person wrote in response to Kalanick’s Facebook post.

“Still deleted my account today,” wrote another.

Though Kalanick issued a statement on Saturday opposing the executive order, it didn’t stop thousands of Twitter users from adopting the trending the #DeleteUber hashtag to decry Uber’s actions. They accused the company of attempting to profit from the strike and prioritizing business interests over a moral imperative. Celebrities also jumped on the bandwagon, with actor and activist George Takei on Sunday tweeting to his 2.9 million followers: “Lyft donates $1mil to ACLU while Uber doubles down on its support for Trump. #DeleteUber.”

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75-year-old grandmother from Iran tells the story of her detention at LAX

Siavosh Naji-Talakar of Phoenix hugs his grandmother Marzieh Moosavizadeh after she was released from detention at LAX early Sunday morning.
Siavosh Naji-Talakar of Phoenix hugs his grandmother Marzieh Moosavizadeh after she was released from detention at LAX early Sunday morning.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Marzieh Moosavizadeh and her grandson follow a routine when she visits almost every year from Iran.

The 75-year-old, who travels in a wheelchair and speaks little English, struggles to find direct flights to Phoenix, where he and his family live. So they meet in Los Angeles and he escorts her on the last leg of her trip.

This time was different.

Moosavizadeh landed at Los Angeles International Airport a day after President Trump signed an executive order banning citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Iran, from entering the United States.

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Protesters on the move at LAX

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GOP senators call executive order a ‘self-inflicted wound.’ Trump calls them ‘wrong’ and ‘weak’

McCain and Graham in 2013.
(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona released a statement Sunday saying that confusion at U.S. airports shows that President Trump’s executive order on immigration “was not properly vetted.”

“Such a hasty process risks harmful results,” the Republicans’ statement read. “We should not stop green-card holders from returning to the country they call home. We should not stop those who have served as interpreters for our military and diplomats from seeking refuge in the country they risked their lives to help. And we should not turn our backs on those refugees who have been shown through extensive vetting to pose no demonstrable threat to our nation.”

It went on: “Ultimately, we fear this executive order will become a self-inflicted wound in the fight against terrorism.”

The president responded on Twitter:

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At least 600 people wait to greet Syrians arriving in Phoenix

Elijah Chavez and Brandi Hernandez protest in Phoenix
(Nigel Duara/Los Angeles Times)

A Phoenix-bound British Airways flight was scheduled to arrive from London at Sunday evening carrying several Syrians.

A protest of about 600 people was waiting at a Phoenix international airport terminal for the flight to arrive.

“The outcome when these people arrive is uncertain at best,” said Tanveer Shah, an Arizona attorney in private practice who volunteers with the ACLU.

Shah said Syrians on board the flight would, “in the best case,” walk off the plane without a problem. But given the outcomes in other cities on Saturday and Sunday, Shah said it was incumbent on civil liberties attorneys to be there when the plane arrives.

“We have staff attorneys here ... who are prepared to file emergency pleadings,” Shah said.

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When Muslims got blocked at American airports, U.S. veterans rushed to help

(G. Morty Ortega / Getty Images)

Jeffrey Buchalter was reflooring his foyer in Chesapeake Beach, Md., and listening to MSNBC over the weekend when he heard the news: An Iraqi who had worked with American forces as an interpreter had been stopped from entering the U.S. under a new executive order on immigration from President Trump.

The story stopped him cold. Buchalter, an Army veteran who works as a law-enforcement instructor at the Department of Homeland Security, had served multiple tours of duty as a military policeman in Iraq, service that cost him dearly.

He was decorated for injuries sustained from gunfire and improvised explosive devices. Exams revealed he’d suffered herniated discs, traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, and he spent 2 ½ years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center trying to get right.

But he was still alive, and now the married father of two children. And he believes that’s thanks in part to the work of Iraqi interpreters who acted as guides during his work in their country. So he told his younger daughter and son they were going to take a trip: a two-hour drive to Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., where, for the first time in his life, Buchalter would join a protest.

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Demonstrators against Trump’s immigration limits — and a few who like them — surge through LAX

Thousands of people filled the international terminal at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday afternoon to call for the release of an unknown number of people being detained by immigration authorities.

Filling the arrivals section of the terminal and spilling into the street outside, the throng chanted, “Let them in,” and “Love, not hate, makes America great.”

Jacob Kemper, a 35-year-old Army veteran who fought two tours in Iraq, said he was infuriated to think soldiers he fought alongside might be denied entry to the country.

“I really don’t care about religion, but I really hate oppression,” he said, holding a sign that read, “I Fought Next To Muslims.”

Shay Soltani, a network engineer, fled the Iranian revolution 40 years ago and still has family members in Iran. She doesn’t know if she will be able to see them again.

As she and hundreds of others marched through the airport, she said she was horrified by Trump’s order.

“I am so hurt by this,” she said. “He is against freedom of speech and the constitution and everything I believe in as an American.”

Meanwhile, about a dozen counter-protesters popped up on the other side of the street, holding signs that said “X-treme vetting” and “Keep Refugees Out.” They said they were tired of immigrants entering the U.S. illegally, which they said jeopardizes the safety of American citizens.

Chanell Temple, 63, of Los Angeles said she was sick of watching immigrants here illegally “steal” benefits and services from American citizens, specifically veterans and homeless people who need aid.

“I worked out here for 40 years and they are coming here and taking everything away,” said Temple, a former bookkeeper who said she lost her job and healthcare after she was fired for an inability to speak Spanish.

Raul Rodriguez Jr., coordinator of a group called America First Latinos, said he was concerned about what he considers a surge in crimes committed against Americans by those who are in the country illegally.

“They are lawbreakers. They have violated federal law and they need to be deported,” he said.

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‘You build it up, we’ll tear it down’: Immigration protest growing at Los Angeles airport

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Silicon Valley execs speak out against immigration ban

Technology executives are speaking out against President Trump’s executive order on immigration, highlighting how the ban hurts their businesses. Leaders of companies that include Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Dropbox and Twitter denounced it over the weekend.

“Apple would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do,” said Apple chief executive Tim Cook in a memo to employees. “In my conversations with officials here in Washington this week, I’ve made it clear that Apple believes deeply in the importance of immigration — both to our company and to our nation’s future.”

General Electric Co. chief executive Jeff Immelt said Sunday that businesses with global operations must balance working with the new administration while also supporting their workers and partners.

“We have many employees from the named countries and we do business all over the region,” Immelt said in a statement. “These employees and customers are critical to our success and they are our friends and partners. We stand with them and will work with the U.S. administration to strive to find the balance between the need for security and the movement of law abiding people.”

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LAX protest grows as families wait

Meg Heatherly, 27, of Los Angeles holds a 'Shame' sign during a protest at the Tom Bradley International Terminal.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Protest growing at LAX

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L.A. city attorney barred from seeing detainees at LAX

Los Angeles City Atty. Mike Feuer said he was repeatedly denied access to federal detainees or an attorney who could discuss the situation with him at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Federal officials have declined to discuss the LAX detentions or respond to Feuer’s criticisms.

While he was at the airport, Feuer said he was approached by a woman who claimed her father, suffering from Parkinson’s disease, was among the detainees.

It is those kind of real stories that are at stake because of this outrageous action by the feds. It is time not only for officials in my position, but all Americans, should find this a breathtaking violation of rights.

— Mike Feuer

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Democratic attorneys general from 15 states condemn Trump immigration order

California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra
California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra
(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

More than a dozen Democratic attorneys general from states across the country have condemned the Trump administration’s executive order suspending acceptance of refugees and have vowed to oppose it “to ensure that as few people as possible suffer from the chaotic situation that it has created.”

In a communique Sunday, the group said: “As the chief legal officers for over 130 million Americans and foreign residents of our states, we condemn President Trump’s unconstitutional, un-American and unlawful Executive Order and will work together to ensure the federal government obeys the Constitution, respects our history as a nation of immigrants, and does not unlawfully target anyone because of their national origin or faith.”

The executive order places an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria and prohibits citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering as refugees for four months. It also places a suspension on admissions of other citizens of those countries.

The legal officials represent 15 states. They include California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra and his contemporaries in Washington, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia.

“Religious liberty has been, and always will be, a bedrock principle of our country, and no president can change that truth,” the attorneys general said in the statement. They praised the decision of multiple federal courts to order a stay on some aspects of the order.

“We are confident that the Executive Order will ultimately be struck down by the courts,” the statement said.

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13 people who had been detained at LAX have been released, source says

Protesters at LAX on Sunday.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Thirteen people who were detained Saturday night at Los Angeles International Airport’s Terminal 2 were eventually released, a law enforcement source told The Times. Each of them held green cards, which grant permanent residency in the U.S.

The source, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation at the airport, could not provide detention figures for the Tom Bradley International Terminal, which has been the center of protest activity.

That’s where protesters were gathering Sunday.

Nurse Jamie Shoemaker, 51, of Los Angeles held an American flag in one hand and carried a sign that read, “Muslims are welcome here, racists and fascists are not.”

She called Trump’s order “un-American.”

“This is not the country I want,” she said. “This is not the country I grew up in.”

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Democrats in Congress drafting legislation to repeal Trump’s refugee ban, pressuring GOP for support

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and Democrats will introduce legislation as soon as Monday to stop President Trump’s actions temporarily banning refugees and arrivals from certain Muslim countries.

House Democrats are taking similar legislative action, and lawmakers from both chambers will rally Monday evening at the Supreme Court to protest Trump’s orders.

“This executive order was mean-spirited and un-American,” said Schumer, the New York Democrat, choking up as he stood with immigrants and refugees at a press conference Sunday. “It must be reversed immediately.”

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said House Democrats are exploring legal options, including an amicus brief in support of the ACLU lawsuit against the actions.

The chances of passing a bill through the Republican-controlled Congress are slim, as most GOP leaders and lawmakers have not objected to Trump’s ban.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday that while he was personally opposed to a “religious test” on admissions, it was best left to the courts to resolve the issue.

“It’s hopefully going to be decided in the courts as to whether or not this has gone too far,” McConnell said on ABC’s “This Week.”

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) expressed his support Friday for Trump’s action.

A handful of Republicans, though, are uneasy with Trump’s orders, and have spoken against them.

Schumer noted that just few more Republicans would be needed to reach the 60-vote threshold for advancing Senate legislation.

“Maybe we can pass something in Congress,” Schumer said. “It’s up to Republicans.”

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Emotional reunion at JFK airport after release of elderly Sudanese man from immigration detention

For those immigrants temporarily detained under a new Trump administration executive order at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, attorneys have put a priority on getting some of the older detainees released to their families.

One small victory for the lawyers was the case of Yassin Abdelrhman, a 76-year-old green card holder from Sudan who had been detained after a trip home to visit family. He was released about noon on Sunday after being detained for 30 hours.

Soon, he was reunited with his sons.

“He is a strong individual, but he has some health challenges,’’ said U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who had been working on their case.

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Iranian director Asghar Farhadi will not attend Oscars

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi after winning an Oscar in 2012.
((Allen J. Schaben/ Los Angeles Times) )

In a statement to the New York Times today, Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi said he no longer planned to attend this year’s ceremony. Farhadi’s film “The Salesman” is nominated in the foreign language film category.

Farhadi had initially hoped to attend despite the prohibition on visitors from Iran. But he said he had decided “the possibility of this presence is being accompanied by ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me even if exceptions were to be made for my trip.”

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How an Iranian Fulbright scholar got into the U.S.: ‘We found a lawyer who found a lawyer who found a lawyer’

Iranian students in front of a makeshift law office in JFK's Terminal 4.
(Barbara Demick / Los Angeles Times)

Perhaps nothing encapsulates the chaos emanating from President Trump’s executive order better than what happened with Ukrainian Airlines Flight 232.

The regularly scheduled flight to Kiev had to turn around on the tarmac at John F. Kennedy Airport early Sunday after a federal judge issued a stay of a deportation order of dozens of foreigners, including a 32-year-old Iranian linguist who is a doctoral candidate and former Fulbright scholar.

With just minutes to spare, Vahideh Rasekhi -- helped by volunteer lawyers and her smart phone – managed to prevent the flight from taking off. She had arrived Saturday afternoon, but was blocked from entering the United States by the executive order barring arrivals of citizens of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia and Libya.

Around midnight, she was put on the Ukrainian Air flight to return to Tehran, via Kiev.

“We found a lawyer who found a lawyer who found a lawyer,” said Mehdi Namazi, 29, a friend who has been waiting for her at the airport. The lawyers were showing officials a copy of the order issued a few hours earlier by U.S. District Court Judge Ann Donnelly in Brooklyn.

“It was all very confusing. They were arguing as the plane was taxiing,” Namazi said.

According to one lawyer, Melissa Trent, Rasekhi herself was walking up and down the aisles arguing for the plane not to take off.

“She knew that if the plane left she would never get back to the United States again,” Trent said.

Rasekhi spent most of Sunday in detention with other Iranians, but was released into the United States at around 3 p.m..

A dozen Iranian friends had been waiting inside the airport’s Terminal 4 amid a clutter of discarded coffee cups and half-eaten donuts in front of a diner that had been turned into a makeshift law office. Another Iranian student was waiting for her parents, who were taken into detention after arriving on another flight

“I haven’t seen them in 3-1/2 years. They don’t speak English. But I’m hopeful,” said the student, who gave her name as Sahar.

The students were both furious at the way their country had been targeted by Trump’s order and touched by the outpouring of support from the volunteer lawyers.

“We see two different Americas here. There is this order banning us, and than there are all these people here who came to the airport. If it weren’t for these volunteers, she would have been deported,” said Namazi.

“I’m very depressed. We feel betrayed by this country that we invested so much energy and hope into. We are all graduate students, professors, PhDs, engineers. To say this is for national security, it doesn’t add up,” said Tahmineh Tabrizian, 33, another friend of Rasekhi’s. She said her own parents had planned to come to the United States and had spent $14,000 on tickets and visas and would now have to cancel their trip.

Rasekhi, who has lived in the United States for a decade, was a Fulbright scholar at UC Santa Barbara and received a master’s degree at Fresno State University, according to a resume supplied by one of her friends. She had been studying for a PhD at Stony Brook University on Long Island. She had gone to Tehran over the Christmas break to visit her parents and was on her way back to resume her studies when she was detained.

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Protests begin again at LAX on Sunday morning

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Protesters in Tel Aviv compare Trump immigration order to Israeli refugee policies

Demonstrators in Tel Aviv protest U.S. President Trump’s new immigration order.
(Joshua Mitnick / Los Angeles Times)

Holding signs reading “Refugees Welcome” and chanting “No Ban, No Wall, Sanctuary for All,’’ several dozen demonstrators gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv on Sunday to join protests in the U.S. against President Trump’s new immigration policy.

Mia Zur Szpiro, a 36-year-old filmmaker, said she felt compelled to demonstrate because her parents survived the Holocaust. “We are a country of immigrants, and to me it was astounding that this [order] was passed on Holocaust Memorial Day,’’ she said. “It’s wrong to stereotype, and it’s wrong to send people who are in need back into the face of danger and the risk of death.’’

Elliot Vaisbrub Glassenberg, a protest organizer and migrant rights activist, compared the new U.S. policy to Israeli policies toward tens of thousands of Eritrean and Sudanese migrants who crossed into the country illegally from Egypt’s Sinai desert.

“The policies that Trump has enacted are no worse than the policies that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has enacted for years here – such as not allowing any non-Jews to be given refugee status in Israel, except for a select few.’’

Togod Omar, a native of Sudan who was at the protest, said he applied for political asylum in Israel three years ago, and is still waiting. He said Sudanese friends hoping to be resettled in the U.S. were upset by the new executive order.

“Trump doesn’t understand what’s going on in Sudan,’’ Omar said. “You can’t punish the Sudanese people for what the Islamic government is doing. You can’t banish someone because of their religion.’’

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President Trump hits majority disapproval in record time, Gallup finds

President Trump’s actions during his first week in office have appeared to be aimed at the voters who already supported him, not at reaching out to the rest, and that’s taken a rapid toll on his support, which was already historically low.

Gallup, which has measured job approval for presidents for decades, shows Trump’s approval so far at 45%, with 48% disapproving. That’s an average of several days’ polling.

The daily trend lines are not kind to the new administration. As of Saturday, 51% of Americans disapproved of Trump’s performance.

That’s a record for the speed of getting to majority disapproval.

By comparison, President George W. Bush hit majority disapproval six months into his second term, in June 2005, and remained in negative territory for the rest of his tenure.

President Obama did not hit 51% disapproval until August of 2011, during the crisis over the federal debt ceiling that summer. His approval rebounded later that year, but he had a second period of majority disapproval during late 2013 and much of 2014. He ended his term with widespread approval and 37% of Americans disapproving.

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Hundreds of travelers were caught in limbo over rushed visa ban

(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Hundreds of travelers were blocked from entering the U.S. or prevented from boarding flights in the hours after President Trump signed his order banning arrivals from seven predominantly Muslim countries, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

In the order, Trump temporarily suspended refugee admissions and banned travelers from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Scores of people from those countries were aboard airplanes flying toward the U.S. when Trump signed his executive order on Friday afternoon, setting off waves of confusion among border officials and the traveling public.

Upon landing at U.S. airports, 109 people from the listed countries were detained by immigration officials and prevented from entering the U.S., officials said.

The department had approved 81 waivers to the new travel ban by Saturday afternoon, the official said, but at least some of the people detained on arrival were sent back to their countries of origin.

Court orders issued Saturday evening required U.S. border officials to stop returning people who had already arrived with valid visas. It is unclear how many people were deported before the orders were issued. It is also unclear if the Trump administration has fully complied with those orders.

In addition to the people who arrived in the U.S. and were detained, as of 3 p.m. on Saturday, an additional 173 travelers from the listed countries had been stopped from boarding flights to the U.S., a Homeland Security official said in a statement.

The department did not make an official available to describe the actions and the agency’s response.

As many as 3,250 travelers may have been “inconvenienced” by the new visa restrictions, officials for the department said in a statement Sunday.

“Yesterday, less than 1% of the more than 325,000 international air travelers who arrive every day were inconvenienced while enhanced security measures were implemented,” the statement read.

The department will comply with court orders, the statement said. But no evidence was given to confirm this. Lawyers seeking to meet with detainees at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington and at San Francisco have said that they were blocked by officials on Sunday.

“The Department of Homeland Security will comply with judicial orders, faithfully enforce our immigration laws, and implement President Trump’s executive orders to ensure that those entering the United States do not pose a threat to our country or the American people,” according to the department’s statement.

All of the visa holders and travelers from the listed countries blocked from entering the U.S. since Friday already had gone through multiple steps of security screening that checked their biographical information and travel history against U.S. terrorism databases.

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White House seems to back down on part of new vetting policy

The White House on Sunday appeared to back down on a key part of President Trump’s tough new immigration order, signaling that travelers trying to enter the country from seven banned countries will be allowed in if they hold green cards.

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said that these legal permanent residents are exempt from the travel ban “moving forward,” even though over the weekend other administration officials said the rule did apply to them.

The apparent reversal came amid a national controversy over the new Trump order that temporarily halts the entry of all refugees to the U.S. and any traveler from seven majority Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Federal judges across the country have blocked parts of the president’s executive actions since they came down on Friday, mostly preventing the deportation of some travelers who ran into the first wave of implementation over the weekend.

The back-and-forth over the green-card holders reflected a generalized confusion about the new order, which also bars Syrian refugees from entering the United States indefinitely. Lawyers for some of the affected immigrants said border agents seemed uncertain about the new rules and were disagreeing with one another about which travelers were affected and which were not.

Further complicating the picture was a statement from the Department of Homeland Security asserting that its agents would enforce all of Trump’s orders while also complying with judicial orders. As some of the orders block deportation, that left individual officers to try to figure out which priorities to honor.

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Op-Ed: Trump’s cruel, illegal refugee executive order

Protesters demonstrate at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on Saturday.
Protesters demonstrate at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on Saturday.
(Stephanie Keith / Getty Images)

Barring individuals fleeing persecution from entering the United States is simply inhumane. Adding irony to injury, Trump’s executive order was issued on Holocaust Remembrance Day, which should have been an occasion to atone for turning away refugees during the 1930s—some of whom then died in concentration camps.  For example, in 1939, the United States turned away the St. Louis, a boat filled with refugees, many of them German Jews. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 254 passengers from the St. Louis died in the Holocaust.

— Erwin Chemerinsky

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Lyft pledges to donate $1 million to ACLU following Trump’s immigration order

(Richard Vogel / Associated Press)

Tech executives had been mostly quiet for the first week of Donald Trump’s presidency — but that changed after his controversial executive order restricting refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries.

Executive after executive spent Saturday tweeting and posting messages to Facebook decrying the administration’s actions. Lyft co-founders John Zimmer and Logan Green went a step further: On Sunday, they announced they would donate $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union over the next four years.

“Banning people of a particular faith or creed, race or identity, sexuality or ethnicity, from entering the U.S. is antithetical to both Lyft and our nation’s core values,” the co-founders wrote in an email to Lyft customers. “We stand firmly against the actions, and will not be silent on issues that threaten the value of our community.”

We stand firmly against the actions, and will not be silent on issues that threaten the value of our community.

— John Zimmer and Logan Green

The donation is to help the ACLU “defend our constitution.”

The decision came a day after Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick spoke out against the order. But Lyft appears to be the one reaping the public relations benefits, at least on social media.

Uber has taken flak for Kalanick’s role on a business panel advising Trump. And the company’s decision to advertise via Twitter its continued operations on Saturday at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport amid a taxi strike against the immigration ban was seen by some as undermining the protest. The hashtag #DeleteUber was trending on Twitter on Sunday.

The two San Francisco-based ride-hailing companies have engaged in a vicious battle for 4 1/2 years for drivers and customers. Uber has a larger market share and war chest. In its fight for new drivers and customers, Lyft has spent millions marketing the ways in which it is different from Uber. Saturday’s events — and the ensuring #DeleteUber hashtag — could play into that branding.

In an email to employees, which was later made public, Kalanick spelled out a plan to assist Uber employees and drivers affected by the travel ban, but his denouncement of the ban took a more conciliatory tone than Lyft’s.

“Ever since Uber’s founding we’ve had to work with governments and politicians of all political persuasions,” Kalanick wrote. “In some cases we’ve had to stand and fight to make progress, other times we’ve been able to effect change from within through persuasion and argument… This is why I agreed in early December to join president Trump’s economic advisory group.”

Kalanick said he would discuss the matter when the panel convenes for its first meeting this week.

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Some Republicans worry that Trump’s refugee and vetting policies go too far

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday that the U.S. should not impose a religious test on people seeking to enter the country, in part because to do so would alienate key allies in the fight against terrorism.

“Some of our best sources in the war against radical Islamic terrorism are Muslims, both in this country and overseas,” McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a morning interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz.

McConnell praised President Trump for ramping up the vetting of people trying to enter the country, but warned against singling out Muslims for exclusion.

“We need to be careful as we do this,” McConnell said. “We don’t have religious tests in this country.”

The remarks came amid a clamor over Trump’s new temporary ban on arrivals from seven predominantly Muslim countries. As authorities detained travelers from those countries at airports around the U.S. this weekend, crowds gathered to protest what they see as exclusion based on religion, in violation of basic American principles.

Aides to Trump defended his policy on Sunday. White House senior counselor Kellyanne Conway told FOX journalist Chris Wallace that the extra vetting is aimed only at promoting security, and that if travelers are not dangerous they can expect to be released “in due course.”

“It’s temporary,” she said of the airport detentions, “and it’s just circumstantial.”

But fellow Republicans are voicing warnings to the president, too, among them Ohio Sen. Rob Portman. He agreed with Conway that Trump’s new order does not qualify as a ban on Muslims, but he did question whether it was “properly vetted” and being implemented in an orderly way.

The order is “an extreme vetting proposal that didn’t get the vetting it should have had, and as a result in the implementation we’ve seen some problems,” Portman told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “In my view, we ought to all take a deep breath.”

Likewise, Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake in a morning statement called it “unacceptable when even legal permanent residents are being detained or turned away at airports and ports of entry.” National security depends on not “ascribing radical Islamic terrorist views to all Muslims,” he said.

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Trump’s revamp of top advisors reflects the rise of controversial aide Steve Bannon

President Trump is revamping the advisory circle of national security experts in his White House, and the new configuration reflects the sharp rise of his controversial aide Steve Bannon.

Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, is now invited to sit in on all meetings of the National Security Council, while key experts like the director of national intelligence and chairman of the joint military chiefs will only participate when specifically summoned.

The decision is raising questions in national security circles. Bannon is the former head of the right-wing Breitbart News website who declared last week that the news media should be considered “the opposition party” during the Trump era. Bannon was a key link for Trump with the nationalist “alt-right” movement during the campaign.

“Stone-cold crazy,” is how former Obama national security advisor Susan Rice described the decision in a tweet on Sunday, sarcastically asking, “Who needs military advice or intell to make policy on ISIL, Syria, Afghanistan, DPRK?” using acronyms for Islamic State and North Korea.

But Trump’s top spokesman defended the decision on Sunday morning, telling ABC’s Martha Raddatz that Trump is simply trying to “streamline” the decision-making process and cut down on the bureaucracy.

Bannon is a former Naval officer, said White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, adding that it’s only right for the president’s top strategist to “come in and talk about what the strategy is going forward.”

Bannon has a “tremendous understanding of the world,” said Spicer.

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One U.S. commando dead, four wounded in raid on Al Qaeda in Yemen

President Trump speaks at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va.
(Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images)

A U.S. special operations commando was killed and three others injured in a firefight during a predawn raid on Al Qaeda fighters in central Yemen, according to the U.S. military.

The raid marked the first known counterterrorism operation and first confirmed combat fatality under President Trump.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of our elite service members,” Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of the U.S. Central Command, said in a statement. “The sacrifices are very profound in our fight against terrorists who threaten innocent peoples across the globe.”

As the U.S. forces began their assault on the Al Qaeda compound in Shabwa province, they engaged in an intense firefight left at least 14 militants dead, said a U.S. official, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the secret mission. One commando was killed and three others wounded during the battle, which lasted about an hour.

During the operation, U.S. troops grabbed a cache of the militants’ laptops, cellphones and other materials, which was what U.S. commanders were seeking in the rare on-the-ground siege against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, known as AQAP. The U.S. military typically relies on drone strikes against the group.

U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said in a statement the capture of information “will likely provide insight into the planning of future terror plots.”

During the raid, a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft that was assisting in the operation crash-landed at a nearby location, resulting in an additional service member injury, a U.S. official said.

The aircraft, which was sent to evacuate the wounded, was unable to fly after the landing. U.S. warplanes later destroyed it.

Local reports said more than a dozen civilians were killed in the operation. Graphic photos of the dead, allegedly victims from the raid, were circulating social media. Among those reportedly killed was the 8-year old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born Al Qaeda leader who was based in Yemen and killed in a 2011 drone strike, according the SITE Intelligence Group.

U.S. military officials said they believe no civilians were killed, although the results of the mission were still being examined.

The number of Al Qaeda fighters killed and U.S. service members could rise when more information becomes available, U.S. military officials acknowledged.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has flourished in Yemen since 2014 amid the ongoing chaos of a multi-sided civil war, seizing cities and towns, looting banks, and raising millions of dollars by extorting companies, imposing taxes and export duties, and smuggling.

U.S. intelligence agencies consider AQAP one of Al Qaeda’s most dangerous offshoots because of its repeated attempts to attack Western targets.

The group attempted to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner over Detroit in 2009, tried to take down two cargo planes headed to Chicago in 2010, and claimed responsibility for the mass shooting that killed 12 people at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris in 2015.

The raid Sunday is just the latest in the U.S. military’s targeted couterterrorism against the group. U.S. drones launched three airstrikes on each day from Jan.20 to 22, all in Bayda province, that killed five militants, U.S. officials said.

Two earlier strikes, on Dec. 29 and Jan. 8, killed three other operatives.

6:50 a.m.: This article was updated with more background.

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Federal judge blocks deportations under Trump’s ‘extreme vetting’ order for refugees and others with valid visas

After a day of chaos at airports around the world, a federal judge in Brooklyn on Saturday night stayed deportations under President Trump’s executive order barring citizens of some Muslim countries from entering the United States.

U.S. District Judge Ann M. Donnelly ordered a halt to any removal of refugees or others who hold valid visas to enter the United States—meaning those who have arrived at U.S. airports from the seven predominantly Muslim countries named under the President’s executive order can remain, for now.

The judge did not rule on the legality of the executive order, nor did she say that others who have not yet arrived in the U.S. can be allowed to proceed.

The ruling came in response to a petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two Iraqis detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport: Hameed Khalid Darweesh, who was a translator for the U.S. military, and Haider Alshawi, who was on his way to join his wife, who had worked for a U.S. contractor in Iraq.

ACLU attorneys argued that returning either petitioner could cause “irreparable harm” by exposing them and their families to retaliation from extremists.

The two lead plaintiffs were held by authorities and threatened with deportation, even though both “assert a fear of returning to their countries, and if they are not admitted pursuant to their valid entry documents, [they] seek an opportunity to pursue asylum,” the lawyers argued in the emergency petition.

“This ruling preserves the status quo and ensures that people who have been granted permission to be in this country are not illegally removed off U.S. soil,” said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, who argued the case.

The order appears to affect the 100 to 200 people who have been detained in transit to the United States. While the order will prevent them from being sent home, it is less clear whether they will have to remain in detention while their asylum cases are being decided.

Darweesh was released earlier in the day.

Thousands of New Yorkers had rushed to John F. Kennedy Airport, which is located in Queens within the court’s jurisdiction, earlier in the day to protest the detention of the passengers.

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Immigration attorneys seeking to help airport travelers in Los Angeles blocked by visa ban

Los Angeles International Airport
(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

At least 10 to 15 immigration attorneys have gathered at the Tom Bradley international terminal at LAX to help travelers, mostly from Iran, who have been detained, one of the attorneys said.

Attorneys have not yet been able to determine the number of fliers detained, as U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials are not allowing attorneys or families any communication with the detainees, said immigration attorney Jordan Cunnings.

“We’re literally walking around asking people, are you waiting for someone who has been detained?” said Cunnings, describing a scene of worried family members who had arrived bearing flowers and welcome signs for their loved ones.

Some of the detained travelers included green card holders, tourists, people with children and people with medical problems, Cunnings said.

One detained traveler was an Iranian woman who’d held a green card in the U.S. for five years and whose citizenship swearing-in ceremony is in two weeks, Cunnings said. The woman has an 11-month-old child with her who is an American citizen.

“People don’t have phone access or communication access to the people waiting for them, or their attorneys,” Cunnings said. “It’s just really heartbreaking.”

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Thousands at JFK airport in New York protest new visa and refugee suspensions

Protesters at New York's JFK airport.
(Bryan R. Smith / AFP/Getty Images)

Thousand of New Yorkers headed out to John F. Kennedy airport Saturday evening to protest President Trump’s new executive order turning back refugees and other visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Word of the spontaneous demonstration was spread across social media, with activists like filmmaker Michael Moore calling out “Everybody in NYC area--- head to JFK Terminal 4 NOW.” By late afternoon, it appeared that more than 2,000 had heeded the call to protest, to the dismay of airport security struggling to keep the terminal clear for travelers.

One group chanted, “Let them in.” Another read out loud from the Emma Lazarus poem inscribed in the base of the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free ....’’

Earlier in the day, 12 people from countries on the suspension list were taken into detention, although one of them, an Iraqi who had worked as a translator for the U.S. military, was later released and allowed to enter the U.S.

“This is humanity, this is the soul of America This is what pushed me to leave my country and move here,’’ the translator, Hameed Khalid Darweesh, told reporters.

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Iran says it will retaliate for U.S. moves to suspend visas for citizens of Iran and six other mainly Muslim countries

Iranian officials called the new U.S. limits on refugees and travelers from several predominantly Muslim countries a “clear insult to the Islamic world” and predicted the ban would be “a great gift to extremists and their supporters.”

In a statement on the Foreign Ministry website, the government of Iran vowed unspecified retaliatory measures and emphasized that the international community “needs dialogue and cooperation to address the roots of violence and extremism in a comprehensive and inclusive manner.”

Iran is one of seven countries—also including Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Syria and Iraq—whose residents are temporarily prevented from entering the United States until a new “extreme vetting” procedure can be put into place.

The White House order signed Friday also blocks all refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days and suspends the acceptance of refugees from war-torn Syria indefinitely.

Iran’s foreign ministry said the government in Tehran “will take proportionate legal, consular and political action” in response to the U.S. moves “until the time of the removal of the insulting restrictions” ordered in Washington.

In a series of tweets, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif made the point even more strongly: “Collective discrimination aids terrorist recruitment by deepening fault-lines exploited by extremist demagogues to swell their ranks,” he said.

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Trump issues more executive actions on national security

President Trump kept up his frenetic pace of executive action on Saturday by signing new directives that put his own imprint on the national security apparatus.

Trump signed executive actions to reorganize the National Security Council and to direct the joint chiefs of staff to present him with a plan to defeat the Islamic State terror organization, according to White House officials who have seen the documents and described their content to reporters.

He also issued a five-year ban preventing people who work for him from lobbying his administration after they leave it.

The action came right on the heels of a controversial executive order on Friday closing U.S. borders to refugees from around the world and temporarily halting immigration from several mostly Muslim countries.

Despite the number of executive actions in the past few days, aides to the president said they were being done carefully and after weeks of consideration.

“Everyone who needed to know was informed,” one official said of Friday’s executive order.

As he signed the executive actions, Trump defended the Friday directive. It is “not a Muslim ban,” he said. “It’s working out very nicely.”

*

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Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s attendance at Academy Awards in doubt under Trump’s travel ban

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Confusion erupted Saturday in the the wake of President Trump’s executive order banning travel to the U.S. from several Muslim-majority countries, and its potential impact on the ability of Iranian filmmaker and Oscar nominee Asghar Farhadi to attend next month’s Academy Awards ceremony.

Farhadi, whose latest film “The Salesman” is nominated for best foreign language film, was considered likely to be barred under the new order, as president of the National Iranian American Council Trita Parsi tweeted on Friday: “Confirmed: Iran’s Asghar Farhadi won’t be let into the US to attend Oscar’s.”

The tweet followed Trump’s order, which banned travel to the U.S. over the next 90 days from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The abrupt move also suspended all refugee arrivals from Syria.

Parsi reported that Farhadi has only an Iranian passport does not possess a U.S. “green card,” though he could theoretically apply for an artistic exception to the ban.

“The law is very clear and I’ve heard confirmation that he’s not coming,” Parsi told the Los Angeles Times on Friday night.

According to a tweet Saturday from a correspondent for BBC Persian, the filmmaker’s office said there was no “legal obstacle” for him to visit the U.S. for the Oscars, but that Farhadi has not yet decided if he wants to attend.

Calls to representatives for Farhadi, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were not immediately returned.

“The problem that we’re having right now is that the executive order is so ambiguous,” said Parsi, whose organization is the largest nonprofit of its kind representing the Iranian American community. “This administration, to be kind, is rather amateurish in how they’re sending out information. We hope that in the next couple of days they clarify exactly what they want these rules to mean and how they should be interpreted, because they cast an extremely wide net.”

Taraneh Alidoosti, the lead actress in “The Salesman,” announced in the wake of the executive order that she would not attend boycott the Academy Awards. “Trump’s visa ban for Iranians is racist,” Alidoosti wrote. “Whether this will include a cultural event or not, I won’t attend the #AcademyAwards 2017 in protest.”

Farhadi, whose films are not overtly political, won the Academy Award for foreign language film in 2012 for “A Separation.” In an interview with The Times earlier this month, he spoke optimistically about the prospects for change in his country, where he continues to work and reside.

“In appearance, everything is becoming modern in Iran,” he said. “Buildings and skyscrapers are going up. Old buildings are being torn down. Arthur Miller is staged there. There’s cinema. But once you push that back, you see Iran’s culture and tradition beneath.”

Times staff writers Jen Yamato and Jeffrey Fleischman contributed.

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Read what Russia had to say about Vladimir Putin’s chat with President Trump

President Trump speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
(Michael Reynolds/EPA)

For years Moscow has complained that Washington does not treat it as an equal. But in a statement released after President Trump and Russian Vladimir Putin talked by phone for the first time, the tone was decidedly upbeat.

Here’s the Russian government’s statement on the phone call:

“During the meeting, both sides had shown a disposition to actively work together on stabilization and development of Russian-American interaction -- in a constructive, equal and mutually beneficial basis.

“They discussed in detail such current international issues as the fight against terrorism, the situation in the Middle East, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the sphere of strategic stability and [nuclear] non-proliferation, the situation around the Iranian nuclear program and the Korean Peninsula. They also touched upon the main aspects of the crisis in Ukraine.

“It was agreed to establish a partnership in all these and other areas. They also highlighted the priority of joint efforts in the fight against the main threat -- international terrorism.

“The presidents called for establishment of a real coordination of U.S. and Russian actions to defeat the Islamic State and other terrorist groups in Syria. Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump agreed to organize a possible date and venue for their personal meeting. The leaders agreed to maintain regular personal contacts. The conversation was held in a positive and businesslike manner.”

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Trump’s phone call with Putin comes amid European anxiety over the state of relations

It’s a day of world leader calls for President Trump, who held the first officially scheduled telephone conversation of his presidency with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.

Trump went into that call with high hopes for a “fantastic relationship,” as he put it the day before.

But longstanding American allies aren’t so upbeat about how things might now be heading in U.S.-Russian relations, and what it means for the transatlantic alliance. Trump’s Saturday to-do list also includes calls with the German chancellor and French president.

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Outpouring of criticism over Trump’s refugee ban from Democrats in Congress as GOP stays silent

Congressional reaction to President Trump’s orders banning refugees and immigrants from some Muslim countries from entering the country was swift and overwhelmingly critical among Democrats, while Republican leaders remained largely silent or accepting.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Trump had chosen a “dark path,” while both Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer of New York and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco said the Statue of Liberty had “tears.”

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), who had opposed Trump’s proposed Muslim ban in 2016, accepted the president’s move.

“President Trump is right to make sure we are doing everything possible to know exactly who is entering our country,” Ryan said in a statement.

Other Republicans made comments and tweets marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, while saying nothing of Trump’s actions on the same day.

Democrats warned that this moment would be a mark on the nation’s history.

“Shame. Shame. Shame,” tweeted Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii. “I feel sick.”

Feinstein particularly noted Trump’s imposition of a religious test by allowing Christians fleeing persecution to enter the country, but not others.

“To me, this an unbelievable action. It’s one thing to see that an individual is properly vetted. It’s an entirely different matter to say that because someone comes from a particular country or is a member of a particular faith that he or she has no access to this country,” she said.

“Let us recall the images of the body of Alan Kurdi, a 3-year-old Syrian boy, washed up on a beach and remember the staggering human toll of this crisis. There is no legitimate national security reason to ban refugees — the vast majority of whom are women and children who have experienced absolute horror.”

“I very much regret that the president has chosen this dark path for our country, Feinstein said.

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Unknown number of U.S. permanent residents stuck overseas as a result of Trump’s immigration ban

(Frederic J. Brown / AFP/Getty Images)

An undetermined number of longtime U.S. residents have been stranded overseas as a result of President Trump’s executive order temporarily blocking visas from seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

All visa holders from those seven countries are now barred entry to the U.S., including lawful permanent residents, also known as green card holders, people with U.S. work visas and other types of visas, according to a senior U.S. immigration official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.

Some of the affected countries, such as Yemen and Libya, have relatively few nationals who are U.S. permanent residents or visa holders. But a large number of Iranians have permanent residency in the U.S., as do smaller numbers from some of the other countries on the list, which includes Iraq, Syria, Somalia and Sudan.

Trump’s executive order, issued Friday, immediately affected longtime foreign residents of the U.S. who were overseas at the time the order was signed, as well as any high-skilled tech workers or other work-visa holders from those seven countries caught outside the U.S. as of Friday.

Lawyers at the Department of Homeland Security are examining Trump’s executive order and drafting instructions for border officials, the official said.

Eventually, the administration may set up a way for some visa holders to apply for a waiver from the ban, but that is still being deliberated and will take time to set up, the official said.

Lawyers at DHS are scrambling to understand the order and parse out what it means for procedures at airport checkpoints and ports of entry around the country.

Most senior DHS officials were not aware of the coming changes before they were released Friday. Immigration and customs officers are struggling to figure out which incoming travelers to let in while at the same time keep up with the normal flow of travel, the senior US immigration official said.

11:17 a.m.: This article was updated with more background.

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Netanyahu tweets his support for Trump’s border wall

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Trump has flurry of phone calls scheduled today with world leaders

President Trump is planning phone calls today with five world leaders as he begins to shape his administration’s foreign policy and establish key relationships.

At 9 a.m Pacific time, Trump is expected to speak with Russia President Vladimir Putin.

Trump said Friday that having Russia as an ally “would be an asset.” But many in the U.S. and abroad have been alarmed by Trump’s unusually friendly references to Putin, whose annexation of Crimea in 2014 led to sanctions by the U.S. and others.

Trump’s new restrictions on allowing refugees into the U.S. were likely at the top of the agenda during calls with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.

Earlier Saturday, Trump and Japan’s Prime Minister Abe spoke about working together to confront the threat posed by North Korea and deepening bilateral trade ties.

The president will end the day with a call to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

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Trump signs executive order to review military preparedness

President Trump speaks at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va.
(Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images)

The Trump administration has instructed the Pentagon to carry out a top-to-bottom review of the nation’s military, and draw up a list of plans to upgrade equipment, improve training, and address current and future threats with an increased budget.

The executive action, signed Friday during President Trump’s first visit to the Pentagon, follows through on a campaign pledge to build up the military, which Trump says was ignored under the Obama administration.

“I’m signing an executive action to begin a great rebuilding of the armed services of the United States, developing a plan for new planes, new ships, new resources and new tools for our men and women in uniform,” he said in a brief address to a crowd made up of civilians and uniformed service members.

“Our military strength will be questioned by no one,” he said. “Neither will our dedication to peace.”

Under a section called “rebuilding the U.S. armed forces,” Pentagon officials are called upon to examine U.S. nuclear forces to determine the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. security strategy. The so-called Nuclear Posture Review has taken place with each of the last three presidents.

The military must also develop plant to strengthen missile defense against foreign threats. The U.S. has 30 interceptors in Alaska and California to counter missile attacks. The system has had a bad track record in testing, with the interceptors hitting their mark just about half the time.

Defense Secretary James N. Mattis is to conduct a “readiness review” within 30 days that will assess military needs.

The order calls for the Pentagon to work with the Office of Management and Budget on a “ budget amendment for military readiness, including any proposed reallocations” for this year.

It is an unsurprising move by Trump, who as a candidate vowed to boost Pentagon spending for more soldiers, ships and aircraft, and called for a new strategy for cyberdefense.

In September, Trump called for adding more than 80,000 Army soldiers to get to 540,000 active-duty soldiers. He wants to boost active-duty Marines to 200,000 from current 182,000. He also wants increase the Navy’s ships from 287 to 350, and add to the Air Force’s fighter jet fleet by two dozen to 1,200 aircraft.

Mackenzie Eaglen, a defense analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, found that these changes could add up to $300 billion over the next four years. The Pentagon’s budget request for fiscal 2017 is around $584 billion.

During Trump’s trip, Vice President Mike Pence conducted a ceremonial swearing-in of Mattis, whose first day on the job was Saturday. Trump briefly addressed a crowd made up of civilians and uniformed service members, calling them the “backbone” and “spirit” of the nation.

Trump met with Mattis, Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the chiefs of all the military branches in a windowless Pentagon conference room, known as “the tank.” The hour-long discussion centered on the Islamic State, but also involved the range of worldwide challenges the U.S. military faces in the years ahead.

The president has yet to define what his policy is toward today’s major issues: battling Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, a renewed insurgency in Afghanistan, Russian aggression in Ukraine and a growing Chinese presence in the South China Sea.

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A government Wells Fargo complaint website has vanished. Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to know why

(Brendan Smialowski/ AFP/Getty Images)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants the acting Labor secretary to explain why a website for complaints from Wells Fargo & Co. employees has disappeared, and she has requested an update on the department’s investigation into the bank’s unauthorized-accounts scandal.

“Taking down this website enables Wells Fargo to escape full responsibility for its fraudulent actions and the department to shirk its outstanding obligations to American workers,” Warren (D-Mass.) wrote Thursday to Edward Hugler, a deputy assistant secretary and 39-year department veteran who has been acting secretary since President Trump took office.

The page was created in September after former Labor Secretary Tom Perez began a “top-to-bottom review” of how the bank treated employees as it pushed aggressive sales quotas that led to the creation of as many as 2 million accounts opened without customers’ consent.

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‘Extreme vetting’ and a halt to refugees: Trump is poised to make sweeping changes

President Trump is poised to temporarily halt the nation’s refugee program and usher in the most sweeping changes in more than 40 years to how the U.S. welcomes the world’s most vulnerable people.

Trump’s actions, which could come as soon as this afternoon, would block all refugees from entering the U.S. for 120 days and suspend the acceptance of refugees from war-torn Syria indefinitely.

He would also block visa applicants entirely from a list of countries with counterterrorism concerns, including Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, until a new “extreme vetting” procedure for visa applicants could be launched.

The U.S. has admitted more than 3.3 million refugees since 1975, and allowed more than 80,000 refugees in the last year alone. Under Trump’s plan, those numbers would plummet to a trickle, except for a narrow group of “religious minorities” that would include Christians fleeing largely Muslim countries.

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Donald Trump says he believes torture works but will defer to his Defense secretary

President Trump said Friday he still believes torture is an effective tool in the war on terror but would let Defense Secretary James Mattis’ opposing views on the issue “override” his own.

Though Trump has presented himself as a muscular leader, his public statement that a Cabinet secretary’s views on a key issue would override his own is highly unusual for a president.

Mattis “has stated publicly that he does not necessarily believe in torture or waterboarding or however you want to define it,” Trump said during a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May. “I don’t necessarily agree but I would tell you that he will override, because I’m giving him that power.”

“I happen to feel that it does work,” Trump added. “I’ve been open about that for a long period of time. But I am going with our leaders. And we’re going to win, with or without.”

European powers and human rights groups have condemned waterboarding and other outlawed torture techniques. Trump’s newly formed National Security Council has circulated draft memos that resurrected that debate.

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Donald Trump speaks with Mexican President Peña Nieto amid diplomatic standoff

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump before a news conference in Mexico City in August.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump before a news conference in Mexico City in August.
(Yuri Cortez / AFP/Getty Images)

President Trump spoke for an hour by telephone Friday morning with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, signaling a potential thaw in a stand-off that heated to a boil Thursday.

The White House confirmed the call but has not yet released details.

“We had a very good call,” Trump said Friday during a news conference with British Prime Minister Theresa May. “I have been very strong on Mexico. ... Mexico, with the United States, has out-negotiated us and beat us to a pulp. We are going to be working on a fair relationship. … The United States cannot continue to lose vast amounts of business.”

Peña Nieto canceled a White House visit Thursday following Trump’s signature on an executive order that cracked down on illegal immigration and ordered the initial steps toward building a border wall that is deeply unpopular in Mexico. Trump has said Mexico will pay for the wall, which Peña Nieto and other government officials have called a non-starter.

The Trump administration also floated the imposition of a 20% tax on imports from Mexico and elsewhere Thursday.

The call came on the same day that Trump welcomed May to the White House.

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With California’s ‘sanctuary cities,’ Trump might be starting a fight he can’t win

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

President Trump wasted no time inviting a showdown with California and other liberal states with his threat this week against so-called sanctuary cities, setting off a frenzy of resistance that will test the president’s power to carry out his vision to deport millions of people here illegally.

An executive order Trump issued Wednesday, putting cities and counties on notice that they would lose federal funding if they didn’t start cooperating with immigration agents, has broad implications for California, a state that aggressively protects its undocumented population from deportation.

But while the order allowed Trump to boast that he is fulfilling a campaign pledge, it also commits him to a fight that he is not necessarily poised to win.

The cities and counties Trump is targeting have many tools to strike back. Among the most potent are Supreme Court decisions that have interpreted financial threats such as the one Trump is now making as an unlawful intrusion on state’s rights.

In California, elected officials are skeptical about how aggressively Trump’s vague executive order can be enforced. San Francisco has determined that the order is worded in such a way that it doesn’t even apply in the city, and other cities will probably argue the same.

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Thomas Hardiman, under consideration for Supreme Court, is a champion of gun rights

Thomas Hardiman, shown in November, is a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
(Cliff Owen / Associated Press)

Judge Thomas M. Hardiman, one of three leading contenders to be named by President Trump to the Supreme Court, is a conservative jurist from Pittsburgh with a personal story not unlike many of the blue-collar voters who catapulted Trump to the White House.

The son of a cab driver and the product of public schools in Waltham, Mass., Hardiman, 51, put himself through Georgetown Law School by driving a taxi.

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Analysis: Abortion opponents embrace President Trump and their increased odds of success

Antiabortion activists meet Friday for their 44th annual march in Washington with reason for optimism: Republican control of Capitol Hill and a newly inaugurated president who appears intent on proving his later-in-life embrace of their cause.

In his first week, President Trump has moved already to limit abortion. On Monday, he reinstated a ban on funding of international organizations that provide abortion services or related counseling, reversing President Obama’s action eight years earlier. Next Thursday, he is due to announce his replacement for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia; he has said he will pick only a candidate opposed to abortion.

Vice President Mike Pence entertained march organizers Thursday night in his ceremonial office adjacent to the White House. On Friday, he will be the highest-ranking elected official to speak at the march.

Members of Congress, meantime, are pushing several abortion-limiting measures that were blocked during the Obama years.

“I’m very optimistic that things are going to go well for the pro-life movement and unborn children,” said Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee. “I think this has been a fantastic first week for the administration.”

As with many other issues, Trump’s election upended expectations, turning what would have been another term in the wilderness under Hillary Clinton into a new opportunity.

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Republicans divided over whether millions of Americans should lose government-subsidized health coverage

Quizzed about the fate of millions of Americans who depend on the Affordable Care Act and its insurance protections, President Trump invariably offers bold but vague assurances.

“I want to take care of everybody,” he said in an interview with ABC News this week, a pledge GOP lawmakers and Trump’s nominee for Health secretary have echoed in recent weeks.

But as Republicans scramble for a strategy to repeal and replace the healthcare law, they are reckoning with a fundamental question the party has never settled: whether to foot the multitrillion-dollar bill to ensure millions of Americans retain the coverage they obtained under Obamacare.

GOP lawmakers for years ducked that issue as they unified behind cries to roll back the program, with the assurance that President Obama would block them. Now, the power to actually repeal and replace the law is exposing deep divisions in the party.

On one side, fiscal conservatives, many of whom never wanted to expand government-subsidized health coverage in the first place, insist Congress must dramatically cut healthcare spending. This wing of the party is concentrated in the House.

On the other side, some GOP governors and senators argue that Republicans must protect coverage for vulnerable Americans. Many are worried about a political backlash if millions of Americans lose health insurance.

“It’s going to get really ugly on the Republican side,” predicted one former GOP congressional aide who asked not to be identified discussing tensions within his party.

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Trump welcomes British prime minister as the countries’ ‘special relationship’ faces tests

British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at the retreat for congressional Republicans in Philadelphia on Thursday. She will meet with President Trump on Friday.
( (Matt Rourke / Associated Press))

Like many U.S. and British leaders before them, President Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May will pay tribute Friday to the enduring “special relationship” between the two nations.

And in welcoming May, herself in office less than a year, scarcely a week into his presidency, Trump also aims to underscore the power of the anti-globalization movements that propelled both of them on a course that is markedly different from their predecessors.

May rose to power last summer after Brits voted to leave the European Union in a referendum that Trump touted as a precursor to his own victory, both prompted by nationalist fervor.

Having declared a new policy of “America first” in his inauguration, Trump’s focus Friday will be on the potential benefits of increased bilateral trade with Britain.

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Dispute over wall plunges border relations into crisis as Mexican president scraps White House visit

One of the United States’ most important strategic relationships plunged to a new low Thursday when an escalating dispute over a proposed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border prompted Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to cancel a planned visit to the White House.

President Trump has been in office barely a week, but his increasingly bitter feud with Mexico over who would pay for the new wall has left Mexican officials furious and now threatens to ignite a trade war between the two crucial allies.

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Miami-Dade County mayor heeds Trump’s call, effectively ending ‘sanctuary’ status

At least one leader of a liberal-leaning municipality is ready to comply with President Trump’s new immigration mandates.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez ordered county jails on Thursday to immediately comply with federal immigration detention requests. Since 2013, Miami-Dade had refused to continue to detain inmates simply because they were in the country illegally and wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The reason, argued county officials, is because the federal government does not fully reimburse the county for the expenses.

On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order that designates so-called sanctuary cities -- municipalities that defy federal immigration laws to protect individuals in the country illegally -- as “ineligible to receive federal grants” should they continue to ignore immigration laws.

“I want to make sure we don’t put in jeopardy the millions of funds we get from the federal government for a $52,000 issue,” Gimenez, a Republican who voted for Hillary Clinton, said in an interview with the Miami Herald. “It doesn’t mean that we’re going to be arresting more people. It doesn’t mean that we’re going to be enforcing any immigration laws.”

The announcement from Gimenez drew praise from Trump.

“Miami-Dade Mayor drops sanctuary policy. Right decision. Strong,” the president tweeted Thursday night.

In several sanctuary cities, from Boston to Los Angeles, local leaders have vowed to fight Trump’s executive orders.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told reporters Wednesday that he doesn’t believe the federal government can stop funding Los Angeles, citing the 10th Amendment, which addresses the powers of state and federal governments.

In 2017, the city is set to receive about $500 million from the federal government to pay for, among other things, port security and anti-gang programs. Trump’s executive order does not specify which funds would be targeted.

During his campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to strip federal funds from sanctuary cities.

In addition to speeding up the deportation of convicts, the orders Trump signed this week also call for quick removal of people in the country illegally who are charged with crimes and waiting for adjudication as well as those who have not been charged but are believed to have committed “acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense.”

“We are going to get them out, and we’re going to get them out fast,” Trump said Wednesday while speaking before employees at the Department of Homeland Security.

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U.S. considering 20% tax on imports to pay for border wall, White House says

(Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press)

The Trump administration said Thursday that it would seek to impose a tax on imports, at least from countries with which the U.S. runs a trade deficit, as a way to pay for the wall on the border with Mexico that is one of President Trump’s central campaign promises.

Although Trump repeatedly has said that Mexico would pay for the wall, the tax that White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer described to reporters actually would fall on U.S. consumers, not on Mexicans.

“Right now, our country’s policy is to tax exports and let imports flow freely in, which is ridiculous,” Spicer told reporters traveling with Trump back to Washington after a speech in Philadelphia.

By reversing that and taxing imports, “we can do $10 billion a year, and easily pay for the wall just through that mechanism alone. That’s really going to provide the funding,” Spicer said.

Although Spicer did not refer to the tax by name, his description of it seemed to make clear that he was referring to a complicated portion of the tax reform plan proposed by House Republicans. That was confirmed by House GOP officials, including Speaker Paul Ryan’s communications director, Brendan Buck.

The provision, known as a destination-based cash flow tax, essentially would function as a national sales tax on imported goods and services. It’s a key part of the GOP tax plan, but one that Trump has previously criticized as too complicated. As part of the plan, the House GOP would also lower the corporate tax rate to 20% from its current maximum level of 35%.

Such a tax would likely increase prices on some staples for American consumers, such as tomatoes and avocados, once U.S. retailers pass along the tax to consumers. Mexico is the second-largest supplier of agricultural imports to the U.S.

The price increase for consumers would be at least partially offset by an increased valuation in the dollar, experts have said.

Trump alluded to the plan earlier in remarks to House and Senate Republicans in Philadelphia.

“We’re working on a tax reform bill that will reduce our trade deficits, increase American exports and will generate revenue from Mexico that will pay for the wall, if we decide to go that route,” Trump said.

The U.S. imported $316.4 billion in goods and services from Mexico in 2015, while exporting $267.2 billion, according to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Mexico is the United States’ third-largest supplier of imports — chiefly vehicles, electrical machinery and mineral fuels.

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Trump says meeting with Mexican president would have been ‘fruitless’

(Alex Wong / Getty Images)

President Trump cast the cancellation of a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto as a mutual decision Thursday, saying the summit would have been “fruitless” unless Mexico demonstrated it would “treat the United States fairly” and “with respect.”

The scheduled summit had been billed as a chance for Trump and Peña Nieto to start discussions on the North American Free Trade Agreement and immigration, both Trump priorities. But it was Trump’s continued insistence that Mexico reimburse the U.S. for construction of a new border wall that prompted Peña Nieto to skip the visit.

Trump said that he and Peña Nieto had agreed to cancel the meeting, but Peña Nieto tweeted that Mexican officials had informed the White House that he would not be attending.

“Unless Mexico is going to treat the United States fairly, with respect, such a meeting would be fruitless,” Trump said. “And I want to go a different route.”

Speaking in Philadelphia to congressional Republicans, Trump called border security a “serious, serious national issue.”

“The American people will not pay for the wall,” he said. “It is time that the American people had a president fighting as hard for its citizens as other countries do for theirs. And that is exactly what I’m going to do for you.”

Trump said he also wouldn’t allow taxpayers to lose money because of the “defective transaction” that NAFTA represented.

Without Mexico’s agreement to pay for construction of the wall, Trump signaled one possible way to generate revenue without its cooperation: tax legislation that would reduce the trade deficit and increase American exports.

That would be part of a larger legislative agenda that Trump said could make this Republican-led Congress the busiest in decades, or “maybe ever.” After summarizing executive actions he’s taken already, Trump pointed to other priorities he would seek to move through Congress, starting with the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

He also called for a major infrastructure plan that would focus on fixing existing roads, bridges and airports before building new ones.

And he telegraphed action he was expected to take later Thursday, ordering an investigation into allegations of voter fraud that he has called a major issue, despite studies showing otherwise.

“We are going to protect the integrity of the ballot box. and we are going to defend the votes of the American citizens,” he said.

Trump, an unconventional Republican, urged his party to embrace its heritage as “the party of American industry and the American worker.”

“Think of everything we can achieve. And remember who we must achieve it for,” he said. “We’re here now because tens of millions of Americans have placed their hopes in us to transfer power from Washington, D.C., and give it back to the people. Now we have to deliver.”

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Border Patrol chief is abruptly out after being brought in as a reformer

The chief of the Border Patrol will leave his post at the end of the month, likely the result of a change in direction by the Trump administration and a reflection of the new power of the agency’s union.

Mark Morgan, the agency’s head, was hired from the FBI in June to reform the force after a series of corruption allegations and problems with excessive force. He will leave the Border Patrol abruptly after seven months on the job, according to a person familiar with the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Morgan’s departure was first reported by the Associated Press.

Morgan spent 20 years at the FBI and was first brought to Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol’s parent agency, in 2014 to overhaul its internal affairs division. After a subsequent stint running the FBI’s training academy, he started the top job at the Border Patrol in June.

The Border Patrol’s union had opposed Morgan’s appointment, preferring a candidate who had risen through the ranks of the agency.

The union endorsed President Trump in the election, breaking with its practice of remaining neutral in elections.

News of Morgan’s departure comes a day after Trump announced he would build a border wall and hire 5,000 more Border Patrol agents, bringing the total force to 26,000. Trump said the Border Patrol union would have a lot of clout in department decisions.

From the archives: An outsider takes charge of the Border Patrol — and yes, he’ll wear the green uniform >>

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Trump will order a voter fraud investigation today, White House says

President Trump will sign an executive order Thursday detailing the nature of the investigation he has promised into his claim of widespread voter fraud, the White House said.

Trump was still working with senior advisors on the details of the order, which would address potential voter fraud and faulty registration, Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters.

In an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, Trump once again said, without offering evidence, that “millions of votes” were cast illegally in the election, including ballots cast in the name of dead voters, by noncitizens and by individuals registered in multiple states.

“There are millions of votes, in my opinion,” he said, citing a Pew report as evidence when challenged.

The report’s author recently reiterated its conclusion that voter rolls are susceptible to fraud but not that any widespread fraud has occurred.

Trump also said he wasn’t concerned that he was undermining a core tenet of American government by raising doubts about the credibility of elections.

“Millions of people agree with me,” he said.

Trump will sign the order in Washington after a trip to Philadelphia to speak with House and Senate Republicans, the White House said.

GOP lawmakers have been circumspect about whether they believe an investigation is necessary.

“If the administration decides to pursue some sort of investigation on that, we will certainly cooperate in any way that they ask for,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Senate Republican conference, told reporters at the retreat.

“But all I can tell you is this — we had an election, it was a decisive outcome. We have a new president, a new Congress and I view the election as history and we’re ready to roll up our sleeves and go to work for the American people.”

Advocates have expressed concern that the investigation will be used as a way to limit voters’ ability to cast ballots.

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Mexican president cancels White House visit

Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto has canceled his planned meeting with U.S. President Trump over disagreements over who would pay for construction of a border wall.

In a tweet, Peña Nieto said his government informed the White House on Thursday morning that the meeting in Washington, planned for next Tuesday, is off.

The Mexican president’s announcement comes after President Trump warned him on Twitter early Thursday morning to stay home and skip the meeting unless Mexico is willing to fund construction of a wall.

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Speaker Paul Ryan promises funds for Trump’s border wall; can’t guarantee it won’t add to deficit

Congress expects to quickly approve money for President Trump’s border wall with Mexico this year, but House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) could not guarantee Thursday that Republicans won’t add to the budget deficit to pay for it.

Ryan said the White House would submit the funding request “very shortly” and he promised that the GOP-led Congress would process it “before the end of the current fiscal year,” which is Sept. 30. He estimated the cost at $12 billion to $15 billion, but others have put it higher.

“We have ambitious goals and ambitious timelines,” Ryan said.

But that to-do list continues to become complicated by the evolving relationship between the president and his Republican team in Congress.

Trump is expected to address congressional Republicans later Thursday during their annual agenda-setting retreat amid street protests and heightened security in downtown Philadelphia.

Asked specifically if Republicans, who have the majority in the House and Senate, could commit to fulfilling their legislative goals without adding to the deficit this year, Ryan demurred.

He also declined to say whether the costs of the border wall with Mexico would be offset with spending cuts elsewhere, as is traditionally the GOP model -- for example, they wanted emergency funding in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy to be paid for with reductions elsewhere.

“We’ll wait and see,” Ryan said.

Several hundred protesters sang and danced in the streets into the night Wednesday, with more expected Thursday at the host hotel. Lawmakers were being given security escorts to cross city streets.

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Mexican president says he might skip his visit, so now Trump says he may not be invited anyway

What to do when a guest says he is feeling insulted and may not come to your house? If you’re President Trump, you begin spreading the word that he might not be invited after all.

That was Trump’s reaction on Twitter this morning to news out of Mexico, where President Enrique Peña Nieto is facing pressure to skip next week’s meeting at the White House.

“If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall,” Trump tweeted Thursday morning, “then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.”

The tweets were in stark contrast to Trump’s rhetoric Wednesday. While announcing an executive order to begin construction on a border wall that is deeply unpopular in Mexico, Trump insisted that it would be mutually beneficial.

“I have deep admiration for the people of Mexico and I greatly look forward to meeting again with the president of Mexico,” he said

Trump campaigned on the wall and the promise that Mexico would pay for it, which the Mexican government has called a non-starter and deeply insulting.

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Thousands in New York protest possible new limits on immigration

Protest in New York
(Barbara Demick / Los Angeles Times)

With President Trump mulling an executive order to restrict Muslim immigration, the resistance has begun. A hastily organized demonstration drew thousands of New Yorkers on Wednesday night to Washington Square Park, where they vowed to fight back.

Mayor Bill de Blasio also called an emergency news conference promising to protect immigrants and to challenge threatened moves by Trump to strip funding from cities that provide sanctuary.

“We’re going to defend all of our people, regardless of where they come from and regardless of their documentation status,” the mayor said.

The demonstration drew native New Yorkers and immigrants alike, holding banners and candles.

“The children are scared. They don’t know what is to become of them and their families,’’ said Melissa Farran, a 42, a kindergarten teacher at PS 261 in Brooklyn. The school has a large population of students from Yemen, one of the countries that could be placed on a watch list.

“I demonstrate against extremists wherever they are, in Iran or in the United States,’’ said Saeed Vasebi, 28, an Iranian PhD student researching renewable energy in the U.S. He noted that when he lived in Tehran, he had demonstrated against former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “Now I march against Trump.”

Iranian visas would be limited by a draft policy under consideration, and Vasebi said he will likely be unable to go home this summer to visit his fianceé, for fear of being unable to return.

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What we learned from Trump’s first prime-time interview

President Trump is still soaking up the office — its challenges, its potential and the scrutiny. But what was also clear from his first prime-time television interview is how little has changed since he was sworn in just five days ago. Here’s some what of was revealed in Trump’s conversation Wednesday with ABC News’ David Muir.

  • He’s still miffed about coverage of inaugural crowds.
    “We had the biggest audience in the history of inaugural speeches,” he said. “I won’t allow you or other people like you to demean that crowd and to demean the people that came to Washington, D.C., from faraway places because they like me.” Later, Trump referred to the gathering on the National Mall as a “sea of love.”

    He also rejected criticism of his remarks to the CIA on Saturday. “That speech was a home run,” he said. “We see what Fox said. They said it was one of the great speeches.”

  • There’s no convincing him voter fraud isn’t a major issue.
    One exchange was instructive, when Muir challenged him for evidence of his incorrect claim that as many as 5-million people voted illegally in the election. Trump cited a Pew study, but Muir said the author told him he found no evidence of fraud.

    “Really?” Trump shot back. “Then why did he write the report?”

    Trump also insisted, without evidence, that any illegal votes were cast only by Democrats. “None of ‘em came to me.” Yet of the four or so known cases of voter fraud in the election, at least one was a woman’s attempt to vote twice for Trump.

  • Potential world reaction won’t discourage him from national security actions.
    Asked about an executive action expected this week to implement the kind of “extreme vetting” he promised during the campaign, Trump rejected Muir’s suggestion that it could further inflame the Muslim world. “There’s plenty of anger right now. How can you have more?” Trump asked back. “The world is a mess. The world is as angry as it gets. What? You think this is gonna cause a little more anger?”
  • His healthcare plan is short on details, big on promises.
    When Muir asked how Trump could deliver on a pledge to provide “insurance for everybody,” the president’s answer was more a statement of political tactics than a detailed plan. He said that in conversations with Republicans about an alternative to Obamacare, he suggested the easiest thing would be to “let it explode.” “But the right thing to do is to get something done now. So I wanna make sure that nobody’s dying on the streets when I’m president. Nobody’s gonna be dying on the streets. We will unleash something that’s gonna be terrific.”
  • He appeared to consider resurrecting the use of secret overseas prisons to hold terrorism suspects, despite an aide’s claims that a draft memo suggesting it wasn’t from the White House.
    In the interview, recorded Wednesday morning, Muir asked Trump about reports he would lift a ban on the practice. “I’ll be talking about that in about two hours,” he said. But his public remarks
    later in the day made no mention of such a tactic.

    White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer had insisted that the document, which was detailed in news reports, was not one that had been given consideration.

    Trump also said he would consider bringing back waterboarding. “I wanna do everything within the bounds of what you’re allowed to do legally. But do I feel it works? Absolutely I feel it works.”

    Waterboarding and other so-called enhanced interrogation techniques were outlawed by Congress in 2015.

  • His relationship with President Obama has come a long way.
    In the Oval Office, Trump held up a long letter that Obama left for him. “So well-written, so thoughtful,” he said. “I called him and thanked him for the thought that was put in it.”
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Mexican president rejects Trump’s border wall -- and says he won’t pay for it

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said he rejects and condemns U.S. President Trump’s plan to immediately begin construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In a televised address Wednesday night, Peña Nieto said Mexico “does not believe in walls.” His voice rising, Peña Nieto repeated his promise that Mexico “will not pay” for construction of a border barrier.

Peña Nieto is facing considerable pressure from other Mexican leaders to boycott a planned meeting with Trump in Washington next week.

On Wednesday, Trump directed the Department of Homeland Security to begin building a wall along stretches of the southern border where a barrier does not already exist.

In what political analysts and many Mexicans viewed as a stinging insult, the order came the same day that Mexico’s foreign secretary, Luis Videgaray, arrived in Washington for talks with White House officials on trade and other issues ahead of Peña Nieto’s planned visit.

In his address, Peña Nieto didn’t say whether he planned to attend the meeting, saying he would make that decision after consulting with Videgaray and the delegation of officials currently in Washington.

Peña Nieto, who has repeatedly called for dialogue with Trump, left a door open for attending the meeting, saying he feels a “responsibility to defend and take care of the interests of Mexico and Mexicans.”

“It is my duty to address the problems and to face the challenges,” he said.

Dozens of Mexican leaders have called on Peña Nieto to cancel his trip, saying Trump’s bold actions on the border wall prove he is not interested in dialogue.

Ricardo Anaya, president of the opposition National Action Party, or PAN, said the timing of Trump’s announcement just before Peña Nieto’s visit to the U.S. “is an insult.”

“There are no conditions for a meeting with Trump,” he said.

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Protest scene outside congressional GOP retreat in Philadelphia

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GOP Rep. Liz Cheney wants Trump to revisit enhanced interrogation program. Other lawmakers? Not so much

One notable Republican lawmaker on Wednesday welcomed the potential revival of enhanced interrogation techniques under President Trump.

GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, the daughter of the former vice president, said she was “heartened” by reports that Trump may reconsider using the program.

“The president is doing the right thing,” said Cheney, now a congresswoman from Wyoming, speaking at a GOP retreat in Philadelphia.

The younger Cheney has long defended the program backed by her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney during the George W. Bush administration.

Congress essentially banned the use of such techniques in 2014, updating the Army Field Manual, amid growing concerns over the torture of terror suspects.

The new congresswoman suggested the techniques have been misunderstood, and were “very limited ... to only three people who were water-boarded, and used in a situation where we had to get information to save American lives.”

“We don’t torture. We haven’t tortured. But what we’re talking about is the ability to get information from people who don’t want to provide information.”

Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), warned Trump off the move, pointing to a Senate Intelligence Committee report showing that the use of torture was ineffective.

“Capturing terrorist suspects and torturing them in secret facilities failed. Period,” Feinstein said.

Other Republican lawmakers were cool to Trump’s potential interest in reopening that debate, amid other GOP priorities.

“We have a lot of big things to deal with before that,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a former Iraq War veteran.

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Trump says the U.S. ‘gets back control of its borders’

(Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press)

President Trump declared Wednesday that he is restoring the rule of law, directing federal officials to begin work on a border wall and to retaliate against cities that refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement.

“A nation without borders is not a nation,” Trump said in remarks at the Department of Homeland Security. “Beginning today, the United States of America gets back control of its borders.”

Trump signed a pair of executive orders that begin implementing his core campaign promises: building a wall along the border with Mexico and cracking down on crime tied to the flow of illegal immigration.

The new tools will allow the agency to once again “properly do your jobs,” Trump said.

Trump’s orders direct funds to begin construction of the wall — though he would need approval from Congress to spend the tens of billions of dollars to build the entire structure — add lockups for detaining immigrants who cross the border illegally, enhance enforcement power for border agents and strip federal funding to so-called sanctuary cities.

He also called for the hiring of 5,000 additional Border Patrol officers and tripling the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

“We are going to get the bad ones out,” he said of illegal immigrants who commit crime. “The day is over when they can stay in our country and wreak havoc.”

Trump insisted that his actions would be beneficial to both the U.S. and Mexico. He campaigned on forcing Mexico to pay for the wall, though Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who’s due to visit the White House next week, has repeatedly refused to go along.

“We are going to save lives on both sides of the border. And we also understand that a strong and healthy economy in Mexico is very good for the United States,” Trump said. “I truly believe we can enhance the relationship between our two nations to a degree not seen before, certainly not in a very long time.”

Asked earlier whether he expected Peña Nieto to accept Trump’s moves, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer answered: “I hope so.”

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GOP retreat veers off message amid questions about Trump’s plan on voter fraud and torture

Congressional Republicans opened their retreat in Philadelphia with lofty plans to address tax and health policy issues, but swiftly slipped off message, thanks to President Trump’s latest announcements Wednesday.

Trump’s decision to investigate unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and the administration’s apparent interest in reviewing the ban on enhanced interrogation techniques were not what House and Senate Republicans had on their agenda.

But after conference chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) optimistically opened the event, giving nod to their location “steps away from where our founding fathers came together to form a new government,” questions quickly turned to the White House.

One by one, the Republican leaders were forced to answer for Trump’s latest statements and executive orders, which were being disclosed as lawmakers convened.

Trump’s call for an investigation into voter fraud -- which he claims cost him the popular vote -- was met with skepticism from the No. 3 Republican on Capitol Hill, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota.

“We’ve moved on,” Thune said.

Thune said he had “not seen any evidence” to support Trump’s assertions of widespread fraud resulting in millions of illegal votes.

“We had an election, it was a decisive outcome, we have a new president, a new Congress,” said the senator. “I view the election as history.”

Neither Thune, who co-organized the GOP retreat, nor McMorris Rodgers appeared to have reviewed Trump’s draft executive orders.

One draft being circulated would lift the ban on harsh interrogation tactics -- which were outlawed by Congress in 2014 -- and the use of secretive overseas sites to hold terror suspects.

“Those issues are settled law,” said Thune, who predicted that members of Congress would resist reviving that debate.

“With respect to torture. That’s banned,” he said. “We’ve spoken on that .... It would take a change in the law.”

When it comes to having Congress pay for the new border wall with Mexico, Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) said: “We’ll have those discussions.”

The annual thee-day conference is traditionally an opportunity for House and Senate partisans to hash out policy details and set their agenda for the year.

Tax reform topped Wednesday’s session, followed by later discussions on how to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Trump is expected to address the group this week, as protesters gather in downtown Philadelphia to oppose the GOP agenda.

The group is also expected to hear from British Prime Minister Theresa May and various motivational speakers, including former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning.

The leaders acknowledged there will be times when Republicans in Congress and their party leader in the White House will not always be on the same page.

“This is obviously a transition that’s underway here,” said Thune. “I expect you’ll see probably better coordination in time.”

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Federal agents are reinvestigating Syrian refugees in U.S. who may have slipped through vetting lapse

Migrants and refugees, many of them Syrian, rest on the ground as they wait to enter a registration camp after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border on Nov. 18.
Migrants and refugees, many of them Syrian, rest on the ground as they wait to enter a registration camp after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border on Nov. 18.
(Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP/Getty Images)

Federal agents are reinvestigating the backgrounds of dozens of Syrian refugees already in the United States after discovering a lapse in vetting that allowed some who had potentially negative information in their files to enter the country, two U.S. law enforcement officials said.

Agents have not concluded that any of the refugees should have been rejected for entry, but the apparent glitch — which was discovered in late 2015 and corrected last year — prevented U.S. officials who conducted background checks on the refugees from learning about possible “derogatory” information about them, the two officials said. At a minimum, the intelligence would have triggered further investigation that could have led some asylum applications to be rejected.

The refugees whose cases are under review include one who failed a polygraph test when he applied to work at a U.S. military installation overseas and another who may have been in communication with an Islamic State leader, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

The officials cautioned that the investigations were preliminary and that often such initial red flags turn out to be mistakes or benign. For example, someone could speak to an Islamic State militant without knowing about that affiliation, they said.

But the vetting gap raises questions about the Syrian refugee screening process, which the Obama administration had often described as exhaustive and rigorous, but which President Trump has criticized as a national security risk.

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Trump to announce actions targeting sanctuary cities, top ally says

(Ron Sachs / EPA)

President Trump is preparing to take executive action that would target funding for so-called sanctuary cities, part of a series of moves he is considering announcing this week on immigration and national security.

UPDATE: Trump orders moves on border wall and sanctuary cities; refugee ban is drafted and being considered

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a close ally of the new administration, telegraphed the sanctuary cities announcement during a speech Wednesday to the conservative Heritage Foundation. He called it a “common sense” action that would “drive the left crazy.”

The move would fulfill one of Trump’s signature campaign promises: forcing police in such major jurisdictions as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago to work more closely with immigration officials and demand local jails hold people who are in the country illegally, even if they were cleared of criminal charges.

Federal funding for those cities and counties could be put at risk by the order, as officials at the departments of Justice and Homeland Security review what types of grants could be withheld. Exactly how much funding would be stripped is unclear, and it could take months for the full impact of the order to be seen.

Police chiefs in many towns have said that working closely with federal immigration officials undermines trust with the immigrant community and makes people less likely to report crimes or testify as witnesses. In many sanctuary cities, police do work with immigration officials to hand over suspects with violent criminal records who are arrested.

During the campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to punish sanctuary cities if he was elected and brought relatives of people killed by immigrants who were in the country illegally onto the stage at his rallies.

Gingrich cited a surge in violence in Chicago as a prime example of why the policy is not working.

“I can’t wait to see [Mayor] Rahm Emanuel explain why Chicago needs more murderers and more rapists on the street,” he said.

Trump is due to announce a series of new executive actions during a visit Wednesday afternoon to the Department of Homeland Security.

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Trump considers ramping up interrogations, including banned torture techniques, and use of secret prisons overseas

(Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images)

President Trump is considering lifting restrictions on harsh interrogations and renewing the use of secret overseas sites to hold terrorism suspects, both widely seen as dark chapters of the post-9/11 era, as he looks to follow through on his campaign promise to ramp up targeting of Islamic militants.

During the campaign, Trump repeatedly said he would bring back waterboarding and other harsh tactics that were part of the so-called enhanced interrogation program, which was installed after the Sept. 11 attacks and widely considered a stain on the CIA’s record. A Senate Intelligence Committee report in 2014 concluded that the torture methods diminished U.S. standing in the world and failed to produce significant intelligence.

Aides have prepared executive actions to lift bans on both. The drafts were first reported by the New York Times.

Trump is expected to ask national security officials to review what interrogation methods are allowed under the Army Field Manual. Techniques that go beyond what the manual allows were outlawed by Congress in 2014.

He could also order the CIA to consider bringing back the use of so-called black sites for secretly holding terrorism suspects, a practice that President Obama banned in 2009, as well as sending detainees to the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Trump’s CIA director, Mike Pompeo, repeatedly told senators at his confirmation hearing that he would not restart the CIA’s use of secret prisons and would refuse any orders from the White House to torture suspects.

The CIA and the military’s Joint Special Operations Command are expected to play a major role in increasing attacks on Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, a priority for Trump. During his inaugural address Friday, Trump promised to “eradicate from the face of the Earth” Islamic terrorist groups like Islamic State and Al Qaeda.

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Greenpeace protesters hang ‘RESIST’ banner near White House

Greenpeace protesters on Wednesday scaled a 270-foot construction crane blocks from the White House and unfurled a huge banner that urges people to “RESIST” the Trump administration.

Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department closed streets in the area as two of the seven protestors who climbed up the crane dangled alongside the 70-by-35-foot banner.

The crane is being used in construction of the new headquarters of Fannie Mae, the housing finance giant bailed out by the federal government during the financial crisis.

Viewed from Constitution Avenue and the National Mall, the banner hovers over the White House.

Greenpeace said on its website that it wanted people “to resist Trump’s attacks on environmental, social, economic, and educational justice to contribute to a better America.”

Protestors on the crane were streaming their activities on Facebook Live.

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Trump now wants an investigation into unproven claims of voter fraud

President Trump says he will ask for a “major investigation” into potential voter fraud in the election, a probe that he says could lead to new laws on voter access.

In a morning tweet, Trump said his investigation would focus on three areas: people registered to vote in multiple states, non-citizens voting, and votes attributed to the names of deceased individuals.

The declaration comes after Trump once again, without evidence, expressed his view that as many 5 million illegal votes were cast last November -- a tally that he and the White House has said is based on “studies” and “evidence” presented to the president.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday floated the idea of an investigation in response to multiple questions about Trump’s unproven claims.

A 2012 Pew Center study found that 1.8 million deceased individuals were still listed as voters, and that 2.75 million people were registered to vote in multiple states. But it found no evidence that false votes were cast. The number of people registered in multiple states was largely attributed to the number of people who moved in the preceding four years -- particularly as a result of the Great Recession and the high rate of mobility among young individuals.

Spicer also alluded to an Old Dominion University study from 2008, which found 14% of people who voted were non-citizens. Many independent experts said the study’s methodology was severely flawed.

Left unsaid in the pair of Twitter messages is who would conduct the study, and many on the left quickly expressed concern that one led by the administration would be used as a precursor to enact further limitations on voting.

Trump’s tweet about a voter fraud investigation comes on a day when his administration is readying another round of executive actions, potentially tied to border security and other restrictions on immigration.

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‘We will build the wall!’: Trump to order construction on border and may clamp down on refugee admissions

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

Donald Trump will launch his long-promised effort to build a “big, beautiful” border wall Wednesday, likely diverting funds from existing federal programs to jump-start construction.

Trump previewed his executive action Tuesday night, tweeting: “Big day planned on NATIONAL SECURITY tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall!”

His advisors are also presenting plans to punish so-called sanctuary cities that limit cooperation with immigration officials, as well as orders that would block Syrian refugees from entering the U.S. and cut the number of refugees from countries “compromised by terrorism.”

Trump built his campaign largely on a call for stricter immigration enforcement, his central promise a vow to build the border wall. Though it evoked cheers from his supporters at campaign rallies, his divisive rhetoric stoked fears among immigrants.

Trump plans to speak to employees at the Department of Homeland Security’s headquarters in Washington on Wednesday afternoon. He may announce a new policy that limits grant funding to sanctuary cities.

Also, among the actions being considered are restricting admissions of refugees and some visa applicants from countries where the U.S. has counter-terrorism concerns, such as Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Trump administration officials were still deciding on the exact timing for announcing the new policies.

Constructing a wall to cover the entire expanse of the 2,000-mile-long border with Mexico, as Trump has promised, will cost tens of billions of dollars, according to estimates. Trump has insisted Mexico would pay for the wall, though Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has said his country would never foot the bill. He is scheduled to visit the White House next week to discuss trade, another Trump priority.

Short of that plan, fully funding the wall would require approval from Congress.

In the meantime, the Homeland Security budget includes about $175 million set aside for upgrading Border Patrol buildings and adding new equipment, which along with other funds could be diverted quickly to start construction on a wall.

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Badlands National Park tweets, then deletes, climate facts hours after news breaks of EPA gag order

It’s not uncommon for Badlands National Park in South Dakota to tweet facts on climate change and evolution. But a string of tweets from the park about climate change Tuesday were later abruptly deleted, and that raised immediate speculation on social media: had the park gone rogue?

The tweets came hours after news broke that the Trump administration had placed a gag order on the Environmental Protection Agency and its employees, banning them from publishing blog posts, issuing news releases and commenting on social media.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture was also ordered to refrain from posting anything online.

Meanwhile, the Badlands Twitter account was alerting its followers to record-setting concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. After thousands retweeted the three tweets, they were deleted without explanation.

It’s customary for incoming administrations to require government agencies to shut down their communication as the new team solidifies its strategy.

Badlands’ tweets weren’t the first from the National Park Service that had an air of defiance.

On Jan. 16, the federal holiday marking the birthday of civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the official Twitter account of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is managed by the park service, tweeted an image of King with a quote about civil disobedience.

Later, the park service’s official account retweeted an image appearing to show the size of the crowd that turned out for Trump’s inauguration in comparison to Barack Obama’s in 2009 -- an issue that quickly became a political hot potato.

The account’s administrators later apologized for the tweet.

It’s worth noting that several official government accounts, including those run by the National Park Service and the EPA, have remained dark since this weekend.

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Senate confirms Nikki Haley as Trump’s pick for U.N. ambassador

The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Nikki Haley, the popular South Carolina governor with little foreign affairs experience, as President Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Haley has received a more favorable reception than other Trump nominees now tangled in confirmation battles. The vote was 96 to 4.

The two-term Republican governor has split with Trump on key foreign policy issues, particularly her skepticism of Russia. But Haley agrees with the president’s goal of relocating the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem — a controversial move because both Israelis and Palestinians view the city as their capital.

Her lack of expertise in global affairs expertise could prove challenging, especially with a president who has been critical of the United Nations. Haley did not initially endorse Trump for president, and in fact criticized his tone on the campaign trail.

But Haley, a charismatic leader and South Carolina-born daughter of immigrants from India, has shown her ability to navigate the political divide. She later backed Trump’s candidacy.

During her confirmation hearing, she testified that she hopes to influence Trump on “the importance of alliances [and] that the U.N. matters.”

At home, her leadership in removing the Confederate flag from the state Capitol after the 2015 mass shooting at an African American church in Charleston was largely received as a step toward racial healing.

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Trump’s unproven claims of widespread voter fraud trip up White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer

President Trump’s continued insistence that as many as 5 million people illegally cast votes in the election induced further heartburn for the nascent administration Tuesday, as his press secretary struggled to explain and defend the unproven claim before ultimately abruptly ending his second televised briefing.

Sean Spicer told reporters that Trump stood by his claim that 3 million to 5 million votes were illegally cast, which was a subject of conversation between Trump and congressional leaders during a White House visit the night before.

“He was having a discussion with some folks and mentioned something in passing, which has been a longstanding belief that he’s maintained,” Spicer said. “This isn’t the first time that you’ve heard this concern of his.”

Spicer said the president’s assessment was based on “studies” and “evidence that has been presented to him.” Pressed for specifics, he cited a Pew study from 2008 that he said found 14% of people who voted were noncitizens. He appeared to be referring to a study by researchers from Old Dominion University whose conclusions have been mostly debunked.

Trump has made the claim before, apparently based off a story on the conspiracy-theory website Infowars.

No evidence exists of widespread voter fraud. Such a collusion would be all but impossible, given the decentralized nature of U.S. elections.

But where Spicer appeared to run into the most trouble was when he was asked whether the president would support an investigation into illegal balloting, if he believes it does exist.

“If 3 [million] to 5 million people voted illegally, that is a scandal of astronomical proportions,” one reporter said to Spicer. “Why not investigate?”

“Well, maybe we will,” Spicer responded.

Pressed again about a potential investigation, Spicer said none existed.

“There is no investigation,” he said. “I said it was possible. Anything is possible. It was a hypothetical question.”

Moments later, Spicer ended the briefing abruptly after an aide walked in and placed a note on his lectern.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who was present for Trump’s discussion Monday, said Republicans have an obligation to reject Trump’s falsehoods.

But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declined to contradict the president. “It does occur,” he said of voting fraud. “Most states have done a better job on this front, but the notion that election fraud is a fiction is not true.”

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, a Democrat, accused Trump of “dangerously attacking the legitimacy” of American elections.

“These are not ‘alternative facts.’ They are corrosive lies without any evidence,” he said in a statement, referring to Trump senior advisor Kellyanne Conway’s formulation Sunday about the administration’s false claims about inaugural attendance.

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Trump administration orders media blackout at EPA

The Trump administration has instituted a media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency and barred staff from awarding any new contracts or grants.

Emails sent to EPA staff since President Trump’s inauguration on Friday and reviewed by the Associated Press detailed the specific prohibitions banning news releases, blog updates or posts to the agency’s social media accounts.

The Trump administration has also ordered a “temporary suspension” of all new business activities at the department, including issuing task orders or work assignments to EPA contractors. The orders are expected to have a significant and immediate impact on EPA activities nationwide.

Similar orders barring external communications have been issued by the Trump administration at other federal agencies in recent days, including the Agriculture and Interior departments.

Staffers in EPA’s public affairs office are instructed to forward all inquiries from reporters to the Office of Administration and Resources Management.

“Incoming media requests will be carefully screened,” one directive said. “Only send out critical messages, as messages can be shared broadly and end up in the press.”

A review of EPA websites and social media accounts, which typically include numerous new posts each day, showed no new activity since Friday.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday he had no information on the blackout. He said aides were looking into the circumstances.

UPDATE

12:40 p.m: This post was updated with more detail on the order and comment from White House spokesman Sean Spicer.

This post was originally published at 10:06 a.m.

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Trump’s pick for budget chief answers questions about his tax lapse

Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C), President Trump's nominee to run the White House budget office, speaks at his Senate confirmation hearing in Washington.
(Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)

Rep. Mick Mulvaney, picked to be President Trump’s budget chief, came under expected fire for failing to pay more than $15,000 in taxes for his children’s nanny, but it didn’t appear that would torpedo his nomination, as has happened with past Cabinet selections.

At a Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, most of the discussion instead focused on the South Carolina Republican’s views on the nation’s deficits and budget, particularly his past statements indicating the need to “end Medicare as we know it” and to fix Social Security, which Mulvaney at one time called a Ponzi scheme.

Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the budget committee’s ranking Democratic member, described Mulvaney’s remarks as “way out of touch” with the American public and Trump’s own campaign promise to maintain federal retirement programs without cuts.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said: “The alarm bells should be going off right now” for American seniors.

Mulvaney, a stalwart member of the tea party, said he was not advocating changes that would affect the benefits of current recipients, but for future beneficiaries. He did not budge, however, from his view that the nation’s entitlement programs were unsustainable and needed to be overhauled. And if confirmed as director of the Office of Management and Budget, he told the committee that he would advise the president to make appropriate changes.

The exchange with Mulvaney foreshadowed what many regard as an inevitable clash between parties — and between Trump and congressional Republican leaders — in reconciling the nation’s large and growing debt with the president’s pledge to boost infrastructure investments, cut taxes and increase defense spending.

Mulvaney’s personal tax problem was seen as a potentially major obstacle to his confirmation, but the hearing quickly moved to broader budgetary issues after Mulvaney acknowledged that he had made a mistake and explained what had happened.

Mulvaney, 49, said that he and his wife had hired a woman to help take care of their newborn triplets from 2000 to 2004. He said he did not consider her a household employee for whom his family had to pay taxes.

“In our minds, she was a babysitter. She did not live with us. She did not spend the night there,” he told the Senate Budget Committee.

Mulvaney said it wasn’t until he was selected to be Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, and given a questionnaire, that he realized that he should have paid taxes. He said he notified the Trump transition team as well as the Senate, and then paid more than $15,000 in federal taxes and fees.

Sanders, echoing an earlier comment by Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), insisted that the tax lapse was a “serious issue” and noted that similar cases had caused past Democratic nominees to withdraw. That list includes former Sen. Tom Daschle, President Obama’s first pick for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Committee Republicans came to Mulvaney’s defense. Sen.Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyo.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, countered that some Democratic nominees, including Ron Brown for Commerce secretary under President Clinton, were confirmed despite failing to pay taxes for a domestic employee.

“I am pleased that President Trump has nominated a fiscal conservative for this key post,” Enzi said.

12:33: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified Ron Brown as working in the Obama administration, rather than the Clinton administration.

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Concerns about the environment and climate change are growing, poll finds

Americans remain most worried about terror and the economy as President Trump’s term begins, but in part because of his successful campaign, citizens have grown more concerned about environmental protections and global trade than in past years, according to a new Pew Research poll.

More than half of the Americans surveyed — 55% — said protecting the environment should be among the top priorities of the new president. Trump campaigned on loosening such protections, and on Tuesday, he reversed some Obama administration policies to potentially restart the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines. He also has made clear his intent to weaken environmental regulations that he says harm the economy.

The desire to place the environment at the top of the new president’s concerns has risen by 14 points since the start of President Obama’s first term. Similarly, concern about climate change has risen 8 points, to 38%.

Views on the environment are sharply partisan. Among Democrats, 72% said that protecting the environment should be a top priority, compared with 35% of Republicans. On another environmental question, 62% of Democrats said fighting global climate change should be a top priority; only 15% of Republicans shared that view.

The importance that Democrats place on climate change has increased over the last several years. In 2015, 46% said it should be a top priority; last year, that rose to 56% before increasing again this year, the Pew survey said. Republican interest in it has ebbed slightly, from 19% in 2015 to 16% in 2016, statistically the same as it is now.

On the issue of trade, 40% of Americans now consider it a top priority for the Trump administration, up from 31% last year. Trump promised during the campaign to void trade deals that he said hurt American manufacturing jobs, and on Monday, he officially pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal. The poll did not make clear whether the increased interest in the topic was driven by opponents or supporters of his position.

Overall, Republicans were far more concerned than were Democrats about strengthening the military, dealing with immigration, reducing the budget deficit and enacting tax reform. Apart from reducing the budget deficit, all were central issues in Trump’s successful campaign.

On the matter of immigration, 59% of Republicans felt that it should be a top priority, a view held by only 31% of Democrats. The percentage among Democrats fell 10 points this year. But rather than indicate disinterest in the topic, the results may suggest a desire for the issue to be put on a back burner during a time of unified Republican control of Washington.

“It may be that the decline among Democrats is due to not wanting this president and this Congress to deal with immigration,” said Jocelyn Kiley, Pew’s associate director of political research.

Overall, Democrats were far more concerned than Republicans about environmental issues, taking care of the poor and needy and addressing race relations, the poll found.

But several issues were of interest to all Americans, regardless of party. More than three-quarters of Americans said defending against terrorism was a top priority, a view that has not changed over the last eight years. Predictably, it has been a strong interest since the 2001 terror attacks on the United States.

More than 7 in 10 — 73% — want Trump to work on strengthening the economy. But that number actually has fallen 12 points since Obama took office, a reflection of widespread improvements in the economy and jobs market over his tenure.

The poll questioned 1,502 adults Jan. 4-9. The margin of error is 2.9 points in either direction, with a larger margin for sub-samples.

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Conservative Colorado judge emerges as a top contender to fill Scalia’s Supreme Court seat

Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, a highly regarded conservative jurist best known for upholding religious liberty rights in the legal battles over Obamacare, has emerged as a leading contender for President Trump’s first Supreme Court nomination.

Gorsuch, 49, was among 21 potential high court candidates circulated by Trump’s team during the campaign, but his stock has been rising lately as several admirers and supporters have been named to positions in the Trump administration.

In Gorsuch, supporters see a jurist who has strong academic credentials, a gift for clear writing and a devotion to deciding cases based on the original meaning of the Constitution and the text of statutes, as did the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

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President Trump promises Supreme Court announcement next week

(Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images)

President Trump said Tuesday he plans to announce his Supreme Court nominee next week, his first and most significant step to reshape the federal judiciary.

The fate of the high court seat left vacant after the February 2016 death of Justice Antonin Scalia was a major issue in the presidential race. The Senate’s Republican majority refused to consider President Obama’s choice, Judge Merrick Garland.

Trump said at a news conference earlier this month that the choice would likely be announced within his first two weeks in office. He told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday he would make a final decision this week — and promised it would be a “truly great” nominee.

Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, who serves on the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, has emerged as a leading contender, as has Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of Alabama, who serves on the U.S. 11th Circuit Court in Atlanta.

Trump will meet at the White House on Tuesday with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), and the chairman and top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), respectively. McConnell said he “appreciated the president soliciting our advice” on the decision.

Democrats have vowed to fight Trump’s choice, in large part because of how Republicans refused to even hold a hearing on Garland’s nomination after Obama chose him in March.

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Trump reopens door to building Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines

President Trump moved Tuesday to revive oil pipeline projects that were blocked by former President Obama, a victory for energy firms whose interests were often thwarted by Obama’s environmental agenda.

Trump’s order represents another swift reversal of action taken by his predecessor, in some cases after years of deliberation. On Monday, Trump withdrew from a major 12-nation trade pact that was a priority of Obama’s.

But whether the Keystone Pipeline, in particular, will ever actually be built remained unclear. Trump said the project would now be open for renegotiation and said he would demand that it be built using American steel.

“I am very insistent that if we’re going to build pipelines in the United States, the pipe should be made in the United States,” he said.

The project’s owner, TransCanada, had been planning to use some American steel in the pipeline. It was unclear how Trump’s demand might change the cost of the project.

For more than a year, Obama officials had put off a decision on whether to approve construction of one of the pipelines, the Keystone XL.

After a review by the State Department, which had jurisdiction because the project crossed the U.S.-Canada border, Obama announced in 2015 that he had determined the project was not in the national interest, in part because it would undercut U.S. leadership on fighting climate change.

Obama also cited a decline in oil prices and low unemployment in the states along the pipeline’s 1,179-mile route.

Trump also reversed an Army Corps of Engineers decision last month to deny Energy Transfer Partners’ request to extend the Dakota Access pipeline under a section of the Missouri River that included a reservoir providing drinking water to the region.

Opposition to the project, which started with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, grew to include thousands of demonstrators from across the country amassing in North Dakota.

This post was updated with additional comments by Trump.

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White House promises website will restore Spanish content: ‘We’re just building up’

Helen Aguirre Ferre
(Noah Bierman / Los Angeles Times)

An aide to President Trump promised Tuesday that the White House will soon restore a Spanish-language website, which went dark after inauguration day.

“We’re just building up,” said Helen Aguirre Ferre, director of media affairs. “It’s just day two on the job.”

Aguirre Ferre, a former bilingual media personality who headed Spanish-language communications for the Republican National Committee before joining Trump’s White House, said the new administration is building out more content in both English and Spanish.

Trump criticized opponents in the Republican primary for communicating in Spanish. But Aguirre Ferre said the removal of a link offering Spanish translation on the White House website was not deliberate.

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Analysis: After a rocky weekend, the rituals of the White House bolster Donald Trump

After a shaky few days, the rituals of the presidency worked on Monday to bolster President Trump, establishing a sense of normalcy rarely seen since he announced his unorthodox campaign for the White House in 2015.

Trump began his first full weekday in office by meeting with business leaders in the White House about manufacturing as television cameras recorded the moment. He signed an order withdrawing the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, keeping a campaign promise even if the action was mostly symbolic since the agreement was already effectively dead in Congress.

He gathered labor leaders to his side, reaching out to a group that has been a bulwark of Democratic politics; later he met with congressional leaders — including some in his own party for whom he was not the first option as president.

It was routine for a president — and that was the point. Video of the meetings made Trump seem both magnanimous and in charge, even if it was not clear how long Monday’s righting of the ship would last. (Indeed, in a private meeting with congressional leaders Monday night, he falsely claimed that he’d lost the popular vote because millions of “illegals” voted, according to a congressional aide.)

Much of Monday contrasted sharply with Trump’s first days in office, which had been marked by controversy and confusion.

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Speaker Paul Ryan invites President Trump to address Congress on Feb. 28

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has invited President Trump to address a joint session of Congress next month.

The speech, set for Feb. 28, traditionally takes the place of a State of the Union address in inaugural years.

It wil be a chance for the new president to outline his priorities before the House and Senate.

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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director says Trump won’t change agency’s aggressive efforts

(Alex Wong / Getty Images)

The nation’s top consumer financial watchdog, whom some Republicans want President Trump to fire, said Tuesday that the new Republican administration won’t change his approach to aggressively hold banks and other financial firms accountable.

Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, wouldn’t comment on what he would do if Trump asked for his resignation but said it was important that independent federal agencies not get “mired in partisan politics.”

The new administration “really shouldn’t change the job at all,” Cordray said in his first public comments since Trump’s inauguration,

“We’re expected to work with different administrations of different points of view,” Cordray said at a forum held by the Wall Street Journal. “We have … an independent mandate to do what we do and we will continue working to protect consumers.”

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Trump moves quickly in bid to revamp America’s trade policy

Trucks travel to and from the World Trade Bridge in Laredo, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Trucks travel to and from the World Trade Bridge in Laredo, Texas, on the U.S.-Mexico border.
(Eric Gay / Associated Press)

It was quick and easy for President Trump to fulfill his campaign promise to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

With a stroke of his new presidential pen, he buried the massive Pacific free-trade agreement that the Obama administration had painstakingly negotiated, even though the 12-nation accord had been moribund for the last year after losing political support. It had little chance of being ratified by Congress.

The real questions are: What will Trump replace it with? And when and how will he remake America’s economic relations with the rest of the world?

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Trump names new FCC chairman: Ajit Pai, who wants to take a ‘weed whacker’ to net neutrality

Ajit Pai, left, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, at a 2014 meeting.
(Karen Bleier / AFP/Getty Images)

President Trump on Monday designated Ajit Pai, a Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission and an outspoken opponent of new net neutrality rules, to be the agency’s new chairman.

Pai, 44, would take over for Tom Wheeler, a Democrat who stepped down on Friday. Wheeler’s term had not expired but Trump gets to designate a new chairman as Republicans gain the FCC majority.

“I look forward to working with the new administration, my colleagues at the commission, members of Congress, and the American public to bring the benefits of the digital age to all Americans,” Pai said.

A telecommunications lawyer who has served on the FCC since May 2012, Pai is a free-market advocate who has been sharply critical of new regulations adopted by Democrats in recent years.

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After the Women’s March, celebrities and activists suggest how they will be the change they want to see in America

Artists, singers, actors, writers and activists appeared at the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., in droves on Saturday. But how will the notable attendees keep their activism fires burning after the nationwide protest?

Behind the main stage at the march, we asked the performing artists who lent their name to the post-inauguration demonstration a simple question: How will you reflect the change that you want to see in America?

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

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Trump wrongly tells congressional leaders that millions of ‘illegals’ cost him the popular vote

President Trump welcomed congressional leaders to the White House for a reception Monday evening, and the conversation at one point returned to the November election.

Trump told the congressional leaders that he lost the popular vote to Democratic rival Hillary Clinton because millions of “illegals” cast ballots, according to an aide granted anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

Trump told them that 3 million to 5 million “illegals” voted, the aide said.

Of course, there has been no suggestion of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election, and no belief that immigrants who are in the country illegally voted fraudulently.

Indeed, that kind of fraudulent turnout among the estimated 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally would be a stunning development.

While Trump won the electoral college, he lost the popular vote to Clinton by nearly 3 million votes.

The comment was first reported by the Washington Post.

The evening reception in the State Dining Room, with shrimp cocktail and sliders, was billed as a get-to-know-you session with Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate at the start of the new president’s administration.

The press pool was ushered in briefly for a photo of the event, and Trump was heard saying, “I do respect the electoral college.”

Congressional leaders had no immediate response on their reaction to Trump’s claim.

It was part of a long commentary by Trump on how well he did in the election, people familiar with his remarks said.

Asked later Monday if the president said anything surprising, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco), the House minority leader, said: “Well, I won’t even go into that.”

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) stayed behind for a separate meeting with Trump on the GOP agenda.

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White House phone comments line won’t be down permanently

(J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

On Monday, people noticed that the White House’s phone line for comments was down, and a voicemail greeting directed people to instead make contact through Facebook or email. According to the press office, it’s not a permanent change. There are plans to get the phone line back up soon, though there is no confirmed time yet. For now, Trump aides are focused on getting acclimated.

“We’re still learning how to work our computers,” press assistant Giovanna Coia said by phone.

No presidential transition is perfectly smooth, and this one has been no exception. Shortly after President Trump took office, some information disappeared from the White House website. Some of it will come back, aides say.

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Senate confirms Trump’s choice for CIA director, Rep. Mike Pompeo

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) was confirmed as CIA director.
(Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)

President Trump’s nominee to head the CIA, Rep. Mike Pompeo, was overwhelmingly confirmed Monday by the Senate.

Senators voted 66 to 32 despite resistance from a core group of Democrats who remained critical of Pompeo’s shifting views on the government’s surveillance programs. They also wanted assurances he would oppose torture as an interrogation technique and continue the investigation of Russia’s influence in the 2016 election.

One Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, joined more than half the Democratic senators in opposition.

“He is the wrong man for the job,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), who led the opposition.

Trump had hoped to have his national security team in place on Inauguration Day, but Democrats stalled Pompeo’s confirmation, drawing a sharp rebuke from Republicans who warned against leaving the top intelligence job vacant. He could be sworn into office Monday night at the White House.

Pompeo, a four-term Kansas congressman, brings military and business experience to the CIA, having graduated at the top of his class at West Point before earning a law degree from Harvard University.

“This is a man who understands exactly what it takes to keep America safe,” said Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas.

During his confirmation hearing, Pompeo broke with Trump over the intelligence community’s assessment of Russian meddling in the election, saying he found the report “sound.” It concluded that Russian intelligence agencies hacked computers and spread fake news in an effort to help elect Trump.

“It’s pretty clear what took place here about Russian involvement in efforts to hack information and to have an impact on American democracy,” Pompeo said. “I’m pretty clear-eyed about that.”

He vowed to continue to investigate Russia’s attempts to influence the U.S. political process, even if it led to problems for Trump.

“I promise you I will pursue the facts wherever they take us … with respect to this issue and with respect to every other issue,” he said.

But some lawmakers remained skeptical. Wyden pointed to differences in the congressman’s views on the nation’s surveillance program and other issues. Congress has sought to curtail federal surveillance programs affecting Americans in the aftermath of disclosures by former government contractor Edward Snowden of widespread collection of communications data.

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Here’s the science behind crowd counting

Estimating the number of people attending large public events is extremely difficult, so it’s not really a surprise that President Trump and women’s march organizers disputed various reports published over the inaugural weekend. Here’s a look at the science behind crowd counting.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger no fan of Trump’s pick to lead the EPA

President Trump’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency had no shortage of critics before his confirmation hearing last week, but his suggestion that he might restrict California’s fight against climate change provoked heavyweight ire.

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared to his huge social media following on Monday that the nominee, Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Scott Pruitt, is a hypocrite.

“My Republican colleague here is all about states’ rights – except the right to clean air & save lives from pollution,” Schwarzenegger wrote on Facebook and Twitter, with a link to The Times report about Pruitt having cast doubt during his confirmation hearing on whether California should continue to have power to impose its own emissions rules for cars and trucks.

The emissions rules are a cornerstone of California’s effort to combat climate change. Schwarzenegger’s legacy as California governor is tied to the climate fight, which he championed.

When the administration of George W. Bush hedged on taking action on global warming, Schwarzenegger partnered with Democrats in California to aggressively curb greenhouse gas emissions in the state.

Schwarzenegger’s latest comments echo the allegation of Democrats that Pruitt favors expanding the rights of states to forge their own path on environmental regulation – but only when states want less of it.

Schwarzenegger predicted Pruitt would lose if he took on California and called on lawmakers to fight him if he did.

“I hope my friends in Congress won’t let him get away with this junk logic,” Schwarzenegger wrote. “But CA has won this battle before and we will win again if necessary.”

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Rex Tillerson is approved by Senate panel for secretary of State

Rex Tillerson, the Exxon Mobil chief executive selected by President Trump to be secretary of State, won approval Monday from a Senate committee, all but guaranteeing his ascension to the job.

The vote at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was 11 in favor and 10 against, cast strictly along party lines. The nomination now moves to the full Senate.

Several senators, Republican and Democratic, had expressed opposition to Tillerson’s nomination ahead of Monday’s vote. State Department officials said senators submitted more than 1,000 additional questions for Tillerson to answer after his hearing, suggesting many matters were left unsettled.

But in the last 24 hours, he received key support that turned the tide.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Monday said he would vote for Tillerson’s confirmation. His was some of the toughest questioning during Tillerson’s Jan. 11 hearing before the committee. Rubio pushed the 64-year-old Texas native on his ties to Russia and friendly relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Rubio and others also complained that Tillerson seemed reluctant to criticize countries whose governments are widely documented to be abusers of human rights, such as the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.

But Rubio said Monday that despite “troubling” answers from Tillerson, he decided to allow “significant deference” to Trump in naming his national security team.

On Sunday, Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham, who initially resisted the Tillerson selection, threw their support behind Tillerson, a career Exxon executive. Although they are not members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, they are influential within the party and can help steer the vote on the Senate floor.

Among the opponents to Tillerson was Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), ranking Democrat on the committee. Cardin said Monday he could not vote for Tillerson because he seemed to prioritize “narrow business interests” over broader U.S. goals and values.

Tillerson was unwilling to characterize atrocities as war crimes and was soft on sanctions, Cardin noted, which were imposed on Russia over its 2014 invasion of Ukraine.

“Strangely, he was quick to caution about easing sanctions on Cuba because it would benefit a repressive regime, but seemed indifferent to doing business with Russia knowing that that business helped finance their ongoing violations of international norms,” Cardin said.

Tillerson takes the job of America’s top diplomat with no diplomatic or political experience. He has differed with Trump on several key policies.

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Trump signals that deporting young immigrants in the U.S. illegally is not an immediate priority

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

President Trump, who promised during the campaign to “immediately terminate” a controversial program that shields from deportation more than 742,000 people brought to the country illegally as children, has put off canceling it.

The Trump administration is continuing to accept applications for two-year work permits and temporary protection from removal under the program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which was created by former President Obama.

Trump’s first actions on immigration will be to boost deportations of people who pose a public safety threat, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Monday. That’s a continuation of Obama administration policy on prioritizing deportations.

“The president’s been very, very clear, that we need to direct agencies to focus on those who are in this country illegally and have a record — a criminal record or [who pose] a threat to the American people,” Spicer said. “That’s where the priorities going to be and then we’re going to continue to work through the entire number of folks that are here illegally,” he said.

Trump aides have signaled in recent days that the president is looking first at ways to punish so-called sanctuary cities for not cooperating with immigration officials looking to deport people who have been booked into local jails.

Officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the federal agency that issues the work permits, were still receiving applications on Monday, said agency spokesman Steve Blando.

“We are still accepting [and] processing DACA requests under existing policy,” Blando said in a statement.

Trump made vague remarks shortly after being elected about finding a way to allow some people in the country illegally to stay.

However, in a major speech on immigration in August, he promised to end the DACA program, which began in 2012, as well as Obama’s 2014 effort to expand it, which was blocked by the courts.

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Trump healthcare pick to face scrutiny over stock trades in Round 2 of Senate hearings

(Alex Wong / Getty Images)

Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), President Trump’s nominee to be Health and Human Services secretary, returns to Capitol Hill this morning to face more questions from senators, this time from the Senate Finance Committee.

Price, an avowed critic of the Affordable Care Act, has garnered support from Republican senators and is expected to be confirmed. Last week he told the Senate Health Committee that he would protect vulnerable Americans if he is confirmed and the law is repealed.

But the six-term congressman has not detailed how he would fulfill that pledge, including how he would preserve coverage for the more than 100 million Americans who rely on Medicare, Medicaid and the healthcare law, commonly called Obamacare. Price has worked for years to roll back all three.

During a testy four-hour hearing last week — which also featured several heated exchanges about Price’s stock trades in healthcare companies — Price repeatedly dodged questions from Democrats seeking assurance that he would preserve basic protections required by law.

Among other things, Obamacare bans lifetime limits on coverage, requires that health plans offer basic benefits such as substance abuse treatment and mandates that plans allow parents to keep their children on their insurance until they are 26.

Democrats also have called for an independent investigation of Price for pushing legislation that increased the value of several stocks shortly after he bought them. Price denied any wrongdoing.

After Tuesday’s hearing, the Finance Committee is expected to recommend Price’s confirmation along party lines.

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Trump administration downplays expectations on moving embassy in Israel

The Trump administration on Monday appeared to be attempting to downplay expectations over a quick move of the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, in his first briefing Monday, was asked repeatedly about President Trump’s campaign pledge to move the embassy in Israel to the disputed city of Jerusalem.

Both Israelis and Palestinians claim the city, or part of it, as their capital, and U.S. governments until now have refrained from recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, which is what putting the embassy there would do, until the issue is resolved in peace talks.

Spicer said discussions involving transfer of the embassy were in the early stages. But he refused to put a timetable on the possible relocation.

“It’s very early in this process,” Spicer said. “We are at the beginning stages of this decision-making process and [Trump’s] team’s gonna continue to consult with stakeholders as we get there.”

Having an embassy in Jerusalem — something no other country currently has — would inflame the Arab world.

Spicer also noted that Trump had a telephone conversation Monday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi. He did not say the embassy issue was discussed but indicated Trump had kind words for Sisi, considered a military strongman.

“President Trump underscored the United States remains strongly committed to the bilateral relationship, which has helped both countries overcome challenges in the region for decades,” Spicer said, adding that Egypt was a valuable partner in the fight against terrorism.

Although many presidential candidates have pledged to move the embassy in Israel, none, once elected, has done it, perhaps quickly becoming aware of the complexities and potential flashpoints. That may be happening now in the new Trump administration.

Trump spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has cheered a Trump presidency, over the weekend. But neither government acknowledged discussing the embassy.

There has been speculation that Trump’s designated ambassador to Israel, hawkish real estate lawyer David Friedman, may set up shop in Jerusalem, at the U.S. consulate, instead of at the embassy in Tel Aviv, as a way to make a de facto move.

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Spokesman says Trump believes ‘a lot’ of marchers weren’t protesting him

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is asked how President Trump responds to the women’s marches that took place the day after his inauguration.

One day after President Trump jeered Women’s March demonstrators on Twitter — writing, “Why didn’t these people vote?” — his top spokesman said Monday that Trump also thinks many of those at the rallies around the world were not protesting him.

Trump is “cognizant to the fact that a lot of these people were there to protest an issue of concern to them and not against anything,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters, citing the generally positive mood of the marchers who flooded the National Mall.

With that answer, Spicer sought to brush aside that Trump was undeniably the impetus for the marches — the idea for them came about the day after his election — and focus instead on the fact that they grew into a broader demonstration encompassing many issues.

But interviews with organizers and participants showed that Trump’s election was the overwhelming reason that millions of protesters flooded Washington and other cities Saturday.

“The rhetoric of the past election cycle has insulted, demonized and threatened many of us ... and our communities are hurting and scared,” reads the first sentence of the march’s mission statement, though Trump is not mentioned in its platform. “We are confronted with the question of how to move forward in the face of national and international concern and fear.”

The idea for the marches came when a retired attorney in Hawaii, Teresa Shook, demoralized by Trump’s win, created a Facebook event calling for a rally in Washington.

The event took off and became a global phenomenon, with more than 1 million people signing up to march and more estimated to have joined in Saturday. “It’s like the women of the world were sitting on a powder keg and Donald Trump lit the match,” one of the group’s organizers said in a statement.

The mood at many marches was upbeat and sometimes almost celebratory, with protesters championing a range of left-leaning causes. But protesters’ signs were also dominated by anti-Trump messages such as “Get your tiny hands off my uterus,” and “You can’t comb over misogyny.”

Shook embraced the upbeat mood and the broad message during the march, but was focused on Trump’s reelection bid in 2020.

“A negative has been turned into a positive,” Shook said in an interview at the march in Washington. “All these people coming together to unite to try and make a difference. That’s what we’re going to be doing for the next four years.”

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No habla espanol? The White House website no longer speaks Spanish

President Trump, who chided his opponents during the campaign for speaking Spanish, has made a tangible change to the White House website to eliminate bilingual access.

The site, which the Trump administration took over on Friday, no longer includes an option for translation into Spanish or another that gives information about access for disabled users that had existed under President Obama.

Spokesman Sean Spicer suggested the translation option may return but made no specific commitment on timing when asked about it Monday. He spoke generally about the high volume of work facing the technology team during the changeover.

“We are continuing to build out the website...,” Spicer said. “We’ve got the IT folks working overtime on that now.”

During a Republican primary debate, Trump lashed out at former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush when he spoke Spanish. “This is a country where we speak English,” Trump said.

UPDATE on Jan. 24: White House promises website will restore Spanish content: ‘We’re just building up’

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Lawsuit accuses Trump of violating the Constitution with foreign payments to his businesses

A public interest group sued President Trump in federal court Monday, alleging he is violating the Constitution by receiving payments from foreign governments to his businesses.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed the suit in the Southern District of New York, seeking a ruling that Trump is in violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause.

That provision prohibits U.S. officeholders from accepting “any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state” without the consent of Congress.

The word “emolument” was used in the 18th century to refer to compensation or profit that went with holding an office. But the precise meaning of the ban remains in question because it has not been interpreted by the courts.

Asked about the suit by a reporter during an Oval Office appearance Monday, Trump said it was “totally without merit.”

His attorneys said earlier this month that the clause was never meant to apply to the kind of transactions Trump’s businesses engage in. But they said his hotel in Washington would donate any profits from foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury in an abundance of caution.

But the suit says Trump is in violation of the emoluments clause because of leases held by foreign government-owned entities in Trump Tower, room reservations and the use of other services by foreign officials and diplomats staying at Trump International Hotel in Washington, as well as hotel stays, property leases and other business transactions tied to foreign governments at other U.S. and foreign properties that Trump owns or has licensed his name to, and payments from foreign government-owned broadcasters related to rebroadcasts and foreign versions of “The Apprentice.”

“The Constitution is explicit that the president cannot profit from a foreign government without congressional approval, and there is no doubt that President Trump has been violating the Constitution since he took the oath of office,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at UC Irvine and an expert on constitutional law.

“This lawsuit simply asks the federal court to enforce the Constitution and reaffirm that no person, not even the president, is above the law.” he said.

Chemerinsky is part of what Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called “a legal dream team” of constitutional scholars that filed the suit.

But it’s not clear whether the group has standing to sue. Litigants must have some sort of personal injury from the matter to have standing.

Legal experts have said that a business owner who suffers losses because of favorable treatment for Trump’s businesses could have a claim. No business owners were parties to Monday’s suit.

9 a.m.: This article was updated with comments from President Trump.

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Rubio’s political test: He says he will support Trump’s pick for secretary of State

Marco Rubio on the 2016 campaign trail in Las Vegas
(Josh Edelson / AFP-Getty Image)

Sen. Marco Rubio faced a defining moment Monday in deciding to back President Trump’s pick for secretary of State. Rex Tillerson, all but ensuring the nominee’s confirmation.

Rubio has made no secret of his concerns about the former ExxonMobil executive’s ties with Russia, but he was under enormous pressure not to be the lone Republican holdout against Trump’s choice to be the nation’s top diplomat.

Tillerson’s first test will be Monday as the Foreign Relations Committee votes.

The Florida lawmaker dug in on Tillerson on Monday, but also resolved that Trump should have his choices in the Cabinet.

“His answers on a number of other important questions were troubling,” Rubio said of Tillerson in a lengthy statement.

“While he condemned Russia for ‘supporting Syrian forces that brutally violate the laws of war,’ he refused to publicly acknowledge that Vladimir Putin has committed war crimes. Despite his extensive experience in Russia and his personal relationship with many of its leaders, he claimed he did not have sufficient information to determine whether Putin and his cronies were responsible for ordering the murder of countless dissidents, journalists, and political opponents.”

Still, Rubio argued, he would defer to Trump to put his national security team in place.

“I believe the president is entitled to significant deference when it comes to his choices for the Cabinet,” Rubio said.

Tillerson is now expected to sail to confirmation. His other main GOP detractors, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), jointly announced over the weekend that they would give their support.

Defying Trump would have been risky for Rubio, but could also have been politically beneficial.

Rubio’s profile is poised to rise in the Trump era as a new-generation leader of a Republican Party that remains deeply divided over the president.

For many anti-Trump Republicans, the senator’s failed 2016 presidential bid stands as a stark reminder of what could have been.

His vote on Tillerson was additionally fraught because part of Rubio’s political appeal lies in his growing expertise in foreign affairs and national security. He has positioned himself as a counter to Trump’s untested “America first” policy.

Standing alone, though, would have come at a cost. Trump has shown he does not welcome detractors and, in fact, holds grudges against them. Prominent Republicans have reportedly been hammering Rubio with the hard sell.

Rubio is no stranger to pressure from political higher-ups. He was strongly encouraged to seek reelection to the Senate if he ever hoped to run for president again -- even though he had already announced he was leaving Congress. GOP leaders at the time were worried his Florida seat could fall to Democrats if he retired.

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Here are some of the protests that changed U.S. history (and others that didn’t)

A sea of demonstrators fills downtown for the L.A. women’s march Saturday.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Like a great pink-capped wave, rolling from one edge of the country to the other, more than a million protesters marched through the streets of America on Saturday in an unprecedented show of discontent scarcely a day into the new Trump administration.

From resort towns like Bend, Ore., to the skyscraper-lined streets of New York City, it was an outpouring that surely gladdened critics of President Trump and lifted the faint spirits of Democrats crushed by his upset victory.

But once the protest signs come down and buoyant marchers tuck their “pussy hats” away in their closets, what remains is a stark reality facing the left-leaning throngs: a government in Washington run by the GOP and more than 30 state capitals where Republicans enjoy unchecked control.

Politically, that is the kind of breakwater that can dash the strongest wave.

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At a White House reception, Trump has a pat on the back for FBI Director James Comey

FBI Director James B. Comey is famously tall, so he will naturally stand out in a crowd.

But as President Trump addressed a thank-you reception for law enforcement and security personnel involved in the inauguration, his singling out Comey from the crowd was all the more conspicuous.

“Oh, and there’s James!” Trump said as he saw Comey across the Blue Room. “He’s become more famous than me.”

Comey walked across the room to greet the new president. Trump put out his right hand to shake Comey’s, then with his left patted Comey on the back as he leaned in to say something.

Many Democrats have accused the FBI director, a Republican who was nominated for the post by President Obama in 2013, of steering November’s election outcome with his eleventh-hour notice that the agency was reviewing newly discovered emails in connection with an investigation of Hillary Clinton’s handling of sensitive material, which the agency had ended months earlier.

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Trump is dismissive of women’s marches but acknowledges right to protest

President Trump was dismissive of Saturday’s large-scale marches in cities around the world but acknowledged demonstrators’ right to protest in his first comments on the rallies.

“Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don’t always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views,” Trump tweeted, though he also wondered, without evidence, why participants didn’t vote.

The rallies were “a tremendous missed opportunity,” senior Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway said Sunday, criticizing the marchers for not standing with Trump’s promises to create jobs and improve public safety.

“They missed a tremendous opportunity yesterday to really engage America’s women and men on the issues that President Obama has ... left behind,” Conway said on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” criticizing “profanity-laced” and “vulgar” speeches given during the rally that brought hundreds of thousands of people to the National Mall in Washington and millions to demonstrations around the world.

“Donald Trump in his inaugural address talked about the forgotten man and forgotten woman, and now these forgotten celebrities came to Washington to deliver really negative messages,” Conway said.

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said on “Fox News Sunday” that Trump “wants to be president for all people, including every one of those marchers yesterday, and I think over time, many of those people are going to be proud of this president.”

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Rex Tillerson, Trump’s pick for secretary of State, wins key support from GOP senators

(J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

Rex Tillerson, the ExxonMobil CEO who is President Trump’s pick for secretary of State, has overcome a major hurdle on his way to Senate confirmation.

Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who had resisted Tillerson’s appointment, said on Sunday they have decided to support his nomination.

“Though we still have concerns about his past dealings with the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin, we believe that Mr. Tillerson can be an effective advocate for U.S. interests,” the senators said in a joint statement.

They had previously suggested that Tillerson’s close ties with Putin might disqualify him as America’s top diplomat.

As an executive for 40 years with one of the world’s largest energy companies, the Texas-born Tillerson, 64, cut numerous multibillion-dollar deals with the Russian government — as well as with other dictators and unfriendly rulers — and maintained what he described as a friendly relationship with Putin.

Tillerson opposed sanctions against Russia that Washington and the European Union imposed after Putin invaded Ukraine and seized Crimea in 2014. And he was the rare American to receive one of Russia’s highest awards, the Order of Friendship, in 2013.

In his confirmation hearing on Jan. 11 before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Tillerson sought to allay fears of his critics. At least initially, he had tough talk for Russia, saying it had to be considered an adversary. Later, he wavered somewhat on sanctions and whether Russia’s bombings of civilians in Syria should be considered a war crime.

Still, he apparently departed sufficiently from Trump’s unusually magnanimous attitude toward Russia and Putin that McCain and Graham were willing to lend their support.

“Now more than ever, with America’s friends growing more discouraged and our enemies growing more emboldened, we need a secretary of State who recognizes that our nation cannot succeed in the world by itself,” McCain and Graham said.

They called for strengthening U.S. alliances across the globe, and said they had confidence that Tillerson “will be a champion for a strong and engaged role for America in the world.”

By contrast, Trump has outlined an “America First” foreign policy that many experts have described as more isolationist than internationally engaging.

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Trump aides defend inflated inauguration figures as ‘alternative facts’

President Trump’s senior advisors defended White House attacks on the news media and incorrect claims about the size of the crowd at his inauguration, accusing news organizations Sunday of trying to undermine Trump’s legitimacy.

The pushback came a day after White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, standing for the first time behind the West Wing briefing room lectern, incorrectly said Trump’s swearing-in ceremony drew “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration.” Spicer also contradicted his own claim of about a minute earlier that crowd totals were unavailable.

Spicer’s appearance set a combative tone for the first full day of the Trump presidency.

Challenged on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about Spicer making incorrect claims, Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway made a startling characterization, that Spicer gave “alternative facts.”

“You’re saying it’s a falsehood, and Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that,” Conway told host Chuck Todd, who immediately interjected his disbelief over her description.

Conway eventually backed off Spicer’s adamant claims and inflated crowd estimates. “I don’t think you can prove those numbers one way or the another,” she said. “There’s no way to really quantify crowds.”

However, police and cities use statistical methods to estimate crowd sizes to protect public safety during large events. And scientists use available evidence to tally crowd sizes, as in this comparison of the inauguration crowd and Saturday’s women’s march in Washington.

“There’s an obsession by the media to delegitimize this president, and we are not going to sit around and let it happen,” White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“We’re going to fight back tooth and nail every day, and twice on Sunday,” Priebus said.

Trump aides also slammed the news media for an incorrect report that a bust of Martin Luther King Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office. It was moved to a difference place in the room.

“You can’t have false reports like that and expect us to, you know, not wonder why we’re covered and treated so differently and unfairly,” Conway said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

The report, disseminated by a reporter in the Oval Office acting as a representative for the larger press corps, was corrected less than an hour later and the reporter apologized.

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Analysis: Huge rallies may signal an emerging anti-Trump movement. But sustaining unity could prove difficult

(Mario Tama /Getty Images)

The new lines of conflict in America were vividly drawn Saturday: A freshly revived protest movement has risen to greet a president acutely attuned to public opinion.

Not for decades, since 1960s protesters took to the streets against the Vietnam War, has a chief executive faced such visible opposition. And never in memory has a new president faced such widespread and intense criticism in the first 24 hours of his term.

Saturday unfolded as a jagged contrast in civic cultures: As Trump took part in the rituals of a new presidency, attending an ecumenical prayer service at the National Cathedral, hundreds of thousands of protesters flocked to attend the Women’s March on Washington on the nearby National Mall.

A sea of pink hats — the symbol adopted by many attendees — flooded past workers taking down the grandstands for Trump’s inauguration and parade on Friday. Subway stations across the D.C. area were so clogged that operators recommended walking miles into town. Similar turnouts totaling more than a million nationwide appeared in major cities from Boston to Chicago to Los Angeles.

“This is the moment of the beginning of the revival of the women’s movement,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York declared to the crowd in Washington.

But is it?

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Trump’s first visit from a foreign leader will be Britain’s Theresa May

(Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)

President Trump will hold his first face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader when British Prime Minister Theresa May visits the White House on Friday, Press Secretary Sean Spicer announced Saturday.

In his first full day as president, Trump also spoke by phone with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Spicer said. Trump and Peña Nieto will meet Jan. 31 to discuss trade, immigration and security, Spicer said.

The meeting promises to be scrutinized over whether Trump will press Peña Nieto to pay for the wall Trump has vowed to build along the border between the two countries. Peña Nieto has repeatedly said he will refuse to do so.

Trump will close out his first weekend as president Sunday by overseeing the swearing-in of senior members of his staff, who will then be briefed on “the proper use and handling of classified information.” On Sunday night, he will host law enforcement and first responders involved in inaugural events.

The announcements from Spicer in his first advised statement from the James Brady Press Briefing Room came after a nearly 4.5-minute denunciation of what he called “deliberately false reporting” of the administration’s first 29 hours.

“There’s been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable. And I’m here to tell you that it goes two ways,” Spicer said. “We’re going to hold the press accountable as well.”

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Mexican president calls to congratulate Trump

(Yuri Cortez / AFP/Getty Images)

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto spoke to President Trump by phone Saturday morning to congratulate him on his inauguration and set the tone for upcoming bilateral talks between the two countries.

According to a statement released by the Mexican government, Peña Nieto told Trump he hopes to work together “with a focus on respect for the sovereignty of both nations and shared responsibility.”

Mexico’s foreign minister is scheduled to hold talks with Trump administration officials in Washington next week amid growing fears that the new U.S. president’s actions on trade could devastate the Mexican economy.

The U.S. peso has fallen steeply in tandem with Trump’s threats to build a border wall and tax Mexican imports.

Peña Nieto’s approval ratings have also fallen at a swift rate -- down to 12% last week -- in part because he has been seen as placating Trump.

Peña Nieto has been forced to walk a fine line when it comes to Trump, whose disparaging comments about Mexican immigrants have made him a near universally reviled figure here. He risks angering Trump if he attacks him too much, and angering voters if doesn’t do so enough.

Earlier this month, Peña Nieto struck a more defiant tone, warning that Mexico will push back if Trump attacks the country on trade or other fronts — using its cooperation on crucial issues such as immigration and security as leverage.

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Trump goes to CIA to extend a hand but also defends inauguration crowd and attacks the press

After months of mocking the CIA and questioning its conclusions on Russian interference in the election, President Trump went to the agency headquarters in Langley, Va., on Saturday ostensibly to reach out but instead delivered an animated, rambling address in front of its memorial to fallen officers.

The visit was designed to send a conciliatory message to the agency on Trump’s first full day in office, as well as show his support for Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), Trump’s nominee to run the CIA.

“I love you, I respect you. There is nobody I respect more. You are going to do a fantastic job. We are going to start winning again and you are going to be leading the charge,” Trump said.

In free-form remarks at odds with the somber memorial to 117 fallen U.S. spies behind him, Trump called the press “dishonest” for describing him as feuding with intelligence services over the Russian election meddling, a contradiction of several public statements he’s made. Last week, he accused intelligence agencies, without evidence, of leaking false information about him and compared it during a news conference to “something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do.”

He also accused the media of lying about the size of the crowd at his inauguration, seemed to conflate the agency with the military at times and said “probably everybody in this room voted for me ... because we’re all on the same wavelength.”

He was applauded by the 400 or so CIA employees present when he arrived, though as he went on and strayed into political topics, senior agency officials in front of him remained subdued.

Trump also said the CIA would be at the forefront of his effort to defeat Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and to “eradicate” Islamic terrorists.

“Maybe sometimes you haven’t gotten the backing you that you’ve wanted. You’re going to get so much backing. Maybe you are going to say, ‘Please, don’t give us so much backing,’” Trump said.

The CIA split with Trump last fall when the agency’s analysts concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered Russian intelligence officials to launch a so-called “influence operation” against on the U.S. election to undermine Hillary Clinton and help Trump win.

Trump had planned to swear in Pompeo while at the CIA, but Pompeo’s confirmation vote was held up by Senate Democrats on Friday night. Pompeo is expected to be confirmed as CIA director next week.

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Scarlett Johansson offers Donald Trump a deal

Speaking before hundreds of thousands gathered on the National Mall for the Women’s March on Washington, Scarlett Johansson addressed President Trump in his own terms -- the art of the deal.

She would support him if he would support her, her daughter, her family and all American women.

Declaring that it was time for even a private person like herself to get personal, Johansson delivered a passionate speech about the role Planned Parenthood has played in her life from her first visit at the age of 15. She called on the president to stop continued attempts to withdraw federal funding for the organization and offered an early olive branch to Trump, who has been inconsistent about his intentions.

“I didn’t vote for you. But I want to be able to support you. But first I ask that you support me,” she said, adding that she wanted her daughter to grow up with the same access to health resources that Trump’s daughter Ivanka had during her youth and young adulthood.

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Ecumenical prayer service adds a burst of diversity to Trump’s inaugural weekend

President Trump nodded, shook hands and flashed thumbs-up signs as clergy in every manner of cloak and headdress walked past his pew Saturday morning during the National Prayer Service, one of the most diverse traditions of the inaugural festivities.

Though Trump infused his inaugural address a day earlier with biblical verses and praise to God, Saturday’s ceremony of just over an hour offered a celebration of multiculturalism that had been largely absent from the inauguration.

The spiritual leaders prayed for the success and courage of the new president and his team, asked God to take away “arrogance and hatred, which inflame our hearts” and, in what could have been a subtle prod, to take down “the walls that separate us.”

Trump, wife Melania, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, shared a row at the front of the National Cathedral, a grand structure with high vaulted ceilings that towers over the District of Columbia. Trump’s children and grandchildren sat behind him.

The spiritual leaders represented a variety of cultures and faiths. A Jewish cantor sang the Shema in Hebrew. A gospel choir sang “We’ve Come This Far by Faith.” An imam chanted a call to prayer. A Sikh leader called for “justice, freedom and equality for all.” A Navajo leader and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, also were among the many faiths and denominations represented.

Trump mouthed along to many of the prayers, including the Lord’s Prayer, led by a Baptist pastor from Waco, Texas.

This was the 58th National Prayer Service, a tradition that dates to George Washington. In addition to blessing the new leaders, prayers were offered for police, firefighters, paramedics, mayors, school board members and workers of all kinds in the public and private sectors.

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Lopez: Trump still divides, and there’s a lot at stake

(Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images))

It was, no matter where you stood, an astounding day.

The man of the moment was no longer Donald Trump the reality TV star, or Donald Trump the real estate baron-turned-politician.

He was Donald Trump, president of the United States.

If they ever bring back the $10,000 bill, his mug will be on it.

Friday’s inauguration was for some a dream come true, and for others the beginning of a four-year migraine.

Convention and civility were trampled on for more than a year during the campaign, we’re as sorely divided as ever, and Trump’s inaugural speech was vintage Trump.

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At the galas, Melania Trump’s ‘less is more’ style

For her inaugural ball appearances, First Lady Melania Trump continued her “less is more” approach to the day’s wardrobe.

After choosing a sky-blue Ralph Lauren ensemble for President Trump’s swearing-in ceremony and inauguration parade, she appeared at Friday’s inaugural balls in a white, off-the-shoulder gown she helped design with Hervé Pierre, the former creative director at Carolina Herrera. A single organza ruffle undulated across the front; there was a thin red belt at the waist and a generous slit up the left leg.

Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner at the Freedom Ball.
(Alex Brandon / Associated Press)

Carolina Herrera was the label responsible for Ivanka Trump’s nighttime outfit, which skewed considerably more sparkly. The Champagne-colored gown included a sheer, V-neck bodice that glistened with crystals in the light and a flowing tulle skirt that gave the first daughter a princess-like look.

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California’s Rep. Dana Rohrabacher throws a big inaugural ball at the Library of Congress

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) toasted Donald Trump’s inauguration with a ball of his own — the Liberty Ball — at the Library of Congress.

Balls and galas are commonly thrown by states or political organizations to mark the inauguration of a new president, but it’s fairly unusual for a single member of Congress to throw one, especially at a venue as large and expensive as the Library of Congress. Trump was scheduled to attend three balls Friday night, including another event dubbed the Liberty Ball. Rohrabacher previously hosted an inaugural ball at the library in 2005, staff said.

Trump’s election was a bit of vindication for Rohrabacher, whose support for a friendly relationship with Russia has long made him an outlier in the Republican Party.

“We’ve turned the car around and our children will be safe, America will be safe,” Rohrabacher told the crowd inside. “We have saved America again from falling into the abyss.”

The black-tie event included a reception and a $250-a-person dinner, followed by a $250-a-person ball in the library’s Great Hall.

The event, hosted by Rohrabacher’s campaign committee, sold out, according to its website, with 450 people coming for dinner and 700 for dancing. Inside, bourbon apple cider flowed as members of Congress, governors and Californians danced and chatted on three floors of the library.

The Eric Felten Jazz Orchestra played 1930s and ‘40s big band swing music. Rock musician Dave Mason was scheduled to play as well.

Irwin Trester of Newport Beach and Selma Guzman of Costa Mesa know Rohrabacher and said they jumped at the chance to come to Washington for the inauguration and attend the ball. Neither had ever been to the Library of Congress.

“Trump’s inauguration is truly significant and a milestone,” Trester said as he was going into the ball.

“I’m a former history teacher, Guzman said, “so when I got the invitation, I thought ‘I can’t pass this up, it’s history.’”

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After delays, Obama family lands at March Air Reserve Base

Former President Barack Obama's plane circled Palm Springs International Airport amid heavy rain and wind.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Former President Obama’s plane touched down, finally, at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County just before 6 p.m. Friday, according to a Secret Service spokesperson.

The former president and his family were en route to Palm Springs but were diverted due to poor weather conditions. They left an Air Force base in Maryland after attending the inauguration of President Trump.

Obama has said he plans to use his time in Palm Springs, where he has taken several golf vacations, to write and spend time with his daughters. He has not disclosed how long he plans to stay.

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In first Oval Office appearance, Trump takes symbolic step on Obamacare

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

President Trump took a symbolic step aimed at his predecessor’s signature achievement Friday night, directing federal agencies to take steps to “ease the burden of Obamacare.”

The new president signed the executive order in his first public appearance in the Oval Office. The White House did not immediately provide additional details about the new step, which it characterized as a precursor to the Republican efforts to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act.

Also Friday, new White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus issued a memo directing federal agencies to place an immediate freeze on new regulations, a common directive when party control of the executive branch changes.

Trump also signed paperwork paving the way for James Mattis and John Kelly to be sworn in to their new posts as secretary of Defense and Homeland Security respectively, just hours after the Senate voted to confirm them. Vice President Mike Pence swore both men in shortly after.

The hastily arranged appearances came just before Trump and Pence were due to travel to inaugural balls, after they viewed the inaugural parade in front of the White House.

The Oval Office itself Friday bore signs of change. A bust of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was moved, and one of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was brought in. Copper-toned drapes installed during an Obama redecoration of the Oval Office were gone, replaced by yellowish-gold ones.

5:20 p.m.: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said a bust of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was removed from the Oval Office. The bust was moved to a different part of the room.

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Rain and wind have delayed Obama’s vacation

Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, on Friday prepare to board a plane at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland for a flight to California.
Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, on Friday prepare to board a plane at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland for a flight to California.
(Steve Helber/Associated Press)

Former President Barack Obama and his family, on their way to their first post-White House vacation, have already hit a hurdle in their transition from public life.

The former president’s flight, scheduled to land around 3:20 p.m. at Palm Springs International Airport, circled the airport amid rain and strong winds, awaiting a chance to make a safe landing -- to no avail.

Chatter over air traffic control suggested the plane could be diverted to another local airport. Close-by options include Ontario International Airport or the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County.

A Secret Service spokesman confirmed that the flight was delayed due to weather conditions but said he was not allowed to share information about where the former president lands.

As it neared 5 p.m., the Obamas were still in the air.

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Artist R.H. Quaytman blocks public access to her MOCA painting in protest of Trump inauguration

At the far northern end of the Grand Avenue location of Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art, a sign blocked access all day Friday to one of the institution’s large galleries.

Inside was the expansive, multi-panel work “Morning: Chapter 30” by painter R.H. Quaytman, who requested that the museum close the gallery to the public as an Inauguration Day protest.

A printed sign bearing text by Quaytman explained her decision:

“I have asked the museum to respect my wishes and close this room during Inauguration Day,” it reads. “I intended the large panoramic painting to be an American landscape. Its expansive horizon has a vanishing point obscured in darkest indigo. I painted it in the months leading up to the election but finished it before knowing the outcome. Today the outcome is tragically clear.

“I named the painting and exhibition ‘Morning’ for the sounds of that word, and today I would like my American landscape to do exactly that: mourn.”

Some cultural organizers have called for a nationwide Inauguration Day culture strike in protest of Trump’s election. MOCA chose to remain open and waived admission fees for the day.

“I think when there are disquieting moments — socially, politically — a museum is a place where we can find our bearings,” said MOCA director Philippe Vergne. “Instead of closing, I told my staff that I would rather make the museum free so that we give more than we take.”

Even so, he said the institution decided to support Quaytman’s decision to block off access to “Morning: Chapter 30” after consulting with her and the exhibition’s curators.

“She wanted to make a statement, and I didn’t want to censor this statement by our own protocols,” Vergne said.

In roping off the gallery, he added, the work becomes imbued with new meaning.

“For her, Friday is a day of mourning,” Vergne said. “We wanted to respect that — and that word ‘respect’ is very important.”

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On immigrant Dreamers, Trump tells top senator: ‘We don’t want to hurt those kids’

President Trump told a top Democratic senator Friday that he did not want to “hurt” young immigrants who have been living illegally in the U.S. since childhood but are otherwise law-abiding.

Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat, met Trump for the first time at Friday’s inaugural luncheon in the Capitol and used the opportunity to bring up the so-called Dreamers.

“We don’t want to hurt those kids,” Trump said, according to Durbin’s recounting of the lunch conversation.

Trump’s team has indicated he will immediately clamp down on illegal immigration by launching workplace raids and curtailing new entrants and refugees in the first days of his new administration.

But whether that snares the Dreamers is uncertain.

Trump campaigned on a hard line against illegal immigration, promising to deport those already in the country and build a wall along border with Mexico to stem new arrivals.

But since then Trump has said he wants to “work something out” for the young immigrants, more than 700,000, who have been temporarily protected from deportation under former President Obama’s executive actions.

Trump once vowed to undo Obama’s actions on “day one” of his administration.

Durbin has led a bipartisan coalition in Congress that has drafted legislation to help Trump do both.

Under the “Bridge Act,” Trump could end Obama’s executive actions but also give Dreamers a three -year temporary deferral of deportation while Congress considers broader immigration law changes.

Past coverage: Trump once welcomed a visit from immigrant ‘Dreamers.’ Now, they anxiously await his next move >>

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Black Lives Matter demonstrators make stop at Treasury nominee’s home

Black Lives Matter activists who had spent the morning rallying against President Trump outside Men’s Central Jail took their protest to the Westside later Friday, stopping at the the home of the Wall Street executive who has been tapped to be the next Treasury secretary.

Six police officers stood in a line in front of Steven Mnuchin’s Bel-Air home, pushing protesters away from the front gate.

Meanwhile, 10-year-old Amara Abdullah climbed atop the flatbed of a truck that activists had adorned with a sign reading “Caravan of Justice.”

Dressed in jeans and a purple puffy jacket, Amara took the mic and began chanting, “Chant down Babylon, black people are the bomb” — a chant she learned last summer when she camped outside City Hall.

Around 100-150 protesters joined in.

“I just think it’s really important that children understand that they have power,” Amara’s mother, Melina Abdullah, said.

Abdullah, a Cal State Los Angeles pan-African studies professor, added, “When they’re adults, I don’t want them to think that they went to school [Friday] like it was another day.”

By about 3 p.m., protesters had returned to Leimert Park, where their demonstration had begun earlier Friday.

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Senate confirms key posts in Trump’s national security team

The Senate moved swiftly Friday to confirm two retired generals as President Trump’s picks for top national security posts, putting pieces of the new administration’s team in place shortly after the inauguration ceremony.

Retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis was confirmed as Defense secretary, on a vote of 98 to 1.

Mattis was expected to be sworn in Friday evening by Vice President Mike Pence and be in place at the Pentagon on Saturday.

For Homeland Security, retired Marine Gen. John F. Kelly was confirmed, 88 to 11.

But Democrats stalled the confirmation of Trump’s CIA nominee as they press for continued investigations of Russia’s intervention in the November election.

A vote is expected early next week on Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) to head the Central Intelligence Agency.

“Makes no sense to leave the post open,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Pompeo has not faced steep resistance from Democrats, but they are pressuring for further vetting and assurances that he will continue the Russian investigation that began under President Obama.

Only one lawmaker, Sen. Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), opposed Mattis.

Even though Democrats, as the minority party, do not have the votes to block Trump’s choices, they can delay confirmation as the new president tries to assemble his team.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York has called Trump’s picks a “swamp Cabinet” as Democrats press for fuller disclosure of the nominees’ personal finances and work histories.

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Protest pop-up shop has a two hour line for ‘Nasty Women’ fashion

As feminist folks load up on rally gear for Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington, the wait time has been stretching into hours at the Outrage, a D.C. pop-up shop for the online clothing company.

“There was an 8 1/2-months pregnant woman in the line with me. She went to the bathroom once,” said Lindsey Kolling, who ended up waiting for two and a half hours.

But it was worth it.

“I bought 10 things. There are a lot of ‘Nasty Women Unite’ shirts. There’s a lot of ‘The Future Is Female’ shirts. There’s some jewelry.”

Joined by her family and friends (who came in from Los Angeles and Arizona), Kolling plans to wear her new wardrobe to Saturday’s march.

Alison Eades, 25, also from D.C., had been waiting in line for 90 minutes when we spoke with her. She was shopping for both her and her boyfriend, who will be joining her at the march,

Despite the cold and the wait, the mood in line was high. Eades had even been offered five plates of chicken wings from the neighboring restaurant Mellow Mushroom. (She declined; she’s vegetarian.)

Created by Rebecca Lee Funk (with co-founder Claire Schlemme) on Oct. 20 (the day after the third and final presidential debate), her Outrage clothing line combines fashion and activism.

“Everything we ever sell, 15% to 100% goes to organizations that fight for women’s rights,” she said.

For example, proceeds from the “Nasty Women” shirts go to Planned Parenthood. “We raised $25,000 for Planned Parenthood,” Funk said. The Outrage has also donated to the ACLU and the Malala Fund.

The tie-in to the Women’s March started when they sold goods with all profits covering expenses for buses for women who wanted to attend the march but couldn’t afford it. The clothing line also sells a shirt with the official logo, with those profits benefiting the march.

The “Nasty Woman” shirts, a reference to Donald Trump’s description of Hillary Clinton during a particularly heated debate, sell for $52. Enamel pins with the gold words “Feminist With a To-Do List” are $12, rings run around $140, and the very popular heather-grey sweatshirt emblazoned with “The Future Is Female” is $60.

“We may be staying here permanently,” Funk said. “If not, we’ll have another permanent spot in D.C. We think it’s important to have a presence on the ground for four years.

“So many people come in and plead with us to stay open,” she added, “just because it feels like a safe place.”

For The Record: An earlier version of this story said The Outrage donated proceeds to the Malawi Fund, that was an error.

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LGBT activists vow to be ‘more vigilant’ under Trump

Stacey Long Simmons, director of public policy for the National LGBTQ Task Force, talks about how LGBT groups are preparing for a Donald Trump presidency at the Creating Change conference in Philadelphia.

Grabbing the sides of her face, a Latina activist reacted to seeing Donald Trump sworn in as president.

“Oh, my God,” she said. “This is not happening.”

She watched the inauguration on her cellphone while sitting in on a session at the annual LGBT activism conference, Creating Change, in Philadelphia. While she tried to pay attention to the presentation, she found herself overcome with emotion.

“I can’t believe it,” she said.

Similar sentiments were expressed throughout the day at the conference, hosted by the National LGBT Task Force. It all had an air of unreality: As the swearing-in unfolded, many of the nearly 4,000 conference participants were watching YouTuber-turned-Broadway star Todrick Hall perform tracks from his Beyonce and “Wizard of Oz”-inspired album, “Straight Outta Oz.”

Some said they had decided it doesn’t matter who is in the White House.

“We have to get over the feelings and get to doing the work we need to do,” Phill Wilson, founder of the Black AIDS Institute, told those at the conference. “We must use everything in our power to do everything that we can to create a more inclusive, not less inclusive, America.”

Creating Change is a five-day organizing and skills-building event that in the past has attracted the likes of civil rights activist Julian Bond, journalist and immigration advocate Jose Antonio Vargas and transgender actress Laverne Cox. This year, the top billed speakers include noted activist the Rev. William J. Barber II.

While many tried to go through the conference without saying Trump’s name — dubbed “the T-word” — many vowed to redouble their efforts for the four years ahead.

“We need to commit to being dedicated to resistance to policy proposals that impact our community in a negative way,” said Florida Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando), who was in attendance.

Oscar De La O, president of Bienestar, a Latino community service and advocacy organization, added: “Trump has only highlighted and brought to the fore some of the issues LGBT people of color have always experienced.

“For years, we have been experiencing hate crimes, immigration issues and social injustices,” he said.

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Fear, prayer, but also Champagne — the world reacts to Donald Trump’s inauguration

Marchers in central London demonstrate Friday against President Trump.
Marchers in central London demonstrate Friday against President Trump.
((Dominic Lipinski / Associated Press) )

Raucous Champagne toasts in Russia, prayerful wishes from the Vatican, late-night yawns in China and defiant protests in central London: The world greeted Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 45th U.S. president with apprehension, anxiety and a smattering of glee — much like the swirl of mixed emotions that accompanied his improbable march to power.

In living rooms and cafes, nightclubs and bars, millions across the globe tuned in to live coverage of the new American leader taking the oath of office, the highlight of a day of inaugural pomp in Washington, D.C. Many said they hoped for the best, but feared the worst; others welcomed a break with the past.

In China, already roiled by Trump’s rhetoric over trade and Taiwan, the state clamped tight controls on media coverage of fresh utterances from the fledgling U.S. president. In France, Friday’s lead headline in the left-leaning daily Liberation — accompanied by a photo of Trump leaning into a stiff head wind — read: “Here we go!”

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Pro-Trump student shouted down at UCLA

About 250 students, union members and other protesters shouted chants and waved plastic-wrapped signs under a steady drizzle at UCLA on Friday. The noontime rally at Dickson Plaza was one of many planned across UC campuses.

Brenda Ramirez, a third-year student studying sociology and Spanish, said she came to stand against what she said were President Trump’s derogatory characterizations of Mexican immigrants like herself.

Her father is a farmworker outside Fresno, working nearly 14 hours daily, at minimum wage, she said. But Ramirez said her father never complains; he is grateful for the chance to earn money for his family and harvest food for Americans, she said.

While her own family members are U.S. citizens, Ramirez said she fears for her friends who are in the country illegally.

“Trump is so wrong about immigrants,” she said. “He is not my president.”

Not all students who attended the rally were Trump critics. As speakers railed against the new president, one student yelled out Trump’s slogan, “Make America great again!”

He immediately was shouted down.

The student, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Lucas, because of fear of retaliation, said he supported Trump’s efforts to improve relations with Russia, rein in globalization and “counter the ideology of political correctness.”

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Senate confirms James Mattis as Defense secretary

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California members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus had some strong words for Trump: ‘Get used to seeing our faces’

Several of California’s 55 members of Congress are either immigrants or the children of immigrants. Hours after President Trump took the oath of office Friday, they had a warning for him: The Congressional Hispanic Caucus isn’t going to accept immigration raids and a border wall.

Some California members appeared with the rest of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Friday to respond to the inauguration of a president whose campaign began with him asserting that a swath of Mexican immigrants were rapists and murderers, and who spent many campaign appearances in the following months promising to deport millions of people in the country illegally.

“We’re not just going to hand him the keys to the kingdom and say ‘have at it,’” Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Whittier) said at the news conference. “The president of the United States has made it abundantly clear, including in his speech today, that he is openly hostile to immigrants, particularly immigrants of Mexican ancestry. He views us as somehow being less American.”

Sanchez, whose parents emigrated from Mexico, said she wants the new president to recognize that immigrants are a blessing to the country.

“Donald Trump has coldly said people like my parents and those of us gathered here today have got to go. Well, Mr. President, I’m an American and I’m a member of the United States Congress and I’m here to tell you I’m not going anywhere,” Sanchez said. “Get used to seeing our faces.”

Freshman Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) questioned whether the new president wants to represent the entire country.

“Trump’s campaign began by denouncing Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers and as threats to our nation,” Carbajal said. “I immigrated to the United States with my family from Mexico as a 5-year-old boy; I now serve as a member of Congress from California’s Central Coast. Mr. Trump, I ask you, am I a threat to our democracy?”

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Voices from Inauguration Day in Washington: Supporters, detractors and vendors

Chelsie Hanna and her husband, Matt, of Tampa, Fla., love history and politics and decided months ago that they would be in Washington to watch the next president take the oath of office, no matter who won the election.

It is just much sweeter, they said, because their preferred candidate prevailed.

“This is the best experience of a lifetime,” said Chelsie Hanna, 30, as she pushed her two young boys, 6-year-old Tyler and 3-year-old Carter, down the street in a double stroller. “This is history. This is just such a great experience. There is just so much excitement and energy.”

***

Zahra Heussen, 15, and her cousin Taylor Herndon, 14, strode down Eye Street near the White House, holding signs and chanting, “No Trump! No hate!”

Joined by their uncle, Gil Grimmett, the teens lamented having been too young to vote in the election but wanted their voices to be heard. They were already eagerly anticipating casting their first ballots in 2020.

“We shouldn’t have a president who supports hate, who normalizes this stuff,” said Heussen, who lives in Washington, while holding a sign that said in English and Arabic: “Spread Love, not Hate!”

“We can’t change this now, but we will be ready next time,” said Heussen as a stranger approached and gave her a high-five.

“We also have to finish high school, go to college,” said their uncle.

***

Ben Rosen, 36, a high school teacher from San Francisco, said he hopes for a massive civil disobedience movement to push back against Trump’s agenda.

“History shows it’s only when people flood the streets that there is significant change,” he said.

***

Anthony Fiorita, a surgical technician from Dayton, Ohio, said he’s never been much involved with politics, besides voting, but got interested in Trump’s message on education and immigration reforms.

He ended up writing Trump a $100 check and attending three rallies.

Nodding toward his son, Dominic, he said, “I’d like him to grow up in an America similar to the one I grew up in.”

***

David Brown is from Los Angeles. His hair is spiky and he was wearing sleek red sneakers and a tight-fitting jacket.

But the West Coast hipster wasn’t in town to protest -- he is a Trumpster.

“We don’t talk openly about it back home,” the 40-year-old said. “I do a lot of work in the middle of the country and us on the coasts don’t understand his appeal. He is willing to talk about hard issues.”

***

Ben Walker, 51, knew an opportunity when he saw it. So the New Yorker purchased “Make America Great Again” hats and Donald Trump T-shirts and headed for Washington to hawk his wares.

Sales were great Thursday, he said as he stood on Eye Street not far from the White House, but not so much on Inauguration Day.

“It’s all reporters and protesters today,” said Walker, a Clinton voter. “I should have gotten some anti-Trump stuff to sell, too.”

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In Mexico City, few pay much attention to Trump’s inauguration

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Donald Trump prepare to deliver a joint news conference last year in Mexico City.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Donald Trump prepare to deliver a joint news conference last year in Mexico City.
(Yuri Cortez / AFP/Getty Images)

Mexican officials fear that Donald Trump’s planned policies on trade and immigration could sink their already tenuous economy.

If the public is concerned, there was little evidence of it Friday as the new U.S. president took office.

Relatively few people here in Mexico City seemed to be paying much attention to the inauguration ceremony in Washington.

A small contingent of anti-Trump protesters gathered at a Mexican landmark, the Angel of Independence, along central Paseo de la Reforma. Reporters covering the demonstration out-numbered participants.

The protesters chanted in favor of Mexican immigrants in the United States and denounced what they called the onset of “fascism” in the United States. Swastikas replaced U.S. stars on a likeness of a U.S. flag.

In a city accustomed to massive demonstrations, few passers-by seemed to pay much attention.

Another anti-Trump rally was planned for later in the day.

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This Southern Californian couldn’t tell her coworkers she was going to Trump’s inauguration

The crowd at the inauguration today.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Shannon, a 40-something accountant from Southern California, was excited enough about President Trump’s win that she traveled to D.C. to get a good view of his swearing-in.

But she didn’t want The Times to use her last name because her coworkers think she is on a ski trip instead of being herself at the inauguration.

“It’s awesome,” she said, marveling at being amid throngs of like-minded people celebrating a Republican win. “I can wear a Trump sweatshirt without getting hoots and hollers.

“In L.A., you can’t even put a bumper sticker on your car, it would be keyed in a second.”

For California Republicans, Trump’s improbable election was a rare taste of victory. The GOP in the Golden State has not elected a Republican statewide for many years and its voter registration level is at a historic low.

Shannon said she stopped talking about politics at work after she was shunned at her last job.

“So when I started my new job, I decided not to get into politics,” she said, saying the office is dominated by liberals, though there is one like-minded conservative.

On Nov. 9, the day after Trump won the election, “I had to act really sad,” Shannon said, before raising her hands as she said, “And the Oscar goes to ... .”

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Students at four schools walked out to protest Trump, LAUSD police chief says

Los Angeles Schools Police Chief Steven K. Zipperman said that as of midday Friday, he was aware of no arrests of students or of any disruptive incidents within district campuses.

About four schools were affected, including Augustus Hawkins High School, all in the central or south central core of Los Angeles, he said. The number of students participating in walkouts ranged from about a dozen at one school to about 70 at another.

At least some of the Hawkins students had returned to campus by about 12:15 p.m.

His officers, he added, had instructions to keep students safe and to encourage them to rejoin their classes.

“When students make their own choice to leave school during school hours, theoretically they are truant,” Zipperman said. “But we don’t get involved with disciplining students. If they do leave the campus, we do whatever we can to get them back.”

Besides Hawkins, some Dorsey High School students also apparently participated in the day’s off-campus political activity.

One speaker at a Black Lives Matter rally outside Men’s Central Jail downtown said she was from Dorsey. Black Lives Matter founder Patrisse Cullors said 12 Dorsey students met up with her group at Leimert Park at 9 a.m., where they boarded buses to protest around Los Angeles.

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Shia LaBeouf’s latest art exhibit aims its message directly at President Trump

Actor and performance artist Shia LaBeouf launched his latest art exhibit Friday in direct correlation to Donald Trump’s presidency with the intent to run as long as Trump occupies office.

“HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US” was created by LaBeouf, as well as Nastja Säde Rönkkö and Luke Turner, the same team behind LaBeouf’s previous exhibits, “#IAMSORRY” and “I AM NOT FAMOUS ANYMORE.”

The latest exhibit features a continuous live stream from a camera outside the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City, which allows the public to repeat the phrase “He will not divide us” as often as they please.

“Open to all, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the participatory performance will be live streamed continuously at www.hewillnotdivide.us for four years, or the duration of the presidency,” the artists said in a statement released Friday.

“In this way, the mantra ‘HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US’ acts as a show of resistance or insistence, opposition or optimism, guided by the spirit of each individual participant and the community.”

The performance piece began at 9 a.m. Friday and is scheduled to continue, conservatively, through Jan. 20, 2021, the date of the next presidential inauguration.

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Dozens of protesters arrested as violence breaks out in capital

A limousine burns during Street protests in Washington on Friday.
(Matt Pearce / Los Angeles Times)

More than 90 protesters were arrested on Inauguration Day after thousands of demonstrators crowded the streets north of the Capitol Mall, with some small groups setting fires and smashing storefronts and the windows of police vehicles.

As Donald Trump took the oath of office as president, most demonstrators marched peacefully, protesting a wide range of grievances. However, a significant number of anarchists broke off from the day’s rallies to damage property or confront police.

At 13th and K street, in front of the Washington Post building, protesters milled about aimlessly, many of them wearing black clothing and masks. A few set a trash can and its contents on fire in the street, while others smashed the windows of passing police vehicles.

At one point, two protesters in black climbed on top of what appeared to be a National Guard truck, with the driver still inside — rolling down his window a crack to take a picture of the interlopers. Another civilian climbed on the truck and angrily asked protesters to get down, which they did, and the truck drove away undamaged.

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No longer @POTUS, he’s just @BarackObama

Along with all the pomp and circumstance of Friday’s inauguration, there was the official handoff of the presidential Twitter account.

Donald Trump gets the @POTUS handle, while Barack Obama is now using @BarackObama.

He sent out his first post-presidential tweets after leaving the Capitol, where the inaugural ceremony was held.

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Teenage Trump supporter: ‘I want what’s best for my country, and I believe this is what’s best’

Peggy O’Neil, of nearby Arlington, Va., turned 18 on Thursday, a day before President Trump was inaugurated. She was disappointed that she was unable to vote for Trump in November. The night of the election, she and her grandma stayed up past midnight, cheering as the results poured in.

On Friday, the high school student wore a bright blue Trump hat and a T-shirt with a picture of the president in a red Make America Great Again hat, giving a thumbs up. She and a group of friends waited for over three hours to get into the National Mall to witness Trump’s inauguration and missed the speeches because of protesters blocking their entrance. But she was still beaming.

“For me, this is so exciting,” she said. “It’s such a historic moment. I’m excited to see what he’s going to do for our country.”

O’Neil’s friend, Mackenzie Ullom, 17, said this was the first election that she was old enough to understand and that she followed it closely. She was 9 when President Obama took office and she said she’s excited to see change.

“I don’t believe in government handouts,” she said, sporting a Make America Great Again cap and two braids in her hair.

O’Neil and Ullom said other students at their high school have been angry at them for supporting Trump. People spat at O’Neil when she wore a Trump shirt the day after election, she said, and Ullom’s sister was kicked out of class by a teacher who said, “You’re triggering me,” because she was wearing a Trump shirt, Ullom said. People call them racist and homophobic, which they say is untrue, and their friends stopped talking to them, they said.

“People that don’t even know me say that I’m a racist and that I hate my own gender all the time,” Ullom said. “I don’t hate my own gender. I want what’s best for my country, and I believe this is what’s best.”

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The L.A. artist who lip-synced Donald Trump’s inauguration speech as a clown

Los Angeles artist Rachel Mason offered an alternative inauguration viewing experience for those who didn’t vote for Donald Trump.

Taking her character FutureClown, which she uses to perform politically minded sketches, Mason lip-synced the new president’s speech as it was happening via a live stream on Facebook ... while dressed up as a clown.

As Trump talked about putting “America first,” Mason — decked out in a green-and-brown polka-dot number, complete with a Cubist-looking headdress and dramatic face paint — mouthed along and employed Trumpian finger gestures.

The performance took place Friday morning in the storefront of nonprofit arts space Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions in Hollywood. It is the only event on the organization’s schedule, which is closed to the public for the rest of Friday in observance of the nationwide culture strike, #J20.

Although the LACE galleries were closed to the public, Executive Director Sarah Russin said it was important to provide Mason with the space and support to perform her piece.

“I feel that presenting this with Rachel is our way of commenting,” she said, “of giving an artist an artist-driven project to respond to the election.”

As with all things that go down live, the show wasn’t without hiccups. Friday morning’s pouring rain did a number on L.A.’s fragile communications grid and a wavering Wi-Fi signal meant the space occasionally lost sound on Trump’s speech.

“Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong,” Mason said resignedly after the speech concluded.

No matter. She is creating an archival version of the performance that will be available on her YouTube page. Which means that if you missed Trump’s speech, you can always watch the clown version instead.

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Protesters and llamas are also parading on the streets of Washington

Donald Trump protesters demonstrate in Washington, D.C.

As TV viewers watched the pomp and circumstance of the 45th presidential inauguration, Times reporters Matt Pearce and Steve Saldivar sent in this video of protesters near the parade route.

Outstanding question: What do the llamas have to do with anything?

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As protesters arrive at L.A.’s City Hall, some say they just need ‘catharsis’

Demonstrators arrived at the steps of Los Angeles City Hall on Friday afternoon, demanding equality for groups that have historically been marginalized.

In addition to advocating for black, transgender, gay and Muslim lives, they called for affordable education, protection of women’s rights and a more welcoming posture toward immigrants.

“We reject the president elect,” they shouted, as some danced in the rain to keep warm.

Maya Gasca, 55, of Whittier, took an early lunch and joined the march. She said airing out her frustrations has been cathartic.

“We all feel sadness for this country,” she said, standing under a yellow umbrella with a colleague. “We know we are not going to solve anything. Coming here is for our own souls.”

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These horses and their riders are the only California group in the inaugural parade

There’s only one California group in today’s inaugural parade: Fourteen palomino horses and their riders from the Merced County Sheriff’s Posse in Hilmar.

The nonprofit group of riders has appeared in parades across the state for nearly 70 years. This is their fourth trip to Washington for a national parade, said Hilmar rider Laurette Locke, 59.

The horses and riders came in 1973 for President Nixon’s inauguration, the 1976 bicentennial celebration and President George W. Bush’s second inauguration in 2005.

The 2005 parade was bitterly cold, but members in October jumped at the chance to apply for this year’s parade, even before the presidency was decided.

“It’s like having a baby,” Locke said. “Over time you forget how cold it was.”

A lot of work, and money, goes into transporting horses across the country, said Locke, who will be riding her horse, Rosie, in the parade. The group started a GoFundMe page to raise the estimated $60,000 needed to participate.

“It’s kind of a crazy idea because we have to hire these great semi-like luxury liners to get them across the country,” she said. “They went first class, we went coach.”

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Some Little Saigon locals want Californians to give Trump a chance

Customers watch the inauguration at the Gypsy Den in Little Saigon.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

At the Gypsy Cafe in Orange County’s Little Saigon, customers gathered around hearty bowls of noodles Friday to watch Donald Trump’s presidential inauguaration.

Among those diners who had voted for Trump was Vinh Huynh, 52, of Fountain Valley.

“Unfortunately, I’m in the minority in California,” said Huynh, a retail marketing specialist and lifelong Republican. “I believe in a platform of basic freedoms and rights, and so does the party.”

Fellow diner John Do, 47, of Westminster chimed in and said that what’s needed now is patience.

“Give him a chance, that’s all I can say,” Do said as he sipped espresso. “He’s not gonna dump money out to push all the immigrants out. My guess is he’ll encourage all the people who are here illegally to do paperwork, pay taxes.”

Do, who runs an auto repair business, said his community, like the nation overall, pays close attention to business.

“The bottom line, that’s what we’re concerned about,” Do said. “Many people are living off their piggy banks and need more help to plan for their future.”

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House Republican says ‘the investigation continues’ into Hillary Clinton

Rep. Jason Chaffetz was one of Hillary Clinton’s chief tormentors in Congress, relentlessly probing her use of a private email server while she was secretary of State.

On Friday, as President Donald Trump was inaugurated, Chaffetz, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, and Clinton crossed paths.

The Utah Republican posted a photo of them shaking hands and writing, “So pleased she is not the President.”

He also added, “The investigation continues,” a sign that Chaffetz could continue examining Clinton’s conduct.

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FHA mortgage insurance rate cut is suspended an hour after Trump takes office

An hour after President Trump took office Friday, the Department of Housing and Urban Development indefinitely suspended a pending rate cut for mortgage insurance required for home loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration.

The move reverses a policy announced in the waning days of the Obama administration that would have trimmed payments for borrowers by hundreds of dollars a year.

Some Republicans, however, expressed concern that the rate cut could cost taxpayers if the mortgages started to go sour and the FHA couldn’t cover the losses. FHA-backed loans have seen explosive growth in recent years.

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Fact check: Did factories shutter and ‘leave our shores’ under Obama?

“One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind,” President Trump said Friday in his inaugural address.

Government data show that about 65,000 U.S. manufacturing facilities closed between 2001 and 2013. But the number of factories has risen by about 11,000 since then as offshoring has slowed and domestic industries have become more competitive, particularly in energy and labor costs.

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On the streets of the capital, shouts and name-calling dispel thoughts of unity

Anti-Trump protest in Washington on Friday.
(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times)

If you spent time on the streets of Washington on Inauguration Day, talking to those who adore Donald Trump and those who can’t believe he’s now president, any warm and fuzzy thoughts you might have had about becoming one nation, under God, would have perished in the flames of partisan hellfire.

“You called me a racist, but you’re the racist,” a Trump foe shouted at a woman who wore a “Make America Great Again” hat and was perched in bleachers on Pennsylvania Avenue, waiting for the parade to begin.

“Leave me alone,” the woman shouted back, summoning a volunteer usher to call the police.

Sharon Patrick and Amy Jemery, retirees from Florida, were pressed against a barrier, prepared to wait hours for a chance to glimpse the man they knew all along was destined to be president.

“If you have that supernatural power behind you, you can achieve anything,” Jemery said.

What supernatural power might that be, I wondered?

Trump’s victory was God’s will, Jemery said. That supernatural power.

He’s not going to be nearly as divisive as Obama was, Patrick said.

Trump isn’t divisive?

He said things about women, but that’s how men talk, said Jemery.

You have to get over it, said Patrick. “As Christians, you’re taught to forgive.”

The unforgiving assembled nearby, a few hundred strong.

“Patriots pay taxes,” said one sign.

“The emperor has no clothes,” said a second.

“Impeach the troll,” said a third.

The new president’s speech boomed over loudspeakers. Protesters roared their disapproval.

One man knelt and wept. We are so divided now, he could have been on either side.

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In diverse L.A., protesters fear for their neighbors after Trump’s ascension

“I’m here because of fear,” said Tim Kolesnikow, an attorney who lives in Westchester. “I fear for my fellow citizens and all the hardworking people who live here.”

In downtown Los Angeles, under gray skies and pouring rain, dozens of protesters gathered at Olympic Boulevard and Broadway after watching President Trump take the oath of office Friday.

They cheered as passing cars honked, and greeted each other in Spanish, Chinese and English.

Friends Tim Kolesnikow, 49, and Jim Iacono, 54, protected their handmade posters under their umbrellas. Red ink ran down the poster boards, but their messages were clear:

“TRAITOR TRUMP: SECRET DEAL WITH RUSSIA?

“Corrupt right out the gate.”

“I’m here because of fear,” said Kolesnikow, an attorney who lives in Westchester. “I fear for my fellow citizens and all the hardworking people who live here.”

He looked around at the growing crowd — local business owners, immigration rights groups, anti-fascist groups, downtown millennials, Latino workers, journalists, police officers, bus drivers, college students and faculty and entire families.

“These people have a lot of fear, and they’re part of our community,” Kolesnikow said. “They’re my neighbors, my co-workers.”

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Fact check: Did jobs decline under Obama?

“Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed,” President Trump said Friday during his inaugural address about U.S. job growth under former President Obama.

While manufacturing jobs have declined over the past several decades, The Obama administration, which started amid the Great Recession, saw the longest streak of job growth recorded in the United States.

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When Trump said ‘American carnage,’ we’re guessing he didn’t mean the heavy-metal tour

Megadeth's Dave Mustaine performs at the Long Beach Arena on Aug. 30, 2010.
Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine performs at the Long Beach Arena on Aug. 30, 2010.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

During his first speech as president, Donald Trump railed against “American carnage.” While many may have wondered what exactly the president meant, we’re guessing he wasn’t referring to the heavy-metal bands Slayer and Megadeth’s joint 2010 tour dubbed the American Carnage Tour.

“This is what the fans want to see: good honest American heavy metal,” Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine told The Times in 2010 about the tour.

The first leg of that North American tour ran from July 23 to Sept. 4, 2010, with Testament in tow. For the second leg (Sept. 24 to Oct. 21), Megadeth and Slayer were joined by Anthrax.

Granted, these good honest American heavy-metal fans were probably unimpressed with how their genre was absent at any of President Trump’s inaugural events where 3 Doors Down was the rock band of choice.

Slayer's Tom Araya performs at the Long Beach Arena on Aug. 30, 2010.
Slayer’s Tom Araya performs at the Long Beach Arena on Aug. 30, 2010.
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
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Former President George H.W. Bush, now in stable condition, watches Trump’s inauguration from Houston hospital

Former President George H.W. Bush is seen in his office in Houston in 2015.
(Larry W. Smith / EPA)

Former President George H.W. Bush was in stable condition at Houston Methodist Hospital on Thursday after being admitted the day before to intensive care with pneumonia.

“He was extubated this morning and is breathing well on his own with minimal supplemental oxygen,” family spokesman Jim McGrath said in a statement. “President Bush is comfortable and watching inauguration coverage together with Mrs. Bush, their son Neil and daughter-in-law Maria.”

McGrath said the 92-year-old former president “will remain in the ICU for observation.”

Barbara Bush, 91, also was hospitalized as a precaution Wednesday after suffering fatigue and coughing, McGrath said. On Thursday, he said the former first lady “continues to feel better and is focusing on spending time with her husband. She is expected to remain in the hospital over the weekend as a precaution.”

The couple celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary Jan. 6.

Bush, who served as the 41st president from 1989 to 1993, has Parkinson’s disease. He was hospitalized in 2015 after falling and breaking a bone in his neck, and the previous December for about a week for shortness of breath. He spent Christmas 2012 in intensive care for a bronchitis-related cough and other issues.

Bush’s office announced earlier this month that he and the former first lady would not attend Donald Trump’s inauguration this week because of his age and health.

Former President George W. Bush posted on Facebook ahead of the inauguration, “Your prayers are working: 41 and Mom are doing much better today and fighting on. Thanks for your messages of love and support for Mother and Dad. Laura W. Bush and I look forward to representing them at the inauguration tomorrow while they continue to recover in Houston.”

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He’s no Abe Lincoln. Trump delivers pugnacious inaugural address that offers little to bind 2016 wounds

(Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images)

There was no pivot. There was no olive branch, no binding of wounds, no lofty summons to the better angels of our nature.

The 16-minute inaugural address that President Trump delivered was Trumpism distilled to its raw essence: angry, blunt-spoken and deeply aggrieved.

He spoke of ending the “American carnage” under President Obama, who sat poker-faced behind him on the stage in front of the Capitol as a light drizzle shrouded the scene. He spoke of a corrupt and self-dealing Washington, enriching itself while the rest of the country has gone to rot.

He thundered against foreign countries growing fat by playing Uncle Sam as a sucker.

It was the type of speech — pugnacious in tone, pitch black in its color — reminiscent of the apocalyptic portrait he painted in accepting the Republican nomination in July. It would sound familiar to anyone who attended a Trump rally, or tuned in to his series of debates with Democrat Hillary Clinton.

In short, it was a speech that extended the angry, acrid 2016 campaign rather than look ahead to the job of governing a deeply polarized country.

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Fact check: Did the U.S. really spend ‘trillions and trillions of dollars’ overseas?

“We’ve defended other nation’s borders while refusing to defend our own, and spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay,” President Trump said Friday in his inaugural address.

It’s unclear exactly what figures Trump was referring to, but finding an exact cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is difficult. Independent researchers have pegged the cost in the trillions of dollars, while other estimates have been more modest.

Over the past 15 years, the U.S. government has directly appropriated around $2 trillion to fight the wars, but that doesn’t include other costs, such as humanitarian funding and services for veterans after they return home.

A 22-page study by Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs published in September put the total cost at $4.79 trillion.

The authors acknowledged that the figure is “so large as to be almost incomprehensible.”

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Students walk out of South L.A. high school to protest Trump’s inauguration

A group of students walked out of Augustus Hawkins High School in South Los Angeles on Friday to protest the inauguration of Donald Trump. It was one of several student actions at campuses in the L.A. Unified School District.

District officials at first declined to confirm that the walkout had occurred, but video, apparently shot by students, was posted on social media showing students marching outside the school’s fence, chanting and holding umbrellas. It’s not clear how many students left campus.

Officials declined to name other schools where there were reports of student protests, saying they were looking into the situations.

School board President Steve Zimmer confirmed that there were “small” actions at a number of schools and expressed concern about the impact of heavy rain in some areas.

“The No. 1 priority for today ... is the safety of all our students, especially given the rainstorm and the weather conditions,” Zimmer said. “While we recognize and appreciate and respect the emotions they are feeling on this day, we urge all students to prioritize their safety. We urge them to take advantage of the learning resources on campus and many schools have set up an open microphone and other activities during lunch today.”

The district activated its emergency operations center at 7 a.m. Friday, pulling in extra resources such as school police officers.

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Obama declares today a ‘comma’ not a ‘period’ in the American story

Barack Obama left town Friday promising his closest friends and supporters that their cause will live on, declaring the day’s events “just a little pit stop” on the way to the progress they want to see.

In his first remarks as a private citizen, Obama addressed almost 2,000 people in a hangar at this military base as newly sworn-in President Donald Trump was already signing his first executive orders.

Many of those present had just cleaned out their desks and offices at the White House, or at other government buildings around town, and were moving on to uncertain futures under the Republican president.

“Our democracy is not the buildings,” Obama told them. “It’s you, being willing to listen to each other and argue with each other and come together and knock on doors and make phone calls and treat people with respect. And that doesn’t end, this is just a little pit stop.”

“This is not a period,” he said. “This is a comma in the continuing story of building America.”

When he finished speaking, he and his wife, Michelle Obama, spent a half hour shaking hands and hugging people in the crowd, most of them veterans of the 2008 and 2012 campaigns or the White House staff.

When they were done, they climbed the stairs to the Air Force aircraft and waved at the applauding crowd. A light drizzle began as the plane began rolling toward takeoff, en route to their desert vacation in Palm Springs, Calif.

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D.C. drag queens dance through Trump inauguration at ‘farewell Obama’ brunch

When Nellie’s Sports Bar opened its doors for a “Farewell Obama Love Trumps Hate” brunch, the presidential inauguration of Donald J. Trump was playing on the television upstairs. But on the main floor, the TVs were blank. As one of the bar’s employees said looking out at the crowd, this was “their show.”

Servers wore defaced inauguration shirts, bartenders served a drink thumbing their noses at the new president, “... Trump punch” (Stoli Ohranj vodka, triple sec, Sprite, orange juice and a splash of cranberry), and just about everyone was singing.

Performer Riley Knoxx came out dancing to Beyonce’s “Sorry” and screams of delight. Then Shi-Queeta Lee (who came up with the T-shirt idea) entered in a leopard ensemble paired with a bright yellow fur coat, dancing to Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody.” The mood was electric.

“I would be sobbing if I was watching the inauguration,” said Kathy Lee, 60, from Spokane, Wash. “This felt like an antidote.”

Lee and her friends were not in town for Friday’s ceremony, but for Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington. Her travel companion, Caroline Cherry, showed off her “GOP WTF” button with pride, “I haven’t had a single sad thought for two hours.”

As for why they came to the march, Lee said, “We’re just outraged at Trump’s remarks about women. And we’re fearful over what he might do, particularly with reproductive rights.”

Cherry added, “I’m a middle-aged, middle-class white women. I’m particularly not in danger. But many of my fellow Americans are, and I want to stand in solidarity with them.”

Manager Justin Thomas, 26, dressed up as Trump, described the brunch as “fun and upbeat, more than what I thought it was going to be.”

“The mood in here today was phenomenal,” performer Shi-Queeta Lee said. “Washingtonians didn’t really like the election results. And we weren’t going to the inauguration anyway, so we thought, ‘Why not have a brunch for the people who lived here?’ Instead of standing out in the cold in that fool line, we’d invite everyone here to come and see us act a fool. So that’s what we did.”

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California congresswomen wore pink ‘pussyhats’ during Trump’s inauguration

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) felt obligated to attend the inauguration as a member of Congress, but wanted to use the platform to show her displeasure with President-elect Donald Trump. That came in the form on a pink hat with cat ears.

You may have noticed a smattering of pink hats and scarves among the members of Congress watching Trump’s inauguration today — a subtle protest from some Democrats ahead of Saturday’s Women’s March.

Thousands of people attending Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington are expected to wear the pink “pussyhats.”

The handmade pink caps with cat-like ears are a reference to Trump’s vulgar statements about grabbing women’s genitals, which were revealed in a leaked video shortly before the election.

Speier pass out hats made by her constituents to other members of Congress in hopes the platform around Trump would be dotted with pink.

Before attending the march on Saturday, Speier and actress Patricia Arquette are holding a 300-person event to advocate for an equal rights amendment to the Constitution.

Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-San Pedro) also wore a bright pink hat made for her by a constituent.

“That is how my protest is going to be. I would love to be there for him to see me in my pink hat to show the unity of standing with women and those he’s been disparaging,” Barragán said before the ceremony. “It was a very tough decision to make, but [I’m] going with my pink hat on. I’m not going to stand, I’m not going to cheer, I’m not going to applaud. This is not a celebration for me.”

Barragán is flying home immediately after the ceremony to speak at the Women’s March in Los Angeles.

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Trump vows broad rollback of Obama environmental policies on White House website

He said it on the campaign trail and, just moments after being sworn into office, President Trump said it again on a new platform, the White House website:

He intends to roll back former President Obama’s signature efforts to fight climate change, reverse other environmental laws, dramatically expand fossil fuel production on public lands, revive the coal industry, establish “energy independence” from the OPEC “cartel” but also “work with our Gulf allies to develop a positive energy relationship as part of our anti-terrorism strategy.”

Trump’s “America First Energy Plan” was the top item under the “issues” section of the wholly revamped White House site that appeared just after noon Eastern time.

Under other headings, he also promised to defeat the militant group Islamic State “and other radical Islamic terror groups,” rebuild the military,” lower tax rates “for Americans in every tax bracket,” reduce corporate taxes, issue a “moratorium” on new federal regulations, create 25 million new jobs, reduce crime and either withdraw from or renegotiate trade deals “that put the interests of insiders and the Washington elite over the hard-working men and women of this country.”

Just seven paragraphs long, the “America First Energy Plan” was broad in scope.

Trump said he was “committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies,” including former President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, which included reducing emissions from coal-fired power plants, and a broad rule protecting what are known as “waters of the United States” that has been heavily criticized by the mining and oil and gas industries.

“For too long, we’ve been held back by burdensome regulations on our energy industry,” the site reads.

The new administration claims that “lifting these restrictions will greatly help American workers, increasing wages by more than $30 billion over the next seven years.”

The site also says the new administration “will embrace the shale oil and gas revolution” and “take advantage of “the estimated $50 trillion in untapped shale, oil and natural gas reserves, especially those on federal lands that the American people own.”

It promises to “use the revenues from energy production to rebuild our roads, schools, bridges and public infrastructure. Less expensive energy will be a big boost to American agriculture, as well.”

With oil and gas prices relatively low, industry analysts have questioned how much enthusiasm oil and gas companies will show for drilling on federal land when more established areas show promise. Experts note, too, that coal is in broad decline largely because of the rise of natural gas, not increased regulation. And how quickly Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress could fulfill some of his promises is unclear, given complicated rule-making procedures and environmental groups that have vowed to challenge the new policies in court.

Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club, called the energy plan “a statement of priorities that constitute an historic mistake on one of the key crises facing our planet, and an assault on public health.”

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If disaster had struck Trump’s inauguration, designated survivor Jeh Johnson would have become president

If disaster had struck Donald Trump’s inauguration, where most members of the legislative, executive and judicial branches gathered at the Capitol, outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson would have become president of the United States.

Johnson, the Cabinet member selected as the designated survivor during President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address last year, reprised his role during the 45th president’s inauguration.

It’s typically associated with State of the Union addresses, but every four years on Inauguration Day, the outgoing or incumbent administration selects a designated survivor who would be prepared to take the oath of office if necessary. The White House keeps the identity of the chosen one a secret until the day of the event, and the person’s location remains a mystery until the all-clear.

The nation’s nuclear launch codes, a 45-pound briefcase known as “the football,” also travels with the designated survivor. And rest assured, whoever has it has undergone training to step into the president’s shoes.

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Barack Obama sends final tweets as president

In the final hours of his presidency, Barack Obama composed a few tweets to share his appreciation and assurance that he will not stop fighting for what he believes in.

The link to Obama.org leads to a video in which he and Michelle Obama speak about their plans, as well as his future presidential center in Chicago.

“After eight years in the office, Michelle and I now rejoin all of you as private citizens,” the former president said. “We want to thank you again from the bottom of our hearts for giving us the privilege of serving this country that we love.”

“First, we’re going to take a little break,” Michelle Obama said. “We’re finally going to get some sleep and take some time to be with our family and just be still for a little bit. So we might not be online quite as much as you’re used to seeing us.”

Barack Obama then urged individuals to make their voices heard and let them know what they’d like the Chicago presidential center to entail, before returning to a message of civil service.

“As I’ve said many times before, true democracy is a project that’s much bigger than any one of us,” he stated. “It’s bigger than one person. It’s bigger than one president. It’s bigger than any one government. It’s a job for all of us. It requires everyday effort from all of us.

“The work of perfecting our union is never finished. We look forward to joining you in that effort as private citizens. Thank you, and we’ll see all of you again soon,” Obama concluded.

Obama sent one last tweet from his official White House account before custody was transferred to President Trump; Obama’s presidential tweets have been archived (and now he’ll be tweeting from @barackobama). He made a final plea to followers.

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London protests urge Trump to build bridges, not walls

(Matt Dunham / Associated Press)

Anti-Donald Trump banners were draped across bridges in central London on Friday.

A sign reading “BUILD BRIDGES NOT WALLS” was hung over the iconic Tower Bridge while protesters held aloft letters spelling out the words: “ACT NOW!”

Another sign on Westminster Bridge, in the shadow of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, read: “Migrants welcome here” and “Migration is older than language.”

The protest was organized by “Bridges Not Walls,” which describes itself as a group of grassroots activists and campaigners that formed in the wake of Trump’s election victory.

“We won’t let the politics of hate peddled by the likes of Donald Trump take hold,” said spokeswoman Nona Hurkmans.

An anti-Trump women’s protest march is scheduled to take place in London on Saturday.

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In his first speech as president, Trump’s vision of America remains dark

To the question of which Donald Trump would speak to America on Friday — the dark Trump who spoke angrily at his party’s convention or the more conciliatory Trump heard in the hours after his surprise election — the answer was clear.

Trump used his inaugural speech to present the same vision of a devastated America that he presented when he accepted his nomination last summer — the nation as a place of “carnage,” as the new president put it.

There was very little in the way of reaching out to Americans who had not supported him, or who did but were wary of his dystopian views or his temperament.

The speech displayed Trump as he almost always has been: unfettered as he replaced a “hope and change” presidency with one that emphasized problems over uplift.

His was an inaugural speech that played to the hearts and emotions of the voters who had sided with Trump all along and who filled the expanse of the National Mall before him, people who despite many indicators showing vast improvements in the country during the Obama presidency have felt stiffed by Washington and politicians of all stripes.

Trump defined the world as Washington versus the people. And he placed himself — firmly, pointedly, angrily — with the people.

“Today we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another, or from one party to another — but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the American people,” Trump said. “For too long, a small group in our nation’s capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.”

Thematically, Trump seemed to be reaching for the same argument put forward with more elegant and welcoming rhetoric by Ronald Reagan 36 years earlier.

Reagan, as Trump did Friday, used his first inaugural speech to distance himself from the politicians from both parties who surrounded him on the stage at the Capitol; his signature line: “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.”

But Reagan had continued with a more inclusive argument, reaching out after the divisive contest with Jimmy Carter to embrace Americans who thought ill of him.

According to Reagan, the coming years would require “our best effort and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds, to believe that together with God’s help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us.”

And, he sunnily added: “After all, why shouldn’t we believe that? We are Americans.”

Little like that came forth Friday.

Trump did not deviate significantly from the themes of his campaign speeches. He talked of the ills of gangs and drugs and a leaky border in the darkest of tones.

“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” he said.

Trump did not single out President Obama as the cause of the nation’s ills; he clearly was aiming at the entire political class, including his fellow Republicans, who wholly control Capitol Hill. That sort of bipartisan scorn marked his campaign and fueled his support.

But Trump comes into his presidency needing some allies. His popularity ratings have slumped below the 46% who voted for him. He will have the partisan loyalty of many on Capitol Hill, but key Republicans there have very different ideas about how to deal with many of the issues on which Trump campaigned. Including them in the list of those who abandoned their fellow citizens would not seem to engender good will.

Trump spent his campaign telling America exactly what he believed. Much of the nation’s political establishment imagined that if he was elected — a possibility they thought was minimal — Trump would pivot, that he would soften the harsh tones and speak to a nation larger than that occupied by his most avid followers.

The Trump who spoke to the nation Friday was precisely the Trump who won the presidency. Now he will find out if that is enough.

Rewind: Watch the Reagan and Trump speeches >>

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Pope congratulates Trump, urges him to remember the poor

(Vincenzo Pinto / AFP / Getty Images)

Pope Francis sent a brief message of congratulations to newly inaugurated President Donald Trump while also urging him to remember the poor and the outcasts of society.

“I offer you my cordial good wishes and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high office,” Francis wrote Friday.

The pope expressed hope that America’s stature in the world would continue to be measured “above all by its concern for the poor, the outcast and those in need who, like Lazarus, stand before our door.”

A pontiff who has made the global migrant crisis a central and visible issue of his papacy, Francis also reminded Trump of the “grave humanitarian crises” facing the world and said he prayed that Trump’s decisions would be guided by America’s “rich spiritual and ethical values” and its commitment to the “advancement of human dignity and freedom worldwide.”

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Seeing a new Republican president brought tears of joy to one Trump supporter

As Todd Hutchens, 55, stood on the National Mall for Donald Trump’s inauguration, wearing a red Make America Great Again hat, tears filled his blue eyes.

Hutchens never thought he’d see another Republican president again, thanks to the changing demographics of the country, and he was overwhelmed with joy.

“It’s hard to even put into words. I’m really emotional about it” he said. “The atmosphere, the energy that’s here, just the hope and optimism of everybody around here”

Hutchens and his son-in-law got to D.C. from home in Lakeland, Fla., on Thursday night and attended the Lincoln Memorial pre-inaugural concert.

“I honestly thought that we would never reach this moment again,” he said. “Just with the demographics of the country I did not think that we would have anybody elected like this again.”

Hutchens thinks Trump, whom he called “Reaganesque,” will do a great job.

“He has a focus and a leadership quality that a lot of presidents do not have, on both sides.”

Hutchens, who said he works in risk management, said it was striking to be among so many red-hatted supporters.

“A lot of people were even embarrassed to say they were for President-elect Trump. So to be around this many? It’s something else.”

“When I left, I told my wife I’d be the one on TV wearing a red hat,” he said, laughing.

His son-in-law, Chris Latner, a 30-year-old customer service worker, said that though he was open with his Trump support during the election, he always worried that he would offend someone “because of the way the media misconstrued everything.”

When Trump appeared on the video screen on the National Mall, giving a thumbs up, Hutchens did the same, pumping his arm and smiling.

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At San Francisco rally, some worry Trump ‘is going to come after us’

Several hundred people gathered at Justin Herman Plaza here on the edge of San Francisco Bay for a rally that was to precede a short protest march.

It was peaceful, almost muted.

“Trump hates kids and puppies,” suggested one sign.

Lori Koon, a 60-year-old hairdresser from the Mission District, wore a San Francisco Giants cap and a yellow slicker to ward of the light showers. She is part of the Courage Campaign, a grassroots group that aims to protect and promote California interests.

“I think he is going to come after us (Californians) ... to weaken our position in the country and hurt us any way he can,” she said of President Trump.

“I don’t know what that is, but it isn’t going to be pretty,” she said.

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Hollywood is missing Obama already: ‘TV is OFF at our house’

Aside from President Trump’s small band of celebrity fans, the entertainment industry was in mourning early Friday as the 45th commander in chief was sworn in. Not a surprise, since Hollywood as a whole had overwhelmingly and vocally supported Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

It was a rainbow of reactions: Comedian Maz Jobrani had his own interpretation of the 21-gun salute.

Mark Ruffalo, who along with Alec Baldwin, Cher and others had been at the #WeStandUnited protest rally in New York City the night before, urged people to look away.

Eric McCormack wasn’t looking at anything -- at least not anything on TV. But Joely Fisher was.

Shonda Rhimes took a moment to acknowledge Hillary Clinton, then recalled where she was in 2008 when she realized a black man was going to be president.

Comic Chris Rock posted a hot meme -- “Don’t forget to set your clock back 300 years tonight” -- and additionally said America was going to miss “these two,” captioning a picture of his girlfriend, Megalyn Echikunwoke, with President Obama.

And filmmaker Michael Moore was at the inaugural, but he wasn’t happy about it.

For the record, 11:45 a.m.: An earlier version of this post misidentified Megalyn Echikunwoke as Malaak Compton, Chris Rock’s ex-wife.

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Watch President Trump’s inaugural address

You can also read the 45th U.S. president’s first address to the nation.

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Rushlow mum on what he’ll sing for the Trumps’ inaugural first dance

The country singer Tim Rushlow carved his name into history on Thursday when, as part of the trio the Frontmen of Country with Lonestar singer Richie McDonald and Larry Stewart of Restless Heart, he performed at the pre-inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial.

But for Rushlow a bigger spotlight was still on the horizon, he said, speaking from his Washington, D.C., hotel a few hours later. He and his big band will accompany the newly installed President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for their first dance at the official presidential inaugural balls at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Friday..

The singer, who was born in Oklahoma and raised in Texas, said that in December someone from the president’s team saw Rushlow’s big band perform.

According to Rushlow, they said, ‘‘’Hey, we’re wanting to do something that’s not about A-listers or anything – no insult to you.’ I said, ‘None taken – I’m not J-Lo.’”

They made an offer, recalled Rushlow: “They said, ‘Would you entertain being the house band – the big band – for Mr. Trump’s inaugural ball and giving him and the first lady their first dance, and being our entertainment?’ I said I would be honored.”

Rushlow and his outfit, which he founded after his success as part of the band Little Texas, focus on classics from the Great American Songbook. They’ve had many opportunities to hone their act – and earn many new fans – as a regular performer during public television pledge drives.

Citing the pop singer Bobby Darin as his biggest influence, Rushlow was coy when asked what song he’d be performing for the first dance.

“I wish I could tell you,” he said, laughing. “I literally can’t. It’s like, let’s just let people see it. But I can tell you this: It was picked by the Trump family – from I guess Melania Trump – and this is what they wanted. The family wanted that song and it is from the Great American Songbook, and it wasn’t a stretch for me to do it.”

Rushlow added: “Although I’ve mainly done it with a toothbrush in my mirror growing up, I’ve never sung it in front of a crowd. But I do know it, so it wasn’t something totally out of nowhere.”

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The cat head buttons on Kellyanne Conway’s military coat seem to be sending a message

Kellyanne Conway with former Vice President Dan Quayle just before Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.
(Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA)

Yes, Kellyanne Conway, we noticed that in addition to the patriotic color combination of red, white and blue, your military-inspired coat (which appears to be this $3,600 Gucci wool A-line coat) is studded with metal buttons -- in the shape of cat heads.

It doesn’t take much heavy lifting to draw the connection between the cat motif and the litter of cat references that have been ping-ponging through the political landscape for the last several months.

Of course there was the Trump comment about grabbing women, caught on video and released before the election. Then Melania Trump turned up not once but twice wearing outfits with the distinct neck detail known as a “pussy bow.”

This was catnip to fashion sleuths (this one included), who mused that perhaps it was a calculated nose-thumb to critics and reference to the incident.

That, in turn, spawned the knit pink “pussyhats,” which have become the de facto sartorial symbol of Saturday’s upcoming women’s marches nationwide.

It’s almost impossible not to see Conway’s choice as a kind of catty callback and final commentary on the whole situation.

To which we have to say: “Meow, meow.”

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L.A.-based rabbi speaks at Trump’s inauguration despite backlash

Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean and founder of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, spoke briefly at President Donald Trump’s inauguration Friday, calling on God to bless the nation’s newest leader.

Heir, whose center also boasts the Museum of Tolerance, used his two-minute benediction to urge Americans to do their part to improve society and the world.

“The freedoms we enjoy are not granted in perpetuity, but must be reclaimed by each generation,” Hier said. “As our ancestors have planted for us, so we must plant for others.”

Hier’s participation in Trump’s ceremony generated some backlash. A change.org petition said signers were concerned that Hier would “‘normalize’ the dangerous and hate-fueled Trump administration” by speaking at the inauguration. As of Friday morning, more than 3,200 people had signed the petition.

A spokesman for the Simon Wiesenthal Center did not immediately respond to a phone message and email seeking comment.

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The @POTUS Twitter account has officially transitioned to Trump

It’s official: Donald Trump is president of the United States.

That title comes with a few perks and privileges, including the @POTUS Twitter handle. Shortly after Trump took the oath of office, Twitter announced that the accounts for @POTUS, @FLOTUS, @WhiteHouse, @VP and @PressSec all had transitioned to his team.

Of course, Trump retains his own Twitter handle, which he is still tweeting from as of this morning.

Barack Obama and the other former owners of those Twitter handles all received new ones: @POTUS44, @FLOTUS44, @ObamaWhiteHouse, @VP44 and @PressSec44.

UPDATE, 10:18 a.m.: The header image on the @POTUS account was swiftly changed after people pointed out that the initial photo was from Obama’s 2009 inauguration. It’s now the American flag.

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Jackie Evancho sings for the new president

(Patrick Semansky / Associated Press)

For a president from reality television, a singer from the same.

Best known (at least until today) as a contestant on “America’s Got Talent,” 16-year-old Jackie Evancho sang the national anthem to close Donald Trump’s inauguration Friday morning.

She sounded fine, if a little pinched, as she handled the song’s notorious melodic twists.

Yet even an avowed Evancho fan had to admit that she wore something of a deer-in-headlights expression as she gazed out at the National Mall — about as distinct a shift as possible from the cool composure Beyoncé put across when she had the same gig four years ago.

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Hillary Clinton sighs and steels herself for Trump’s inauguration

An eagle-eyed Twitter user spied Hillary Clinton taking a deep breath and shrugging while waiting to make her official entrance at the inauguration of Donald Trump.

Clinton appeared at the inauguration ceremonies despite dozens of Democratic members of Congress boycotting the ceremony, many after the president’s tweets criticizing civil rights leader and Georgia Congressman John Lewis.

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Donald Trump delivers short, populist inaugural address

Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday at the Capitol.
Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday at the Capitol.
(Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)

President Donald Trump delivered one of the most nationalistic, populist and brief inaugural addresses on record Friday, painting a bleak picture of a country marked by “rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones” coupled with his promise to deliver Washington to the forgotten Americans.

“Today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another, or one party to another,” he told thousands of red-cap waving supporters, scattered across Washington’s Mall.

“But we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people.”

The 16-minute speech — the shortest since President Carter’s inaugural in 1977 — was a truncated version of Trump’s campaign rally addresses, absent specific policy and big on a sense of anger at what he defined as a ruling class that has raided America for its own benefit. He talked of crime, gangs, drugs, poverty, jobs lost to foreign countries and a way of life destroyed by globalism.

“This American carnage stops right here and stops right now,” he promised.

“We are one nation, and their pain is our pain, their dreams are our dreams and their success is our success.”

Trump’s address departed sharply from the soaring rhetoric of his predecessor, President Obama. He used blunt language and short sentences, blaming the entire political class for empty talk instead of the action he pledged to deliver.

Trump rarely mentioned himself while calling on America to put its own interests ahead of its global presence, serving as a model to other countries rather than a hands-on actor.

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The history behind the phrase ‘America First’

In his inaugural address, newly minted President Donald Trump made it clear that his administration will put “America first.”

In fact, he used the phrase twice.

As Los Angeles Times writer Doyle McManus pointed out during the campaign, however, the phrase “America First” has a bit of a loaded history.

“Seventy-five years ago, the America First Committee was an isolationist movement that opposed U.S. entry into World War II,” McManus writes.

He adds that its most famous leader, aviator Charles Lindbergh, argued that Nazi Germany was certain to defeat Britain and that U.S. intervention would be useless.

“His followers included more than a few pro-Nazis and anti-Semites,” McManus writes.

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‘Proud to be an American’: Scott Baio and Trump’s other celeb fans are having a good day

During the campaign, the number of celebrities supporting Hillary Clinton dwarfed the coterie backing Donald Trump, but on Friday morning, Trump’s celebrity fans were the excited ones.

“We are ready,” Scott Baio tweeted along with a photo of himself and his wife, Renee Sloan-Baio, at the inauguration. “Proud to be an American!”

Actor Robert Davi thanked Eric Trump for the “great example” he set during his dad’s campaign, and Stephen Baldwin — whose brother Alec is among Trump’s most famous critics — passed along the 45th president’s first Inauguration Day tweet: “It all begins today! I will see you at 11:00 A.M. for the swearing-in. THE MOVEMENT CONTINUES - THE WORK BEGINS!”

Meanwhile, Kirstie Alley — who spoke out in favor of Trump early in the campaign but said in October, “I hate this election and I’m officially no longer endorsing either candidate” — had a few thoughts Friday morning as well. She retweeted messages from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who along with his wife offered prayers for the incoming president and thanks to the outgoing president and first lady.

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No handshake for Hillary Clinton as Trump takes the stage, but he greets her later

Whether it was a deliberate snub or just a matter seating logistics, President Trump neglected to shake Hillary Clinton’s hand before taking the stage to deliver his inaugural address.

The lack of a handshake did not go unnoticed — particularly after Bill and Hillary Clinton resisted calls to join dozens of Democratic lawmakers in Congress in boycotting the inauguration. The Clintons opted to attend, signaling their commitment to the peaceful transition of power.

Later, after Trump walked into the inaugural luncheon at the Capitol, he briefly greeted Clinton.

10:40 a.m.: This story was updated with Trump greeting Clinton at the inaugural luncheon.

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‘America the Beautiful’ gets a second airing at Trump inauguration

(Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

For the second time in less than 24 hours, the National Mall was blanketed with the sound of “America the Beautiful” as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed the durable patriotic tune just prior to Donald Trump’s swearing-in Friday.

And how did the choir sound?

Well, it didn’t summon the gritty soulfulness of Sam Moore’s rendition at Thursday night’s pre-inaugural concert (let alone the iconic Ray Charles version Moore was clearly emulating).

But the singers’ voices came together with the expected grace — and even navigated a couple of surprising harmonic shifts.

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Crowds don’t show up for Trump the way they did for Obama

Visitors were not exactly stampeding into Washington for Donald Trump’s inaugural Friday.

Aerial shots of the National Mall taken by news networks that suggested attendance at the event was lighter than the last couple of inaugurals were backed by official figures from the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, which tracks ridership on the Metro system.

During Barack Obama’s first inaugural in 2009, the transit agency logged 513,000 trips taken on its trains by 11 a.m. For Obama’s second inauguration, the transit system had recorded 317,000 riders by 11 a.m.

On Friday morning, as Trump prepared to be sworn into office, 193,000 trips had been taken, about 60% of the ridership for the second Obama inaugural.

Friday’s ridership was also slightly lower than it had been the morning of George W. Bush’s second inaugural in 2005, when 197,000 rides had been logged by 11 a.m.

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As Donald Trump takes the oath of office, protesters surge in the streets

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‘We have a tendency to live in a liberal bubble,’ Trump opponent admits

Monica Robinson and Nate Pierce
(Hailey Branson-Potts / Los Angeles Times)

On the National Mall, Monica Robinson, 27, and Nate Pierce, 29, stood out among Trump supporters wearing red Make America Great Again hats. The couple held handmade protest signs. One said: “Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion. – JFK.” The other one: “Abort Trump.”

Robinson said she chose to come to the inauguration instead of the Women’s March on Washington because “this is where it’s happening, all the action.”

“I think it’s awesome women are coming out,” she said of Saturday’s planned march. “But I think women are really dissuaded from politics. ... I think women need to vote and be more involved in politics.”

Ezekiel Nutter, 18, of Tacoma, Wash., stood on the Mall in a knitted pink cap like those that will be worn to the Women’s March on Saturday. The high school senior came with a tour group that includes conservative students from the South, he said. It’s been cordial, he said, and he’s glad to hear their perspective.

“We have a tendency to live in a liberal bubble,” he said.

His friend, 18-year-old Colton Medges of Tacoma, said: “Being from the West Coast, it’s very liberal, and we don’t get to agree with this but it’s just very interesting to see.”

Nutter said he was wearing the hat, which someone had knitted for him specifically for the trip, because he abhors Trump’s comments about taking advantage of his celebrity status with women.

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Getting ready to watch Trump’s inaugural address with California’s Senate leader

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Donald Trump takes the oath, a polarizing figure promising prosperity for the ‘forgotten’

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump arrives on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol.
(Drew Angerer/AFP-Getty)

Donald Trump swore the oath of office Friday as the 45th president of the United States, as one of the most polarizing figures to assume the office shouldered a promise to reclaim prosperity for millions of Americans who have felt abandoned by their government.

Trump, who won the presidency by smashing nearly every convention in politics, celebrated one of the most solemn and sober rituals in American democracy, a peaceful transfer of power that culminated with him ascending to an office that few thought was within his grasp.

He made history on many levels Friday. At 70, he is the oldest to begin a first-term president. The brash business mogul also became the only commander in chief to enter the White House with neither government nor military service. And while his predecessors included a screen actor and several war heroes, none became international celebrities in the era of reality television.

The gut-check moments along Trump’s journey — winning his first primary, the Republican nomination and the election itself — have not mellowed his disdain for tradition. His refusal to conform to political norms helped him attract millions of voters who felt disconnected from coastal power centers and eager to see a leader unafraid of offending people. Trump referred again to those voters, “the forgotten man and the forgotten woman,” as he thanked supporters during a celebration concert Thursday night overlooking the Washington Monument.

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Jerusalem mayor takes a parting shot at Barack Obama

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat
(Tsafrir Abayov/Associated Press)

Encouraged by Donald Trump’s campaign promise to move the U.S Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognize the city as Israel’s capital, Israeli right-wing politicians have been celebrating his victory ever since Election Day.

Now that inauguration is at hand, it was the turn of Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.

In a video posted on his Facebook page, Barkat took a parting shot at President Barack Obama for pushing to freeze Israeli construction in parts of Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinians as their future capital, and called on Israelis to sign a letter of support for the new president to go through with the controversial move.

“Let’s greet him together as our friend,’’ Barkat said a video that resembled a campaign advertisement. “And thank him for his intention to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, thereby conveying a clear message to the world: Jerusalem is Israel’s united capital.’’

The promise, which Trump repeated week in an interview with an Israeli paper, is roiling Palestinians.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last weekend said such a move would be “provocative” and damage prospects for renewing peace negotiations. At Friday prayers, last week, the Jerusalem’s Grand Mufti called the move an “assault” on Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims. And on Thursday, hundreds of Palestinians gathered in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Nablus to protest the move.

Hours before the inauguration on Friday, the Israeli peace group Ir Amim, which supports establishing the city as a shared capital for two states, also warned the new president that it would be a “dangerous” move in violation of international law that undermines U.S. role as a peace mediator.

“The United States will find it exceptionally difficult to effectively fulfill its pivotal role as a mediator if and when it moves its embassy to Jerusalem,’’ Ir Amim said in a statement. “Such a move contradicts the position of the entire international community while clearly favoring one side over the other.”

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Compare the National Mall views of the first Obama and Trump inaugurations

At top, people gather on the National Mall during the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th president and at bottom, people gather on the National Mall during the inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009.

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President Obama departs the Oval Office for the last time

President Obama left the Oval Office for last time as chief executive Friday morning, telling reporters that “of course” he was feeling nostalgic as he made his way to receive President-elect Donald J. Trump at the front door of the White House.

Obama left behind a few papers on the desk as he walked down to the colonnade toward the North Portico, according to a pool reporter who peered through the windows from the Rose Garden. He exchanged a few pleasantries with White House journalists as he made his way.

Parting words to the American people as he left the Oval Office? “Thank you,” he said.

The Trumps were then greeted by the Obamas at the White House. First Lady-in-waiting Melania Trump wore a powder-blue dress and matching heels, and carried a matching colored box that appeared to be a gift.

The men shook hands, the wives hugged, and they all went inside for coffee, in keeping with the example set eight years ago by then-President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush.

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What it is like in the West Wing in between presidents

As soon as President Obama left the White House, preparations ramped up in the West Wing to ready the building for President Trump.

Staff were seen preparing the Oval Office for its new occupant just moments before he was to take the oath of office.

Along the halls of the West Wing, walls that used to display a rotating series of images capturing the Obama presidency in action were gone, leaving only empty frames.

The suite of nearby offices used by senior members of the president’s press team displayed a series of photographs showing various presidents interacting with the press corps in the West Wing.

Obama’s press team left one parting gift for the soon-to-be arriving Trump staff.

Each day, aides would post front pages of newspapers from around the country and highlight stories that documented administration actions.

On Inauguration Day, a special display was in store showing front pages from throughout the Obama years, from his election and reelection to some of his biggest accomplishments, including the Osama bin Laden raid, the selection of Supreme Court justices and marriage equality.

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Protesters smash small number of storefronts in downtown Washington; police use pepper spray

A roving band of protesters smashed several storefronts in downtown Washington, about a mile and a half from the Capitol, leading to the deployment of police in riot gear.

One Starbucks had several windows smashed, and several nearby banks also had windows shattered as business owners in the vicinity nervously locked their doors.

Newspaper boxes had been thrown into the street, and someone had graffitied walls with messages including “Water is life” — a nod to the Dakota pipeline protests — and “Revolution or Death.”

As Donald Trump prepared to accept the presidency at the official ceremony at the Capitol, police surrounded several dozen protesters at the intersection of 12th and L streets in downtown Washington. Protesters could be heard chanting beyond a media cordon.

The site of the protests was outside the security perimeter that surrounds the National Mall and the the route of the inauguration parade.

In this video from FedNet, protesters clash with police ahead of the inauguration.

Protesters clash with police ahead of inauguration and after.

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Of course Hillary Clinton wore a pantsuit to the inauguration

Hillary Clinton arrived at the Capitol enveloped in familiar armor: a white pantsuit.

Clinton’s various pantsuits have long been a point of conversation among those who could not help but comment on a woman’s wardrobe, no matter her occupation.

During Clinton’s presidential campaign, her affinity for pantsuits became a point of unity among her supporters. It was even the namesake of the not-so-secret Facebook group that celebrated “how great she is.”

Clinton has worn white pantsuits during very significant moments during the campaign, including the third presidential debate between her and Donald Trump, as well as on election day.

White, of course, is itself symbolic as the color worn by suffragette leaders, who won women the right to vote.

Her wardrobe choice is a powerful statement and likely a nod to those who have stood by her even after her defeat in November.

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Protesters in L.A. will have to cope with rain

Commuters navigated slick freeways in downtown Los Angeles on Jan. 19.
Commuters navigated slick freeways in downtown Los Angeles on Jan. 19.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Continued rain in Los Angeles could persuade some protesters to stay home on Friday as the city gears up for a series of marches and rallies that are expected to draw thousands of people to downtown.

The second of three storms to hit drought-stricken Southern California is forecast to dump between 2 and 3 inches rain on the region.

The downpour is expected to continue throughout much of Inauguration Day, as Angelenos take to the streets in protest of President-elect Donald Trump.

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Kellyanne Conway’s coat makes a bold patriotic statement

Kellyanne Conway leaves St. John's Episcopal Church on Inauguration Day 2017.
Kellyanne Conway leaves St. John’s Episcopal Church on Inauguration Day 2017.
(Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images)

Kellyanne Conway -- who is celebrating her 50th birthday as her boss is sworn in as the 45th U.S. president -- left no doubt about her patriotism on Inauguration Day, choosing a red, off-white and blue coat designed by Gucci.

The coat, adorned with lion-head buttons, has a belt and back that are solid blue. Alessandro Michele, Gucci’s newest creative director, brought lion and other animal motifs into the collection last year.

The former campaign manager’s wool, A-line coat retails for $3,600. Depending on size, SoCal fans can find it at Gucci stores in Beverly Hills and Costa Mesa.

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Madonna: Trump’s election shows how ‘lazy, un-unified and lackadaisical’ Americans have become

(Ben Stansall / AFP / Getty Images)

The Material Girl had some fighting words for Americans ahead of the inauguration.

Speaking at the Brooklyn Museum on Thursday night, global pop star Madonna tried to look on the bright side of Donald Trump’s being sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.

“He’s actually doing us a great service because we have gone as low as we can go,” she said, according to the Associated Press. “We can only go up from here, so what are we going to do? We have two choices: destruction and creation. I chose creation.”

The self-proclaimed feminist, who was discussing art in a time of protest, said she was “horrified” that Trump defeated Hillary Clinton and said she planned to protest in Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington.

I do believe that Trump was elected for a reason: to show us how lazy and un-unified and lackadaisical and taking for granted we’ve become of our freedom and the rights that we have as Americans. I feel like people forgot what was written in the Constitution.

— Madonna

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From presidential hopeful to inauguration spectator

Hillary Clinton is attending the inauguration with her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Instead of becoming the first woman president, she’ll be watching President-elect Donald Trump take the oath of office.

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Which California members of Congress aren’t going to be on the platform today?

While the majority are attending, 15 Democrats from California’s 55 member delegation are skipping Donald Trump’s inauguration, along with dozens of Democrats from other states.

Some said they thought they could make better use of the time back home. Others said they couldn’t handle attending a celebration of a man they don’t respect. Altogether, a fourth of the delegation is sitting it out, making up a good chunk of the many dozens of other Democratic members of Congress who are not going.

Check out the list to see if your member of Congress will be at today’s ceremony.

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Protesters out in force at entrance to National Mall

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Here’s what you need to know about the logistics of the 58th presidential inauguration

The theme of the 58th presidential inauguration is “Uniquely American.” Find out more here.

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Watch again: Donald Trump’s inauguration as the nation’s 45th president

And read and watch Donald Trump’s full inauguration speech.

Here’s a link to watch the inaugural parade.

Angry and blunt: Trump’s inaugural address was pitch back (analysis)

On a lighter note, Kellyanne Conway’s military coat has to be seen to be believed

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Evoking Jackie Kennedy, Melania Trump steps out in Ralph Lauren ensemble

Melania Trump, second from left, wore an ensemble from the Ralph Lauren Collection on Inauguration Day.
(Kevin Dietsch / EPA)

The soon-to-be first lady managed a politics-meets-fashion twofer on Inauguration Day, stepping out in an American brand – Ralph Lauren – and in a sky blue ensemble that immediately brought to mind Jackie Kennedy.

Lauren’s label had been an odds-on favorite for Melania Trump’s Inauguration Day wardrobe, but the big reveal – when she and the president-elect stepped out this morning on the way to St. John’s Church – was still a bit of a surprise, given the pale color and slightly ‘60s vibe.

A company representative confirms that Melania Trump is wearing a sky blue double-faced cashmere cropped cutaway, double-faced cashmere mock turtleneck dress, both from the Ralph Lauren Collection, accessorized with a pair of suede Ralph Lauren Collection gloves.

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The Clintons and the Bushes arrive for Trump’s inauguration

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Anarchists show (some of) their faces at Trump inauguration

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A morning of jostling, shouting and surprisingly empty Metro cars in D.C.

David Brown is from Los Angeles. His hair is spiky and he was wearing sleek red sneakers and a tight-fitting jacket. But the West Coast hipster wasn’t in town to protest; he is for Trump.

“We don’t talk openly about it back home,” the camera-shy 40-year-old said. “I do a lot of work in the middle of the country, and us on the coasts don’t understand his appeal. He is willing to talk about hard issues.”

Brown and a friend from Boston had come to town to celebrate Trump’s inauguration and boarded a Metro train headed toward the Capitol at 8 a.m. to stake out a good spot for the festivities.

Not all the spiky-haired visitors to D.C. came to celebrate Trump, though. The town is swarming with opposition. Dozens of Trump supporters were turned away from entering the National Mall when Dakota Access Pipeline protesters blockaded a security checkpoint to the inauguration.

Chanting “Water is life!” more than three dozen protesters linked arms — their hands apparently connected to each other with homemade gauntlets made to be difficult to remove — and walked backward to block one of the sections of metal gates that have been erected around the inauguration area.

One protester, Ian, 23, from Canada, who declined to give his last name, said he had come to bring attention to Standing Rock reservation and concerns that a pipeline being built could leak and contaminate local water supplies.

“We’re not going to let it stand,” Ian said. “We’re going to kill the black snake.”

Some Trump supporters tried to pass through in frustration but were turned away. “Get a job! It’s a Friday!” hollered a man walking by in a “Make America Great Again” cap.

Outside the immediate area where the inauguration was to take place, the town was surprisingly quiet. Many of the same Metro cars on Washington’s Red Line that were so packed during President Obama’s first inauguration that visitors abandoned public transportation and hoofed it miles into town were empty as they sped toward the National Mall just before 9 a.m.

Some who were riding Metro, like Brown, came from far away to celebrate Trump.

“We wanted to see history,” said Brandon Eldridge, a service manager for a Mississippi auto dealership who arrived in the D.C. area on Wednesday. He and his 13-year-old son, Landon, donned “Make America Great Again” hats.

Eldridge said he has donated at least $500 to the mogul’s campaign since he announced his run and couldn’t imagine missing the week’s festivities. “These are scary times, and we need a leader,” the 35-year-old said. “He is not politically correct, and we need that now.”

“We finally have a real president,” said his son. But the Eldridges and Brown agreed there is something Trump should do differently. “I wish he would stop with the Twitter,” Brown said.

“I heard they took away his phone this morning,” Eldridge said.

“That would be good,” Brown said. “He pokes people. I just wish he could be more diplomatic.”

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Inauguration Day merchandise includes Trump lip balm and Obama toilet paper

Inauguration Day merchandise for President-elect Donald Trump was on full display at the Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

There was Trump chocolate, Trump bobbleheads, Trump lip balm, a T-shirt with a photoshopped image of Trump shirtless with the words “The Don” tattooed across his abs.

Behold the marketing blitz:

What’s the bestseller at the airport thus far? The Trump campaign staple, the red “Make America Great Again” hat.

Full gallery of Inauguration Day merchandise

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Headed to downtown L.A. Friday? These roads are closed for protests

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Theaters across country turned on ‘ghostlight’ of tolerance on inauguration eve

Less than 12 hours before Donald Trump was scheduled to be sworn into office in Washington, D.C., roughly three dozen actors, writers, directors, crew members and others affiliated with the Actors’ Gang theater in Culver City gathered in the plaza outside its building to turn on a light.

The sky was turning cobalt and the wind had picked up a chilly edge as actor Brian Finney read from a short statement.

“When our theaters go dark at the end of the night, we turn on a ‘ghostlight’ — offering visibility and safety for all who might enter,” he stated. “Like a ghostlight, the light we create tonight will represent our commitment to safeguard — it will symbolize safe harbor for our values and for any among us who find ourselves targeted because of race, class, religion, country of origin, immigration status, [dis]ability, gender identity, sexual identity or dissident actions in the coming years.”

The light switched on and the group’s members turned on their cellphone flashlights and held them overhead.

The Actors’ Gang was one of dozens of theaters around the country to participate in the Ghostlight Project on the eve of Trump’s inauguration — a way for members of the theater community to “create ‘light’ for dark times ahead” by proclaiming a commitment to tolerance.

“Social justice is an important part of what this company is about,” said Simon Hannah, the theater’s managing director. “The diversity in this company had people worrying. We have a lot of people from other countries — of all backgrounds.”

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Trump’s inauguration, just like his campaign, breaks Washington norms

(Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times))

Bikers for Trump roared into town. Self-described “deplorables” hosted a ball. And thousands of Americans, many with red “Make America Great Again” caps, began pouring onto the grassy expanse of the National Mall.

A rain warning for the capital did not dampen supporters at President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration Friday, although protesters threatened to make a vivid display of opposition.

For the celebrity businessman-turned-politician, who rewrote the political playbook and shunned the Washington establishment to win the presidency, his inauguration promised to be a decidedly Trump affair.

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Inauguration attention is giving national anthem singer Jackie Evancho bump in ticket sales

Jackie Evancho
Jackie Evancho
(Stephen J. Cohen / Getty Images)

For Jackie Evancho, the 16-year-old singer who endured a wave of criticism after agreeing to sing the national anthem at Donald Trump’s inauguration, there is a bright side: a bump in concert ticket sales.

Before news of Evancho’s presidential performance, the singer’s Feb. 12 concert at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts — part of the venue’s season announcement in June — had sold about 900 tickets. After the Dec. 14 announcement of her inauguration performance on NBC’s “Today” show, the pace of ticket sales increased noticeably, a Cerritos Center representative said. More than 1,200 tickets have been sold, leaving fewer than 200 seats in back rows.

So far, the center said, it has received neither requests for refunds nor complaints about Evancho’s pending performance.

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Inauguration Day for the Trumps begins with a church service

(Alex Brandon / Associated Press)
(Alex Brandon / AP)

President-elect Donald Trump began Inauguration Day by attending church service at St. John’s Church, across from the White House. Trump was accompanied by his family and Vice President-elect Mike Pence and his family.

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All of our presidential inaugural front pages since 1885: ‘An immense throng in attendance’

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Trump’s unlikely political run culminates today in his inauguration, but division persists

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

The man who won the presidency by smashing nearly every convention in politics will embark on one of the most solemn and sober rituals in American democracy on Friday, a peaceful transfer of power culminating with Donald Trump assuming the presidency that few thought was within his grasp.

None of the gut-check moments along the way — winning his first primary, the Republican nomination and the election itself — have mellowed Trump’s behavior. His refusal to conform to political norms helped him attract millions of voters who felt disconnected from coastal power centers and eager to see a leader unafraid of offending people. Trump referred again to those voters, “the forgotten man and the forgotten woman,” as he thanked supporters during a celebration concert Thursday night overlooking the Washington Monument.

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Some of Trump’s plans only sound new, but others are downright revolutionary

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

Those who love and fear President-elect Donald Trump agree on one thing: He is bent on upending nearly every aspect of the presidency.

But as he takes the oath of office and enters the White House on Friday, Trump’s mythology will begin to meet reality. And the debate has already begun over which elements of Trumpism will be truly revolutionary and which will simply represent a break from his party or a hard turn from President Obama.

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Democrats once dreamed of Inauguration Day. Now they’re soul-searching instead

(Bryan R. Smith / AFP-Getty Images))

Inauguration Day is a big reality check for disillusioned Democrats and progressives who remain shellshocked over the election. It’s become a galvanizing moment for the opposition, which is assembling in Washington and across the country to send a loud message of resistance and plot a comeback. Though the focal point of their effort will be the massive Women’s March on Washington on Saturday and scores of affiliated marches elsewhere, many are not waiting to show their defiance.

There is no shortage of soul-searching taking place this week, as Democrats wrestle with the collapse of their coalition on election day and the realization that their troubles extend beyond Hillary Clinton’s performance. Though arguments will persist over who’s to blame and the best direction for the Democratic Party, Friday marks a moment to harness the resilience and unity that President-elect Donald Trump’s rise has helped foment among the left.

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Obama is ready for life after the White House. But first, he’ll retreat to Palm Springs

(Brendan Smialowski / AFP/Getty Images))

President Obama will begin the day Friday amid the pomp of Inauguration Day and end it in a way he hasn’t in eight years — without a coterie of aides, a slate of briefings or a trailing gaggle of reporters, as he hands over power and retreats to the quiet of the Palm Springs desert where former presidents before him have found escape.

After he witnesses the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol at noon, Obama will take his final flight aboard the presidential aircraft — it will no longer be Air Force One, as the sitting president will not be aboard — and begin recuperating from a tumultuous campaign season and intense transition that punctuated his presidency. He will enter a period of what he says will be silence and reflection with family.

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After sending many signals to Latinos in his campaign, Trump sends another: Not in my Cabinet

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press))

Republican and Democratic presidents have long nodded to the importance of diversity as they select their Cabinets. Since 1989, every president’s first Cabinet has included at least one Latino.

Not Donald Trump’s.

After a campaign in which relations with Latinos grew painfully raw, the sort of tension that typically would make reaching out imperative, Trump selected a Cabinet that is predominantly white and male. The only members who break from that description, out of 15 positions, are an African American man, one Asian American woman and a white woman.

The absence struck many Latinos as a fresh slap after a season of insults.

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President Trump will be a boon and a challenge for the cable news business

(Richard Drew / Associated Press)

Cable news networks had reason to feel bittersweet about the end of 2016 as Donald Trump’s historic campaign for the White House drove their ratings to record levels. But in the days leading up to his inauguration as the 45th president of the United States, Trump’s continuing love-hate relationship with them is providing a compelling sequel.

CNN, Fox News and MSNBC have seen a surprising surge in their audience levels this month as they report in real time on the unpredictable saga of Trump, who can dictate their programming day with his Twitter account.

After Trump takes the oath of office Friday, they will be covering a president whose distrust and ridicule of the media is unlike anything they have seen from a commander in chief.

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Charles Lloyd greets Trump’s inauguration with cover of ‘Masters of War’

As protest anthems go, there are few that carry as much vitriol and moral outrage than Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War.”

Written in 1963, the song has a long history of inspired covers. From the Staple Singers in the ’60s to Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready in the ’90s and a furious jazz take by the Scott Amendola Band with vocalist Carla Bozulich in the early ’00s, each version has proved that the song’s pointed message stubbornly refuses to go out of date.

Saxophonist Charles Lloyd joined the roster of artists who have put their own stamp on the track by offering an instrumental take on his 2016 album, “I Long to See You,” which featured his new band that included guitarists Bill Frisell and Greg Leisz.

On Friday, Lloyd and his label, Blue Note Records, released a live version of the song in response to the inauguration of Donald Trump as president. Recorded in November at the Lobrero Theater in Santa Barbara, which is not far from the saxophonist’s home, the slow-burning song features Lucinda Williams on vocals as a counterweight to Lloyd’s twisting, searching lines

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While some Southern Californians prepare for protests, others aren’t so blue over Trump inauguration

Donald Trump merchandise

While the ushering of President-elect Donald Trump to the White House has divided much of the nation, leading to planned protests the day of the inauguration and beyond, Trump’s supporters and others attending are excited about the spectacle.

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The Obamas will hand the White House to the Trumps the civilized way — with a cup of coffee

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will hand off the White House to the new first couple on Friday morning in the same way it was given to them – with morning coffee in the Blue Room.

The Obamas plan to welcome President-elect Donald Trump and wife Melania at the North Portico of the White House to carry on the tradition, administration officials said Thursday night.

Eight years ago, the daughters of George W. and Laura Bush showed the Obama girls around their new home. Aides to the president haven’t said whether the Obama girls will do the same, though young Barron Trump is expected to accompany his parents to the festivities.

The rest of the day is scripted by recent tradition. After coffee, the Obamas will depart the White House for the last time as residents and travel to the Capitol to watch Trump’s inauguration. Other Democrats may be boycotting, but Vice President Joe Biden and wife Jill will also be in attendance.

When the ceremony is over, the Obamas, by then the former president and former first lady, will travel to Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington for a small farewell with their staffers.

And then they will leave for Palm Springs for a quiet vacation.

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Meditation, meetings and more about what’s on the agenda for California House members skipping the inauguration

Fifteen California members of Congress are missing from the platform for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration today, with many saying their constituents asked them not to attend or that they couldn’t stomach celebrating an incoming president they don’t respect.

Some members are using the time to be active in their home districts.

While Trump is speaking, Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) will be visiting with constituents at the ChapCare community health center in Pasadena, talking about the Affordable Care Act and how to save it. Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert) will be getting ready for a veterans event Saturday.

Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Norwalk) will be at a laborers training school, while Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) will be assembling care kits for homeless people.

Some members are using the time to reflect.

Rep. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego), a former Jesuit missionary, is staying home to pray for the country and for Trump. Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Los Angeles) has asked Americans to join him in an hour of meditation during the ceremony.

“While Donald Trump is being sworn in, I think a good use of my time is to promote positivity,” Cardenas said in a statement.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Los Angeles) originally expected to watch the inauguration on television after completing his Air Force Reserve service days early in the week, but the now-colonel moved his service days around and will be working on base instead.

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What time are Inauguration Day events?

(Saul Loeb / AP)

The public demonstration of a peaceful transfer of power from an Obama administration to the Trump administration will play out over the course of more than 12 hours on Friday.

Here is the hour-by-hour sequence of events, as provided by the White House. All times EST:

8:30 a.m.: President-elect Donald Trump departs Blair House, across the street from the White House to attend a morning worship service at St. John’s Church.

9:40 a.m.: President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama welcome Trump to the White House for a tea-and-coffee reception.

10:30 a.m.: Obama and Trump depart the White House for the Capitol.

11:03 a.m.: Obama and Vice President Joe Biden take their seats on the inaugural platform at the Capitol.

11:09 a.m.: Vice President-elect Mike Pence is escorted to the inaugural platform.

11:14 a.m.: Trump is escorted to the inaugural platform.

11:35 a.m.: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas administers the oath of office to Pence.

11:47 a.m.: Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. administers the oath of office to Trump.

11:51 a.m.: President Trump delivers his inaugural address.

12:30 p.m.: Obama departs via helicopter from the East Front of the Capitol, to Joint Base Andrews.

1 p.m.: Biden departs aboard an Amtrak train from Union Station en route to Wilmington, Del. He’ll arrive at the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Rail Station.

1:08 p.m.: Trump and Pence attend an inaugural luncheon at the Capitol

1:10 p.m.: Obama delivers remarks to staff and friends at Joint Base Andrews.

1:40 p.m.: Obama departs aboard the presidential aircraft, en route to Palm Springs.

2:45 p.m.: Trump departs the Capitol in the inaugural parade.

4 p.m.: The U.S. Senate convenes. Votes on the first Trump Cabinet nominees could follow.

7 p.m.: Trump attends the first of three inaugural balls.

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Today’s inauguration weather is expected to be warmer than average, but rainy

The weather in Washington for the presidential swearing-in and parade is typically brisk. Today the temperature is expected to be in the 40s —several degrees above what have been average inauguration temperatures — and rainy. Here are noontime temperatures for January inaugurals since 1937:

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This weed advocacy group plans to pass out joints on its way to Trump’s inauguration

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A look at Washington a day before the inauguration

Photo Gallery: Fireworks explode over the Lincoln Memorial after a public concert and appearance by President-elect Donald Trump.
Photo Gallery: Fireworks explode over the Lincoln Memorial after a public concert and appearance by President-elect Donald Trump.
(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)
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John Kerry leaves the State Department warning of challenges to the press and fact-gathering

Secretary of State John F. Kerry, on his last full day on the job Thursday, told a lobby packed with diplomats that facts are facts “for a reason” and urged the staff to continue fighting for justice.

In a bittersweet departure from the State Department compound, Kerry sought to counter the rhetoric from President-elect Donald Trump, who has called global warming a hoax and suggested the European Union was created against U.S. interests.

Kerry also hoped to rally a clearly dispirited diplomatic corps that feels its mission is undefined.

He told them to “stay faithful” to their ideals and to “make ripples that sweep down the walls of resistance to justice.”

Kerry received thunderous applause in a cavernous foyer that displays dozens of flags as well as a memorial to State Department employees killed in the line of duty.

“Facts are facts.... Science is science,” Kerry said. “It means something, for a reason.”

Kerry was embraced by Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon, who will become acting secretary of State until Trump’s selection for the job, former ExxonMobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson, is confirmed by the Senate.

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinion,” Kerry said, quoting the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan. “But no one is entitled to his own facts.”

Kerry also bade farewell to the State Department press corps, telling members that a fair and open press was “more important than at any time” in his public life.

Again without referring to the Trump administration, Kerry said that the press will be tested not only by abusive foreign governments but by “some folks in the political world.”

The incoming administration has given few guarantees of transparency or continued access of the press to government venues such as the White House or the State Department.

Kerry retires after 1.4 million miles flown, work in 91 countries and 3,700 hours on the phone, he said. Despite glaring failures, like the devastating war in Syria, he cast his work as the effort to “not be caught not trying,” whether or not success followed.

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T-minus one day until Trump’s inauguration. Here’s a preview from Washington

(Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

Want to keep up with the latest from the inauguration? Follow our team.

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Mnuchin failed to disclose $95 million in real estate holdings and leadership of Cayman Islands corporation

Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary pick of President-elect Donald Trump, initially failed to disclose $95 million in real estate holdings to the Senate Finance Committee.

Mnuchin, a wealthy Wall Street executive, also failed to disclose his position as director of a corporation in the Cayman Islands, a well-known offshore tax haven, according to a memo from the Senate Finance Committee’s Democratic staff.

The undisclosed information, which also included about $907,000 worth of artwork held by his children, was not on the committee questionnaire Mnuchin submitted on Dec. 19.

After questions from committee staff, Mnuchin included the information on revised questionnaires he submitted this month.

At his confirmation hearing before the committee Thursday, Mnuchin said the oversight was unintentional.

“I think as you all can appreciate, filing out these government forms is quite complicated,” Mnuchin said.

He said the omissions were caused by trying to get the questionnaire to the committee early and advice from his attorney that the information did not need to be disclosed.

Among the real estate assets are homes in Los Angeles and Southampton, N.Y., and $15 million in holdings in Mexico.

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said “it doesn’t take a rocket scientist” to understand the meaning of the questionnaire’s language to list all of the positions he held.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused Mnuchin of trying “to hide his holdings in the Cayman Islands.”

Mnuchin said the preliminary questionnaire listed his interest in the Cayman Islands corporation, Dune Capital International, but omitted his role as a director.

“I listed the entity,” Mnuchin said. “So the fact that I didn’t list I was a director wasn’t intended to hide anything.”

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Mnuchin commits to looking into Trump’s foreign debt

Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary pick, Steven Mnuchin, told senators at his confirmation hearing Thursday that he would look into the foreign debt of the president-elect’s businesses.

The Treasury secretary chairs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an inter-agency committee that determines whether transactions involving foreign control of U.S. businesses affect national security.

Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee questioned Mnuchin on how he would exercise that authority to make sure Trump’s international investments don’t diminish national security or violate the Constitution’s prohibition on U.S. officials receiving benefits from foreign governments.

“The American people want to know how much debt that is owed by the Trump businesses to foreign entities because that could have a direct impact on our national security,” said Sen. Claire McKaskill (D-Mo.).

Trump has said he would turn over management of his company’s assets to his sons but won’t sell his interests.

McKaskill asked Mnuchin if, as Treasury secretary, he should know what percentage of Trump’s debt is held by foreign interests.

“I think you have a valid point about foreign debt and understanding foreign things, and I will research that and get back to you,” Mnuchin said.

But Mnuchin would not commit to reporting back to the committee on that percentage.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said Mnuchin would need that information to determine that there are “no special breaks being given to a Trump enterprise.”

Mnuchin said Trump’s situation is unique because of his “vast amount of money.”

“I can assure you that we will make sure that we absolutely follow the law and the Constitution and I have very reason to believe that the president-elect absolutely wants to adhere to it and will do so,” Mnuchin said.

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Donald Trump distant from his businesses? Not this week

Last week, President-elect Donald Trump announced the myriad ways he said he was distancing himself from his business interests to avoid the appearance of conflicts as neared his Friday inauguration.

This week, there’s not much separation.

Trump showed up at the Trump International hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, blocks from the White House, for dinner Wednesday night. He attended a lunch there Thursday.

“Where is this? This is a gorgeous room,” Trump said, joking. “A total genius must have built this place.”

All of it served, via the television screen and other forms of communication, to show the president-elect touting the businesses in which he still holds a financial interest.

Trump said last week that his sons Don Jr. and Eric would run the company while he was president, but that he would return once he leaves office.

Asked Thursday whether Trump’s repeat visits to his hotel compromised the message that he was separating himself from the company, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said it did no such thing.

“That he’s going to his own hotel? I mean, I think that’s pretty smart,” Spicer said. “The idea that he’s going to his own hotel shouldn’t be a shocker. It’s a beautiful place.”

Then Spicer himself touted the president-elect’s hotel.

“It’s an absolutely stunning hotel. I encourage you to go there, if you haven’t been by,” he said.

For news reporters, that may not be possible. Politico reported Wednesday that reporters were banned from the site — which is owned by the federal government and leased by the Trump organization.

It cited an email from the hotel’s director of sales and marketing, which said the ban was in effect this week “in respect of the privacy of our guests.”

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Trump would support hiring more IRS workers ‘to make money’ for the government, Mnuchin says

Treasury secretary pick Steven Mnuchin said Thursday he wanted to beef up the Internal Revenue Service and believed he could convince President-elect Donald Trump to increase staff despite promises of a hiring freeze.

Mnuchin said he was concerned about staffing at the IRS, which is part of the Treasury Department, and the agency’s “lack of first-rate technology.”

But given Trump’s promise of a federal government hiring freeze, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), asked Mnuchin whether he would lobby for more IRS workers.

“I assume you’ll have an opportunity to talk to the president and hopefully get the number of people you need because they can’t do it with their current workforce,” Cardin said.

Mnuchin said that would not be a hard sell to Trump.

“I can assure you that the president-elect understands the concept of when we add people, we make money,” Mnuchin said. “He’ll get that completely. That’s a very quick conversation with Donald Trump.”

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Donald Trump’s Cabinet is complete: No Latinos for the first time since 1989

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

Donald Trump’s preferred Cabinet is now complete — and it’s the least diverse by any president, Republican or Democrat, since the 1981 inauguration of Ronald Reagan. It’s also the first since 1989 not to include a Latino member.

Overwhelmingly, Trump’s Cabinet is white and male. The 15 formal slots include one African American man, secretary of Housing and Urban Development-designate Ben Carson; an Asian American woman, secretary of Transportation-designate Elaine Chao; and a white woman, Betsy DeVos, Trump’s pick to run the Department of Education.

All Cabinet selections must be confirmed by the Senate.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said Thursday that the absence of Latinos in the high ranks of Trump’s administration — following a campaign in which the president-elect was often critical of them — should not be considered a breach of his promise to represent all Americans.

“He is here to serve all,” Spicer said.

“The number one thing that I think Americans should focus on, is he hiring the best and the brightest? Is he hiring people who are committed to enacting real change, respecting taxpayers, bringing about an agenda that will create jobs, lift up wages?”

He said Trump’s administration will include “diversity in gender and diversity in thinking and a diversity of ideology. So, it’s not just about, you know, skin color or ethnic heritage.”

Asked whether he meant to imply that no Latino candidate made the cut as among the “best and the brightest”, Spicer sharply retorted: “That’s not what I said.”

He added that other jobs remained to be filled: “I caution you to stay tuned.”

Trump’s Thursday designation of former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as secretary of Agriculture completed his Cabinet selections.

At least one Latino, former California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado, interviewed for the job. On Wednesday night, he tweeted a picture from the lobby of the Trump International hotel a few blocks from the White House of “a beautiful bottle of Trump Sparkling Wine.”

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Senators are likely to confirm Trump’s national security Cabinet picks on Friday

At least three of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks are likely to be confirmed by the Senate as soon as Friday, while Democrats dig in against others that they say need more scrutiny.

Trump’s national security team — James Mattis as Defense secretary and John Kelly at Homeland Security, both retired Marine generals — do not appear to be running into much resistance. Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) as CIA director could also be confirmed Friday or Monday.

But Democrats are holding the line against Trump’s other choices, who have run into questions over their personal finances and work history. Eight of Trump’s picks are in Democrats’ sights.

“The president-elect’s Cabinet is a swamp Cabinet,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) “Senate Democrats and the American people won’t stand for it.”

The Senate is set to convene Friday afternoon, after Trump takes the oath of office, to confirm some of his choices.

Republicans are pushing for the Senate to allow not just the national security team, but other selections, noting that the Senate swiftly confirmed eight of President Obama’s nominees when the GOP was in the minority in 2009.

On Thursday, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer mentioned Elaine Chao at Transportation, Ben Carson as Housing secretary and Nikki Haley, the South Carolina governor, as the ambassador to the United Nations as picks who have not run into resistance and should be quickly confirmed.

But Trump’s other choices are drawing deep resistance.

Former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of State and Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) for Health and Human Services have run into tough questioning, and Treasury pick Steve Mnuchin was being grilled by senators Thursday. Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) is expected to run into tough questions at his hearing to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

As the minority, Democrats do not have enough votes in their 48-seat caucus to block most of Trump’s picks. But they can slow the process.

They are demanding more robust hearings, especially because several of those under consideration have not completed the paperwork typically required.

With Republicans holding 52 seats in the Senate, they are expected to easily confirm most of Trump’s picks after Democrats changed the rules several years ago to allow for a simple majority vote on most nominees.

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Mnuchin says offshore locations were for clients, not for personal tax avoidance

Steven Mnuchin, President-elect Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, said his hedge fund set up offshore corporations to serve clients and not so he could avoid paying U.S. taxes himself.

Pressed by Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee on entities set up in the Cayman Islands and Anguilla, Mnuchin said they were “primarily intended to accommodate nonprofits and pensions that want to invest” through them.

Mnuchin said “in no way did I use them whatsoever to avoid any U.S. taxes.”

But Democrats weren’t satisfied.

“So you helped others avoid paying taxes?” asked Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).

Mnuchin responded that they didn’t avoid paying taxes.

“They followed the law,” he said.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) asked Mnuchin if he supported closing such “tax avoidance provisions.”

“We should address the issues for nonprofits and pensions and why they need to invest in these offshore funds,” Mnuchin said.

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Without a promise to protect young immigrants, Sen. Kamala Harris will not support Trump’s Homeland Security pick

(Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Without a guarantee that people brought to the country illegally as children won’t be deported, California Sen. Kamala Harris said Thursday that she will not support John Kelly, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Homeland Security Department.

“I am very concerned that Gen. Kelly has not been able to commit to me that he will honor the promise we made to those kids,” she told The Times.

Kelly is expected to be easily confirmed by the Senate. Harris was the first member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee to announce opposition to the retired Marine general.

Harris’ questions about what would happen to people given temporary deportation relief through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program were some of the sharpest Kelly faced during his confirmation hearing last week. She pressed Kelly on whether the personal information provided by program participants would be to used identify candidates for deportation.

California is home to an estimated one-third of the 750,000 young people brought to the country illegally as children who applied for the program. They were promised by the Obama administration that if they went through the rigorous background check, they would not be deported.

In the hearing, Harris asked Kelly to honor that promise not to use DACA applications to assist in deportations.

Kelly said convicted criminals and other categories of immigrants in the U.S. illegally might be a higher priority, but he acknowledged he had not had discussions with Trump’s advisors about immigration policy.

“There’s a big spectrum of people who need to be dealt with in terms of deportation,” he said at the hearing. “I would guess that [DACA applicants] might not be the highest priority.”

California’s members of Congress have pleaded with the Obama administration to keep the participants’ personal information from being used by the incoming Trump administration, which has pledged to crack down on immigration as soon as Trump takes office.

“I can’t look these kids in the face and offer them any guarantee that this guy won’t deport them, and without that guarantee I can’t support him,” Harris said Thursday. “For ethical and moral reasons, we have to honor our promise, the promise made by the United States government to these kids.”

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Sen. Wyden hammers Mnuchin, saying it’s ‘a real stretch’ he’d work for all Americans as Treasury secretary

(Bryan R. Smith / AFP/Getty Images)

Sen. Ron Wyden wasted no time ripping into Steven Mnuchin, President-elect Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, at Thursday’s confirmation hearing, hitting the Wall Street executive for his financial dealings and the foreclosure practices at the California bank he once owned.

“The Treasury secretary ought to be somebody who works on behalf of all Americans,” said Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.

“When I look at Mr. Mnuchin’s background, it is a real stretch to find hard evidence that he would be that kind of Treasury secretary,” he said.

Wyden’s attack on Mnuchin was so aggressive that Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) told him, “I’ve got a Valium pill you might want to take before the second round.”

The comment sparked objections from Wyden and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), demonstrating the deep partisan divide over one of Trump’s top Cabinet picks.

Wyden criticized Mnuchin’s hedge fund, Dune Capital Management, for “setting up outposts in Anguilla and the Cayman Islands, an action that can be explained only by the islands’ zero percent tax rate.”

“In Mr. Mnuchin’s case, millions of dollars in profits from Hollywood exports like the movie ‘Avatar’ were funneled to an offshore web of entities and investors,” Wyden said.

Wyden raised questions about the decision by Pasadena’s OneWest Bank, which Mnuchin chaired, “to loan hundreds of millions of dollars” to the Relativity Media movie studio.

And Wyden accused OneWest of pursuing foreclosures so aggressively that it showed “it could put more vulnerable people on the street faster than just about anybody else around.”

“Under Mr. Mnuchin, OneWest churned out foreclosures like Chinese factories churned out Trump suits and ties,” Wyden said.

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Trump Treasury pick Steven Mnuchin expected to be pressed on OneWest foreclosures at confirmation hearing

Steven Mnuchin, the Wall Street executive chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to be the next Treasury secretary, is expected to be pressed by Democrats at his confirmation hearing Thursday about aggressive home foreclosures conducted by OneWest Bank during his time as chairman of the Pasadena institution.

If confirmed, Mnuchin, 54, a hedge fund manager and Hollywood movie producer, would become a pivotal player in the Trump administration on the economy, trade, tax reform, housing policy, financial regulation and relations with China and other global economic powers

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As soon as he is inaugurated, Trump will move to clamp down on immigration

Aides are clearing the way for President-elect Donald Trump to take the first steps toward transforming the immigration system as soon as he takes office Friday, fulfilling a major campaign pledge while deepening the fears of immigration advocates about what’s to come.

Gone will be the temporary protections of the final Obama administration years for people in the country illegally. In their place, expect to see images on the evening news of workplace raids as Trump sends a message that he is wasting no time on his promised crackdown.

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Donald Trump has barely said a word about America’s longest war. Should Afghanistan be worried?

(Abdul Khaliq / Associated Press)

Donald Trump has minced few words about his plans to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and end the threat from Islamic State extremists.

But the president-elect has been virtually silent on his plans when it comes to Afghanistan, home to America’s longest war.

With 8,400 U.S. troops leading a 13,000-strong NATO mission in Afghanistan, the incoming administration inherits one of the United States’ most stubborn and complex foreign policy challenges. Although President Obama promised to end U.S. military involvement, American service members continue to be drawn into combat as Afghan security forces struggle to contain a resilient Taliban insurgency.

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Trump is said to pick former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to lead Agriculture Department

Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue.
(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

President-elect Donald Trump intends to nominate former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to serve as agriculture secretary, according to a person familiar with the decision but not authorized to speak publicly before it is announced.

Perdue, 70, would be the first Southerner to lead the Agriculture Department in more than two decades. He comes from the small city of Bonaire in rural central Georgia, where he built businesses in grain trading and trucking.

The Agriculture secretary job is the last Cabinet position for which Trump hasn’t named a candidate.

Perdue began his political career as a Democrat in the state Legislature in 1991. But it was after switching his allegiance to the Republican Party that Perdue made Georgia history.

In 2002, Perdue was elected the state’s first Republican governor since the end of Reconstruction more than 130 years earlier. Perdue’s victory over an incumbent Democrat completed Georgia’s shift to a solidly Republican state, ending generations of Democratic control of state government.

Under Perdue’s watch, Georgia adopted tough new food safety regulations after a deadly U.S. salmonella outbreak was traced to Georgia-made peanut butter. He moved the state office that issues water permits for irrigation and other agricultural uses from Atlanta to rural south Georgia, where it would be closer to farmers. And Perdue poured millions of state dollars into Go Fish, a program that aimed to lure bass fishing tournaments to the state.

The ex-governor, whose full name is George Ervin Perdue III, grew up in central Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia, where he played football as a walk-on and earned his doctorate in veterinary medicine. Following a stint in the Air Force, Perdue returned to Georgia and settled in Bonaire, a city of about 14,000 people.

Perdue already has family serving in Washington. His cousin, former Dollar General Chief Executive David Perdue of Sea Island, Ga., was elected to the Senate in 2014.

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EPA pick casts doubt on California’s longtime power to set its own clean-air standards

(Michael Reynolds / EPA)

Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency cast doubt on whether California should continue to have power to impose its own emission rules for cars and trucks, an authority the state has enjoyed for decades that is also the cornerstone of its efforts to fight global warming.

Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Scott Pruitt said at a contentious confirmation hearing Wednesday that he cannot commit to keeping in place the current version of a decades-old federal waiver that allows California to set emissions standards stricter than elsewhere in the United States.

In recent years, California regulators have used the waiver to force automakers to build more efficient vehicles, which has helped the state cut its greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks by nearly a third since 2009.

More than a dozen other states have adopted the California standard as part of their own efforts both to clean their air and fight global warming.

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What you need to know if you’re planning to attend the Women’s March on Washington

Thousands of people will descend on the National Mall on Saturday for the Women’s March on Washington. If you’re one of them, here’s what you need to know.

The event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. with a rally featuring speeches and performances at the intersection of Independence Avenue and 3rd Street NW, near the U.S. Capitol.

At 1:15 p.m. the group will begin to march, following a route west on Independence Avenue SW, north on 14th Street SW and west on Constitution Avenue NW until 17th Street NW, where it will disband.

Participants can download an app for updates on the march or text INAUG to 888777 to stay in the loop about road closures, weather and safety.

Transportation

If you’re planning to drive, be prepared for heavy traffic and rolling road closures along portions of the march route, as well as all-day closures in the vicinity. The Metropolitan Police Department has a full list. For parking, your best bet is a Metro station lot or garage, free on the weekends.

If you’re planning to take public transportation, Metro will open at 5 a.m. Up to two dozen additional trains will be in service and no track work is scheduled. Consider buying a Metro card (called SmarTrip) in advance; these cards can be purchased at all metro stations as well as at some CVS and Giant stores.

You can also ride your bike; bike racks are available across downtown and the national mall.

For those requiring disability accommodations, enter through the ADA accessible route on 4th Street between C Street and Independence Avenue.

What to bring

March organizers are encouraging participants to check the weather and dress warmly, but to travel light. Here are some of the restrictions:

  • No weapons of any kind, bicycles, folding chairs or flagpoles will be allowed in the rally or march areas. (Flags and banners without poles are OK.)
  • All backpacks and bags may be subject to search, and only clear backpacks smaller than 17”x12”x6” will be permitted.
  • People wishing to bring a meal can carry an additional large plastic (12”x12”x6”) or gallon bag.

For parents

Mothers who need baby bags or breast pumps can bring them as long as they fit in the appropriately sized clear backpacks. There will be lactation stations and bathrooms along the march route. Organizers also say marshals will be available to provide assistance, and they will set up a reunification tent to help connect parents and lost children.

For non-citizens

Participating in a peaceful march does not carry immigration consequences, according to the National Lawyers Guild, which has prepared a resource guide for immigrants attending the march. But engaging in disorderly conduct or civil disobedience could result in an arrest or conviction.

Can’t make it to Washington?

Watch a live stream of the march and join us for updates from around the country.

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Asian American band the Slants takes its trademark battle to the Supreme Court: Is it free speech or a racial slur?

Members of the band the Slants.
(Anthony Pidgeon / Associated Press)

A trademark dispute involving an Asian American band that calls itself the Slants provoked a lively Supreme Court argument Wednesday over free speech, political correctness and the government’s refusal to sanction what it sees as a racial slur.

The justices struggled over whether the refusal by Congress and the Patent and Trademark Office’s to register trademarks that can be seen as disparaging people or their beliefs violates the 1st Amendment.

On the one hand, several justices said the government cannot discriminate against people solely because it does not like their message.

Justice Elena Kagan said the 1st Amendment has been understood to mean “you can’t discriminate based on a viewpoint.” The trademark office was saying it would register trademarks for people who say “good things” about Asian Americans, but “not bad things,” she said.

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Donald Trump’s inauguration speech: ‘He wants to talk about his vision’

Donald Trump’s campaign speeches were often ribald celebrations of grievance, the candidate unleashing invective about the ailments of the United States, his followers enthusiastically playing the call-and-response game:

“Build the wall!” “Lock her up!” “Drain the swamp!”

Rarely did his speeches follow a standard rhetorical pattern. Even in the last weeks of the campaign, when Trump was more disciplined about reading from a teleprompter, he would veer off into some of his favorite excised lines, demonstrating far more passion than when he was repeating what his staff wanted him to say.

The inauguration speech, coming Friday, is a whole different animal from the hot and heated rallies at which Trump commanded the podium during the campaign.

The newly sworn-in president, gazing west across a national Mall filled with supporters, has a chance to elegantly define what he wants from his term in office. Think John F. Kennedy’s rousing “Ask not…” passage in the 1961 inaugural.

Will Trump pull that off?

On Wednesday, Trump published on Twitter a picture he said showed him hard at work on his speech three weeks ago at the “Winter White House” in Florida. He gazed soberly at the camera, pen in hand over a legal tablet.

“He wants to talk about his vision of where he sees this country going and where we are right now, frankly,” Sean Spicer, the incoming press secretary, said at a press briefing on Thursday. “It is being 100% driven by him.

“He’s gotten input and advice from individuals, but this is something that he has found very dear and personal, and it is his opportunity to express…where he wants to take this country,” Spicer said.

It’s not clear whether Trump will adopt the inclusive, we’re-all-in-this-together tone common to incoming presidents on the biggest stage they will command.

Asked whether Trump would reach out to the majority of the country’s voters who did not side with him in the election, Spicer answered delicately.

“That’s a little bit in the eye of the beholder,” he said. The speech would include “shared values” and “where we can go as a country,” he added.

Trump’s speech would be “very forward thinking, very inspiring, together-oriented,” Spicer said, adding that it would set the direction of his tenure.

In other words, stay tuned.

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Obama is optimistic in final news conference: ‘I think we’re going to be OK. We just have to fight for it’

(Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)

President Obama offered a parting message of hope in his final White House news conference on Wednesday, saying that although he recognizes there is evil in the world, “I think we’re going to be OK.”

“I believe that tragic things happen,” he said. But when people work hard, “the world gets a little better each time.”

“That’s what this presidency is about,” he said. “This is what I really believe at my core. I think we’re going to be OK. We just have to fight for it.”

Although he framed them as a description of what he had told his daughters after this year’s election, Obama’s comments, likely to be among his last public statements from the White House, served as a message to his fellow Democrats.

Many on his side of the aisle have talked in near-apocalyptic tones in recent weeks about the impending Trump administration. Obama was more measured.

“I believe in this country. I believe in the American people. I believe that people are more good than bad,” he said. “The only thing that’s the end of the world is the end of the world.”

Obama said that he will speak out in the future in certain cases, especially if he sees Americans’ “core values” under assault. Short of that, however, he said he needs to be quiet for a while and “not hear myself talk so darn much.”

On the way out, though, he offered up his daughters Malia and Sasha as an example to follow. They were “disappointed” with the outcome of the election, the president said, adding that they had heeded their mother’s concerns about some of the negative things being said on the campaign trail.

But they haven’t become cynical, the president said, and they have not assumed that because their side didn’t win that America had rejected them or their values.

“And in that sense, he said, “they are representative of this generation that makes me really optimistic.”

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Senate panel approves James Mattis, Trump’s pick for defense secretary

Defense Secretary-designate James Mattis listens while testifying at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
(J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press)

A Senate committee has overwhelmingly approved James N. Mattis, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of Defense. The retired Marine general is the first of Trump’s Cabinet picks to clear the crucial hurdle.

The GOP-led Senate Armed Services Committee voted 26-1 in favor of Mattis on Wednesday. His name next goes to the full Senate, where he’s expected to win easy approval after Trump is sworn in on Friday.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), ranking member on the subcommittee on personnel, was the lone “no” vote. She cited her concerns about maintaining civilian control of the military.

Federal law requires anyone who has served in the military to be out of uniform for at least seven years before heading the Pentagon.

Mattis retired from the Marines in 2013 after serving more than four decades.

Congress passed a special law last week that allowed Mattis to circumvent that requirement and serve as secretary of Defense if he is confirmed by the Senate.

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Obama says he would speak out if Trump targets Dreamers

(Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)

President Obama said he would regard any effort to round up and deport Dreamers as an attack on American “core values” that would cause him to speak out publicly.

The so-called Dreamers, young people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children, “for all practical purposes are American kids,” Obama said at what is expected to be the final news conference of his tenure.

“The notion that we would just arbitrarily or because of politics punish those kids, when they didn’t do something themselves ... would merit my speaking out,” he said.

Obama’s administration has protected more than 700,000 such young people from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. Under the terms of that policy, Dreamers are allowed temporarily to live and work legally in the U.S.

President-elect Donald Trump has said that he plans to cancel the DACA program after he takes office on Friday, but he has not said what he would do with the Dreamers. His pick to head the Department of Homeland Security, retired Gen. John Kelly, said last week that he did not know what the administration would decide.

Obama said that he did not plan to comment on most political issues, at least for the next year, saying he wanted to “be quiet a little bit” and “not hear myself talk so darn much.”

But, he said, he would make an exception for “certain issues or certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake.”

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Obama on talking to Trump: ‘I don’t know if I have been convincing’

President Obama said Wednesday that he doesn’t know whether he has influenced President-elect Donald Trump in what he described as several long and detailed conversations since but said he has tried.

“I don’t know if I have been convincing,” Obama said. “You’d have to ask him.”

“I have offered my best advice, counsel, about certain issues both foreign and domestic,” Obama told reporters during his final news conference in office. “My working assumption is, having won an election opposed to a number of my initiatives and certain aspects of my vision … it is appropriate for him to” make his own decisions.

Obama said he has advised Trump on a range of issues, including how to hire staff. The job is big, he said he told Trump, and he’ll have to rely on the people around him.

On substantive issues, Obama said, it’s too early to say whether he has been persuasive.

“Once he comes into office and looks at the complexities, that may lead him to some of the same conclusions that I arrived at once I got here,” Obama predicted. “But I don’t think we’ll know until he has an actual chance to get sworn in and sit behind that desk.”

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Ross sails through confirmation hearing for Commerce secretary

After a polite, four-hour exchange with the Senate Commerce Committee, Wilbur Ross looks like a shoo-in to get confirmed as the next Commerce secretary.

Members of the Senate Commerce Committee appeared satisfied with the billionaire financier’s promise to divest most of his assets and quit his many company positions, removing the cloud of concerns over potential conflicts of interest that still hangs over President-elect Donald Trump.

And Ross spoke with aplomb and knowledge on a range of subjects -- including sensitive issues on trade and climate change -- that reflected his many decades of experience in investing and helping salvage businesses in steel, textiles and other industries.

“You have comported yourself quite well, you have been very detailed and non-evasive in your answers, and that is appreciated,” Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), the committee’s ranking Democrat, said in concluding remarks. “Let me assure you that this hearing is a piece of cake compared to some of the other nominees that are going through the process.”

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Obama defends decision to reduce Chelsea Manning’s sentence

Saying that she had “served a tough prison sentence,” President Obama on Wednesday defended his decision to reduce the sentence of Chelsea Manning, who had been sentenced to 35 years in prison for giving thousands of pages of classified information to WikiLeaks in 2010.

“The sentence she received was very disproportionate relative to what other leakers had received,” the president said, at what is expected to be the final news conference of his tenure.

The fact that Manning will have spent almost seven years in custody by the time she is released this spring should continue to send a “strong message” of deterrence to other people tempted to release classified data, Obama said.

“I feel very comfortable that justice has been served and that a message has still been sent,” he said.

Manning, a transgender woman formerly known as Pfc. Bradley Manning, was sentenced in August 2013 after a military court convicted her. She had been arrested in 2010.

Obama commuted her sentence on Tuesday, one of 209 commutations he issued that day and 1,385 he has issued during his tenure, more than the last 12 presidents combined, according to the White House.

The length of Manning’s sentence, plus her highly publicized gender-identity change and suicide attempts in the all-male prison wing at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., drew considerable sympathy to her case.

Under the terms of the commutation, she is scheduled to be released on May 17; similar delays were included in all the commutation orders.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter did not support the commutation of Manning’s sentence, according to U.S. officials who wouldn’t comment on the matter publicly.

Republican members of Congress had sharply criticized Obama’s decision, saying it would provide an incentive to others to disclose classified information.

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Trump’s Health secretary pick faces more fire for stock trades

(Alex Wong / Getty Images)

Senate Democrats pounded President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be Health secretary Wednesday for repeatedly trading stocks in healthcare companies that were affected by his work in Congress.

As the Senate Health Committee’s hearing for Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) grew increasingly testy, several lawmakers reiterated calls for an independent investigation of Price for pushing legislation that increased the value of several stocks shortly after he bought them.

“The Office of Congressional Ethics has now been asked not only by Democrats, but by consumer advocacy group Public Citizen to investigate serious concerns and questions about your medical stock trades,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the senior Democrat on the committee, told Price Wednesday during a four-hour hearing.

Price – who has denied any wrongdoing – owns tens of thousand of dollars’ worth of healthcare stocks, according to financial disclosure firms.

Last year, he bought up to $15,000 worth of stock in medical device maker Zimmer Biomet just a week before introducing legislation that would have delayed a new regulation that threatened the company’s bottom line, according to reporting by CNN.

Also last year, Price invested as much as $90,000 in six drug makers shortly before leading a legislative effort to derail an Obama administration proposal to control Medicare spending on cancer drugs, Time magazine reported.

All six pharmaceutical companies make cancer drugs that could have been affected by the regulation. And they all benefited when Price’s effort was successful.

Price repeatedly told senators that his stock purchases were initiated by his broker and that he was unaware of them.

“I am offended by the insinuation,” he told Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) after she outlined out his extensive work to derail a proposed regulation even after he had been notified that his broker had bought stock in one of the healthcare companies that stood to benefit.

Several Democratic senators incredulously asked why Price had not directed his broker not to invest in companies that would be affected by his work.

Price said he complied with all congressional ethics rules.

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Wilbur Ross signals that renegotiating NAFTA will be one of his top priorities

(Eduardo Verdugo / AP)

Wilbur Ross has made no secret that he shares President-elect Donald Trump’s view that the U.S. got a bad deal in the North American Free Trade Agreement — and renegotiating it will be a “very, very early” priority for him if he is confirmed as Commerce secretary.

At his confirmation hearing Wednesday, Ross suggested that one part of the 23-year-old pact that he would push to change has to do with “rules of origin.” The provision, particularly important for the auto industry, allows a certain percentage of content made outside of the NAFTA countries to be shipped duty-free when they are included in the final product traded among the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Ross told the Senate Commerce Committee that such rules of origin was a reason that he came to sour on the Obama administration’s Pacific trade agreement, which Trump has said he would scrap outright.

Ross was also asked whether he supported NAFTA’s procurement clause that opens publicly funded U.S. projects to be bid and won by foreign companies.

“It’s a highly questionable practice,” Ross responded.

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Old media continue to dominate as a source of campaign news, survey shows

As expected, voters who sided with President-elect Trump got their news from significantly different sources than those who sided with Hillary Clinton, but perhaps surprisingly, traditional media dominated on both sides.

Asked to volunteer the name of their “main source” for news about the 2016 campaign, 40% of Trump voters cited Fox News, according to a new survey by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. That was five times more than the outlet in second place, CNN, cited by 8% of Trump voters.

The Democratic side was more divided, with CNN coming in on top at 18%, while MSNBC was second, cited by 9%. Fox was cited by only 3% of Clinton voters.

NPR, ABC, CBS and the New York Times each got named by between 5% and 9% of Clinton backers. None of those were mentioned by more than 3% of Trump voters.

On both sides, around 8% said that Facebook had been their top source of news.

But new media organizations that attracted considerable attention during the campaign had a lower profile among voters. Only 1% of voters overall mentioned Breitbart, for example, the conservative news site whose top executive, Steve Bannon, ended up as the chief strategist for Trump’s campaign.

Among Republicans who had backed Trump in the GOP primaries, 3% said Breitbart was their main source of news.

No voters among the more than 4,000 in the Pew sample cited BuzzFeed as their primary source. Only 1% cited the Huffington Post.

Among Democrats who had backed Sen. Bernie Sanders in the party primaries, 4% said that Reddit’s online forums had been their main source of campaign news.

While few voters cited new media outlets as their main source of news, a higher number said that they did look at such sites “regularly.”

Their choices showed a sharp partisan divide. Among Clinton voters, for example, about one in four said they regularly got news from the Huffington Post and one in 10 cited Buzzfeed.

Only 1% of Clinton voters said they regularly got news from Breitbart or the Drudge Report. Both of those were cited by more than 10% of Trump voters. Just under 10% of Trump voters said they regularly turned to the Huffington Post, but only 4% said the same of BuzzFeed.

The Pew survey was conducted Nov. 29-Dec. 12 among 4,183 members of Pew’s American Trends Panel. The margin of error is 2.7 percentage points in either direction for the full sample.

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EPA pick Scott Pruitt repeats doubts about climate science and attacks on the agency he is expected to head

Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency kicked off a contentious confirmation hearing Wednesday, expressing doubt about mainstream climate science and harshly criticizing the agency he seeks to lead.

Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Scott Pruitt was defiant in the face of questioning from Democratic senators who attacked his record on environmental protection, skepticism about the impact of global warming and financial ties to some of the nation’s biggest oil and gas companies.

Pruitt said the EPA’s aggressive enforcement of federal anti-pollution rules during the Obama administration reflects inappropriate overreach that he would change.

“Regulators are supposed to make things regular,” Pruitt said at the start of the hearing, “to fairly and equitably enforce the rules and not pick winners and losers.”

He charged that the issue of climate change had been overtaken by emotion and incivility. “We should not succumb to personalizing matters,” he said.

Although Pruitt said that he accepts that human activity is affecting the climate, he expressed doubt over the mainstream scientific consensus that the warming is happening at a catastrophic pace that must be confronted with aggressive actions.

“The ability to measure with precision the extent of [human] impact and what to do about it are subject to continued debate and dialogue,” Pruitt said.

The hearing follows a weeks-long assault by environmental groups against Pruitt that began the day Trump named him to lead the agency.

Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee took up the fight on Wednesday, accusing Pruitt of ignorance of climate science, a disregard for millions of Americans whose health is being harmed by air pollution and an inappropriately cozy relationship with big energy companies.

“The reality that our climate is changing is not up for grabs, not up for debate,” said Sen. Thomas R. Carper of Delaware. He then noted that Christine Todd Whitman, who led the EPA under President George W. Bush, has said she cannot recall a previous appointee for the job who has shown as much disdain for the agency as Pruitt.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island detailed how climate change is damaging the shellfish industry in his state, before skewering Pruitt for his suggestion that climate science is unsettled.

“I see nothing in your career that you would care at all about our Rhode Island shell fishermen,” he said.

Pruitt’s close ties with energy companies were repeatedly brought up by Democrats as the hearing got underway. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon presented a letter Pruitt sent to the EPA protesting its enforcement of methane rules.

The letter was written almost entirely by Devon Energy. Pruitt had changed just a few words.

“A public office is about serving the public,” Merkley said. “You used your office as a direct extension of an oll company rather than a direct extension of the public health of the people of Oklahoma.”

Pruitt said sending the letter written almost entirely by an oil firm was appropriate.

“The letter sent to the EPA was not sent on behalf of any one company; it was particular to an industry,” he said. “There was concern expressed by many in the industry about the overestimating that occurred in relation to that methane rule.”

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Senators press Commerce secretary pick on Trump’s refusal to divest his business empire

Senators seemed satisfied enough in the way that Donald Trump’s Commerce secretary pick, billionaire Wilbur Ross, had agreed to divest most of his own vast holdings before assuming the Cabinet post. But the hearing then turned on the question of his future boss in the White House.

“Shouldn’t the president do the same?” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) asked.

Ross demurred, saying he wasn’t familiar enough with Trump’s financial assets. Ross didn’t disagree with Blumenthal that, as head of Commerce, an agency that oversees patent and trademark issues, he could be put in a very difficult position given that Trump’s business has pending trademark applications.

Unlike Ross, Trump has refused to divest his business empire, despite criticisms from the Government Ethics Office and lawyers. Ross said, however, that he expects potential conflict-of-interest cases at Commerce involving the president won’t fly below the radar.

“Those matters will be subject to public scrutiny,” he said.

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Health secretary nominee refuses to back Trump’s calls for government to negotiate lower drug prices

(Alex Wong / Getty Images)

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be Health secretary refused to say Wednesday whether he would support efforts to expand the government’s authority to negotiate lower prices from drug makers, despite Trump’s recent calls to do so.

Testifying before the Senate Health Committee, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) made only a general commitment to help make drugs prices more “reasonable.”

Trump once made the cost of pharmaceuticals a central part of his campaign healthcare pitch. And at his first news conference last week, the president-elect said drug makers were “getting away with murder.”

“We’re the largest buyer of drugs in the world, and yet we don’t bid properly,” Trump said. “And we’re going to start bidding and we’re going to save billions of dollars over a period of time.”

Republicans have long opposed allowing Medicare to use its market power to negotiate lower prices for seniors.

And the pharmaceutical industry, which also opposes price negotiation, has protected its interests by lavishing political contributions on members of Congress.

Price himself has received tens of thousands of dollars from drug makers and has also invested heavily in industry stocks, records show.

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Trump Health secretary pick pledges to protect vulnerable Americans at Senate hearing, but still gives no details

Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) told the Senate health committee Wednesday that he would protect vulnerable Americans if he is confirmed to be President-elect Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary.

“We must strengthen our resolve to keep the promises our society has made to our senior citizens and to those among us who are most in need of care and support,” Price told the committee.

But he did not detail how he would fulfill that pledge, including how he would replace the Affordable Care Act or preserve coverage for the more than 100 million Americans who rely on Medicare and Medicaid. Price has worked for years to cut both.

The future of the programs and the healthcare law, often called Obamacare, are expected to figure prominently in the Senate hearing, as Democrats probe what Price will do to fulfill Trump’s promise to ensure that all Americans can get coverage, even if Obamacare is rolled back.

The law has helped more than 20 million previously uninsured Americans gain coverage in the last three years.

Repealing it would immediately result in 18 million people losing coverage, according to a new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Price has been among the most ardent critics of the law and has pushed budget plans that would cut trillions of dollars from Medicare and Medicaid.

Republican lawmakers have rallied behind Price. “You are an excellent nominee for this job,” Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) told Price on Wednesday. “You know the subject very, very well.”

Other Democrats, meanwhile, have called for delays in the hearings on Price, arguing that more time is needed to adequately review his nomination.

“Instead of confronting the serious issues raised about Congressman Price, Republicans are rushing to sneak his nomination through before all outstanding questions have been answered,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.

The finance committee is scheduled to hear from Price next Tuesday, after which his nomination likely will go to the Senate floor for consideration.

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In his final news conference as president, Obama is expected to defend Manning’s commutation

President Obama will give his final news conference in office Wednesday as questions loom about his last-minute decision to reduce the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the Army private convicted of leaking classified information.

Obama will defend his decision as one he made in “pursuit of justice,” a senior White House official said, noting that Manning has expressed remorse and spent most of seven years behind bars.

The White House expects Obama to be questioned about a wide array of topics.

In a breakfast with reporters, Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Obama is reserving his right to speak out during the Trump administration in instances where “very basic values and norms are being violated,” though the president expects that won’t be necessary. Earnest said Obama plans to stay out of the day-to-day churn of American politics.

On Tuesday, Obama sharply reduced Manning’s 35-year sentence. She was convicted of giving thousands of classified reports to WikiLeaks.

Obama’s decision was a reversal for his administration after years of dogged pursuit of leakers. Manning’s court-martial was one of several leak-related criminal cases initiated by Obama’s Department of Justice, creating a chilling effect for watchdogs and potential whistle-blowers.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, said the reduction of Manning’s sentence may “encourage further acts of espionage and undermine military discipline.”

Earnest dismissed congressional Republicans’ critique, noting President-elect Donald Trump’s favorable portrayals of WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange.

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Trump’s pick for Commerce secretary will face questions on trade and conflicts of interest

Like the man who picked him to be the next Commerce secretary, Wilbur L. Ross is a billionaire with extensive financial interests and an ardent critic of America’s trade policies — both of which will come under scrutiny at his confirmation hearing set for Wednesday morning.

The head of the Commerce Department traditionally hasn’t been a powerful or high-profile Cabinet member. But that could change, as President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has indicated that Ross will spearhead the new administration’s initiatives on trade, an issue that was central to Trump’s campaign and figures to be a dominant part of his economic growth strategy.

Ross, 79, was a top economic advisor to Trump’s campaign, and the two men, who have known each other personally for more than 20 years, share a disdain for trade deals that the U.S. has cut, especially the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada.

At the confirmation hearing, delayed nearly a week to give Ross more time to work out his financial disclosure requirements and ethics agreement, members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation are likely to question Ross on NAFTA and about the risks of provoking trading partners with threats of levying heavy tariffs. Members may also ask Ross about his views on House Speaker Paul D. Ryan’s idea for a “border tax” instead of broad tariffs on countries.

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Nikki Haley is expected to sail through her Senate confirmation hearing

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is expected to sail through her Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.

Haley, the daughter of immigrants from northern India, is a popular Republican governor and is seen as a rising star in the GOP. She is the first female governor of South Carolina, and at 44 is the nation’s youngest governor.

She lacks experience in international diplomacy beyond state trade missions, raising questions about how effective she can be at the world body in New York. But Trump has spoken harshly of the U.N., and Haley’s role may be secondary in his administration.

Haley’s testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee follows a shaky confirmation hearing last week for Rex Tillerson, the Exxon Mobil Corp. chief executive whom Trump has chosen as secretary of State.

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EPA pick Scott Pruitt has repeatedly fought the agency he is now seeking to run

While some of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks are relative newcomers to government whose pasts offer murky pictures of how they might run an agency, there is little question where Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Scott Pruitt would take the Environmental Protection Agency.

Pruitt, whose Senate confirmation hearing begins this morning, has been unabashed in his disdain for the agency he is seeking to run. He has worked with big corporate polluters to challenge the agency in court more than a dozen times, charging that federal rules aimed at protecting the environment are an abusive overreach. He has helped lead the movement to unravel President Obama’s signature effort to confront climate change. And he questions mainstream science on global warming.

Pruitt’s crusades against environmental rules – and acceptance of campaign contributions from companies that stood to benefit – have motivated most major environmental groups to demand senators reject his confirmation. One of them, the Environmental Defense Fund, says it has never lobbied against an EPA selection.

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Trump’s pick for Health secretary fought to limit coverage in one of America’s neediest states

From the packed hallways of Atlanta’s massive county hospital to the thousands of patients who line up around the state every year to get Obamacare, yawning gaps in Georgia’s overburdened healthcare system aren’t hard to find.

“The need for care is just tremendous,” said Dr. Charles Moore, a Harvard-trained ear, nose and throat specialist who runs an Atlanta clinic for poor patients.

Georgia has some of the worst health outcomes in the country, with high rates of untreated illness and death from preventable diseases.

The state is also home to Dr. Tom Price, the 62-year-old Republican congressman whom President-elect Donald Trump has tapped to be the next Health and Human Services secretary. Trump has charged Price with repealing the Affordable Care Act and developing a replacement that Trump promised will protect millions of Americans who’ve gained coverage through the law.

He is an unorthodox choice for the task.

As a physician in Georgia and a lawmaker for 20 years, first in the state Legislature and then as a member of Georgia’s congressional delegation, Price has relentlessly fought to limit healthcare safety net programs, even as nearly 1 in 5 of his fellow Georgians were locked out of health coverage.

Price’s efforts to cut healthcare programs have stoked opposition to his nomination from congressional Democrats.

His critics are also eyeing his extensive trading in healthcare stocks, including revelations reported by CNN that he bought stock in a medical device maker just days before introducing legislation that would have benefited the company.

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Analysis: Donald Trump’s transition has hurt his popularity, not helped

Donald Trump’s transition to the presidency has seen his popularity decline, not expand, and he will enter the White House on Friday far weaker in that regard than any president in decades.

Trump is unique among the last seven presidents-elect: He is the only one whose popularity dropped between election day and his swearing-in, according to several new polls.

In surveys released Tuesday, Trump’s popularity was half that of President Obama’s as he was sworn in in 2009, and far below even that of George W. Bush, who took office in 2001 after a Supreme Court battle that ended with a partisan split on the high court just weeks before Inauguration Day.

Trump does retain the confidence of a majority of Americans polled when it comes to fiscal issues — improving the economy, creating jobs and dealing with the budget deficit. But they do not approve of how he has handled accusations that Russia tried to interfere in the election, and that appears to be among the things that have hurt him.

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Former Hillary Clinton policy advisor heads to Silicon Valley

Ann O'Leary smiles at a public event in 2010.
(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

As a top advisor to Hillary Clinton, Ann O’Leary spent the last months before the presidential election in Washington, reviewing potential Cabinet nominations and crafting policy proposals that could be launched from the White House.

All of that work came to a crashing halt with Clinton’s defeat.

“I was just in shock,” O’Leary said. “None of us really mentally prepared or logistically prepared for losing.”

O’Leary returned to California, where she mourned the election and eventually started thinking about her next move. Concerned that the issues she cares about -- such as paid family leave and gender equity in the workplace -- wouldn’t take root in Washington under President-elect Donald Trump, she looked for opportunities closer to home.

Now she’s becoming a partner in the Palo Alto office of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, where she’ll work with corporate and nonprofit clients on policy and regulatory issues, among other topics.

“The private sector is going to be playing an outsized role in how we make progress on some of the issues I’ve worked on,” said O’Leary, who lives in Oakland.

Although O’Leary won’t be working in politics, she’s joining a firm with political pull. David Boies, the chairman, represented Al Gore in the court battle over the 2000 election and fought California’s ban on same-sex marriage.

In a statement, he said O’Leary has a record of being a “trusted counsel to many influential leaders.”

“For clients confronting complex issues and problems, she brings needed perspective and seasoned judgment,” Boies said.

High-profile Democrats have drifted toward Silicon Valley in recent years. David Plouffe, who managed President Obama’s first White House campaign and later served in his administration, worked for Uber before recently joining a philanthropic initiative from Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and his wife.

Although the technology world has a strong libertarian streak -- see Thiel, Peter -- O’Leary said she’s excited to work in an environment that she considers both entrepreneurial and progressive.

With the future in Washington uncertain, “how do we show that there are some real models that work out there?” she said.

Marc Benioff, who has supported progressive causes as the chief executive of Salesforce, a client of the Boies firm, said O’Leary would help navigate the “critical issues facing companies and leaders around the country every day.”

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Betsy DeVos says it’s ‘possible’ her family has contributed $200 million to the Republican Party

Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be the next secretary of Education.
Betsy DeVos, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the next secretary of Education.
(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

Since Donald Trump picked Michigan fundraiser and school voucher advocate Betsy DeVos as his secretary of Education, Democrats and other political observers have examined her generous political contributions and any conflicts they might pose.

On Tuesday, at DeVos’ confirmation hearing, Sen. Bernie Sanders raised the issue again, but DeVos, who is married to the billionaire heir to the Amway fortune, said she didn’t know how much her family had contributed to the Republican Party.

Sanders (I-Vt.) wasn’t deterred.

“There is a growing fear that ... we are moving toward what some would call an oligarchic society, where a small number of very wealthy billionaires control, to some degree, our economic and political life,” said the former Democratic presidential candidate.

When DeVos still didn’t offer a number, Sanders said he’d heard that the family collectively had contributed $200 million over the years.

“That’s possible,” she said.

Would DeVos have been chosen to be secretary of Education without those $200 million in donations, Sanders asked?

DeVos said she thought she would have been.

During a three-hour hearing, Sanders and Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee grilled DeVos about her views on charter schools, sexual assault in colleges, funding, school vouchers and the enforcement of civil rights laws.

She provided few specifics about her plans, repeating that she looked forward to working together with representatives from both parties. DeVos focused on her support for providing families with a variety of education alternatives, though she said she supports public schools and the teachers who work there.

She said she is in favor of holding to the current timeline for implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, the major new successor to the controversial No Child Left Behind law that gives states more leeway to help assure student performance and teacher accountability.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) asked whether schools should be rated according to students’ proficiency -- how much they know -- and their growth -- how much they learn each year. When DeVos didn’t respond immediately, Franken said: “It surprises me that you don’t know this issue.”

DeVos also had a pointed exchange with Sen. Christopher S. Murphy (D-Conn.) about school violence. Murphy asked her whether guns had any place in schools. “I think that’s best left to states and locales to decide,” DeVos said.

When Murphy pressed her on that point, she referred to a school in Wyoming she had heard about from another senator that has a “grizzly bear fence.”

“I would imagine that there’s probably a gun in the school to protect from potential grizzlies,” she said.

Murphy asked whether she would support Trump if he were to end gun-free school zones. She said she would support the president, but school violence hurt her heart.

Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the committee’s highest-ranking Democrat, said she remained “very outraged” by Trump’s comments made public last year about groping women without their consent. Murray described the behavior Trump had boasted about, and asked DeVos whether it would be considered assault if it occurred at a school.

DeVos said yes.

The committee is planning to vote on DeVos on Tuesday. Senators wanted more time to question her, in particular because they have not yet received a letter from the Office of Government Ethics outlining how DeVos would avoid conflicts of interest in connection with her financial interests and political contributions.

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Supreme Court justices are skeptical of deportation order against Bay Area burglar

(Susan Walsh / Associated Press)

The Supreme Court, hearing arguments Tuesday in a California deportation case, signaled that it may make it harder for the government to forcibly remove legal immigrants with certain kinds of crimes on their record.

The case involves a native Filipino and longtime legal resident of the Bay Area who was convicted of breaking into a garage and an empty house in separate incidents.

At issue is whether crimes such as home burglary, fleeing from the police, money laundering or child abuse can be considered “crimes of violence” that trigger mandatory deportation under federal law.

The ruling could set new rules for the Trump administration if it seeks to forcibly remove legal immigrants who have criminal records.

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Obama earmarks more money to combat global climate change

With the clock running out on his administration, President Obama pledged another $500 million to an international fund for combating climate change, increasing the country’s financial commitment before his successor takes office on Friday.

President-elect Donald Trump has called for halting contributions to the fund, which was created under the global warming agreement reached in Paris in December 2015.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State, called the money a “critical tool that helps catalyze billions of dollars in public and private investment.”

The latest contribution, announced on Tuesday, brings the total U.S. investment to $1 billion, still far short of the total $3 billion Obama had pledged.

“It’s not being done to try to provoke a reaction from the incoming administration or to try to dictate to them, one way or the other, how they are going to deal with climate issues,” Kirby said.

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Three California wines are on the menu for Trump’s Inauguration Day lunch

(Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Three California wines will be served at Friday’s inaugural lunch for President-elect Donald Trump, recognizing the Golden State roots of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco).

A J. Lohr 2013 Arroyo Vista chardonnay from Monterey County will be paired with Maine lobster and gulf shrimp with saffron sauce and a peanut crumble for the first course.

A Delicato Black Stallion 2012 Limited Release Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon will be served in the second course with grilled Seven Hills angus beef with dark chocolate and juniper jus and potato gratin.

And Korbel Natural “Special Inaugural Cuvée” California Champagne will be served with chocolate soufflé and cherry vanilla ice cream for dessert.

California wines have been featured at many of the inaugural lunches, though the French wine lobby has protested in the past over Korbel’s use of the term Champagne to describe its sparkling wine. Labeling wine as Champagne that is not from Champagne, France, violates U.S. regulations, except for companies like Korbel that were using the term prior to 2006.

The meal is a more than century-old tradition. More than 200 guests, including Supreme Court justices, Cabinet choices and congressional leaders, will toast the president, vice president and their families in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall. It is hosted by the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.

3:02 p.m. Jan. 18: This post has been updated to clarify that there are exceptions to U.S. regulations regarding wine labeling.

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Repealing Obamacare without replacement would hike premiums 20%, leave millions uninsured, budget office says

Repealing Obamacare without a replacement would result in higher costs for consumers and fewer people with insurance coverage, according to a report Tuesday from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

In the first year, insurance premiums would surge by 20% to 25% for individual policies purchased directly or through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, according to the report. The number of people who are uninsured would increase by 18 million.

Those numbers would only increase in subsequent years. Premium prices would continue to climb by 50% the next year, with the uninsured swelling to 27 million, as full repeal took effect, the report said.

Americans may be beginning to worry about such costs. For the first time, more Americans view the Affordable Care Act as a “good idea” rather than a bad one, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released Tuesday.

The one-two punch at efforts to dismantle Obamacare comes as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to replace the healthcare law with a new plan that he has not yet detailed.

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Former ‘Apprentice’ contestant accuses Trump of unwanted sexual advances, files lawsuit

Attorney Gloria Allred, left, and Summer Zervos, who is suing President-elect Donald Trump.
Attorney Gloria Allred, left, and Summer Zervos, who is suing President-elect Donald Trump.
(Valerie Macon / AFP/Getty Images)

A former contestant on TV’s “The Apprentice” on Tuesday filed a defamation lawsuit against President-elect Donald Trump, whom she has accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward her.

Summer Zervos announced the lawsuit at a downtown Los Angeles news conference with her attorney, Gloria Allred, three days before Trump’s inauguration.

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President Obama commutes sentence of Chelsea Manning

President Obama has sharply reduced the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the U.S. Army private convicted of leaking thousands of classified reports to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

The president also pardoned a retired Marine Corps general, James E. Cartwright, who pleaded guilty in October to lying to FBI agents about his discussions with reporters concerning secret U.S. efforts to damage Iran’s nuclear program.

In all, Obama commuted sentences for 209 individuals and issued 64 pardons.

The most notable omission on the list was Edward Snowden, who sought refuge in Russia after leaking a vast trove of documents about U.S. surveillance systems at home and abroad. He has been charged with espionage, but has not been tried or convicted, and is considered a fugitive.

Manning, formerly known as Pfc. Bradley Manning, was sentenced to 35 years in prison in August 2013 after she was convicted in military court of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified military and diplomatic records, cables and videos to WikiLeaks in 2010.

She will now be released from military custody on May 17 to give her time to prepare for release and to make arrangements for a place to live, according to senior administration officials.

The officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said each application for clement was received by the Department of Justice, reviewed by the White House counsel’s office and approved by President Obama.

“The deep concerns the intelligence community has expressed about WikiLeaks did not have any bearing on the president’s decision to grant a commutation for Chelsea Manning,” one official said.

“Chelsea Manning accepted responsibility for crimes she committed, expressed remorse for committing these crimes,” the official said.

Also, the official said, Manning’s sentence was longer than those given to individuals convicted of “comparable” crimes.

“The President continues to believe her actions were criminal and... harmed our national security,” the official said.

But she has served six years in prison and Obama “believes that is sufficient and has decided to commute her sentence,” the official said.

Since has commuted prison sentences for 1,385 people, more than any other president and more commutations than the last 12 presidents combined.

“I’m relieved and thankful that the president is doing the right thing and commuting Chelsea Manning’s sentence,” Chase Strangio, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBT Project representing Manning, said in a statement.

“Since she was first taken into custody, Chelsea has been subjected to long stretches of solitary confinement — including for attempting suicide — and has been denied access to medically necessary healthcare. This move could quite literally save Chelsea’s life, and we are all better off knowing that Chelsea Manning will walk out of prison a free woman, dedicated to making the world a better place and fighting for justice for so many,” he said.

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Putin accuses Obama administration of trying to undermine Trump’s legitimacy

Russian President Vladimir Putin took a parting shot at the Obama administration Tuesday, accusing it of trying to undermine Donald Trump‘s legitimacy with fake allegations and “binding the president-elect hand and foot to prevent him from fulfilling his election promises.”

In his first public remarks about an unsubstantiated dossier outlining unverified claims that Trump engaged in sexual activities with prostitutes at a Moscow hotel, Putin dismissed the material as “nonsense.”

“People who order such fakes against the U.S. president-elect, fabricate them and use them in political struggle are worse than prostitutes,” Putin said. “They have no moral restrictions whatsoever, and it highlights a significant degree of degradation of political elites in the West, including in the United States.”

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Obama’s first stop after Trump’s inauguration: Palm Springs

President Obama’s first destination as a former president will be one that has become a favorite of the first family: Southern California.

The Obamas will travel to Palm Springs on Friday following the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, the White House confirmed Tuesday. As is custom, the outgoing president is afforded one final trip aboard the presidential aircraft, called Air Force One when the officeholder is aboard.

After Trump’s swearing-in, Obama will depart from the Capitol aboard the presidential helicopter, known as Marine One when carrying the chief executive, en route to Joint Base Andrews, where he will make remarks to staff before heading across the country.

The White House did not offer additional details about the Obamas’ plans once they arrive. For months, Obama was circumspect about his first destination as an ex-president, saying only that he intended to travel someplace warm.

The president has made multiple trips to the area before, both for official business and leisure time – and yes, it has included golf.

He hosted several international summits at the Sunnylands retreat in nearby Rancho Mirage, including one with President Xi Jinping of China in 2013, another with King Abdullah of Jordan in 2014 and one in February with leaders of Southeast Asian nations.

Obama will probably be an active ex-president and ultimately will return to Washington, where his younger daughter Sasha is finishing high school. But his first priority after leaving office: rest and relaxation.

“Here’s one thing: I’m not setting my alarm,” Obama told “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired Sunday. “I’m going to spend time with Michelle. And, you know, we got some catching up to do. We’ve both been busy.”

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Pointed questions await Ryan Zinke, Trump’s nominee for Interior secretary, at confirmation hearing

Ryan Zinke
(Richard Drew / Associated Press)

Should the federal government transfer land to states or private ownership?

Should it roll back environmental regulations put in place by the Obama administration so that coal mining, oil and gas development and logging can expand?

Should the government consider the impact on climate change when it makes decisions about whether to allow development on public land or, say, protect endangered species?

And, for that matter, do you believe that human activity is the primary cause of climate change?

Those are among the questions Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) may face later Tuesday when he goes before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for his confirmation hearing to be Interior secretary.

Zinke, a former Navy SEAL who was one of Donald Trump’s early supporters in the House, met with the president-elect at Trump Tower last month amid speculation he could be under consideration for Secretary of Veterans Affairs or for a national security or foreign policy post.

Instead, Trump offered Zinke the job of running the Interior Department, which oversees the federal government’s vast holdings of public land, most of it in the West. It includes the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and agencies that regulate mining, logging and oil and gas development, hydroelectric power and water management in the often drought-stricken region.

The selection of Zinke, a former Navy SEAL, to head the department caught many people off guard. One of his House colleagues, Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, had appeared to be the leading candidate. Since then, the confirmation process has raised a host of questions and concerns about precisely where Zinke stands on an array of contentious issues.

Conservation groups have largely condemned his nomination, pointing to Zinke’s support for mining, oil and gas development on public and tribal lands, his efforts to limit the use of the Endangered Species Act and his statements expressing doubts about climate change.

Zinke has also broken ranks with some Western conservatives over proposals to turn over federal public lands to states, which he has opposed.

Zinke has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry. He has also faced questions about his use of government money for personal travel when he was a SEAL, which prompted discipline that slowed his advancement in the Navy.

Zinke’s confirmation, however, is not likely to be in doubt on the Republican-controlled committee, which is led by Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who backs expanded energy development on public land.

Zinke casts himself as “Teddy Roosevelt Republican” -- an avid outdoorsman who believes public lands should be preserved for multiple uses, including hunting, fishing, recreation and energy development.

He has boasted of defying conservatives in his party on some environmental issues, including last summer when, running for reelection, he announced that he opposed Republican plans to transfer federal land to states. Then again, earlier this month, he voted for a measure that could make such transfers easier.

In a statement Tuesday morning, Zinke promised to work closely with states and local communities. “I fully recognize that there is distrust, anger, and even hatred against some federal management policies,” he acknowledged. “Being a listening advocate rather than a deaf adversary is a good start.”

Zinke also vowed to address what he called a $12.5-billion “backlog of maintenance and repair in our national parks.”

“Without question, our public lands are America’s treasure and are rich in diversity,” Zinke said in the statement. “I fully recognize and appreciate that there are lands that deserve special recognition and are better managed under the John Muir model of wilderness, where man is more of an observer than an active participant.”

“I also recognize that the preponderance of our federal holdings are better suited to be managed under the [Gifford] Pinchot model of multiple use using best practices, sustainable policies, and objective science.”

Sally Jewell, the current Interior secretary, made battling climate change a signature issue. In his statement, Zinke did not mention climate change. In the past, he has called the science on the topic unsettled.

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A look at the 17 agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community

CIA Director-designate Mike Pompeo.
(Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)

The U.S. intelligence community recently reaffirmed its conclusion that senior officials in Russia were behind hacks during the 2016 presidential campaign into the Democratic National Committee and emails belonging to associates of Hillary Clinton.

But what exactly is the “intelligence community?” It’s not just an amorphous term for all U.S. intelligence officials. It’s a veritable alphabet soup of 17 agencies and offices. The group includes agencies strictly focused on intelligence as well as the intelligence arms of other government agencies and of each military branch. Its total budget in 2015 was $66.8 billion.

Here’s a look at the 17 offices.

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How a liberal Santa Monica high school produced a top Trump advisor and speechwriter

(Drew Angerer / Getty Images)

Too-cool-for-school upper-class students at Santa Monica High scoffed when administrators in 2002 reinstated a daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Most students in the liberal enclave slouched in their chairs and chatted over the morning ritual, which was widely viewed as a throwback to an American patriotism that seemed outdated in the multicultural mash-up of L.A.’s Westside.

Not Stephen Miller. Every day, the student body’s best-known and least-liked conservative activist stood at his desk, put his hand over his heart and declared his love of country.

That solitary rebellion of conventionalism was an affront to the left-leaning sensitivities of many on the campus, making him a nerd to some, a provocateur to others.

Now Miller’s brand of brash conservatism, fostered during those years at Santa Monica High, is helping shape the next presidency.

How the People’s Republic of Santa Monica, as the city is sometimes jokingly called, gave rise to the skinny-suited man now at Donald Trump’s side is as much a story about one teen’s intellectual tenacity as it is about the backlash to liberalism at the turn of the millennium.

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Trump national security appointee quits after allegations of repeated plagiarism

Monica Crowley, who had been tapped to become a senior official in the Trump administration’s National Security Council, has withdrawn after multiple reports of plagiarism in her doctoral dissertation and a recent best-selling book.

Her decision was first reported by the Washington Times, for which Crowley, a Fox News foreign affairs analyst, formerly worked as a columnist.

“After much reflection I have decided to remain in New York to pursue other opportunities and will not be taking a position in the incoming administration,” Crowley said in a statement to the newspaper. She did not comment on the plagiarism allegations.

“I greatly appreciate being asked to be part of President-elect Trump’s team, and I will continue to enthusiastically support him and his agenda for American renewal.”

She was to have served as the NSC’s communications director.

Crowley’s appointment was announced in December, but early this month CNN reported more than 50 instances of plagiarism in “What the (Bleep) Just Happened?” her 2012 book. Its publisher, HarperCollins, later announced that it would no longer sell the book.

CNN and Politico later reported multiple instances of plagiarism in Crowley’s dissertation.

Trump transition officials initially cast the published reports as erroneous.

“Any attempt to discredit Monica is nothing more than a politically motivated attack that seeks to distract from the real issues facing this country,” a transition statement said.

Transition officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

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After a feud with a civil rights leader, Donald Trump meets with Martin Luther King III

Donald Trump met with Martin Luther King III on Monday, a holiday commemorating the life of King’s father, which this year was marked by Trump’s quarrel with Rep. John Lewis, a hero of the civil rights struggle.

King, the oldest surviving child of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., described the meeting at Trump Tower as constructive and said it had centered on efforts to improve the voting system.

Asked by reporters about Trump’s characterization Saturday of Lewis as “all talk … no action,” King said he “absolutely” disagreed.

“I would say John Lewis has demonstrated that he is action,” King said.

But, he added, “Things get said on both sides in the heat of emotion. And at some point in this nation, we’ve got to move forward.”

The conflict between the president-elect and Lewis began Friday when NBC’s “Meet the Press” released video of Lewis saying he did not consider Trump a legitimate president.

On Saturday, Trump responded via Twitter, criticizing Lewis and referring to his Atlanta-area congressional district as downtrodden and crime-ridden. Actually, it includes many of the city’s high-end areas.

King said that Trump told him that he intended to represent all Americans.

“I believe that’s his intent,” King said. “I believe we have to consistently engage with pressure, public pressure.”

In his reference to voting, King appeared to be referring to difficulties faced by African American voters, many of them due to restrictive laws put into effect by Republican legislators.

Trump, during his campaign, suggested that voters in overwhelmingly African American cities like Philadelphia could be planning to steal the election via voter fraud.

After the meeting, Trump accompanied King down the elevator and shook his hand before returning upstairs. He did not speak to reporters.

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Trump lays down a marker to judge his healthcare plan

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

“We’re going to have insurance for everybody,” President-elect Donald Trump told the Washington Post in an interview over the weekend, setting down a marker by which the healthcare plan he has promised can be judged.

In the interview, published this morning, Trump would not say how he would accomplish that goal and also meet his other promises: “It will be in a much simplified form. Much less expensive and much better” than what’s available under the current Affordable Care Act, he said.

Trump aides in the past have admonished reporters not to take his words “literally,” which makes it hard to know if he really meant what he said.

If he did mean it, however, Trump’s promise would imply a significant shift from previous Republican healthcare plans. Nonpartisan analyses have generally said that previous Republican plans would leave several million people out in the cold who currently have insurance, and Republican leaders have shied away from saying they would cover everyone.

“I don’t want single-payer. What I do want is to be able to take care of people,” Trump said.

In an interview Monday morning on the “Today” show, Trump’s designated press secretary, Sean Spicer, said that Trump would achieve his goals through “marketplace solutions” and greater competition. That would “drive the cost down,” he said.

At his news conference last week, Trump said his administration would propose a healthcare plan that would include a full replacement for the current healthcare law and would do so quickly — within a few weeks of the confirmation of Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), his pick to lead the Health and Human Services Department. That confirmation, however, is not expected to happen until some time in February at the earliest.

In the interview, Trump said the plan was almost finished. “It’s very much formulated down to the final strokes. We haven’t put it in quite yet but we’re going to be doing it soon,” he said.

He also repeated his attack on the drug industry for charging too much.

“They’re politically protected, but not anymore,” he said of pharmaceutical companies.

Trump has said that he wants the federal government to have authority to negotiate prices with drug companies, something Democrats have pushed in the past but Republicans have blocked.

This post was updated with a quote from Sean Spicer.

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Donald Trump blames dissolution of European Union on refugees — ‘all of these illegals’

President-elect Donald Trump blamed Europe’s acceptance of Mideast refugees — as he put it, “all of these illegals” — for the decision by Britain to leave the European Union, and predicted the organization would disintegrate barring a reversal of immigration policies promoted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“People, countries, want their own identity and the UK wanted its own identity,” Trump told representatives of the Times of London and the German publication Bild about the June Brexit vote. “But, I do believe this, if they hadn’t been forced to take in all of the refugees, so many, with all the problems that it ... entails, I think that you wouldn’t have a Brexit.”

“I believe others will leave ... I think it’s gonna be very hard to keep it together because people are angry about it.”

Merkel, a longtime U.S. ally who is facing election this year, came in for tough treatment from Trump, who also criticized the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that has been the western bulwark against Russia on the European continent.

At one point, he appeared to equate Merkel with Russian leader Vladimir Putin — a put-down given the German-U.S. alliance but representative of Trump’s frequent praise of Putin.

“Well, I start off trusting both — but let’s see how long that lasts. It may not last long at all,” Trump said.

Trump said that under Merkel, Germany had tried to take over the EU, an organization he said was faltering because of her policies.

“I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals, you know taking all of the people from wherever they come from. And nobody even knows where they come from,” he said, repeating some of his favorite campaign rhetoric.

In the United States, entering refugees face up to two years of investigation before they are allowed to come into the country. But Trump throughout the campaign — and now into his imminent presidency — has portrayed them as a threat to Americans.

Trump told the reporters he would sign orders beginning Monday to restrict travel from Europe and would impose “extreme vetting” for those coming from places with known problems with Islamist terrorism. He has never made clear which countries would fall under that umbrella.

Trump’s statements, while in keeping with positions he took in the campaign, represent a sharp break from decades of U.S. policy. Politicians of both major parties have, until now, favored a more globalist approach, including international trade deals that Trump also scorned during his successful run for president.

In contrast with Trump’s predictions of the EU’s demise, President Obama tried to persuade Britain to stay in the organization before the June referendum ended in a surprise departure vote.

Trump’s criticism of NATO likewise ran askance from U.S. policy since the organization was formed after World War II. It was in keeping with Trump’s campaign threat to base decisions on whether the United States would back up member nations on the extent to which they helped finance NATO.

“I said a long time ago that NATO had problems,” he said. “Number one it was obsolete, because it was designed many, many years ago. Number two the countries aren’t paying what they’re supposed to pay.” He specifically blamed the organization for not blunting terrorism.

The president-elect indicated that he would meet soon after his inauguration with British Prime Minister Theresa May, and vowed to negotiate an immediate trade deal with Britain. In theory, that would help prop the nation up as it moves to disentangle itself from its European neighbors.

“We’re gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides,” Trump said.

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A departing Obama acknowledges some failures and warns Trump about the perils of Washington’s partisanship

In a farewell interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes,” President Obama warned successor Donald Trump on Sunday about the downsides of a presidency as improvisational as his campaign, and suggested that Trump’s vow to implement change may fall to the same forces of partisanship that hampered his presidency.

“He clearly was able to tap into a lot of grievances. And he has a talent for making a connection with his supporters that overrode some of the traditional benchmarks of how you’d run a campaign or conduct yourself as a presidential candidate,” Obama said.

Yet while Trump’s ability to communicate with supporters “through tweets and sound bites and some headline that comes over their phone” is powerful, Obama said, it also poses a danger: “What generates a headline or stirs up a controversy and gets attention isn’t the same as the process required to actually solve the problem.”

Obama suggested that the odds of Trump’s success depended on Congress, and said that he continued to be surprised by how it limited his options.

“I will confess that I didn’t fully appreciate the ways in which individual senators or members of Congress now are pushed to the extremes by their voter bases,” said Obama, who during both of his presidential campaigns had suggested he would be able to bring the sides together.

“I did not expect, particularly in the midst of crisis, just how severe that partisanship would be.”

“I’m the first to acknowledge that I did not crack the code in terms of reducing this partisan fever,” he said, citing as an example his inability to persuade the Republican Senate to hold hearings on a successor to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

But he also acknowledged that his campaign rhetoric was not always matched by an ability to sell his proposals in Washington.

“We were very effective, and I was very effective, in shaping public opinion around my campaigns,” he said. “But there were big stretches, while governing, where even though we were doing the right thing, we weren’t able to mobilize public opinion firmly enough behind us to weaken the resolve of the Republicans to stop opposing us or to cooperate with us. And there were times during my presidency where I lost the PR battle.”

Obama cited as a particular failure the healthcare.gov website that was to serve as the portal for Americans signing up for his health insurance plan. Its troubled roll-out tainted the image of the program and offered his adversaries ammunition against his plan.

”If you know you got a controversial program, and you’re setting up a really big, complicated website, the website better work on the first day or first week or first month,” he said. “The fact that it didn’t obviously lost a little momentum. That was clearly a management failure.”

Obama said that he believed that it would take a decade for his presidency to be accurately assessed.

“Saving the economy was a pretty big deal,” he said.

His hope for the nation, the president said, was for its democracy to remain healthy and its people to retain a sense of unity.

He said the recent controversy over Russian hacking of the 2016 election most shocked him not because it happened but because of the reaction of some Americans.

“I have been concerned about the degree to which in some circles you’ve seen people suggest that Vladimir Putin has more credibility than the U.S. government,” he said, seeming to refer to the dismissal of the intelligence community’s judgment by Trump and his loyalists.

“I think that’s something new. And I think it’s a measure of how the partisan divide has gotten so severe that people forget we’re on the same team.”

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CIA Director John Brennan takes aim at Donald Trump for his criticism of the intelligence community

Adding another chapter to the intense conflict between Donald Trump and the intelligence community, CIA Director John Brennan on Sunday sharply criticized the incoming president for equating spy agencies to Nazi Germany and suggested that he needed to focus more seriously on the security issues facing the nation.

“What I think Mr. Trump has to understand is that this is more than being about him, and it’s about the United States and our national security,” Brennan said in an interview with “Fox News Sunday.”

“And he has to make sure that now he’s going to have the opportunity to do something for national security, as opposed to talking and tweeting; he’s going to have tremendous responsibility to make sure that U.S. national security interests are protected and are advanced.”

That was particularly the case when it comes to Russia, Brennan said.

“I don’t think he has a full appreciation of Russian capabilities, Russia’s intentions and actions that they are undertaking in many parts of the world,” he said.

Also worrisome, he said, were Trump’s hints in recent interviews that he might lift sanctions against Russia imposed last month after their election interference was made clear in a report to President Obama.

“I think he has to be mindful that he does not yet have a full appreciation and understanding of what the implications are of going down that road, as well as making sure he understands what he’s doing,” Brennan said.

The feud between Trump and the agencies on which he will soon depend has escalated in recent weeks.

Trump angered the intelligence community by publicly disputing their early conclusions that Russia was behind hacking and other activities meant to torpedo his presidential rival, Hillary Clinton. Then, just over a week ago, word leaked of intelligence chiefs alerting Trump and President Obama that Russia allegedly had compiled salacious material about Trump.

In a news conference last week, Trump conceded that Russia probably had conducted the hacking. But he called the release of derogatory information about him “a disgrace…something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do.”

Brennan said it was “outrageous” that Trump was “equating the intelligence community with Nazi Germany.”

“I do take great umbrage at that, and there is no basis for Mr. Trump to point fingers at the intelligence community for leaking information that was already available publicly,” he said.

The file of material that Trump objected to, which describes information that Russian security agencies allegedly claim to have compiled about him, was published by Buzzfeed, which did not say where it obtained it.

Copies of the file, which was put together by an opposition research firm using contacts in Russia and elsewhere, had circulated among reporters in Washington for weeks before Buzzfeed published them. None of the material has been verified despite efforts by several news organizations to do so.

Brennan, a veteran national security official, said that the intelligence community had “no interest” in undermining Trump and his team, and that his public denunciations of intelligence agencies posed problems.

“The world is watching now what Mr. Trump says, and listening very carefully,” he told Fox anchor Chris Wallace. “If he doesn’t have confidence in the intelligence community, what signal does that send to our partners and allies, as well as our adversaries?”

“So, I think Mr. Trump has to be very disciplined in terms of what it is that he says publicly. He is going to be, in a few days’ time, the most powerful person in the world in terms of sitting on top of the United States government, and I think he has to recognize that his words do have impact. And they can have very positive impact, or they can be undercutting of our national security.”

Brennan praised several of Trump’s national security picks as able to offer the new president “some wise counsel.”

The onus was on Trump, he said, to “not be very spontaneous in his words and his actions.”

“Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests,” he said. “And so, therefore, when he speaks, when he reacts, just to make sure he understands that the implications and impact on the United States could be profound. Again, it’s more than just about Mr. Trump, and it’s about the United States of America.”

The CIA director refused to say whether intelligence officials had picked up any information about pre-election contacts between Trump officials and the Russians involved in the hacking. Trump officials have steadfastly denied any such activity.

Brennan, who leaves office along with the rest of the Obama administration on Friday, said that his biggest sources of pride were the killing of Osama bin Laden, the prevention of another 9/11-style attack in the United States and efforts to “advance the interests of peace and stability around the world.”

He said he regretted the inability to prevent bloodshed in Syria.

“My heart and a lot of hearts bleed over what has happened to that beautiful country,” he said. “I think a lot of countries, including the United States, could have been more aggressive and proactive in terms of what we should have done to – to prevent the – the deterioration into so much bloodshed in Syria.”

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein says Russian involvement changed the outcome of the election

Russian interference in the presidential election
“altered the outcome,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Sunday, adding that classified briefings had laid out a “very sophisticated effort” by Moscow to impede Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

The California Democrat did not specifically say whether she thought Clinton would have won absent the Russian actions, but strongly suggested that she believed Clinton would have.

“It altered the outcome — that’s what I believe,” Feinstein told NBC’s “Meet the Press” anchor Chuck Todd.

“I have been astonished at what has been a two-year effort at Russia to spearfish, to hack, to provide disinformation, propaganda, wherever it really could. And I think this has been a very sophisticated effort.“

A pending Senate investigation into the matter must be “full and robust,” she said, adding that if it is not, she and Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is handling the hacking probe, would push for an outside investigator.

“We cannot ignore what has happened,” she said. “To ignore it is really to commit ourselves to a very bad future,”

Feinstein said that the declassified version of the report — which she is allowed to discuss publicly — showed that Russian entities hacked both parties “but with the aim of hurting Hillary Clinton.”

“Look, I’m certainly not going to leave this in limbo. Because this is the future of America. It’s the future of democracy. And if we can’t carry out an election without disinformation being pumped into it by another country, we’ve got a huge destruction of our system going on.”

The senator said that she also blamed Clinton’s defeat in part on the actions of FBI Director James B. Comey, who 11 days before the election announced a renewed investigation into Clinton’s emails.

Two days before the election, Comey acknowledged that the renewed investigation had turned up nothing of significance.

Feinstein said that she was “not yet” prepared to say that Comey should be fired for his actions, which the Justice Department’s inspector general is now investigating. Comey’s current term runs until fall of 2023.

“The director, I think, was torn. I think he did what he thought was right. In my view, it turned out very much not to be right, because the FBI doesn’t announce investigations,” she said.

Whether to keep Comey in place is “a decision to come when everybody learns much more about what drove this,” she said.

Separately, two top officials of the new administration, Vice President-elect Mike Pence and incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, offered different answers when asked in interviews on Sunday whether Trump would keep Comey in place.

Feinstein said that Trump, who will be inaugurated on Friday, should reach out to Americans who did not vote for him and work to forge a stronger sense of national unity.

“This is a very fearful and divided nation right now. And the Trumps have not done anything to bring it together,” she said.

“It’s the job of this new president to reassure people that he is not just the president of his base but he is the president of everyone. And that means a coming together.”

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Pence and Priebus want to turn toward an ‘optimistic’ Trump inauguration and leave behind a touchy transition

Vice President-elect Mike Pence is not weighing in on whether Donald Trump has confidence in the FBI's director. “You’d have to ask the president-elect," he said in a TV interview.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Five days before President-elect Donald Trump is to be sworn in, his key advisors on Sunday sought to craft a sense of national unity around the incoming president but faced lingering questions about Russian involvement in the election and contradictions between Trump and his prospective Cabinet members.

In separate television interviews, Vice President-elect Mike Pence and the incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, offered different responses to the same question: Does Trump have confidence in FBI Director James Comey, who has been in and out of favor with the president-elect over the course of the campaign.

Comey last summer cleared Hillary Clinton of criminal culpability regarding her use of a private email server as secretary of State — angering Trump and his loyalists. Eleven days before the election, he briefly reopened the investigation. The latter action was blamed by some Democrats as contributing to her defeat.

“Yes, he has confidence in Director Comey,” Priebus said on ABC’s “This Week.”

“We’ve had a great relationship with him over the last several weeks. He is extremely competent... extraordinarily competent.”

Priebus said there was “no plan at this moment” to ask Comey to cut short his term in office, which extends to September 2023.

On Fox News’ Sunday broadcast, by contrast, Pence avoided answering, referring questions to Trump.

“You’ll have to ask him about that,” Pence said. “You’d have to ask the president-elect. They’ve had conversations, and that will be a good question for him after Jan. 20.”

Pence noted that Trump will make the final decisions, as well, on policy. Questions about the direction of the new administration were raised last week when several Cabinet designees differed with Trump on key issues, including policy toward Russia, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, the Iran nuclear deal and the use of torture.

“Well, the great thing about being around Donald Trump is you never have any confusion about who’s driving the bus, and where the buck stops and who will make the final decision,” Pence told CBS “Face the Nation” anchor John Dickerson.

Pence said Americans should be “greatly encouraged” by Trump assembling “people of extraordinary background and capability who will bring their own experience and their own perspective to inform the president’s decisions.”

Ultimately, he said, “the president will make the best decision in the best interests of the American people.”

Both Pence and Priebus attempted to brush aside continuing questions about Russia’s hacking of Democrats and whether there was any communication between the country’s agents and the Trump campaign.

After being asked three times by Fox anchor Chris Wallace, Pence denied any conversations had taken place.

“This is all a distraction” meant to delegitimize Trump,” he said. “The American people see right through it.”

The two Trump officials also denied that incoming national security advisor Mike Flynn discussed with a Russian ambassador the increased sanctions leveled against the country because of its election interference.

Reuters has reported that Flynn and Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergei Kislyak, exchanged five calls on the day sanctions were announced by the Obama Administration.

Priebus confirmed the conversations, but insisted that “the subject matter of sanctions or the actions taken by the Obama did not come up in the conversation.”

In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd, he said that much of the discussion involved setting up a post-inauguration phone call and a conference regarding Syria.

Pence suggested that Friday will mark a turn from the tumultuous campaign to a tonally different administration.

“We’re coming into this week with a great sense of optimism,” he said on CBS.

“The American people know that we can have government in Washington, D.C., as good as our people. We can get this economy moving again. We can rebuild our military.”

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Trump kicks off Martin Luther King weekend by attacking civil rights legend John Lewis

In yet another indication of his unwillingness to let criticism pass, Donald Trump has lashed out at “all talk … no action” national icon John Lewis, who was beaten repeatedly and nearly lost his life in the long struggle for civil rights.

Trump’s Twitter comments early Saturday about the Georgia congressman followed Lewis’ assertion Friday that he did not see Trump as a “legitimate” president because of Russian involvement in the defeat of his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

The president-elect’s response was rife with irony: Trump did so at the beginning of a weekend dedicated to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., over something Trump himself has done repeatedly. Trump built his political name on a more than five-year effort to de-legitimize President Obama by falsely claiming that he was foreign-born.

Trump also used racially freighted language when he said that Lewis’ Atlanta district was “crime infested” and “falling apart.” It actually includes much of the area’s most successful neighborhoods.

The furor began Friday with the release of part of an interview for NBC’s “Meet the Press,” in which anchor Chuck Todd asked Lewis whether he would try to work with Trump despite their political differences.

“I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It’s going to be hard,” Lewis said. “I don’t see the president-elect as a legitimate president.”

He said he believed “the Russians participated” in Trump’s election and added: “They helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.” As a result, he said, he would not attend Trump’s inauguration Friday.

He is one of a handful of members of Congress to announce that he will not attend the inauguration, but the first to be called out by Trump.

“Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!” Trump tweeted Saturday.

Lewis was the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington, by that time already a central figure in the efforts of African Americans to secure civil rights. For years, he was repeatedly arrested and beaten in Southern protests.

In 1965, during the celebrated “Bloody Sunday” march at the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Ala., Lewis was clubbed so severely that he suffered a skull fracture. He recovered and led other protests, and 30 years ago, he was elected to Congress.

In 2011, President Obama awarded Lewis the presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

“Generations from now, when parents teach their children what is meant by courage, the story of John Lewis will come to mind — an American who knew that change could not wait for some other person or some other time; whose life is a lesson in the fierce urgency of now,” Obama said.

In 2015, Obama joined Lewis and other civil rights veterans for a 50th anniversary walk over the bridge at which Lewis was wounded.

Trump’s remarks, reminiscent of his summer attack on a Gold Star family who spoke against him at the Democratic convention, spurred defenses of Lewis by political figures and others.

“John Lewis is an icon of the civil rights movement who is fearless in the pursuit of justice and equality,” said Sen. Kamala Harris, the California Democrat. “He deserves better than this.”

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Congress approves waiver for retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis to lead the Pentagon

Defense Secretary-designate James Mattis listens on Capitol Hill in Washington while testifying at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
(J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Congress passed a law Friday that will allow retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, to serve in the job if he is confirmed in the Senate.

The House voted 268-151 in favor of a bill that enables Mattis to circumvent a law that requires defense secretaries to be out of uniform for at least seven years, a provision intended to guarantee civilian control of the military.

Mattis retired from the Marines in 2013 after serving more than four decades.

The bill, which passed the Senate 81-17 on Thursday, next goes to the White House for President Obama’s signature.

“I think you can anticipate if it makes it to the president’s desk, he will sign it,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday.

The House vote saw a wave of Democratic opposition after Trump’s transition team did not allow Mattis to testify before the House Armed Services Committee about civilian control of the military.

Mattis, who is widely respected in the military and on Capitol Hill, had told the House committee he planned to appear, but ultimately pulled out.

With the waiver now approved, Mattis appears on track to win easy confirmation in the Senate next week. He sailed through his confirmation hearing in the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

Though 18 of the 25 men who have run the Pentagon since 1947 had previously served in the military, Mattis is only the second to require a waiver.

In 1950, President Truman nominated former Army Gen. George Marshall to head the Pentagon at the outset of the Korean War. Marshall already had served as secretary of State, and Congress granted the exemption.

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Democrats are irked with FBI director after briefing on Russian hacking of election

Democrats expressed deep frustration Friday with FBI Director James B. Comey after he gave them a confidential briefing on Russian election hacking.

“Members have a lot of profound questions about whether he is applying a completely different standard when it comes to acknowledging a potential investigation of the Trump campaign and whether it exists or not, and his willingness to discuss one into Hillary Clinton just 11 days before the election,” said Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, who attended the session.

The FBI and intelligence officials believe the Russian government orchestrated cyber attacks in the hopes of hurting Democrat Hillary Clinton and helping President-elect Donald Trump, and Comey and top intelligence officials trooped to Capitol Hill Friday morning to brief lawmakers on their findings.

Democrats, Republicans, Trump’s Cabinet picks and now even the president-elect support the assessment that the Russians were behind embarrassing hacks of the Democratic National Committee’s computer system an email account used by John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman.

On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that he now thought Russia was behind the cyber attacks after weeks of questioning the intelligence community’s assessment.

Comey’s briefing did nothing to allay Democrats’ concerns that he was willing to release information about Clinton but so far has refused to divulge any details about a potential Trump-related investigation.

The Democrats’ frustration “has less to do with any dispute about the Russians’ hacking of the election and more to do with whether director has employed double standard discussing investigations,” said Schiff.

The Justice Department Inspector General announced Thursday that his office was launching a sweeping probe into the FBI, including allegations that Comey violated guidelines by discussing the Clinton investigation.

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With House vote, GOP completes first step toward repealing Obamacare, but the hard part comes next

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) is seen in Washington.
( (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images))

The Republican-led Congress passed a plan Friday to start the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act, but the road ahead remains unclear.

House Republicans approved the budget blueprint, 227-198, following a similar party-line vote earlier this week in the Senate, which sets a month-end timetable to draft a repeal bill. But leaders warned the process could take longer.

The week was full of theatrics as Republicans struggled to fulfill one of their major campaign promises. One by one, Republicans rose at their desks to criticize Obamacare — Rep. Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.) compared the ACA to a goat ransacking the interior of a house. “I have to get the goat out,” he said.

And after each GOP speech, Democrats reminded lawmakers of how many hundreds of thousands of Americans might lose their healthcare coverage in that lawmaker’s state if Obamacare is repealed — more than 580,000, for example, in Georgia.

But the beginning of the repeal process was the easy part. Republicans aren’t any closer to fulfilling their longtime promise to “repeal and replace Obamacare,” even though they now will control the House, Senate and White House.

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Rep. John Lewis: Russia election ‘conspiracy’ makes Donald Trump’s presidency illegitimate

Rep. John Lewis, an icon of the civil rights movement, said he does not view Donald Trump as a legitimate president because of Russia’s attempts to interfere with the election result.

The assessment came when the Georgia Democrat was asked by “Meet The Press” host Chuck Todd if he would forge a relationship with the Republican president-elect, as he has with previous presidents in both parties.

“I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It’s going to be hard,” he said. “I don’t see the president-elect as a legitimate president.”

“I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected,” he added, also calling it a “conspiracy.” “They helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.”

Lewis said he would not attend Trump’s inauguration next week - the first presidential inauguration he would skip since he was elected to Congress in 1986.

“You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong,” he said.

Lewis, who suffered a skull fracture during a voting rights march in Selma in 1965, has in the past criticized Trump for questioning whether President Obama was born in the United States, and thus whether he was eligible to hold the office.

Obama has called Lewis one of his “heroes,” and joined him to mark the 50th anniversary of the Selma march two years ago, as well as the dedication of the National Museum of African American History on the National Mall in September.

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‘Be yourself’: Trump downplays policy differences with Cabinet choices

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

President-elect Donald Trump says he welcomes the contrary views of Cabinet choices that have been aired in congressional hearings this week, summing up his message to his incoming team this way: “Be yourself.”

“I told them, ‘Be yourself, and say what you want to say. Don’t worry about me,” Trump told reporters in New York Friday. “I may be right, they may be right. But I said, ‘Be yourself.’ I could have said, ‘Do this, say that.’ I don’t want that.”

During confirmation hearings. senators, particularly Democrats, have been keen to illustrate the apparent daylight between the president-elect and the men and women who will lead key departments.

At times the nominees have indicated taht they hold different views than Trump, or in some cases that they had not discussed a particular issue with him — as Secretary of State-designate Rex Tillerson said was the case concerning U.S. policy toward Russia.

Trump’s comments came as he visited reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York after a meeting with comedian Steve Harvey.

Harvey said they had a good conversation and that he was introduced to Ben Carson, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to discuss how to “bring about some positive change in the inner cities.”

“He realizes that he needs some allies in that department. And he seemed really sincere about it,” Harvey said of Trump.

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Trump aides respond to report that raises legal questions about calls with Russian ambassador

(Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)

Members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team tried Friday to clarify the nature of contact between the incoming national security advisor and a senior Russian official after a report raised questions about whether the interactions may have been illegal.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said the advisor, retired Army Gen. Michael Flynn, spoke by phone with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, on Dec. 28. They discussed plans for a phone conversation between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that will take place after the inauguration.

The two also exchanged text messages on Dec. 25 wishing each other a merry Christmas, Spicer said.

“That was it, plain and simple,” he said.

Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, citing a senior U.S. official, reported earlier that Flynn called Kislyak several times on Dec. 29 — the day the Obama administration announced retaliatory actions in response to Russian hacking that officials have said was intended to influence the U.S. election.

A second Trump transition official said that the phone calls preceded the Obama administration’s announcement of sanctions and that the subject did not come up in the calls. The White House said Trump transition officials were told about the pending sanctions before they were announced publicly. It wasn’t clear when Flynn learned of the sanctions.

Flynn and Kislyak also spoke on other issues last month; on Dec. 19, to discuss the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey, and during one call to invite a Trump administration official to visit a conference in Kazakhstan once Trump takes office.

“These are not substantive policy discussions or anything related to sanctions,” the official said, requesting anonymity to provide a fuller explanation of the conversations.

Ignatius suggested that the interactions could flout the Logan Act, which bars U.S. citizens from unauthorized interactions with foreign governments with an intent to influence government actions.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, when asked Friday whether the Obama administration was concerned about Flynn’s contacts with Kislyak, answered: “Depends on what he said.”

“The fact that the designated national security advisor ... was in touch with the Russian ambassador to the United States, I can understand why that was the subject of a column in the newspaper today,” he said.

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New Pew study finds views of world threats cleave along party lines

American attitudes for or against Israel and Palestinians are divided on the most partisan lines of the last four decades, a new study says.

The survey by the Pew Research Center, released Thursday, lists the top global threats, as viewed by the Americans polled, as Islamic State terrorism, cyber attacks, and North Korea’s nuclear weapons.

The biggest growth in perceived threats to America involved Russia, Pew said.

In April, 42% viewed “tensions with Russia” as a major threat. Today 54% see “Russia’s power and influence” as a major threat, Pew said.

The national survey involved 1,502 adults and was carried out from Jan. 4-9.

Partisan differences appeared most stark in attitudes on climate change, refugees and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The survey found that 77% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents viewed global climate change as a major threat to the well-being of the United States.

Only 25% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents felt that way.

Similarly, only 30% of Democrats thought the exodus of refugees from Syria and Iraq constituted a danger to the U.S., while 63% of Republicans thought that way.

Polling on the intractable conflict between Israelis and Palestinians found a gap in sympathies for one side or the other to be at its widest since 1978.

In all, 74% of Republicans said they sympathize more with Israel than the Palestinians, while 11% sympathized more with the Palestinians.

Among Democrats, 33% supported Israel more and 31% the Palestinians. Another 35% said they sympathized with neither or both, or expressed no opinion.

Republicans’ views have not changed substantially in recent years, Pew said, but Democratic sympathies for Israel have fallen.

The Obama administration in recent months has been highly critical of Israel’s government for its sustained construction and expansion of settlements in the Palestinian West Bank, which most of the world considers illegal.

The administration says the building program is an obstacle to peace because it chops up land the Palestinians hope will serve as a future state.

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Supreme Court may boost school’s duty to educate children with disabilities

The case could settle whether public school systems must reimburse parents who seek private education for schoolchildren with disabilities.
(Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press)

Supreme Court justices appeared ready Wednesday to clarify and strengthen the rights of the nation’s 6.7 million children with disabilities, perhaps by requiring public schools to offer a special education program that will ensure they can make significant progress.

The case of a Colorado boy with autism, Endrew F. vs. Douglas County School District, could have a far-reaching impact on millions of children and their parents as well as the budgets of school districts nationwide.

At issue is a long-standing federal law that says children with disabilities have a right to a “free appropriate public education.” Schools, courts and parents have been divided over what this promise means in practice.

Does it mean, for example, that a school must merely offer a minimal special program that may offer “some educational benefit” to the child, as a federal appeals court in Denver ruled? Or instead, do these children have a right to “make significant educational progress,” as lawyers for the outgoing Obama administration contend?

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Justice Department watchdog says it will investigate FBI director’s decision to speak about Clinton investigation

The Justice Department’s internal watchdog said Thursday it will investigate FBI Director James Comey’s decision to publicly release information about the bureau’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified material.

The inquiry by the Justice Department’s inspector general will focus on whether “policies or procedures were not followed” when Comey held a July 5 news conference to discuss the case and when he sent letters to Congress just before the election that disclosed his agents were reviewing newly discovered emails pertinent to the Clinton case.

Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz said in a statement that the probe was spurred by “numerous” requests for his office to examine the matter.

Some in Clinton’s campaign blamed Comey’s actions for halting her momentum shortly before the election and helping in Donald Trump’s presidential victory.

His office also will investigate whether the FBI and Justice Department improperly disclosed information that should have remained private. And it will delve into why the FBI published days before the election 15-year-old reports of agents’ investigation into then-President Bill Clinton’s pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich, the inspector general said in a news release.

Comey held a conference July 5 to announce that he and his agents were recommending that the Justice Department not seek charges against Clinton related to her use of a private email server during her time as secretary of State. The FBI concluded that Clinton and her aides shared classified information over the server, but Comey said agents found no evidence that they had intended to do so, a key element of a potential prosecution.

The case seemed to be dead until Oct. 28 when Comey sent a letter to Congress informing lawmakers his agents were reviewing newly discovered emails potentially linked to the Clinton investigation. Those emails were discovered on the computer belonging to former Rep. Anthony Weiner, the husband of Clinton’s close aide, Huma Abedin.

The FBI was investigating allegations that Weiner may have violated federal laws while exchanging sexually explicit texts with a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina. The FBI obtained a warrant to examine the Clinton-related emails on the computer. Just days before the Nov. 8 election, Comey sent a second letter to Congress saying nothing discovered during the examination of the computer caused them to change their original assessment.

Comey’s decision to hold a news conference and issue letters appeared to violate Justice Department guidelines prohibiting the release of information about investigations, especially those that might influence an election. His public disclosures were sharply criticized by Democrats and former high-ranking Justice Department officials.

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Retired Marine general faces down Senate question on future policies of Trump’s Pentagon

Retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Pentagon, took little flak at a relatively brief Senate confirmation hearing Thursday that focused in part on his views of social shifts underway in the military.

Mattis signaled that he doesn’t intend to reverse Obama administration decisions that opened combat positions to women, gave gay and lesbian service members protection from discrimination, and lifted bans against transgender men and women serving openly in the military.

“I’ve never cared much about two consenting adults and who they go to bed with,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

He also said that civilian control of the military “is a fundamental tenet of the American military tradition” even though he will need an exemption to the law because of his recent service.

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Joe Biden calls Donald Trump’s criticism of intelligence community ‘damaging’

(Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times)

Vice President Joe Biden warned that Donald Trump’s public criticism of the intelligence community risked undermining national security, and warned that a failure to repair that relationship would be a “genuine tragedy” for the nation.

“It is really very damaging, in my view, to our standing in the world for the president to take one of the crown jewels of our national defense and denigrate it,” Biden said in a discussion with reporters in his West Wing office Thursday.

The president-elect’s skepticism about the quality of intelligence only played into Russia’s attempts to expand its own influence in the world at the expense of the U.S., Biden said, adding that other world leaders have personally contacted him to express their concern.

But Biden said he wasn’t surprised that Trump, who has never served in government, did not yet fully appreciate “how consequential, and how significantly reliable” the intelligence community is most of the time.

“It’s an extremely valuable tool,” he said. “I think he’ll come to understand that. And if he doesn’t, it would be a tragedy for the interests of the country. I mean, a genuine tragedy.”

He expressed his hope that Trump’s top aides will be able to influence him in a positive direction.

“It really matters that you have really smart people around you,” he said, “particularly to a president who has no exposure whatsoever. And that’s not a criticism. It’s not a criticism. It’s a reality.”

Biden said that he has been in regular contact with his successor, Vice President-elect Mike Pence, and that Pence has been receptive to his advice on foreign policy and other matters. Biden has personally written memos for Pence on subjects where the president-elect has requested input.

Pence was “significantly more informed” than Trump on Russian conduct and President Vladmir Putin’s behavior, Biden assessed.

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Trump’s pick for CIA chief says he won’t carry out orders to torture

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), Donald Trump’s pick to head the CIA, told senators at his confirmation hearing that he would not carry out orders from the incoming administration to use torture, a position that puts him at odds with the president-elect.

During the campaign last year, Trump repeatedly said he would bring back waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics that the CIA has abandoned and President Obama labeled torture and which now are illegal.

Under questioning Thursday, Pompeo repeatedly assured members of the Senate Intelligence Committee that he would not restart the CIA’s use of secret prisons and brutal interrogation tactics.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the committee, pressed Pompeo to pledge that he would not do so even if ordered to by Trump.

“Absolutely not,” he said, adding, “I can’t imagine I would be asked to do that by the president-elect.”

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Elizabeth Warren presses on whether Trump’s family will benefit from taxpayer money

President-elect Donald Trump’s decision not to sell his businesses or release his tax returns will provide opportunities for Democrats to try to embarrass him and his allies. Sen. Elizabeth Warren took one on Thursday during the confirmation hearing for Ben Carson, Trump’s choice to head the department of Housing and Urban Development.

Warren (D-Mass.), one of Trump’s biggest antagonists in Congress, noted that HUD steers billions to housing projects and grilled Carson on whether Trump might benefit.

“Can you assure me that not a single taxpayer dollar you give out will financially benefit the president-elect or his family?” Warren said. She said she was trying to “highlight the absurdity” of Trump continuing to hold business interests.

Carson struggled to find an answer, saying that he was “driven by a sense of morals and values.” When Warren bore in, he stumbled slightly, saying, “It will not be my intention to do anything to benefit any American.” He quickly followed up by saying he wanted to run programs to help “the American people.”

It was one of the few bits of drama in a mostly routine morning of questioning. Carson, who has criticized government programs, assured senators that he would not rip away rental assistance or public housing programs unless there were alternatives. Carson has spoken out against gay marriage, but he said he would also enforce rules prohibiting discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgender people.

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Six VW executives indicted on charges linked to automaker’s emissions scandal

Six Volkswagen executives were indicted Wednesday on federal charges tied to the German automaker’s emissions scandal, and the company agreed to plead guilty to violating U.S. air quality laws.

Top Justice Department and U.S. environmental officials called the legal action, including Volkswagen’s agreement to pay $4.3 billion in fines and penalties, a significant step in the long-running effort to hold the automaker accountable for brazenly dodging pollution rules to tap the lucrative market for “green” cars.

“This is a case that illustrates a company that at very high levels knew of this problem and deliberately chose to continue with this fraudulent behavior,” Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch said at a news conference also attended by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy. “Here we saw a company where this knowledge and the choice they made went to the executive level.”

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Trump meets with AT&T CEO amid his battle with CNN and opposition to Time Warner deal

AT&T Inc. Chief Executive Randall Stephenson arrives in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York
(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

Donald Trump met Thursday with the chief executive of AT&T Inc. amid the president-elect’s outspoken opposition to the telecom giant’s proposed $85.4-billion purchase of Time Warner Inc. and a flare-up in his long-running battle with the media company’s CNN outlet.

Randall Stephenson met with Trump at Trump Tower in New York, according to transition spokesman Sean Spicer.

In a conference call with reporters, Spicer did not provide any details about the meeting and would not comment on whether Trump remained opposed to the deal.

Noting that Trump has met with numerous corporate chief executives in recent weeks, Spicer said the president-elect’s “primary focus is how companies can continue to create jobs, lift up wages” and identify policies and regulations preventing job and wage growth.

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Republicans take first step to repeal Obamacare, with a long way to go and no clear path

Republicans took a first step early Thursday to repeal Obamacare, but they still have a long way to go and no clear road map for fulfilling their promise to gut and replace the healthcare law.

Senate Republicans narrowly approved a budget package, 51-48, with the House set to vote Friday. Approval would set in place a process for an eventual vote - in weeks or months -- on a bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

But the timeline remains a work in progress, in part because Republicans have not agreed on how to replace Obamacare, and that makes lawmakers increasingly nervous that repealing it will cause constituents to lose their health coverage.

President-elect Donald Trump promised the solution will come “simultaneously” -- “most likely be on the same day or the same week, but probably, the same day, could be the same hour.”

But Republican leaders in Congress, where the party holds the majority in the House and Senate, know all too well it’s a promise that’s easier said than kept.

They have been trying for six years to devise a viable alternative to Obamacare, and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has only promised that repeal and replace will happen “this year.”

Even though Trump said Wednesday that his team would submit a “plan” once his pick to run the Health and Human Services Department, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) , is confirmed, GOP aides are increasingly suggesting another course of action.

They say the replacement will not be a single bill, but a series of actions -- some made through regulatory changes at HHS, others by Trump’s executive actions, and some in legislation -- to build a new healthcare system.

That process could drag throughout 2017, with many of the changes not expected to be phased in for several years to ease the transition.

As senators pulled an all-night session into Thursday, they approved the first step -- a budget blueprint that instructs committees to begin working on a repeal bill.

Republicans have approved countless bills to repeal Obamacare before, but their off-the-shelf model needs some fine-tuning now that it has a chance under Trump to become law, they said.

The Senate set a Jan. 27 deadline for the committees to produce the new Obamacare repeal bill, but aides cautioned that date is not binding. It may slip.

Delays caused some Republicans to balk, including those from the conservative House Freedom Caucus, while others pushed for more time to craft alternatives.

Several House Republicans are threatening to withhold their votes Friday unless more concrete plans are in place, putting passage of the budget package in question.

GOP leaders assured the Freedom Caucus there would be both repeal and replace legislation at almost the same time, said Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.).

That’s in line what Trump promised, but may not get sorted out until at least February.

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Ben Carson says he can make the nation more inclusive if he runs the federal housing agency

Ben Carson wants to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development because he thinks better housing can help solve what he calls America’s “divisiveness.”

Carson, a former pediatric neurosurgeon with no government experience, has faced scrutiny about why he wants to run the agency, which provides billions of dollars for public housing and other programs.

“It’s a good question,” Carson wrote in prepared remarks released before his confirmation hearing Thursday before the Senate Banking Committee. “I want to help heal America’s divisiveness, and I think HUD is positioned to help in that healing. One of our biggest threats right now is this political division, racial conflict and class warfare. It is ripping this country apart.”

Carson opened the hearing talking about his childhood growing up in poverty in Detroit, the son of a domestic worker. He said he is interested in working on problems of substandard housing, which can cause poisoning, asthma and other health problems.

“If we can give those people hope, then they can move out of those situations,” he testified. “But giving them hope starts with giving them a safe and productive environment.”

Carson has expressed skepticism about the role of government programs in helping the poor, but he told the committee that his views have been “distorted.”

“Government can play a very important role,” he said. “When you think of HUD traditionally, it is putting roofs over the heads of poor people, but it has the opportunity to be so much more.”

Before Thursday’s hearing, the transition team for President-elect Donald Trump released an endorsement for Carson from four former Housing secretaries: Henry Cisneros, Mel Martinez, Alphonso Jackson and Steven Preston. Cisneros served under President Clinton, and the others under George W. Bush.

“Some of us came in with deep housing experience while others had to learn it,” they wrote. “The singular, common piece of advice every HUD secretary is given is to listen.”

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An awkward phone call between Trump and the director of national intelligence

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

It must have been an awkward phone call.

Donald Trump said the nation’s highest-ranking intelligence officer had phoned to “denounce” an unsubstantiated report that Russians had gathered salacious blackmail material against him, and had been in touch with his aides.

“James Clapper called me yesterday to denounce the false and fictitious report that was illegally circulated. Made up, phony facts.Too bad!,” Trump wrote in a Tweet Thursday.

The 35-page report by a private security company was commissioned by Trump’s political rivals last summer, not the intelligence community. It is not a classified document and circulating it would not be a crime.

Clapper, who is director of national intelligence, described the conversation differently.

In a statement, he said he had assured Trump that the document was not an “intelligence community product” and Clapper doesn’t believe U.S. intelligence agencies leaked it.

“I expressed my profound dismay at the leaks that have been appearing in the press, and we both agreed that they are extremely corrosive and damaging to our national security,” Clapper said.

He hinted that “policymakers” in the White House or Congress, who were briefed on the allegations and told that the document was being widely circulated in Washington, may have leaked it.

President Obama and eight leaders in the House and Senate were briefed last week on the classified assessment on Russia’s hacks and leaks during the 2016 election. A redacted version was released to the public on Friday.

The classified briefing - but not the public version - included a two-page summary of the private security company report’s unverified allegations about Trump’s supposed contacts with Russia.

“Part of our obligation is to ensure that policymakers are provided with the fullest possible picture of any matters that might affect national security,” Clapper said.

Clapper said the intelligence community had not verified details in the report and that it did not figure into their findings that Russia had interfered with the 2016 campaign in an effort to help Trump win.

The two spoke on Wednesday night, hours after Trump had held his first post-election news conference and repeatedly blamed U.S. intelligence officials for allowing the graphic and unsubstantiated claims about him to get out.

The president-elect compared the leak to Nazi tactics.

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Ben Carson is about to be questioned on why he should run a federal agency without experience

(Timothy A. Clary / AFP/ Getty Images)

Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and former Republican presidential candidate, faces a confirmation hearing Thursday and the likelihood of tough questions about his qualifications to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The choice of Carson, 65, by President-elect Donald Trump, has drawn criticism from Democrats upset about his lack of experience in government or in the housing field.

“Although you have many accomplishments in the medical field, there is relatively little in the public record that reveals how you would further HUD’s mission to ‘create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all,’ ” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote in a letter this week. Warren is a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, which will hold the hearing.

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Trump’s pick for CIA chief could be caught between career spies and the president who mocked them

(Saul Loeb / AFP/Getty Images)

Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), Donald Trump’s pick to run the CIA, will be in the crosshairs at his confirmation hearing Thursday.

Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee are almost certain to push Pompeo, a former Army officer and aerospace entrepreneur, to explain how he intends to run a spy service that the president-elect has openly mocked for months.

CIA leaders in the seventh-floor suites of the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Va., are bracing for a confrontation after Trump’s team enters the White House next week.

Trump has been skeptical of CIA assessments of Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine and its pressure on Eastern Europe, as well as the agency’s findings that Russian President Vladimir Putin directed an intelligence operation intended to help Trump win the White House.

On Wednesday, Trump opened his first news conference since July with a pointed jab at the U.S. intelligence community, which he suggested had leaked an unverified but scurrilous report to the media.

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Trump still says he’ll make Mexico pay for his border wall, but can he really?

( (Bill Wechter / AFP))

It’s by now a predictable pattern.

Every few days, President-elect Donald Trump repeats his threat to build a massive border wall — and force Mexico to pay for it.

And each time, Mexican leaders respond the same way.

“Neither today, nor tomorrow nor never Mexico will pay for that stupid wall. If Trump wants a monument to his ego, let him pay for it!!” former Mexican President Vicente Fox tweeted on Wednesday shortly after Trump made the border claim again at a news conference.

“There is no way,” Luis Videgaray, Mexico’s new foreign secretary, said this week. For Mexico, he said, the wall issue is “a matter of national dignity and sovereignty.”

Trump has vowed to begin construction on the wall soon after his Jan. 20 inauguration. He plans to press Congress to fund the project and then find ways to have Mexico reimburse those costs later.

The caustic back and forth between Trump and top Mexican officials, which along with fears of a trade war has sent the value of the peso plunging, raises the question: Can Trump really force Mexico to pay for the wall?

We talked to several experts about that — as well as what Trump’s threats against Mexico could mean for the economies of both countries.

Will Trump be able to persuade Mexico to pay for the wall?

“The Mexican government isn’t willing to pay for the wall in any way,” said Alfredo Coutiño, Latin America director for Moody’s Analytics.

Handing over billions of dollars for the construction of the wall would be a politically suicidal decision for Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, who saw his approval ratings sink after he met with Trump in Mexico City last fall.

But besides that, there is a more practical concern.

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Donald Trump takes heat for Nazi comparison: ‘It is a despicable insult’

Amid the storm of questions about Russian hacking and business conflicts of interest, President-elect Donald Trump stoked another controversy on Wednesday by referencing Nazi Germany while criticizing leaks he blamed on intelligence officials.

Trump was fiercely criticized for the comment.

“It is a despicable insult to Holocaust survivors around the world, and to the nation he is about to lead, that Donald Trump compares America to Nazi Germany,” Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, said in a statement. “The president-elect has denigrated our nation and its commitment to freedom on the eve of his inauguration. He must retract his tweet and apologize to survivors and to our entire nation.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, also said Trump’s comment was wrong.

“ADL always has maintained that glib comparisons to Nazi Germany are offensive and a trivialization of the Holocaust,” he said in a statement.

Trump showed no inclination to back down when asked about them during his news conference in New York.

“It was disgraceful — disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out,” he said. “That’s something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do.”

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A top ethics official says Trump is setting a bad example

President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to let his sons run his business drew a biting attack Wednesday from the federal government’s top ethics official, who said Trump is setting a bad example for the rest of government.

Walter M. Shaub, Jr., director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, said in remarks at the Brookings Institution that Trump’s “perplexing” plan “doesn’t meet the standards that the best of his nominees are meeting and that every president in the past four decades has met.”

Trump said he would retain ownership of his businesses but step back from running them, placing them in a trust to be run by sons Donald Jr. and Eric. He and his attorney said Wednesday that the plan would mean he has no involvement in decisions and little information about what his sons are doing.

Shaub said that didn’t solve anything.

“The only thing this has in common with a blind trust is the label ‘trust,’” Shaub said. “His sons are still running the businesses, and, of course, he knows what he owns.”

“Stepping back from running his business is meaningless from a conflict-of-interest perspective,” Shaub said, adding that it is “quite obviously not true” that the president can’t have a conflict of interest. Just because the federal conflict-of-interest law doesn’t apply to the president doesn’t mean no conflicts will occur, he said.

“For that reason, it’s been the consistent policy of the executive branch that the president should act as though the financial conflict-of-interest law applied,” Shaub said.

Shaub, a former deputy general counsel at the nonpartisan agency, was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate for a five-year term that ends next year.

He said he was speaking out in hopes that “some constructive feedback” from the office could encourage Trump to change his plan.

He also pushed back on an argument from Trump’s lawyer that it would be unfair to expect Trump to dump his businesses at a “fire sale.”

“It’s important to understand that the president is now entering the world of public service,” Shaub said. “He’s going to be asking our men and women in uniform to risk their lives in conflicts around the world. So, no, I don’t think divestiture is too high a price to pay to be the president.”

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Trump slams Lockheed’s F-35 program as ‘behind schedule, over budget’

Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II amphibious assault ship America.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program can’t seem to escape the crosshairs of President-elect Donald Trump.

In his first news conference since the election, Trump on Wednesday slammed the aircraft program, saying it is “way, way behind schedule and many, many billions of dollars over budget.”

He added, “We’re going to do some big things on the F-35 program, and perhaps the F-18 program.” In December, Trump tweeted that he had asked Boeing Co. to price out a “comparable” F-18 Super Hornet. That came shortly after another tweet criticizing the F-35 program’s cost as “out of control.”

Built by defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp., the plane has been controversial from the start. It is a so-called fifth-generation fighter that’s a bit like a flying Swiss army knife — designed to be stealthy, fly at supersonic speeds and use advanced sensors that can link data with ships, drones and other planes.

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Trump picks Obama appointee to lead Veterans Affairs. Has he cooled on his plan to overhaul it?

Ari Sonnenberg is an Iraq war veteran who struggled to get benefits from the VA.
Ari Sonnenberg is an Iraq war veteran who struggled to get benefits from the VA.
(Rick Loomis/LAT)

On a day Washington is focused on the people Donald Trump has picked to help him upend much of the federal government, Trump made a surprise announcement signaling there is one large part of the bureaucracy he may be less eager to overhaul than he has let on.

Trump named a high-ranking Obama administration official to run the sprawling Department of Veterans Affairs.

Trump’s announcement that he has chosen for the post David Shulkin, currently the undersecretary at the department, came as a shock to veterans groups and represented a considerable setback to the network of nonprofits funded by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch. Trump had earlier left the impression he would be cleaning house at the department in favor of a free-market approach favored by the Koch organizations that could shift a considerable amount of the care provided by VA facilities over to the private sector.

Shulkin has been an outspoken critic of such an approach, making him a favorite target of the Koch-funded nonprofit Concerned Veterans for America. In a blog post in April, the group characterized Shulkin’s performance taking questions from a congressional committee as a “show of incompetence” and reflective of “what’s wrong with the VA.”

But Trump, who embraced much of the Koch-backed organization’s reform plan during the campaign, passed over contenders for the VA post who favored the blueprint championed by Concerned Veterans for America. Trump appears to have balked amid warnings from mainstream veterans groups representing millions of former soldiers against abandoning the reforms implemented by the Obama administration in favor of an approach more oriented toward privatization.

The organization Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America said in a statement that of all the candidates for the post Trump considered, Shulkin represents the best hope of continuing with the Obama administration policies the organization favors. Shulkin would be the first secretary at the VA who is not himself a veteran. And he is the only person from the Obama administration that Trump has picked so far for a leadership role on his team. Another group, Veterans for Common Sense, said it was “relieved” by Trump’s pick of Shulkin.

Concerned Veterans executive director Mark Lucas said in a statement the group will continue to push its blueprint. “It is no secret that the VA has been failing veterans for years,” the statement said. “While Shulkin already holds a leadership position at the VA, as secretary, he will now have ultimate responsibility over the agency and we are hopeful he will take it in a new direction.”

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What Trump made clear at his news conference and what he left murky

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

President-elect Donald Trump’s news conference Wednesday, his first in nearly half a year, clarified some issues, not others. Here’s a look:

MADE CLEAR

Conflicts of interest

Trump will not sell his major assets to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

“President-elect Trump should not be expected to destroy the company he built,” his attorney Sheri A. Dillon said.

The Trump Organization will make “no new foreign deals” during Trump’s presidency, but new domestic deals will be allowed, Dillon said.

Trump has “relinquished leadership and management” of his company, but plans to resume running the company after his presidency.

“I hope at the end of eight years, I’ll come back and say, ‘Oh, you did a good job.’” Trump said. “Otherwise, if they do a bad job, I’ll say, ‘You’re fired.’”

He’s not releasing his tax returns. “I’m not releasing the tax returns because as you know, they’re under audit,” Trump said.

Since the IRS routinely audits each president’s tax returns, that would seem to rule out disclosure for the duration of his presidency.

Intelligence agencies

He blames the nation’s intelligence agencies for leaking derogatory information about him.

“It was disgraceful — disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out. I think it’s a disgrace, and I say that — and I say that, and that’s something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do,” he said.

LEFT UNCLEAR

Border wall

Trump said he wants to move ahead quickly with building a wall along the Mexican border, but did not explain how it will be paid for.

Taxpayers “will be reimbursed” by Mexico, he said, but it’s “less likely that it’s a payment” from the Mexican government. Maybe “a tax” would be involved, he said, without specifying what that might mean.

Obamacare

He doesn’t like the Republican plan to repeal Obamacare now and replace it later, Trump said. But he provided no clue on what his administration’s own Obamacare replacement plan would look like.

Trump said he would submit a plan after his Health and Human Services secretary pick, Rep. Tom Price, wins confirmation, something that’s not likely to happen until next month at the earliest.

Big drug companies are Trump’s latest target, and he revived the idea of having the government negotiate drug prices for federal programs like Medicare. But he said nothing about how he would convince congressional Republicans to approve negotiated drug prices, something they have staunchly opposed for years.

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Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson calls for ‘full review’ of Iran nuclear deal, not ripping it up

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

If he is confirmed as secretary of State, Rex Tillerson said he would plan a “full review” of the international accord that blocks Iran’s ability to build a nuclear bomb.

But appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Tillerson did not promise to rip up the deal, as President-elect Donald Trump sometimes has said he would do.

Tillerson said he would increase monitoring and verification systems to ensure Iran does not violate the agreement, which eased international sanctions against the country in exchange for destroying most of its nuclear fuel production facilities.

“We need ... to examine our ability to clarify whether Iran is complying,” Tillerson told the committee.

“That means no nuclear enrichment in Iran, no storing of nuclear materials in Iran,” he said.

Reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, have not cited any significant violations by Iran since the deal was implemented last January.

Tillerson also said he favored “empowering” women in the developing world.

In December, the Trump transition team had raised concerns when it requested information on State Department staffing and budgets for foreign aid programs intended to help women and promote general equality. Many of the programs were begun when Hillary Clinton headed the State Department.

Under questioning from the lone female member of the committee, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tillerson committed to continuing those programs, not rolling them back.

Tillerson also was questioned about fears that the Trump administration would conduct a “witch hunt” of Obama-era officials who worked on programs aimed at reducing climate change.

“That would be a pretty unhelpful way to get started,” Tillerson said, to laughter.

Asked his personal views on climate change, Tillerson said his many years as an engineer and scientist had convinced him that “the risk of climate change does exist.”

He said that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are having an effect, but added that science can’t yet predict how quickly they are affecting global warming.

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Donald Trump says he’ll announce his Supreme Court pick quickly

President-elect Donald Trump said he would probably announce his nominee for the vacant seat on the Supreme Court within two weeks of his inauguration.

The Republican took the unusual step during the campaign of releasing a list of potential nominees, compiled with significant input from prominent conservative groups like the Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation.

Trump said he has met with “numerous candidates,” calling each “outstanding.” The Supreme Court has had just eight justices since the death of conservative icon Antonin Scalia nearly 11 months ago.

President Obama nominated Merrick Garland, the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, to fill the vacancy, but the Republican-led Senate refused to hold hearings or a vote to confirm him.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had said at that time that the next president should fill the vacancy. Senate Democrats are now threatening to block any Trump nominees they consider extreme.

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Trump says the U.S. will initially pay to construct a border wall because ‘I don’t want to wait’

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

President-elect Donald Trump insisted Wednesday that Mexico would still pay for a newly constructed border wall — but not right away.

Trump told reporters that in order to expedite the construction of the wall, one of his signature campaign promises, the U.S. would initially pay for it.

In the meantime, he said, he would negotiate with Mexican officials over how “in some form,” the country will reimburse the U.S., either through a tax or some sort of payment, neither of which he detailed. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has repeatedly vowed that his country will not pay for a wall.

“I want to get the wall started. I don’t want to wait a year and a half,” Trump said.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence was leading an interagency effort to plan for the wall’s construction.

Trump said his dealings with Mexico have been “terrific,” even as he said they had taken advantage of the U.S.

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Trump accuses U.S. intelligence officials of leaking unproven allegations about him

Roiling an already turbulent relationship with the country’s top spies, Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that U.S. intelligence officials may be behind the leak of unproven allegations that Russian spies had collected information to blackmail Trump.

“It may be the intelligence agencies,” Trump said at his first news conference since he was elected in November. “It would be a tremendous blot” if U.S. intelligence agencies were responsible for the leak, he said.

“I think it was disgraceful that the intelligence agencies would allow information [to leak] that turned out to be false and fake. I think it was a disgrace,” he said.

President-elect Trump faces unverified allegations that Russian officials had gathered compromising information about his personal life and political associates, further deepening the controversy over Russian involvement in the 2016 election.

“It’s all fake news, it’s phony stuff,” Trump said, adding that the report was put together by his political opponents.

The information is contained in a 35-page file that was released Tuesday by BuzzFeed, which said it was publishing the material in the interest of “transparency,” but had not been able to corroborate it.

Several news organizations reported that senior U.S. intelligence officials had included a two-page synopsis of the file when they briefed Trump last week on evidence of Russian involvement in the election and that they had also informed top leaders of Congress about the allegations.

Trump also accused U.S. intelligence officials of leaking to the press details about his classified intelligence briefings. “I think it’s pretty sad when intelligence reports get leaked out to the press,” he said. “First of all it’s illegal,” he said.

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Trump promises an Obamacare plan after his health secretary takes office

With congressional Republicans struggling to settle on a strategy to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, President-elect Donald Trump said he would produce a plan as soon as his Health and Human Services secretary takes office.

That could happen in the next several weeks, after the nomination of Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) is considered by the Senate.

But Trump once again offered no details about what this plan might look like, other than promising to produce something “far less expensive and far better” than the current law.

As importantly, Trump provided no indication of how he plans to get support from congressional Democrats, who will be needed to pass any replacement to Obamacare.

He said simply that the repeal and replacement would likely happen “on the same day.” It “could be the same hour,” Trump said.

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Trump plans to donate hotel profits from foreign government payments to U.S. Treasury

Just like with conflicts of interest, he wants to do more than what the Constitution requires. So President-elect Trump has decided, and we are announcing today, that he is going to voluntarily donate all profits from foreign government payments made to his hotels to the United States Treasury. This way it is the American people who will profit. 

— Sheri Dillon, Trump tax attorney

Dillon made the anouncement after first saying Trump and his advisors did not believe that paying for a hotel room would fall under the so-called emoluments clause, That provision states: “no person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign state.”

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Trump says his sons will run his companies but stops short of handing over control to an outsider

President-elect Donald Trump, under fire for his business conflicts, said Wednesday that he will turn his company over to his sons.

“Don and Eric are going to be running the company,” Trump said of his sons, who were present at the news conference where their father made the announcement. “They are going to be running it in a very professional manner and they are not going to be discussing it with me.”

With more than 500 corporations, huge debts and real-estate projects all over the world, Trump’s business represents unprecedented potential conflicts with his duties as president. Ethics experts have insisted that Trump should sell all his holdings and place the proceeds in a blind trust. Handing over control to his sons would not meet the standards of a blind trust.

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Trump attacks media outlets that detailed unverified Russia allegations, calling them ‘fake news’

President-elect Donald Trump called the publication of unsubstantiated allegations purporting to document his ties to Russia “fake news” and “an absolute disgrace” during a news conference Wednesday, castigating media outlets that detailed the claims.

“It’s phony stuff. It didn’t happen,” Trump said at his first news conference since July.

Trump’s comments followed more harshly critical comments by Vice President-elect Mike Pence and Trump’s top spokesman accusing the media of bias.

Trump also acknowledged Russia’s role in hacking intended to influence the U.S. election. Intelligence agencies have said Russia aimed to help his candidacy. Trump said he nonetheless hoped to forge a strong relationship with President Vladimir Putin.

“If Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability,” he said.

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Tillerson says sanctions could be a ‘powerful tool’ against Russia

(Steve Helber / Associated Press)

Senators grilled Rex Tillerson on the use of sanctions as a tool to punish misbehaving countries after Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of State said sanctions hurt U.S. business.

“In protecting American interests sanctions are a powerful tool,” Tillerson said. “Let’s design them well, target them well, enforce them fully.”

He said he believed Trump agreed with him on this matter.

Tillerson hedged on whether he supported imposing sanctions on Russian or others who are found to engage in cyberattacks on the United States. He said the president should have flexibility in deciding whether to impose sanctions.

The confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee repeatedly returned to Tillerson’s ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin in his previous career as chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil, which has numerous investments in Russia.

Asked if Putin was a war criminal, Tillerson said he “would not use that term.”

Tillerson acknowledged that a resurgent Russia was cause for alarm. But he blamed a lack of U.S. leadership that “left the door open” and suggested the two countries could work together in several fields.

To achieve global stability, Tillerson said, “American leadership must not only be restored but reasserted.”

He said the Obama administration had abandoned some parts of the world and had failed others.

“We must continue to display a commitment to personal freedom and human dignity,” he said. “If we do not lead, we risk plunging the world deeper into despair and danger. … We have stumbled.”

In a testy exchange, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) cited atrocities in the Syrian city of Aleppo that he said were committed by Russian-backed Syrian government forces.

“Those are very, very serious charges to make and I would want to have more information,” Tillerson said.

Rubio seemed irked at the response, saying he found it “disturbing.”

Tillerson also said he did not have sufficient information to condemn Putin for allegedly murdering dissidents in Russia.

“None of this is classified,” Rubio said. “These people are dead.”

Tillerson said he agreed with Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who said Putin’s Russia has failed miserably in permitting democracy, political dissent and free speech, and that sanctions might be the proper response for Moscow’s abuses.

Tillerson said Russia had no legitimate claim on Ukraine, differing somewhat with Trump who at one point said he believed many Ukrainians wanted to be Russian, a tacit acceptance of Moscow’s seizure of Crimea in 2014.

“The taking of Crimea caught a lot of people by surprise,” Tillerson said.

“The absence of a firm, forceful response to the taking of Crimea” was interpreted by Putin as permission to get more aggressive elsewhere in the world. “What Russian leadership would have understood was a more forceful response.”

Departing from Trump, he said he would have provided Ukraine with defensive weapons and make a show of U.S. and NATO border surveillance and intelligence-sharing.

Trump’s aides had cut language about arming Ukraine out of the GOP platform at the Republican National Convention last summer.

“Our actions and inactions have … created a void,” Tillerson said. “Those who are not our friends must be held accountable.”

He cited radical Islam and the need to defeat Islamic State as “our foremost priority,” and said that Iran must be punished if it violates terms of the accord it reached with six other nations, including the U.S., that blocks its ability to develop nuclear weapons.

Tillerson said China’s “illegal” building of military outposts on manmade islands in the South China Sea had to be tackled, but that Washington must see the value of working with China.

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Rex Tillerson is pushed on his ties to Russia

Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of State, sought Wednesday to allay fears about his close ties to Russia as chief executive of Exxon Mobil.

In opening remarks at his Senate confirmation hearing, Tillerson said it was necessary to remain “clear-eyed” about Russia.

Tillerson, who has acknowledged a close relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, took a harder line on Moscow than Trump has.

Trump has spoken admiringly of Putin, despite U.S. intelligence reports that say the Russian leader ordered an intelligence operation intended to interfere in the U.S. presidential campaign.

“Russia must know that we will be accountable to our commitments and those of our allies,” Tillerson said. “Russia must be held to account for its actions.”

Numerous senators, both Democrats and Republicans, expressed concern leading up to Wednesday’s hearing that Tillerson would let his ties to Russia, honed during decades of major business deals, cloud his judgment.

For example, he opposed sanctions against Russia when Washington and its European allies imposed penalties in response to Russia’s seizure of Crimea in Ukraine.

Critics say the Texas oilman also has been slow to accept the science that blames global warming at least in part on human activities.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that is scrutinizing Tillerson’s appointment, voiced full support for Tillerson.

“We must also be clear-eyed about our relationship with Russia,” Tillerson said. “Russia today poses a danger, but it is not unpredictable in advancing its own interests.”

Tillerson was introduced by two fellow Texans.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) praised Tillerson for his ability to lead the world’s largest oil company while maintaining a sense of humility.

Tillerson “understands how to separate friendships and business,” Cornin said. “He knows who he works for.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Tillerson would help “restore” American leadership worldwide, putting U.S. interests first. He indirectly blamed the Obama administration for what he depicted as diminishing U.S. stature.

“Many of our friends no longer trust us, our enemies no longer fear us,” Cruz said.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who served both Presidents Obama and George W. Bush, also seconded the Tillerson nomination, saying he would be “willing to tell the president what he needs to hear.”

The secretary of state, Gates said, will have to “thread a needle” between taking a tough line on spying and hacking by Russia, and stemming “the dangerous downward spiral” in Washington’s relationship with nuclear-armed Russia.

Protesters outside the hearing chamber chanted, “Reject Rex!”

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Donald Trump is in a fighting mood as he prepares to face reporters’ questions

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

Donald Trump has not held a formal news conference since July, so Wednesday’s planned encounter with the media was already seen as a high-stakes affair.

But the publication of unverified, explosive allegations that Russia cultivated the president-elect and accumulated compromising information about him appears to have set an already adversarial relationship on a major collision course when he is scheduled to face the press corps at 11 a.m. EST at Trump Tower in New York.

Trump, who in a tweet Tuesday dismissed the reports as “fake news,” on Wednesday cited Russia’s own insistence that the claims were bogus.

“Russia has never tried to use leverage over me,” he tweeted. “I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA — NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!”

No news outlet has verified the claims, and their publication touched off a debate about whether they should have been made public without evidence they were true.

Trump seemed to question whether U.S. intelligence agencies were seeking to undermine him through leaks of “fake news.”

Incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, speaking on NBC’s “Today,” attacked Buzzfeed for publishing what it said was a dossier that was the basis for a summary of the allegations presented to Trump and President Obama by intelligence officials.

Priebus said the underlying information was not shown to Trump.

“It’s actually offensive crap that we shouldn’t be talking about,” Priebus said. “This is garbage.”

Trump’s news conference was originally scheduled for last month to deal with how the president-elect would address potential conflicts of interest with his business empire as he prepares to assume the most powerful position in the federal government. Transition officials still have not addressed whether and how he would divest himself of his business interests.

It takes place as Trump’s Cabinet choices are facing a grilling on Capitol Hill. Rex Tillerson, the Republican’s choice to lead the State Department, is set to face senators Wednesday. He was already facing scrutiny from members of both parties for his own connections to Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin.

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Trump is hit with allegations that Russia gathered compromising information on him

On the eve of his first news conference in more than five months, President-elect Trump faces unverified allegations that Russian officials had gathered compromising information about his personal life and political associates, further deepening the controversy over Russian involvement in the 2016 election.

The information is contained in a 35-page file that was published Tuesday by BuzzFeed, which said it was publishing the material in the interest of “transparency,” but had not been able to corroborate it.

Several news organizations reported that senior U.S. intelligence officials had included a two-page synopsis of the file in the materials they presented to Trump when they briefed him last week on evidence of Russian involvement in the election and that they had also informed top leaders of Congress about the allegations.

The purpose of including the material was to back up their conclusion that Russia had acted to hurt Hillary Clinton’s campaign, gathering information on both sides in the election, but only publicly releasing information damaging the Democrats, according to CNN, which first reported on the briefing.

Trump responded in a tweet Tuesday evening that did not address any of the specific allegations, but denounced the stories.

The material alleged that Russia for years had been “cultivating, supporting and assisting” Trump’s political rise and possessed damaging personal and financial information that could be used to blackmail the president-elect.

According to BuzzFeed and CNN, the dossier was compiled by a former British intelligence agent who was hired to do opposition research by Trump’s Republican opponents and later by Democrats. The report was prepared over the summer and was provided to U.S. analysts.

The two-page summary contained allegations that there was a “continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump surrogates and intermediaries for Russian government,” CNN reported, citing two national security officials.

It also alleged that information sharing between Trump’s team and the Russians went both ways. The Russians provided Trump’s aides with “valuable intelligence” on Clinton, the report said, while Trump’s associates gave Russian operatives information about Russian oligarchs.

CNN reported that the U.S. intelligence community vetted the former British operative and found him and his network of sources to be credible enough to justify including some of the information in reports provided to elected officials.

The existence of the file has circulated among political figures and reporters in Washington since at least October, when then-Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) wrote a letter to FBI Director James Comey saying that the FBI possessed “explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisors, and the Russian government.”

Mother Jones ran an article at that time reporting on the existence of the file and saying that the former British intelligence operative had provided his dossier to the FBI.

The report on Tuesday became a viral sensation on social media, and even provided fodder for questioning at Sen. Jeff Sessions’ Senate confirmation hearing. Sessions (R-Ala.), who was picked by Trump to be his attorney general, said he was not aware of the report and had no contacts with the Russian government.

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FBI chief says Russia hacked some Republican Party computers but didn’t leak the information

Russian hackers stole information from state-level Republican Party computer servers and old Republican National Committee digital domains, FBI Director James B. Comey told a Senate panel Tuesday.

But that information wasn’t leaked and posted online, he said.

That was in sharp contrast to the Russian hacks and leaks of thousands of emails from Democratic National Committee computers and from Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta.

Comey said the FBI found evidence of Russian hacking “directed at” Republican state-level campaigns and old RNC domains, but “it was old stuff and none of that was released,” he told the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The FBI saw “no evidence” that hackers got into computers used by President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign or domains used by the RNC during the 2016 election cycle, he said.

Russian hackers also infiltrated state voter registration databases and stole information, including home addresses of voters, Comey said. Those computers were not involved in tallying votes.

There is no evidence anyone changed the voter rolls, Comey said, but Russian intelligence officials may be planning to use the copied voter registration databases in a future attack.

It was Comey’s first public appearance since the release of a declassified intelligence report Friday that said that Russian President Vladimir Putin directed an intelligence campaign that “aspired to help” Trump win and to “harm” Clinton’s chances.

CIA Director John Brennan, National Security Agency Director Michael S. Rogers and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper also spoke before the Senate committee.

Clapper said the intelligence report on Russia’s interference in the campaign was based on data collected from informants, technical surveillance systems and open source information.

Trump has repeatedly denied that Russia was behind the hacks. He was briefed on the full classified intelligence report Friday, not just the portion made public.

On Saturday, he blamed the DNC for not protecting its computers, not Russia for conducting the hacks, and praised the RNC for having stronger cyberdefenses.

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Sessions is accused of adversarial relationship with civil rights groups

Atty. Gen.-designate Jeff Sessions testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington on Jan. 10, 2017, at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
(Alex Brandon / Associated Press)

Sen. Jeff Sessions’ history of criticizing civil rights groups has come up repeatedly at his confirmation hearing, with several Democratic senators asking about his relationship with organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

On Tuesday, eight protesters, NAACP members among them, were arrested after a sit-in at Sessions’ Washington, D.C., office. Earlier, six NAACP activists were arrested at Sessions’ Mobile, Ala., office, where they held a sit-in against his nomination.

One of the people arrested at the senator’s Alabama office last week, NAACP President Cornell William Brooks, is scheduled to speak at Sessions’ confirmation hearing, which is supposed to run through Wednesday.

The group’s opposition to the senator is broad but can be partly attributed to remarks he’s accused of making more than three decades ago. In 1986, Sessions was denied a federal judge position after testimony at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that said he had made racist remarks and called the NAACP and the ACLU “un-American.”

Sessions has denied that he made that statement or any racist remarks, but the charges continue to follow him.

He also faced harsh criticism in a 1985 case as a U.S. attorney in which he prosecuted three black civil rights activists before they were acquitted on voter fraud charges. He faced backlash in the 1980s for saying he thought Ku Klux Klan members “were OK until I found out they smoked pot,” a remark he later called a joke.

On Tuesday, Sessions said he “never declared that the NAACP was un-American” and that he “did not harbor the race-based animosities I am accused of.” Sessions said he was critical of the group and the ACLU because he saw them as favoring Sandinistas in Nicaragua.

On his Senate confirmation questionnaire, Sessions also listed the prosecution of the head of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan for a 1981 lynching among the “ten most significant significant litigated matters” he “personally handled.”

But he has made other comments about civil rights groups that haven’t helped his reputation. In 2010, Sessions complained about President Obama’s federal judge nominees, saying the president was only picking people with “ACLU DNA.”

“I’m sure that less than 1% of the lawyers in America are members of the ACLU,” he said at the time. “It seems if you have the ACLU DNA, you get a pretty good leg up to being nominated by this president.”

On Tuesday, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) brought up the ACLU comment and asked Sessions how he would handle his relationship with civil rights groups as attorney general.

“Are you going to have a litmus test at the Department of Justice for people who have worked at civil rights organizations?” Leahy asked.

“No,” Sessions said.

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Watch: President Obama gives his farewell address in Chicago

Ten days before President Obama leaves office, he’ll give a farewell address in Chicago at 6 p.m. Pacific time.

The White House will stream his remarks on both YouTube and Facebook, and viewers will also be able to watch on CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC and other broadcast outlets.

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Homeland Security nominee rejects idea of Muslim registry

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Climate change is a ‘plausible’ theory, Sessions says

As attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions could find his department battling polluters or lawsuits over the extent of manmade climate change.

Pressed by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Sessions said he would approach the issue with an open mind.

“I don’t deny we have global warming,” the conservative Republican said. “In fact, the theory always struck me as plausible. And it is the question of how much is happening and what the reaction would be to it.”

Whitehouse noted that the U.S. military and the U.S. government’s scientific establishment support the notion that human activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, is warming the planet.

Many Republicans in Congress and President-elect Donald Trump have cast doubt on the theory, with Trump once calling it a “hoax.”

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Did Jeff Sessions stay up last night to watch the Alabama game? There is no telling

Sen. Jeff Sessions did not seem the least bit bleary eyed during his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday — despite the heartbreak caused by the loss on the gridiron of his beloved University of Alabama football team in the previous night’s national championship game.

Sessions, who attended the University of Alabama School of Law, was clearly disappointed that his team dramatically lost to the Clemson University Tigers, 35-31, in the game played in Tampa, Fla.

He nevertheless congratulated fellow senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who lives near Clemson’s stadium, on the Tigers victory.

Graham, beaming, said he would not let their football loyalties get in the way of his support for Sessions’ confirmation.

“While we were on different teams early this morning, I want to let the good people of Alabama know that in terms of their senator, Jeff Sessions, he is a fine man, an outstanding fellow,” Graham said.

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Sessions leaves door open to reviving federal war on pot

If marijuana users were looking for reassurance that the incoming Trump administration is not going to turn back the clock on pot legalization, they didn’t get it.

Trump’s pick for attorney general, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, was noncommittal when asked if the federal government would continue to take a hands-off approach to enforcement of marijuana laws in states where the drug is legal. Pot is now permitted for medical use in the majority of the states, and voters in eight states, including California, have approved laws allowing the sale of cannabis for recreational use.

“I won’t commit to never enforcing federal law,” Sessions said at his confirmation hearing Tuesday. “But absolutely it’s a problem of resources for the federal government.” He noted that his predecessors have laid out policies that enable states to pursue legalization unfettered. But then he pointed out that those policies are out of sync with federal law.

“One obvious concern is that Congress has made the possession of marijuana in every state and distribution of it an illegal act,” he said. “If that’s something that is not desired any longer, Congress should pass a law to change [it]. ... It is not so much the attorney general’s job to decide what laws to enforce. We should do our job and enforce laws effectively as we are able.”

The remarks leave the door open for Sessions, who has been an unabashed opponent of marijuana use, to authorize resumption of raids on marijuana growing operations and dispensaries that many who are engaged in the business had hoped would be history. But Sessions was deliberately noncommittal. Such law enforcement actions would likely prove deeply unpopular in the states that permit marijuana use, and Trump has signaled that he has no desire to reignite this particular part of the drug war.

Bill Piper, a lobbyist for the pro-legalization Drug Policy Alliance, declared on Twitter that the comments by Sessions were “wishy washy” at best.

Marijuana advocates are now likely to turn their focus to Trump, trying to pressure him to continue the Obama administration’s policy of permitting states to pursue their own path on pot. Though marijuana remained classified as one of the most dangerous narcotics throughout most of the Obama administration, the Justice Department opted years ago to give states the freedom to continue their experiment with legalization.

Should Sessions opt to change course, it could put him in a political pickle. The Alabama Republican is among the most deeply conservative politicians in Congress, and a longtime crusader for state’s rights. Using federal law enforcement agents to pressure the states to change course on their drug policies risks coming off as heavy-handed, and would likely put Sessions at odds with several of his GOP colleagues who argue the states should be free to pursue their own policies regarding cannabis use.

Staff writer Del Quentin Wilber contributed to this report.

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Trump wants Robert F. Kennedy, who warned of disproved link between immunization and autism, to lead a panel on vaccines

(Timothy A. Clary / AFP / Getty Images)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has warned of a nonexistent link between childhood immunizations and the development of autism, has accepted an invitation from President-elect Donald Trump to lead a commission “on vaccine safety and scientific integrity,” he told reporters Tuesday.

A Trump spokeswoman would not confirm Kennedy’s comment.

Kennedy, son of the late U.S. attorney general, said the president-elect “has some doubts” about vaccine policies but said both of them were in favor of vaccines.

“His opinion doesn’t matter, but the science does matter and we ought to be reading the science and we ought to be debating the science,” Kennedy said. “Everybody ought to be able to be assured that the vaccines that we have ... [are] as safe as they possibly can be.”

Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for the Trump transition team, said only that the president-elect was “exploring the possibility” of a commission, but that no decision has been made.

“The president-elect enjoyed his discussion with Robert Kennedy Jr. on a range of issues and appreciates his thoughts and ideas,” Hicks said. “The president-elect looks forward to continuing the discussion about all aspects of autism with many groups and individuals.”

A wave of concern in recent years among some parents about a link between vaccines and autism, sparked by a since-discredited study, led instead to an increased risk for children in contracting diseases eradicated decades ago.

The Centers for Disease Control states explicitly that there “is no link between vaccines and autism,” citing its own and independent studies.

In 2015 Kennedy testified against a California bill, now law, to block parents from being waived, based on personal beliefs, from the requirement that their children be vaccinated. He apologized for at one point comparing the number of children with autism to a holocaust.

During a Republican primary debate in 2015 at the Reagan library in Simi Valley, Trump said he was “totally in favor of vaccines,” but said autism had become an epidemic. He claimed a 2-year-old child of one of his employees became autistic just after receiving an immunization.

“I want smaller doses over a longer period of time,” he said.

3:15 p.m.: This story was updated with comment from a Trump spokeswoman.

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Despite his personal opposition, Sessions vows to uphold laws protecting abortion, same-sex marriage

As a longtime member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jeff Sessions has sat on the opposite side of the witness table for five previous confirmation hearings for attorney general candidates.

So it’s no surprise that the seasoned Alabama lawmaker avoided any self-inflicted wounds during his testimony Tuesday, keeping his composure during questioning and periodic disruptions from protesters in the audience.

The conservative Sessions assured Democratic colleagues that if confirmed as the nation’s top law enforcement officer, he would put the law above his own personal views.

When pressed on his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, for example, he said both issues had been settled by the Supreme Court and that he would abide by those decisions.

Similarly, on waterboarding of terrorism suspects, which Sessions has previously supported, he said Congress had clearly outlawed the practice.

When pressed on whether he would ask Justice Department attorneys to argue in support of a case challenging the landmark abortion Roe vs. Wade decision, Session demurred, saying he could not answer a hypothetical question.

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Civil rights groups criticize Sessions’ responses -- and offer a little praise too

A protester is removed as he disrupts the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Atty. Gen.-designate, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., as he testifies on Jan. 10, 2017, on Capitol Hill.
A protester is removed as he disrupts the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing for Atty. Gen.-designate, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., as he testifies on Jan. 10, 2017, on Capitol Hill.
(Andrew Harnik / AP)

In the first morning of two days of grilling over his record, President-elect Donald Trump’s Attorney General nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions’ fielding of questions on several of his most controversial votes and statements has done little to assuage criticism or fears from civil rights groups that have launched widespread campaigns against his confirmation.

Sessions, whose confirmation hearing was interrupted several times by protesters -- including those shouting “Sessions is a racist” and “black lives matter!” and donned Ku Klux Klan-like robes -- was asked Tuesday about his views on immigration, police misconduct, voting rights, racism, and LGBT rights, among other issues.

On social media, groups including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on American Islamic Relations responded to Sessions’ remarks, contending he’s unfit to be the nation’s top law enforcer.

“You don’t have the right to question people about their beliefs @SenatorSessions the AG duty is to defend religious freedom,” tweeted the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee after Sessions responded to question about Muslim immigration.

Sessions, who was asked about Trump’s campaign promise of a “complete” ban on Muslim immigration -- a proposal that later morphed into an “extreme vetting” of people from “terror-prone regions” --- said that he didn’t believe Muslims should be banned from entering the country. But he added that religious views should be considered.

“Many people do have religious views that are inimical to the public safety of the United States,” Sessions, who also praised Muslim Americans in general. Sessions vowed to uphold the “freedom and equality this country has to provide to every citizen.”

The ACLU shot back.

“Sessions has referred to Islam as a ‘toxic ideology’ and a ‘threat’ in supporting Trump’s proposed temporary ban on Muslim immigrants,” it tweeted. The quotes referred to remarks the senator, one of Trump’s earliest and most ardent high-profile supporters, made last year after Trump’s proposal.

“We have no duty to morally or legally admit people. We need to use common sense with the who-what-where of the threat. It is the toxic ideology of Islam,” Sessions said at the time.

The ACLU, which has released a scorecard of where it stands on civil rights issues compared to Sessions -- nearly always on the opposite side -- also offered rare praise for the senator after Sen. Jeff Flake (R--Arizona) spoke about Sessions views of prison issues.

Flake cited the Prison Rape Elimination Act, bipartisan legislation to protect prisoners from abuse that Sessions supported. In earlier remarks, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) also nodded to Sessions’ support of the act.

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How Trump’s Cabinet picks compare to Obama and Bush’s nominees

Donald Trump’s Cabinet is still being formed, but so far, his picks are mostly white, with less political experience than President Obama’s and former President George W. Bush’s nominees and less business experience than Bush’s choices.

See whom Trump has chosen and how each compares with the Cabinet picks that Obama and Bush made ahead of their inaugurations.

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Sessions and the courts have different opinions on voter ID laws

Federal courts have ruled that voter ID laws in several states discriminate against racial minorities. Jeff Sessions has a different view.

“It doesn’t appear to me” that voter ID laws discriminate, the Republican Alabama senator said in his confirmation hearing for attorney general Tuesday.

“I have publicly said I think voter ID laws, properly drafted, are OK,” he said.

The last word “will be decided by Congress and the courts,” he added.

While states pass their own voting rules, the Department of Justice historically has stepped in to ensure they comply with federal law. Notably, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 required several Southern states with a history of discrimination to get federal approval before making changes to the voting process.

But the Supreme Court struck down significant portions of the act in 2013. That emboldened ongoing efforts by states to require voters to show various forms of ID at the polls.

At the time, Sessions called that ruling “good news…for the South” and said that “if you go to Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, people aren’t being denied the vote because of the color of their skin.”

The new voter ID laws have been highly controversial.

Over the summer, a federal appeals court struck down North Carolina’s law for targeting African Americans “with almost surgical precision.”

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has filed a lawsuit over Alabama’s law.

And in Wisconsin, local elections officials have said they believe ID laws contributed to depressed African American turnout for the November presidential election, contributing to Hillary Clinton’s loss there to Donald Trump.

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Sessions’ allies on opposition to immigration have their roots in population control efforts

(Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press)

During his long fight against a path to legal status for people in the U.S. illegally, Sen. Jeff Sessions, poised to become attorney general, has leaned on allies in the immigration restriction movement. But the ideological foundation of these groups, dating from a different political era, was more about limiting population than securing the border.

Today, most environmentalists and anti-immigration activists line up on opposite political teams, but in the 1970s, controlling population was a key tenet of the environmental movement. When birthrates in the U.S. began falling, the groups focused on immigration. Eventually, mainstream environmentalists dropped their advocacy for limiting population growth.

But groups including NumbersUSA, the Foundation for American Immigration Reform and the Center for Immigration Studies, still push for lower immigration levels, and Sessions has worked closely with them to stop legislation advancing a path to citizenship.

The biggest source of funding for these groups has been the Colcom Foundation of Pittsburgh, created by the late Cordelia Scaife May, an heiress to the Mellon family fortune who believed in restricting immigration to protect the environment.

Another major source of funds is Fred Stanback Jr., a North Carolina man who has also given millions to support the environment. Stanback, heir to a headache powder fortune, was best man at Warren Buffett’s wedding and an early investor in Buffett’s firm, Berkshire Hathaway.

Stanback, a well-known donor to conservation causes in North Carolina, makes donations through the Foundation for the Carolinas, one of the largest community foundations in the U.S. In 2014, Stanback donated 1,500 shares of Berkshire to the foundation, worth $397 million, tax returns show.

From 2005 to 2014, the three groups received nearly $12 million from the foundation, tax records show. Grants also went to other immigration restriction groups, like Californians for Population Stabilization, along with millions for population control and environmental groups.

“Numbers of people affect the environment,” said Stanback in a 2013 interview. “They want all the nice things that the rest of us have, but America can’t take all the poor people in the world.”

He said then that he favored a path to citizenship for immigrants here illegally but wanted controls on birthright citizenship to control “chain migration,” when legal migrants are joined by other family members.

“He’s been very supportive of our efforts because he sees there’s no way to create sustainability in this country if we keep adding 2.5 or 3 million people a year,” said NumbersUSA President Roy Beck.

Sessions acknowledged during his confirmation hearing Tuesday that it’s not practical to deport all immigrants.

“If you continually go through a cycle of amnesty, then you undermine respect for the law and encourage more illegal immigration into America,” he testified.

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Book sales suspended for Trump aide accused of plagiarism

The publisher of Monica Crowley’s “What the (Bleep) Just Happened?” is halting sales of the book, pending the “opportunity” for the aide to President-elect Donald Trump to revise her material.

Crowley is a syndicated talk show host and Trump’s pick to serve as director of communications at the White House’s National Security Council.

She is accused of plagiarizing numerous passages in the 2012 book.

On Tuesday, HarperCollins announced the book and its 2013 edition, “What the (Bleep) Just Happened . . . Again?” will “no longer be offered for purchase” until Crowley has “the opportunity to source and revise” the text.

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Sessions says waterboarding is ‘absolutely improper and illegal’

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Sessions supports keeping open Guantanamo Bay prison

Sen. Jeff Sessions testified before Congress on Tuesday that he believes the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should continue to detain alleged terrorists.

“It’s designed for that purpose,” Sessions told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee weighing his bid to be the next attorney general. “It fits that purpose marvelously well. It’s a safe place to keep prisoners. We’ve invested a lot of money” in it.

President Obama was unable to fulfill his pledge to close the prison, which since it began accepting detainees in 2002 has held a total of nearly 800 prisoners. The George W. Bush and Obama administrations have transferred the vast majority of those prisoners to other countries.

The detention facility now holds 55 men, 19 of whom have been cleared for release.

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Sessions: ‘We can never go back’ on discrimination

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Trump’s national security advisor praises some Democrats

(Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

At the Republican National Convention last July, retired Gen. Michael Flynn famously led Donald Trump’s supporters in angry chants of “Lock her up!” to demand prosecution of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Flynn has suggested Americans should fear all Muslims and argued that terrorism committed by Muslims is rooted in mainstream Islam. “Fear of Muslims is RATIONAL,” he tweeted last February.

So on Tuesday, when Flynn made his first public comments since President-elect Donald Trump picked him as the next White House national security advisor, a packed hall at the U.S. Institute of Peace waited to hear what the fiery former commander and provocative Trump advisor had to say.

Flynn couldn’t have been more gracious.

After he was introduced by Susan Rice, the outgoing national security advisor, he gushed: “That was an amazing speech.”

He confessed he was “in awe” of Madeleine Albright, the former secretary of State who had campaigned for Hillary Clinton and who sat in the audience.

Rice and Albright have shown “grace, dignity, elegance, commitment to this country,” he declared.

Flynn spoke for just over 10 minutes and offered no details or specific policy ideas to outline his plans in the White House. Reporters were not given time to ask questions.

Trump will stand up for American values overseas in an “unapologetic defense of liberty that is the core value of American exceptionalism,” Flynn said.

“We have always been the indispensable nation and we always will be,” he said.

His remarks, though larded with foreign policy platitudes, seemed designed to reassure U.S. allies and skeptics at home that the incoming president will not adopt a more isolationist approach to world affairs than previous administrations.

“The world needs us and, in fact, demands it,” he said.

“What makes our country exceptional is what we are defending every day and that’s freedom,” Flynn said.

Flynn said the White House national security council will help form policy, make sure it is carried out by government agencies, and will ensure Trump is “properly prepared” to work with Congress and to make decisions on foreign policy and national security issues.

He said nothing about what steps Trump will take to fulfill his vow to improve relations with Russia, as the president-elect has suggested, or whether he agrees with the Obama administration that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Flynn spoke shortly before FBI Director James Comey, CIA Director John Brennan, National Security Agency chief Adm. Michael Rogers and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified in Congress for the first time since they released a joint report Friday that concluded that Russian President Vladimir both “aspired to help” Trump win and to “harm” Clinton’s chances.

In addition to stealing and leaking emails from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton’s campaign, hackers backed by Russian intelligence penetrated and stole data from state-level Republican servers and old Republican National Committee domains, Comey told the Senate Intelligence Committee.

But he said none of that data was leaked, and that the FBI saw no evidence that the hackers accessed Trump campaign computers or current RNC servers.

Flynn, who was fired as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, sat beside Putin in 2015 in a paid appearance at a dinner hosted by Russia Today, a government-funded English language outlet.

RT, as the network is known, openly supported Trump last year and played a major role in Russian efforts to spread disinformation and propaganda during the U.S. election, according to the intelligence report.

As a senior Army intelligence officer, Flynn was a fierce critic of U.S. counterterrorism operations. He argued that the U.S. government as a whole, and the military in particular, were poorly organized to defeat militant groups that relied on secrecy and terror tactics.

He was fired as chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s main spying agency, after he was critical of what he claimed was the Obama administration’s unwillingness to take more forceful action against Islamist militants overseas.

“It infuriates me when our president bans criticism of our enemies, and I am certain that we cannot win this war unless we are free to call our enemies by their proper names: radical jihadis, failed tyrants and so forth,” Flynn wrote in a New York Post article in 2015 claiming he was fired for his views.

“If our leaders were interested in winning, they would have to design a strategy to destroy this global enemy,” he wrote. “But they don’t see the global war. Instead, they timidly nibble around the edges of the battlefields from Africa to the Middle East, and act as if each fight, whether in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Libya or Afghanistan, can be peacefully resolved by diplomatic effort.”

Los Angeles Times staff writer David S. Cloud in Washington contributed to this report.

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Jeff Sessions says he would support rescinding Obama program deferring deportation for Dreamers

If confirmed as attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions said he would have “no objection” to the president rescinding a program that deferred deportation for hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought to the country illegally as children.

“It is very questionable constitutionally,” Sessions testified at his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

President Obama in 2012 created a program that has given temporary work permits to so-called Dreamers — those given protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. There are about 742,000 in the program.

Sessions did not say whether he would support deporting those people, but called for Congress to tackle the issue through comprehensive immigration reform.

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Sessions says he opposes ban on Muslims once promoted by Trump

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Sessions says allegations against him are ‘damnably false’

(JIM LO SCALZO / EPA)

Sen. Jeff Sessions, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the next attorney general, forcefully rebutted allegations that he once had harbored sympathies for racist groups and had condemned civil rights advocates.

“These are damnably false charges,” Sessions said, straying from his prepared statement at his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing.

He later added, “I did not harbor the race-based animosities I am accused of. I did not.”

Sessions has been sharply criticized by civil rights advocates for prosecuting three black leaders in 1985 on voter fraud charges. He also has been accused of making racially insensitive remarks, including one in which he said he thought the Ku Klux Klan was OK, until he learned its members smoked marijuana. Sessions and some others have said he was cracking a joke.

Such allegations helped torpedo his nomination to be a federal judge in 1986.

“I abhor the Klan and what it represents and its hateful ideology,” Sessions said.

He also said he fully supported the efforts in the 1980s of lawyers in the Justice Department’s civil rights division to desegregate schools and ensure more fair elections for minorities.

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People are signing up for Obamacare at a faster pace than last year as Republicans work to dismantle it

While Republicans lay the groundwork for rolling back the Affordable Care Act, millions of Americans are still signing up for Obamacare health plans, new federal data show.

As of Dec. 24, more than 11.5 million people had enrolled in a health plan through one of the insurance marketplaces created by health law, including HealthCare.gov and Covered California.

That is nearly 300,000 more sign-ups than last year at this point, signaling continued strength in the marketplaces despite the uncertainty about whether the incoming Trump administration and congressional Republicans will scrap them.

“Nationwide demand for health coverage is higher than ever, as Americans prove again that marketplace coverage is vital to them and their families,” Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said.

Obama administration officials have been urging Americans to continue signing up for health plans even as they prepare to hand over control of the marketplaces following President-elect Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

But many consumers are worried, and officials said Tuesday that federal call centers have fielded more than 35,000 calls from Americans asking if they will have coverage this year under a Trump administration.

This enrollment period, the fourth since the law’s coverage expansion began, comes at a critical moment for the marketplaces and the health law that Obama signed in 2010.

The coverage expansion has recorded historic gains, as more than 20 million previously uninsured Americans gained health insurance and the nation’s uninsured rate dropped to the lowest level ever recorded.

Congressional Republicans have pledged to vote to roll back the law early this year, though it remains unclear how they will repeal it and what, if anything, they will develop in its place.

GOP lawmakers have not to date advanced any alternatives that would protect the millions of people who now depend on health coverage through Obamacare.

Many of these Americans have low incomes and rely on Medicaid, which has been expanded through the health law.

About 11 million got commercial health plans last year through HealthCare.gov and similar state-based insurance marketplaces that were created through the law.

More than 80% of these consumers receive government subsidies to offset the cost of their premiums.

This open enrollment period continues through Jan. 31, and consumers have until Sunday to sign up for coverage that starts Feb. 1.

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Jeff Sessions says he will recuse himself from Clinton-related investigations if confirmed as attorney general

Hillary Clinton conceded to Donald Trump on Nov. 9 in New York City.
(Jewel Samad / AFP/Getty Images)

Sen. Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump’s pick to be the next attorney general, testified before Congress on Tuesday that he would recuse himself from any investigations and prosecutions involving Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Sessions and Trump called during the fall campaign for Clinton to be investigated and prosecuted for her use of a private email server, despite determinations by the FBI and Justice Department that her actions did not warrant charges. Since his election, Trump has said he did not support such an investigation or prosecution.

Sessions said he had made comments during the “contentious” campaign about Clinton’s use of the email server and her family’s charitable foundation that could place his objectivity in question.

“I believe the proper thing for me to do would be to recuse myself from any questions involving those kind of investigations that involve Secretary Hillary Clinton,” the Alabama Republican told senators on the Judiciary Committee.

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Sen. Feinstein calls for close scrutiny of Sessions’ record

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), signaled on Tuesday that she and her Democratic colleagues are not going to go easy on fellow Sen. Jeff Sessions as he seeks to be the next attorney general.

She said her 20-year history with Sessions made her evaluation more difficult, but that Sessions had demonstrated a long voting record against efforts to prevent discrimination, reform immigration, crack down on hate crimes and end the use of torture.

“Today we are not being asked to evaluate him as a senator,” said Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, in her remarks kicking off Sessions’ nomination hearing.

“We’re being asked to evaluate him for the attorney general of the United States, the chief law enforcement officer of the largest and best democracy in the world.”

Feinstein said it was critical for senators to weigh “whether this man can dispatch himself from the president and from his record,” and how he will wield the power of the office. She urged fellow senators to delve deeply into Sessions’ long record in public life.

“Will he use it fairly?” Feinstein asked. “Will he use it in a way that respects law and the constitution? Will he use it in a way that eases tensions among our communities, and our law enforcement officers? Will he be independent of the White House? Will he tell the president ‘no’ when necessary and faithfully enforce ethics laws and constitutional restrictions? So we will ask questions and we will press for answers.”

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Protesters ushered out of Sessions hearing

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Two GOP senators want Trump to remove consumer bureau chief Richard Cordray

(Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press)

Two Republican senators are asking President-elect Donald Trump to quickly remove Richard Cordray, the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, setting up a potential legal and political showdown over the controversial agency.

“It’s time to fire King Richard,” said Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) a member of the Senate Banking Committee and like many Republicans a harsh critic of the agency created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul.

“Underneath the CFPB’s Orwellian acronym is an attack on the American idea that the people who write are laws are accountable to the American people,” Sasse said. “President-elect Trump has the authority to remove Mr. Cordray and that’s exactly what the American people deserve.”

Sasse and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) have written to Vice President-elect Mike Pence requesting that Trump take the action “promptly after his inauguration.”

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Sessions hearing kicks off nomination gantlet

Sen. Jeff Sessions is expected to tell senators at his confirmation hearing today that he will work to bolster relationships between federal and local law enforcement officials to fight violence in major cities and to curb the heroin epidemic, according to his prepared remarks.

Sessions is also expected to say he will aggressively enforce immigration laws and seek to counter criticism of his civil rights record.

“I deeply understand the history of civil rights and the horrendous impact that relentless and systemic discrimination and the denial of voting rights has had on our African-American brothers and sisters,” Sessions said, according to prepared remarks released by President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team. “I have witnessed it. I understand the demands for justice and fairness made by the LGBT community. I understand the lifelong scars born by women who are victims of assault and abuse.”

The Alabama Republican is the first of Trump’s Cabinet picks to appear before the Senate in what is expected to be a jam-packed few days of hearings.

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Tom Steyer heads back into battle, starting with an ad against secretary of State pick Rex Tillerson

The 2016 election was tough on a lot of environmentalists, particularly California climate crusader Tom Steyer, who has invested tens of millions of dollars of his personal fortune into a national effort to force politicians to confront climate change.

President-elect Donald Trump, of course, has signaled he plans to do the opposite, vowing to scrap the historic global climate accord the U.S. took a lead in negotiating and roll back federal regulations aimed at curbing warming. The Republican Congress is eager to oblige him. Climate change barely registered on the list of concerns voters said influenced their decisions on election day.

As Steyer and other environmentalists regroup, the California billionaire is hoping to use this week’s confirmation hearings in Washington to re-energize activists. In an ad campaign to air in Washington, D.C., California and five other states, Steyer nonprofit NextGen Climate is taking aim at Trump’s pick for secretary of State, former ExxonMobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson.

Timed to coincide with Senate confirmation hearings of Tillerson, the ad points to the executive’s close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, questioning his patriotism and his motives. NextGen says the ad is the first of several actions aimed at mobilizing opposition to Tillerson.

It will be interesting to watch how the messaging takes shape as Steyer and other environmentalists adjust their themes in an effort to resonate with a broader audience. The Tillerson ad doesn’t once mention climate change.

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Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is named a White House senior advisor

President-elect Donald Trump appointed his influential son-in-law Jared Kushner as a White House senior advisor Monday, putting the young real estate executive in a position to exert broad sway over both domestic and foreign policy, particularly Middle East issues and trade negotiations.

Trump has come to rely heavily on Kushner, who is married to the president-elect’s daughter Ivanka. Since the election, the political novice has been one of the transition team’s main liaisons to foreign governments, communicating with Israeli officials and meeting Sunday with Britain’s foreign minister. He’s also huddled with congressional leaders and helped interview Cabinet candidates.

Ivanka Trump, who also played a significant role advising her father during the presidential campaign, will not be taking a formal White House position. Transition officials said the mother of three young children wanted to focus on moving her family from New York to Washington.

Kushner’s eligibility for the White House could be challenged, given a 1967 law meant to bar government officials from hiring relatives. Kushner lawyer Jamie Gorelick argued Monday that the law does not apply to the West Wing. She cited a later congressional measure to allow the president “unfettered” and “sweeping” authority in hiring staff.

In a statement, Trump said Kushner will be an “invaluable member of my team as I set and execute an ambitious agenda.”

Kushner will resign as CEO of his family’s real estate company and as publisher of the New York Observer. He will also divest “substantial assets,” Gorelick said. The lawyer said Kushner would not be taking a salary. Ivanka Trump will also be leaving her executive roles at the Trump Organization — her father’s real estate company — and her own fashion brands.

Kushner, who turns 36 Tuesday, emerged as one of Trump’s most powerful campaign advisors during his father-in-law’s often unorthodox presidential bid — a calming presence in an otherwise chaotic campaign. Soft-spoken and press-shy, he was deeply involved in the campaign’s digital efforts and was usually at Trump’s side during the election’s closing weeks.

He has continued to be a commanding presence during the transition, working alongside incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and senior advisor Steve Bannon. He’s played a key role in coordinating Trump’s contacts with foreign leaders and has been talking with foreign government officials himself, according to a person with knowledge of the conversations.

Read The Times’ profile of Jared Kushner, the Trump son-in-law who’s the next president’s ‘eyes and ears’ >>

UPDATES:

4:42 p.m.: This article was updated with confirmation of Jared Kushner’s appointment.

11:20 a.m.: This article was updated with background on Jared Kushner and his transition role.

This article was originally published at 10:41 a.m.

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Democrats call for independent commission to investigate election interference

Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Md.).
(Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)

House and Senate Democrats are urging colleagues to back the creation of an independent, nonpartisan commission to study Russian attempts to influence the election.

No Republicans have signed on to the House or Senate legislation to create the commission, but Democrats said they are hoping some colleagues were swayed by Thursday’s testimony from three U.S. spy chiefs that the Kremlin’s most senior leaders approved a Russian intelligence operation aimed at interfering in the U.S. presidential race.

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of Dublin, Calif., said the commission would “get to the bottom once and for all as to who was responsible, how we were so vulnerable, and make a promise to the American people, through recommendations, that we will never, ever let this happen again.”

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly challenged the conclusion of the intelligence community. A declassified report released by the intelligence agencies Friday states that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to help Trump win the presidency, but doesn’t say whether interference actually helped Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Republican Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina are pushing for an aggressive investigation in Congress of Russian cyberattacks during the presidential race. It was during a hearing called by McCain when the spy chiefs testified on Russia’s involvement.

Republican leaders have resisted calls for creation of a separate special committee – or an independent panel like the bipartisan commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Democratic Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland said Monday that congressional investigations are important, but that the kind of independent, nonpartisan commission Democrats are proposing would be made up of national experts who would give credibility to the panel’s findings.

The House and Senate bills are backed by nearly all of California’s 41 Democrats in Congress.

Democratic Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, who was the ranking member of the Select Committee on Benghazi, said an independent investigation would reduce finger-pointing or accusations of partisan goals.

“The last thing I want is for us to get bogged down in politics; this is just far too important,” Cummings said. “It’s not about Donald Trump, it’s not about Hillary Clinton, it’s not about Republicans, Independents or Democrats. It’s not even about 2016. It’s about our future. We cannot allow foreign attacks on our electoral process to become normal or inevitable.”

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‘The tweet speaks for itself’ could become a Trump administration motto

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

Nearly every day, President-elect Donald Trump’s press aides are beseeched to clarify, tame or shed context on his torrent of tweets that have flustered congressional leaders, corporate chieftains and heads of state.

The spin operation has settled on a stock answer that may yet become an administration motto: “The tweet speaks for itself.”

The phrase, and closely related variants, have begun popping up with increasing frequency among the president-elect’s spokespeople in a Trump-era update to the Washington tradition of responding to a question confidently without actually answering it. It joins a parade of such notable political locutions as “It is what it is,” “I’m not aware of any conversations” and “I’m not going to get ahead of the president.”

Such dodges are usually driven by aides’ fears of attaching their bosses to too many promises. Trump has been known to contradict lieutenants — and even himself — after they try to explain away his most controversial statements.

Trump’s aides also cite another motivation: They often have no idea what the next president is liable to tweet at any given moment.

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Vice President-elect Mike Pence arrives in D.C., with an assist from Joe Biden

With the swearing-in of his successor as Indiana governor on Monday, Mike Pence began a roughly two-week period of unemployment. But Vice President Joe Biden sent him a pick-me-up. Literally.

The Republican vice president-elect arrived in the Washington area Monday aboard a blue-and-white jet similar to the one he will regularly use to travel the country: Air Force Two.

Pence thanked Biden for arranging the government aircraft to pick up him, his family and their pets -- including the hilariously named bunny Marlon Bundo.

Pence has already been a regular presence in Washington since the election, and met just last week with Republicans on Capitol Hill. He had continued to serve as Indiana’s governor until Monday when his elected successor, Republican Eric Holcomb, took the oath of office.

Biden is making full use of Air Force Two as he prepares to end his eight years as the second-in-command. After a trip to Los Angeles on Sunday he’s en route to San Francisco and then on to Detroit on Monday. On Tuesday, he’s to fly to Chicago to attend President Obama’s farewell address before returning to Washington.

A spokesman for the vice president said arranging a jet for Pence was a routine matter. Biden himself arrived in Washington eight years ago on a train, joining then-President-elect Obama on a whistlestop trip ahead of their inauguration.

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As Cabinet picks prep for Senate grilling, Donald Trump predicts all will be confirmed

President-elect Donald Trump in Trump Tower on Monday with Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma, who founded Alibaba.Group.
President-elect Donald Trump in Trump Tower on Monday with Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma, who founded Alibaba.Group.
(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

President-elect Donald Trump predicted a smooth confirmation process for his Cabinet choices ahead of the first Senate hearings this week.

In the first of two short visits with reporters stationed in the Trump Tower lobby Monday morning, the incoming president touted all of his executive picks as “the absolute highest level.”

“Confirmation’s going great,” he said. “I think they’ll all pass.”

Nine confirmation hearings are possible this week, including on Trump’s nominees for attorney general, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and secretaries of State and Defense.

The transition team said Cabinet picks have undergone 30 mock hearings totaling more than 70 hours, during which they took 2,604 questions. Spokesman Sean Spicer said they’ve been pleased by the “bipartisan welcome mat” that has been offered to the nominees, but also warned Democratic leaders against delaying tactics.

“Approval of president-elect’s Cabinet nominees is a strong signal to folks around the country that the senators are committed to draining the swamp and enacting real change,” Spicer said.

Trump’s comments came after separate meetings with business executives who he said were committed to expanding employment in the United States.

Joined first by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, he said the Chinese entrepreneur would partner with him on boosting small businesses.

He deflected a question about whom he trusted more: U.S. intelligence operatives or Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. He holds his first post-election news conference Wednesday.

“We’ll talk about that at another time,” Trump said.

During a second appearance later with French businessman Bernard Arnault, he declined to comment on reports that son-in-law Jared Kushner would be named to a senior White House role.

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U.S. intelligence report doesn’t say whether Russian hacking helped elect Donald Trump

The declassified version of the Intelligence Community Assessment on Russia's efforts to interfere with the U.S. political process was made public Friday.
The declassified version of the Intelligence Community Assessment on Russia’s efforts to interfere with the U.S. political process was made public Friday.
(Jon Elswick / Associated Press)

Although a blockbuster new U.S. intelligence report concludes that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to help Donald Trump win the presidency, it didn’t weigh in on whether Moscow’s covert cyberhacks and other activities made a difference in Trump’s upset victory over Hillary Clinton.

In tweet after tweet, Trump has been emphatic that it did not. Democrats just as forcefully insist that the effect was clear, even if they don’t blame the Russians for her loss.

Read the U.S. intelligence report on Russian hacking >>

The truth is no one knows for sure because the election was so close in so many states that no one factor can be credited or blamed, especially in last year’s highly combustible campaign.

But political experts parsed over the report, a portion of which was declassified and released Friday, for lessons they may have missed during the campaign.

“Just because we can’t quantify it specifically doesn’t mean that it had no impact,” said John Weaver, who served as chief strategist for Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) in his losing bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

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Donald Trump couldn’t let Meryl Streep’s Golden Globes speech go unanswered

President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to change Washington are to face their first major public tests this week. At least half a dozen of his Cabinet nominees will be challenged by senators from both parties during scheduled confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill. And the president-elect himself is set to face direct questioning from multiple reporters for the first time at a scheduled news conference.

But the Republican’s focus Monday morning appeared to be devoted to a counter-assault against Hollywood. He decried Meryl Streep as a disgruntled “Hillary lover” both on Twitter and in an interview with the New York Times after the actress used a Golden Globes speech Sunday to condemn his campaign-trail comments about a reporter with a congenital condition.

“I was never mocking anyone,” Trump told the Times. “I was calling into question a reporter who had gotten nervous because he had changed his story. … People keep saying I intended to mock the reporter’s disability, as if Meryl Streep and others could read my mind, and I did no such thing.”

At a campaign rally in 2015, Trump spoke disparagingly about the reporter, Serge Kovaleski, while waving his arms, widening his eyes and adopting a mocking tone.

“Poor guy, you ought to see this guy,” Trump said of Kovaleski, who has arthrogryposis, which affects his joint movements. The moment became the subject of attack ads by Hillary Clinton supporters.

Donald Trump talks about a reporter, appearing to mock his congenital condition. 

Streep, winner of multiple Academy Awards and recipient Sunday of the Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., never mentioned Trump by name in her remarks.

She did appear at the Democratic National Convention, praising Clinton’s “grit” and “grace.”

Watch (or read) Meryl Streep’s acceptance speech

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Obama says he didn’t underestimate Putin but did misjudge the potency of misinformation

President Obama insisted in an interview that aired Sunday he did not underestimate Russian President Vladimir Putin when he dismissed Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign assessment that the country was the top U.S. geopolitical foe. But Obama acknowledged he may have misjudged Russia’s ability to tamper in the American electoral process.

“I underestimated the degree to which, in this new information age, it is possible for misinformation, for cyberhacking and so forth, to have an impact on our open societies, our open systems, to insinuate themselves into our democratic practices in ways that I think are accelerating,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”

The comments in the taped interview came as debate over a joint intelligence report on Russia’s effort to help President-elect Donald Trump in the 2016 election continued to rage. Trump and his aides have tried to downplay the report’s findings and would not commit on Sunday to punishing Russia further for the activities than Obama has.

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Marines to return to Afghanistan’s Helmand Province to aid fight against Taliban

About 300 U.S. Marines will be sent to southern Afghanistan this spring to help Afghan security forces locked in a bitter battle against the Taliban, according to the Pentagon.

The move puts Americans back in a combat role in Helmand province, where Marines fought for more than a decade before they were withdrawn in 2014.

Brig. Gen. Roger Turner Jr., commander of the Marines waiting to be deployed from Camp Lejeune, N.C., said they will advise and assist Afghan army and national police against the Taliban, who have launched deadly attacks across Helmand.

“We’re viewing this as a high-risk mission,” he said. “We’re not in any way viewing this as a non-combat mission or anything to take lightly.”

The Marines will be on nine-month deployments at bases and outposts across the province, including the sprawling Camp Leatherneck, which was left under Afghan control two years ago.

The Pentagon has repeatedly sent special operations forces into the area in recent months to help Afghan forces fighting the Taliban.

Army Special Forces Staff Sgt. Matthew V. Thompson, 28, of Irvine, was killed in Helmand province in August when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb.

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Obama says he’s ‘heartbroken’ over deadly airport shooting in Florida

President Obama said Friday that the motive behind the deadly shooting that killed five people at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport will be clearer in the next 24 hours, declining for the moment to comment on whether officials suspect a connection to terrorism.

“Until I’ve got all the information, George, I don’t want to comment on it other than just to say how heartbroken we are for the families who’ve been affected,” Obama told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an Oval Office interview.

A gunman opened fire at a terminal in the Florida airport, killing at least five and wounding eight, authorities said.

“These kinds of tragedies have happened too often during the eight years that I’ve been president,” Obama said.

The president received an initial briefing about the shooting Friday afternoon by Lisa Monaco, his homeland security and counter-terrorism advisor. Obama told Stephanopoulos he asked his staff to contact the local mayor to ensure that the local, state, and federal coordination was “what it should be.”

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Top GOP senator praises Trump pick for secretary of State

(Alexei Druzhinin / Associated Press)

The Republican senator who will lead confirmation hearings for Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of State said he thinks the expected nominee will play “a very substantial role” in shaping Trump’s policies on Russia.

Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also said he expects the Trump nominee to keep intact President Obama’s historic accord to limit Iran’s ability to build nuclear arms, an agreement the president-elect has vowed to “rip apart.”

Corker said the new administration will “radically enforce” the nuclear deal and would clamp down on any violations by Iran.

Corker said he has been favorably impressed by Rex Tillerson, the Exxon/Mobil chief executive who Trump intends to nominate to head the State Department. Confirmation hearings are scheduled to begin next Wednesday and could last two days.

He predicted Tillerson will be “overwhelmingly supported” and will win easy confirmation.

Still, Tillerson is expected to face heavy questioning from both Republicans and Democrats about his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and whether he could stand up to Moscow’s increasingly assertive operations in the Middle East and elsewhere, as well as its crackdown on political opponents at home.

Trump has repeatedly praised Putin, last week calling him “very smart,” and has rejected U.S. intelligence judgments that senior Russian officials directed an intelligence operation that interfered with the U.S. presidential campaign.

Corker, who met with Tillerson this week, said his views on Russia “are not in any way out of the mainstream.”

Asked how Tillerson, if he is confirmed, would promote Trump’s policies toward Russia, Corder said, “I think he will have a very substantial role in shaping these policies. He will have a big impact.”

By doing major oil and gas deals in Russia and in dozens of other countries around the globe, Corker said, Tillerson “knows how [world leaders] think, what causes them to make decisions.”

“Oil often exists where autocrats rule,” Corker said.

Colker said he was confident that Tillerson, as an experienced CEO, will be granted “huge freedoms” to appoint his own team at the State Department, a process that often sees conflict between incoming secretaries and transition team officials.

Speaking of other foreign trouble spots, Corker said it had become “questionable” whether the United States should continue supporting moderate rebel groups in Syria, a position that puts him in apparent agreement with Trump.

Corker spoke to reporters at a breakfast organized by the Christian Science Monitor.

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Michelle Obama praises ‘the power of hope’ in her farewell speech

Michelle Obama delivered her final address as first lady Friday, exhorting young people not to lose hope amid voices of “anger and fear.”

She said she and President Obama have risen above obstacles through “the power of hope … the belief that something better is always possible if you’re willing to work for it and fight for it.”

Surrounded by school counselors and in front of an audience of educators in the White House, the first lady singled out immigrants and Muslims by name and praised the “diversity that is a great American tradition.”

“Our glorious diversity … is not a threat to who we are, it makes us who we are,” she said. “Do not ever let anyone make you feel like you do not matter, or that you do not have a place in our American story.”

The line echoed her October address condemning President-elect Donald Trump for what she described as a lack of decency toward other people. The speech became a definitive moment in the campaign.

As on that day and in other campaign appearances, Obama once again did not mention Trump by name. Nor did she mention the groundswell of voters who responded to his messages against immigrants, Muslims and others.

And she did not revisit her words of an interview with Oprah Winfrey before Christmas, when she said that since the election “we are feeling what not having hope feels like.”

Rather, she offered short, simple remarks that closed with an exhortation to young people.

“They belong,” she said. “Don’t be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful, be empowered. Lead by example with hope, never fear.”

“Know that I will be with you,” she said, choking up, closing with, “I hope I’ve made you proud.”

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Repeal Obamacare? Count me in if you can do better, Obama challenges GOP

(Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press)

President Obama says he’d be the first to endorse a repeal of Obamacare -- but only if Republicans can convince him they have a better plan.

“If they can show that they can do it better, cheaper, more effective, provide better coverage, why wouldn’t I be for it?” Obama said in an interview with Vox on Friday focused on the future of the Affordable Care Act, his signature legislative accomplishment.

Republicans now face the high hurdle of matching their rhetoric about providing a better system than the one Democrats were able to implement, Obama said. He called plans to simply repeal the plan without a clear replacement ready “irresponsible.”

“If in fact there is going to be a massive undoing of what is one-sixth of our economy, then the Republicans need to put forward very specific ideas about how they’re going to do it,” he said, offering that they could call it “Trumpcare” or “McConnellcare” if they like.

He said people should debate the plans side by side, challenging why Republicans would shy from that debate “if they’re so convinced that they can do it better.”

“I am saying to every Republican right now, if you in fact can put a plan together that is demonstrably better than what Obamacare is doing, I will publicly support repealing Obamacare and replacing it with your plan. But I want to see it first,” he said.

The president also disputed that his efforts to fight Republicans on their pledge to repeal the law are solely about protecting his legacy.

“I’m not the one that named it Obamacare,” Obama joked.

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Democrats want fast-food workers to testify at Trump Labor secretary pick Andy Puzder’s confirmation hearing

Andy Puzder, chief executive of CKE Restaurants Inc.
(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Almost two dozen Senate Democrats are calling for fast-food workers to testify at the confirmation hearing for President-elect Donald Trump’s Labor secretary pick, Andy Puzder, who is the chief executive of the parent company of the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s burger chains.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Patty Murray of Washington and 21 other Democrats wrote to the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday saying they were concerned that Labor Department investigations of CKE Restaurant Inc. outlets “have turned up violations of basic protections of workers’ rights in more than half of their inspections.”

The Carpinteria-based chain, which has more than 3,300 locations in 42 U.S. states and 28 countries, is facing “several potential class-action lawsuits” by employees regarding wage and other disputes, the lawmakers said.

“It is essential that the committee hear from these employees and other Americans who have had first-hand experience with Mr. Puzder or the businesses he has led,” the senators wrote to committee chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.).

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Donald Trump says he will build a wall, but will Mexico really pay for it?

President-elect Donald Trump is facing new questions over a central campaign promise: that he will build a sturdy wall on the southwest border and Mexico will pay for it.

Multiple media reported on congressional talks over how to pay for the wall, including a CNN report Thursday night that said Trump’s team wants to ask Congress for money to construct the wall as soon as April.

That provoked a sharp response from Trump, who essentially confirmed the report, while denying he had given up on compelling Mexico to pay for it.

Trump insisted throughout the presidential campaign that Mexico would pay for the wall, turning the promise into a call-and-response style chant at his rallies.

Mexican government officials have forcefully rejected that demand and many political and government experts have called it fanciful.

But this is not the first time Trump has indicated that U.S. taxpayers would front the costs.

During an October speech in Gettysburg, Pa., in which he outlined promises for his first 100 days in office, if elected, Trump said he would ask Congress to approve legislation that fully funds a wall.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said at the time. “Remember, I said Mexico is paying for the wall, with the full understand[ing] that the country of Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such a wall, OK?”

Trump has said the wall could cost up to $12 billion to build. An analysis published by MIT Technology Review estimated the cost at $38 billion, nearly the entire annual budget for the 22 federal agencies in the Department of Homeland Security.

The Homeland Security Department has authority to build physical barriers and structures on the border and some immigration hawks have argued that Trump doesn’t need permission from Congress.

But he would certainly need its approval for the type of cash infusion needed for a substantial wall, particularly the type of big showcase wall he has talked about.

Next year’s budget for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the parent agency for the Border Patrol, includes $175 million for “procurement, construction and improvements.” Even if that money is diverted to the wall, it wouldn’t go very far in a multibillion-dollar project.

Whether Trump has leverage is unclear. He has touted the fact that Mexican workers in the United States transfer $24 billion in earnings back home each year to help their families.

Trump supporters have proposed imposing a fee on remittances from people not authorized to work in the U.S., though it’s not clear how that would work. It would surely provoke opposition from financial services interests.

The president can reduce or slow down the process by which Mexicans get travel cards and visitors’ visas. But that could backfire by hurting businesses and tourism near the border.

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Trump can raise his doubts about Russian hacking directly with top intelligence chiefs

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

In what may prove a historic showdown, Donald Trump will face off Friday in a closed-door meeting with four U.S. intelligence chiefs who will try to convince the skeptical president-elect that Russian hacking played a role in his election.

Trump is scheduled to get the classified briefing at 12:30 p.m. at his office in New York from Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper, CIA Director John O. Brennan, FBI Director James B. Comey, and Adm. Michael S. Rogers, head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command.

They will brief Trump about evidence they say confirms that the Kremlin approved the hacking and leaking of thousands of emails from the Democratic National Committee and from Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, among other targets, during the presidential race last year.

They will be armed with a newly completed classified report that Clapper said on Thursday would include details of Russia’s motivations — including whether the operation was partly intended to help elect Trump, as U.S. officials have said privately.

President Obama ordered the interagency review after Trump repeatedly rejected statements by U.S. intelligence officials about Russia’s role.

Intelligence officials briefed Congressional leaders Friday morning on the completed classified report, which was given to Obama on Thursday.

“It was really quite stunning disclosure,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said after the briefing.

She said she thinks an independent commission, similar to the panel that investigated the 2001 terrorist attacks, should investigate Russia’s attempt to influence the U.S. political process.

“Did it affect the Clinton campaign? Of course it did. Would it have come out differently? I don’t know,” Pelosi said.

Trump will be joined in the briefing by members of his national security team: Rep. Michael Pompeo, his pick for CIA director, Reince Priebus, who will be White House Chief of Staff, Michael T. Flynn, who will be National Security Advisor, K.T. McFarland, his pick for deputy national security advisor, and Tom Bossert, who Trump tapped as his homeland security advisor.

Congress will continue to probe Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections in coming months.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has asked Clapper, Brennan, Rogers and Comey to testify on Russia’s intelligence activities in a hearing next Tuesday, committee chairman Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) announced Friday.

Earlier this week, Trump suggested intelligence officials had delayed Friday’s briefing in order to build a stronger case against Russia. U.S. officials denied any delays.

Trump once again questioned Russia’s role in the hacks on Thursday night, writing in Twitter about a news report that said the FBI did not examine Democratic National Committee computers after the hack and instead relied on analysis by a private security firm.

“The Democratic National Committee would not allow the FBI to study or see its computer info after it was supposedly hacked by Russia,” Trump wrote.

“So how and why are they so sure about hacking if they never even requested an examination of the computer servers? What is going on?” he wrote.

The FBI has a longstanding policy of restraint when it comes to accessing the files of U.S. political parties out of concern over being blamed for interfering in the political process, officials said.

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Donald Trump to pick former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats to lead intelligence agencies, transition official says

President-elect Donald Trump plans to pick former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats to head the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, overseeing 17 intelligence agencies, according to a transition official.

If he is confirmed by the Senate, Coats would face a daunting task as the bridge between Trump and the intelligence community. Trump has begun openly feuding with intelligence agencies over their conclusion that Russia hacked into Democratic computers to influence the election.

Coats recently concluded a term in the Senate, after also serving there from 1989 through 1999. He has also served as the U.S. ambassador to Germany.

Coats, who served on the Senate intelligence committee, may also face a challenge in reconciling his own hawkish views on Russia with Trump’s far friendlier posture toward President Vladimir Putin,

Coats was banned, along with Arizona Sen. John McCain and a handful of other members of Congress and White House officials, from entering Russia in 2014 for backing U.S. sanctions against the country following Russia’s annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine.

“While I’m disappointed that I won’t be able to go on vacation with my family in Siberia this summer, I am honored to be on this list,” he said at the time.

Coats also spent years as a lobbyist between 2000 and 2010, working on behalf of a variety of clients in defense, pharmaceuticals, financial services and private equity, among other industries, according to public records. His clients included Lockheed Martin, a company Trump recently criticized for the high price of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Trump ran against Washington’s revolving-door lobbying culture, using “drain the swamp” as a prominent slogan. Yet he has chosen several former lobbyists for senior positions in his administration.

1:10 p.m.: This story was updated with background on Coats.

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Democrats want ethics inquiry of Trump’s choice for Health secretary; Trump calls Schumer a ‘clown’

Hoping to derail President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Heath secretary, Democrats want an ethics investigation of Rep. Tom Price’s stock trades in healthcare companies.

Members of Congress are barred from insider trading under the 2012 STOCK Act, which seeks to prevent lawmakers from profiting from legislation pending before the House and Senate.

Price traded more than $300,000 in health-related stocks over the past four years while serving on committees with jurisdiction over health matters, according to the Wall Street Journal.

“We don’t know if he broke the law, but there are certainly enough serious questions to warrant a serious investigation before any hearing is held on Congressman Price to become secretary of Health and Human Services,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) “This is serious stuff. That’s why we need full hearings and full disclosure.”

Price, a conservative Georgia Republican and staunch abortion opponent, is the top target for Democrats hoping to tank Trump’s Cabinet choices. As Health and Human Services secretary, he would be in charge of dismantling the Affordable Care Act.

A Trump spokesman dismissed the move as a “stunt” and said plenty of Democrats in Congress also trade in health stocks.

“Hypocrisy is apparently alive and well this morning in Washington,” said Trump spokesman Phil Blando.

“Today’s stunt is simply an effort to deflect attention away from Obamacare’s dismal record.”

The watchdog group Public Citizen filed a request Thursday with the Office of Ethics for an investigation of Price’s trades.

Republicans had tried earlier this week to gut the congressional ethics office, but reversed course after a firestorm of public criticism, including from Trump.

Trump and Republicans who control Congress have promised to “repeal and replace” Obamacare. But they are struggling to devise an alternative system.

Instead, Republicans plan to barnstorm the country in the days ahead, hoping to push Democrats to the negotiating table to help them change the law.

Trump kicked off the attacks by calling Schumer a “clown” in a series of tweets Thursday.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) promised on Thursday that Congress would pass legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare “this year.”

But Republicans may not fully make the changes until until 2018 or later.

“What date all of this gets phased in on is something we do not know,” Ryan said.

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Speaker Ryan says Russia ‘clearly tried to meddle in our political system’

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U.S. intelligence chiefs testify on Russian hacks of the presidential election

(JIM WATSON / AFP/Getty Images)

Three U.S. spy chiefs testified publicly for the first time Thursday that the Kremlin’s most senior leaders approved a Russian intelligence operation aimed at interfering in the U.S. presidential race, a conclusion that President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly challenged.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Adm. Michael Rogers, head of the National Security Agency, and Marcel J. Lettre, undersecretary of Defense for intelligence, answered questions at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Russian theft and leaks of thousands of emails before the November election.

“We assess that only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized the recent election-focused data thefts and disclosures, based on the scope and sensitivity of the targets,” Clapper, Rogers and Lettre wrote in joint remarks submitted for the hearing.

Russian cyber attacks pose “a major threat” to the U.S. government, the military, financial institutions, as well as the nation’s electrical and communications infrastructure, the intelligence officials said.

“Russia is a full-scope cyber actor that poses a major threat to U.S. Government,military, diplomatic, commercial, and critical infrastructure and key resource networks because of its highly advanced offensive cyber program and sophisticated tactics, techniques, and procedures,” the officials said.

“For example, Russian actors have seeded falsified information into social media and news feeds and websites in order to sow doubt and confusion, erode faith in democratic institutions, and attempt to weaken Western governments by portraying them as inherently corrupt and dysfunctional,” the officials said.

The committee chairman, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) and many others in Congress have expressed alarm at Trump’s repeated rejection of intelligence judgments that say senior officials at the Kremlin, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, orchestrated cyber attacks intended to discredit U.S. democracy and help elect Trump.

Russia’s theft and disclosure of emails during the 2016 elections was “an unprecedented attack on our democracy,” McCain said at the start of the hearing, which was broadcast live on cable news networks.

The U.S. has not responded harshly enough to cyber attacks from Russia, China, North Korea, and other countries, McCain said.

“Our adversaries have made the calculation that the reward for attacking America in cyber space outweighs the risk,” McCain said.

U.S. intelligence officials have seen the Kremlin launch more and more aggressive cyber operations in recent years, including hacks designed to mask the true actors using false online identities.

The hearing, the first on the hacking since the November election, comes a day before Trump is to get a top level briefing on the issue from Clapper, CIA Director John Brennan and National Security Director Adm. Mike Rogers at Trump’s office in New York.

The intelligence officials also will brief Trump on the broader review that President Obama recently requested on Russian and Chinese hacks during the 2008, 2012 and 2016 U.S. elections and what was learned from those intrusions.

The classified report is finished and likely will be given to Obama on Thursday. Obama ordered it completed before he leaves office on Jan. 20 to ensure a full record is available, aides have said.

The full House and the full Senate will be briefed on a classified version of the review next week, Clapper said. After those briefings, a declassified version will be made public, he said.

U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded that the Russian cyber operation sought to damage Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and to help Trump’s bid for the White House.

Clapper did not confirm that judgment Thursday, although he indicated it would be included in the classified report.

“Yes, we will ascribe a motivation,” he said. “I’d rather not preempt the report.”Trump has criticized the Obama administration for not releasing the raw intelligence that supports its conclusion that Russian officials wanted to influence the U.S. election. Clapper said he will push for additional details to be included in the version of the review that is made public.

“I intend to push the envelope as much as we can in the unclassified version because I think the public should know as much about this as possible,” Clapper said. “There are some fragile sources and methods.”

Clapper said the intelligence community stood “actually more resolutely” on its Oct. 7 statement that first blamed Russia for conducting cyber attacks during the presidential campaign.

“We have no way of gauging the impact... it had on the choice the electorate made,” Clapper said. “Whether or not it was an act of war is a very heavy policy call. I don’t think the intelligence community should weigh in on that; I do think it should carry great gravity.”

The Russian operations to influence the U.S. elections didn’t involve changing vote tallies, Clapper said.

“It was a multifaceted campaign, the hacking was only one part of it, it also entailed classical propaganda, misinformation, fake news” that continues today, Clapper said.

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Democratic leader Charles Schumer: ‘We can’t have a Twitter presidency’

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer has nothing against President-elect Donald Trump frequently tweeting.

The Democratic leader calls Twitter “a great way to communicate – I do it all the time and the president-elect does it all the time.”

But, the 66-year-old New Yorker said, Twitter has its limits.

“I’m sort of amazed you can tweet about Putin but not have intelligence briefings,” Schumer told reporters.

“We can’t have a Twitter presidency,” he said. “It’s necessary, but hardly sufficient.”

And then the senator known around Washington for using an old-school flip phone explained even further.

“Nothing wrong with twittering, but everything wrong with tweeting.”

Wait, what?

“Nothing wrong with tweeting,” a triumphant Schumer quickly corrected himself — “I am showing my age” — “Nothing wrong with tweeting, but everything wrong if that’s your sole means of governing or communicating, or even your major means.”

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Obama bucks up Democrats as they prepare for Obamacare fight

(Evan Vucci / Associated Press)

President Obama urged congressional Democrats on Wednesday to fight hard to defend the Affordable Care Act, but acknowledged he will no longer lead the charge on touting his signature legislative accomplishment.

Obama met with lawmakers for more than an hour in a closed-door meeting at the Capitol, his last until he returns in two weeks with President-elect Donald Trump to hand over power. Obama took responsibility for Obamacare’s proving often to be a political liability. But with Republicans set to assume control of both the White House and Congress, he urged Democrats to stress the consequences of undoing the law without a replacement.

“That the country is clamoring to undo this thing is simply untrue,” Obama told Democrats, according to an aide who requested anonymity to share the private discussion. “There are real lives at stake.”

Democrats were already prepping for a more vigorous defense than they have ever made. The message was simple: If Republicans repeal it, they own the consequences.

“What the Republicans are doing is giving us an opportunity,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). “Coming forward with a move to repeal the entire Affordable Care Act and having no idea of what they might replace it with — that’s political malpractice. … When it becomes clear what people are going to lose, I think the story we’re going to tell is more effective.”

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, said Obama was uplifting and positive.

“The main message was, our values are strong, the American people share them with us,” Durbin said. “We have a great record. Be positive and take the fight to them when they try to take away some of the basics that the American people have come to expect.”

Republicans must accept the responsibility that comes with their long-promised repeal, and in the absence of a complete plan, they are “inviting chaos,” Durbin said.

The White House said Democrats are united in fighting Republicans going forward.

“Repealing the Affordable Care Act would have devastating consequences for people all across the country,” Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters. “It’s not something that Democrats support – nor should they. And we’re seeing that a lot of Republicans are queasy about supporting it – and they should be.”

Obama also sought to buck up fellow Democrats as they face both being in the minority and working with a Republican president. Obama thanked Democrats for their partnership and said that he in some ways envies their ongoing fight.

Obama told lawmakers he will speak up on issues important to him, including healthcare, but that it is crucial they take the lead.

“It’s all hands on deck,” McGovern said. “He’s going to be helpful. But so will everybody who’s in that room.”

“‘Do you have a fight in you?’” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) quoted the president as asking Democrats. “He didn’t need to ask the question.”

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Mike Pence talks political strategy, but no policy specifics, in rallying Republicans to repeal Obamacare

Vice President-elect Mike Pence was long on political strategy but short on policy specifics Wednesday as Republicans met behind closed doors to discuss unraveling Obamacare.

Pence visited Capitol Hill to tell fellow Republicans that President-elect Donald Trump plans to use the bully pulpit -- rallying the American public - to repeal the Affordable Care Act and will push Democrats to work with Republicans on a replacement.

“I’m promising you, you will not be doing it alone,” Pence told House Republicans, according to someone in the closed-door meeting. “We’ll be making the case all around the country.”

Trump’s plan to barnstorm over Obamacare comes as Republicans are increasingly worried their plans to repeal the healthcare law -- but not quickly replace it -- will tank the healthcare markets.

Several prominent Republicans are warning that 20 million Americans now rely on Obamacare for health coverage, and repealing it will leave them with no clear way to access affordable care.

Republicans who control the House and Senate are no closer to devising a replacement than they were six years ago when they began promising to provide one.

Instead, both Republicans and Democrats are betting the other side will be blamed if millions lose coverage and the healthcare industry goes into a tailspin.

Trump may start tweeting and holding rallies across the country, sources said.

“We intend over the course of the coming days and weeks to be speaking directly to the American people,” Pence told reporters.

Democrats, meeting separately in the Capitol with President Obama, warned that Republicans will create chaos by unraveling Obamacare.

“They seek to rip healthcare away from millions of Americas - creating chaos for our entire economy,” warned Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.).

In a twist on Trump’s campaign slogan, Democrats said Republicans want to “Make America sick again.”

Voting in the Senate will begin as soon as next week on the procedural steps needed to begin repealing Obamacare.

Pence promised that the Trump team is already looking at executive actions the new president can take -- without Congress - to undo some of the regulations associated with Obamacare.

But full repeal of the healthcare law will take weeks of negotiations and votes in the House and Senate, and may not totally take effect until 2018 or 2019, if ever.

“We don’t want to pull the rug out from anybody,” said House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) “We don’t want people to be caught with nothing.”

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Son of civil rights activists prosecuted by Jeff Sessions makes a surprise endorsement

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) received a surprise endorsement Wednesday of his selection as the next attorney general — from the son of civil rights advocates prosecuted by Sessions three decades ago on voter fraud charges.

“I am not saying I am agreeing with all the positions Jeff Sessions has taken,” Albert Turner Jr. said in an interview. “But I think he is qualified to be attorney general. Based on his record there is some things we should look at, but I don’t think they are disqualifying.”

Turner’s endorsement comes as Democrats, civil rights advocates and liberal groups are mobilizing to fight Sessions’ pending nomination by President-elect Donald Trump.

His confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, scheduled to start Tuesday, is expected to be contentious and focus heavily on Sessions’ complicated legacy on race.

Sessions is certain to be grilled over his decision in 1985 as U.S. attorney in Mobile, Ala., to prosecute Evelyn and Albert Turner Sr., both well-known African American civil rights activists. Prosecutors working for Sessions alleged that the Turners and a third man, Spencer Hogue Jr., altered ballots in a primary election to boost the vote tally of a candidate they supported.

The Turners and Hogue denied the charges and said they had only helped illiterate voters mark their ballots. They were acquitted.

During his 1986 confirmation hearings to be a federal judge, Sessions was criticized for bringing the case. He was also accused by Justice Department colleagues of making racially insensitive comments. His nomination was rejected by the judiciary committee, only the second time in five decades that the panel denied a potential judge.

Turner Jr., a 51-year-old county commissioner in Alabama, said he believes federal prosecutors were misled by witnesses and a local district attorney who pushed the prosecution for political reasons.

“My differences in policy and ideology with him do not translate to personal malice,” Turner, a Democrat, wrote in a letter released by Trump’s transition team. “He is not a racist.”

He also said Sessions’ prosecutors simply followed the evidence they were given.

“Jeff Sessions wasn’t on a witch hunt to seek out my father and my mother,” he said.

Turner, however, acknowledged that his 80-year-old mother, who faced more than 100 years in prison if convicted, does not support Sessions.

“She harbors some ill will,” he conceded.

Turner Jr.’s endorsement came on the same day that three former Justice Department civil rights lawyers accused Sessions of exaggerating his work on four cases during his time as U.S. attorney in the 1980s.

“He worked against civil rights at every turn,” the attorneys, who personally handled three of the cases, wrote in the Washington Post.

More than 1,000 law professors also urged the Republican-led judiciary committee this week to reject Sessions’ bid because they believe he would “not fairly enforce our nation’s laws and promote justice and equality”

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Donald Trump to nominate Wall Street lawyer Jay Clayton to head SEC

President-elect Donald Trump intends to nominate Wall Street attorney Jay Clayton to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, transition spokesman Sean Spicer said Wednesday.

Clayton, a partner with New York-based global law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, would succeed Mary Jo White, who announced in November that she would step down at the end of the Obama administration.

Trump reportedly had been considering Los Angeles lawyer Debra Wong Yang, a former federal prosecutor, to head the SEC. The agency is the federal government’s top watchdog for Wall Street.

But instead he opted for Clayton, who joins other key Trump nominees with strong Wall Street ties, including Treasury secretary pick Steve Mnuchin and Commerce secretary choice Wilbur Ross.

Clayton’s work has included representing Ally Financial and two other unnamed large financial firms in connection with settlements of federal cases related to toxic mortgages, according to the firm’s website.

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Donald Trump suggests second thoughts on Obamacare repeal: ‘Don’t let the Schumer clowns out of this web’

Is Donald Trump going wobbly on repealing Obamacare, one of his signature campaign pledges? A series of vague statements Wednesday that Republicans “must be careful” and that the law will “fall of its own weight” suggested that he might be having second thoughts.

Backtracking on that pledge, not only one of his biggest promises but also one of the biggest for the new Republican Congress, would be a significant flip-flop. But figuring out a replacement for the law, without losing its most popular attributes, is proving exceedingly difficult for Republicans.

It’s unclear what, exactly, Trump is recommending. But his tweets suggest the belief that by doing nothing, Republicans could absolve themselves of political responsibility for high health costs. He did not say if or how he would he would help alleviate health costs for millions of Americans.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, the New Yorker who leads Democrats in the Senate, said in several interviews Wednesday that Republicans are in a bind over their efforts to repeal the law.

“They are like the dog who caught the bus,” he told Politico. “Because you cannot repeal a plan and put nothing in its place. It doesn’t matter if you say the repeal won’t take place for a year or two years.”

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Donald Trump takes another shot at U.S. intelligence, promoting Julian Assange’s version of events

(Kirsty Wigglesworth / Associated Press)

President-elect Donald Trump lodged another unprecedented assault on U.S. intelligence agencies Wednesday, promoting the credibility of WikiLeaks founder and editor Julian Assange at their expense.

Trump has been highly critical of the government’s assessment that Russia intervened in the November election, using WikiLeaks to release hacked Democratic emails.

On Twitter on Wednesday, Trump cited Assange’s assertions mocking the intelligence community’s conclusions that Russians were responsible for stealing the emails of top Hillary Clinton advisor John Podesta.

Assange gave an interview to Fox News host Sean Hannity, who has in the past called for trying him on espionage charges, echoing other Republicans and many in the intelligence community who say his airing of sensitive documents has put U.S. lives and strategic interests at risk. U.S. officials have said Assange is under criminal investigation.

Assange’s backers, including some on the far left, have praised him at times for scrutinizing U.S. actions abroad and in the war on terrorism.

Hannity, Trump’s biggest supporter in the media, has praised Assange since Trump began complaining that the conclusion about Russian meddling in the election was wrong. He flew to London to interview Assange in the Ecuadorian embassy, airing their conversation Tuesday. Assange has lived in the the embassy for more than four years, fleeing sexual assault accusations in Sweden.

Trump also quoted Assange’s criticism of the media as dishonest, amplifying that critique in his own words.

The praise for Assange on Wednesday came less than a day after Trump ridiculed U.S. intelligence.

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Obama and Pence both head to Capitol Hill as both sides dig in on Obamacare repeal

(Zach Gibson / AFP/Getty Images)

With Republicans and Democrats gearing up for a historic face-off over the fate of the Affordable Care Act, President Obama and Vice President-elect Mike Pence are headed to Capitol Hill to rally their respective parties Wednesday.

Obama, who has been intensifying efforts to defend his signature domestic policy achievement, is set to meet with congressional Democrats in the morning.

Pence, a former House member, will huddle with House Republicans in the morning and then have lunch with Senate Republicans.

The incoming vice president in many respects may have the harder job as congressional Republicans are still searching for a strategy to repeal and replace the healthcare law, commonly called Obamacare.

Though GOP lawmakers have pledged a quick repeal, party leaders are struggling with what parts of the law to roll back and how to lock up the votes they will need, particularly in the Senate, to push their ambitious plans.

Congressional Republicans have introduced a proposal to direct Congress to develop a repeal bill through a process called budget reconciliation.

If that passes, the House would then craft the repeal legislation, pass it and send it to the Senate. Under budget rules, Republicans, who have a 52-48 edge in the Senate, would need only a simple majority to pass the bill and send it to Trump.

But this approach is fueling an escalating criticism from healthcare groups representing doctors, hospitals and patients.

And though the first legislative step is expected to pass in the next two weeks, the repeal package could take months to develop.

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Trump once again challenges U.S. intelligence agencies on Russian hacking in campaign

(Don Emmert / AFP-Getty Images)

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday night renewed his taunting of the nation’s intelligence service, again questioning its assessment of Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential contest.

The heavy use of quotation marks suggested Trump’s continued doubts about findings that Russia intervened in the presidential race in hopes of boosting his candidacy.

He has repeatedly cast doubt on the intelligence assessment, suggested it was time to move on and, more recently, said he was interested in learning more about how analysts came to their conclusion before embracing their findings.

“I just want them to make sure because it’s a pretty serious charge,” Trump told reporters on New Year’s Eve.

He suggested hacking was “a very hard thing to prove” and said he knew things that “other people don’t know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation.”

Asked what he knew that others might not, Trump said, “You’ll find out Tuesday or Wednesday.”

NBC News, quoting an unnamed senior intelligence official, said the briefing Trump alluded to had always been planned for Friday.

The president-elect has confounded members of both political parties by seemingly siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who vehemently denies any Russian involvement in the presidential race, over the country’s own intelligence analysts.

Last week, President Obama expelled 35 Russian diplomats and closed two Russian compounds, in New York and Maryland, in response to what he described as “the Russian government’s aggressive harassment of U.S. officials and cyber operations aimed at the U.S. election.”

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Hillary and Bill Clinton will attend Donald Trump’s inauguration

Bill and Hillary Clinton attend President Obama's second inauguration in 2013.
(Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)

The inauguration of the next president won’t play out quite the way they had envisioned. But Bill and Hillary Clinton will still attend inaugural ceremonies for President-elect Donald Trump at the Capitol on Jan. 20, aides for both Clintons confirmed Tuesday.

Protocol dictates that former presidents, and their spouses, are given prominent seats to witness an inauguration. But never has a former first lady lost the election, and it had not been a given that either Clinton would attend.

Hillary Clinton’s attendance, in particular, will be an important symbol about the peaceful transfer of power in America despite one of the most bitter campaigns in recent memory.

Both Clintons spoke with Trump to congratulate him on his victory. A spokesman for former President Clinton said they have not spoken since.

Mitt Romney, who lost the 2012 election to President Obama, did not attend Obama’s second inaugural, opting to spend the day in La Jolla. He had dropped by the White House weeks before for a postelection lunch with Obama.

Previous election losers, including Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), were on hand for the inaugurations. Al Gore, as the outgoing vice president, also attended George W. Bush’s first inaugural in 2001 despite the close election result and recount battle in Florida.

Bush, the 43rd president, will also attend Trump’s inauguration as the 45th, as will former President Jimmy Carter. Former President George H.W. Bush will not attend because of health issues, CNN reported.

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Paul Ryan reelected House speaker with hardly any GOP dissent

Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) has been reelected House speaker.
(Cliff Owen / Associated Press)

The House reelected Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday, a party-line vote that displayed almost none of the public Republican opposition that has dogged past leaders.

The 239 votes partly reflected the work Ryan has done to shore up support among his colleagues as well as the GOP’s eagerness to appear united. The party now controls the House, the Senate and is about to have President-elect Trump in the White House.

Just one Republican dissented, far from the handful who voted against the Wisconsin Republican in 2015, when he was tapped to replace former Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who abruptly retired amid warring Republicans.

Democrats largely preferred House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). She won 189 votes, but faced scattered dissent as several lawmakers voted for other Democrats.

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Ford cancels Mexico factory and will invest in Michigan in ‘vote of confidence’ for Trump plans

Ford Motor Co. said Tuesday it was scrapping plans to build a $1.6-billion factory in Mexico and would invest $700 million to expand a Michigan plant to build electric and autonomous vehicles that will add 700 jobs there in a move Ford’s chief executive said was a “vote of confidence” in the economic policies of President-elect Donald Trump.

Ford isn’t abandoning expanded production in Mexico. The company said that to “improve company profitability” it would build its next-generation Ford Focus at an existing plant in Hermosillo, Mexico.

But in the wake of criticism by President-elect Donald Trump of the U.S. automaker and other companies moving manufacturing jobs across the border, Ford said it would cancel its plans for a major new plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

A company news release didn’t mention Trump, but Chief Executive Mark Fields told CNN on Tuesday that the new plans were “a vote of confidence” in the direction of the U.S. economy.

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House Republicans reverse course on gutting congressional ethics office after a firestorm of criticism

House Republicans reversed course Tuesday amid a firestorm of criticism over their plans to gut a congressional ethics office.

Republicans backed off the proposal that drew the ire of President-elect Donald Trump, who campaigned on a promise to “drain the swamp” of Washington influence and corruption.

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and top Republicans had warned colleagues not to pursue the proposal, which would have weakened the independent ethics office.

But the GOP leaders initially appeared resigned Tuesday after rank-and-file lawmakers supported the change, testing the leaders’ ability to control their majority.

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) told reporters Tuesday.

By late morning, though, as the full House was set to vote on the broader rules package, Republicans switched course.

Aides said the agreement was reached unanimously by leaders and lawmakers.

The changes would have fundamentally altered the independent Congressional Office of Ethics that was created in 2008 after a series of congressional scandals -- including one involving former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

McCarthy said he agreed with Trump -- that the first day of the new Congress was not the time for such controversial changes -- and he said he made some of the same arguments during a private session with Republican lawmakers.

Ryan made a similar plea, aides said.

But the GOP leaders failed to sway fellow Republican lawmakers, a reminder of the challenges the Republicans face in governing their often-willful majority in Congress.

Good-government and watchdog groups warned Republicans to switch course.

“No American, save a few members of Congress and those who want to do business in back rooms, supports this,” said David Donnelly, president and chief executive of Every Voice, a group advocating for campaign finance reforms. “Speaker Paul Ryan said he opposed the measure, and he should show leadership by calling for the Office of Congressional Ethics to be reinstated.”

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Congress opens with an ambitious agenda for the Trump era

A Republican-controlled Congress opens Tuesday with the most sweeping conservative agenda in decades, providing Donald Trump ample room to gut the Affordable Care Act, slash corporate tax rates and undo Obama-era environmental regulations.

The House is almost certain to reelect Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) as its first order of business, dispensing with the messy political infighting that has hobbled Republicans in the past.

And the Senate will swiftly begin vetting the president-elect’s most controversial Cabinet picks, ready to confirm some when Trump is inaugurated Jan. 20.

Yet Republicans remain at odds on some high-profile issues — such as how aggressively to investigate Russian hacking in the 2016 election — and how to fulfill other big-ticket promises, such as replacing Obamacare.

Despite firm Republican control of both the White House and Congress, the internal disputes have left them without a clear plan yet for Trump’s first 100 days, or an endgame for the two years of the 115th Congress.

Trump’s often shifting views on major issues will test relations with GOP’s leaders on Capitol Hill, and his willingness to skirt ideological rigidity gives incoming Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer of New York and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco an opening to influence and shape the president’s evolving agenda.

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Trump taps Robert Lighthizer to be U.S. trade representative, threatens GM with border tax for Mexican-made vehicles

President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday tapped Robert Lighthizer, a former Reagan administration official and longtime international trade attorney, to be his U.S. trade representative.

The Cabinet-level post will be especially important under Trump, who pledged during his campaign to strike trade deals that are more advantageous for the U.S. and scrap ones he deems unfair.

“Lighthizer is going to do an outstanding job representing the United States as we fight for good trade deals that put the American worker first,” Trump said in a statement.

“He has extensive experience striking agreements that protect some of the most important sectors of our economy, and has repeatedly fought in the private sector to prevent bad deals from hurting Americans,” Trump said. “He will do an amazing job helping turn around the failed trade policies which have robbed so many Americans of prosperity.”

The significance of trade to Trump was made clear shortly after the announcement when he complained on Twitter that General Motors Corp. was selling Chevrolet Cruze vehicles made in Mexico tax-free in the U.S.

Trump warned a “big border tax” could be coming.

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House Republicans vote behind closed doors to gut ethics office ahead of new Congress

On the eve of the new Congress, House Republicans voted privately Monday to gut an ethics office that had been established as an independent watchdog on lawmakers in the aftermath of several high-profile scandals.

Republicans agreed to rename the Office of Congressional Ethics and put it under the oversight of the Committee on Ethics, which is a panel made up of lawmakers.

The full House will be asked to vote on the proposal as part of a broader rules package when the chamber convenes Tuesday.

The new Office of Congressional Complaint Review would be barred from investigating anonymous tips and prevented from disclosing its work. It would refer findings to the Committee on Ethics.

The move came during a closed-door evening session and ahead of Tuesday’s opening of the new Congress and the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to “drain the swamp” of undue influence and corruption in Washington.

House Republicans were somewhat split over the late amendment, which was proposed by Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the Judiciary Committee. The vote was 119 to 74.

Democrats, led by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, denounced the move. They may not be able to block the measure when it comes up for a vote.

“Republicans claim they want to ‘drain the swamp,’ but the night before the new Congress gets sworn in, the House GOP has eliminated the only independent ethics oversight of their actions,” Pelosi said. “Evidently, ethics are the first casualty of the new Republican Congress.”

Goodlatte rejected concerns that the proposal would weaken the office, arguing that it strengthens and builds on the work of the office that was launched in 2008.

“It also improves upon due process rights for individuals under investigation, as well as witnesses called to testify,” Goodlatte said. “The OCE has a serious and important role in the House, and this amendment does nothing to impede their work.”

Because there was dissent among Republicans, it’s unclear whether the changes will survive or threaten to tank the broader package of chamber rules. The rules package is among the first orders of business when the new Congress convenes.

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Obama will deliver farewell address in Chicago

(Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)

Ten days before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, President Obama will thank Americans and say goodbye from the same city that launched his political career.

He will deliver a presidential farewell address on Jan. 10 at Chicago’s McCormick Place.

In an email Monday morning, Obama said he was taking his cue from George Washington, who “set the precedent for a peaceful, democratic transfer of power” and penned a farewell address in 1796.

Over the last 220 years, many American presidents have followed Washington’s lead, Obama wrote.

“I’m just beginning to write my remarks,” he added. “But I’m thinking about them as a chance to say thank you for this amazing journey, to celebrate the ways you’ve changed this country for the better these past eight years, and to offer some thoughts on where we all go from here.”

In the email, Obama said the nation has faced a number of challenges in the last eight years but emerged stronger.

“That’s because we have never let go of a belief that has guided us ever since our founding -- our conviction that, together, we can change this country for the better,” he wrote.

The scheduled farewell address will bring Obama’s political career as a state senator in Illinois, U.S. senator and president full circle. When he won the White House in 2008, Chicago hosted a victory rally in Grant Park.

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Hoping Trump will lay off Twitter as president? Think again

President-elect Donald Trump has no plans to scrap his controversial and sometimes inflammatory use of Twitter and other social media tools after he becomes president in just 20 days, his top spokesman said Sunday.

“When he tweets, he gets results,” Sean Spicer, Trump’s incoming press secretary, told ABC News. “So whether it’s Twitter, holding a news conference, picking up the phone, having a meeting, he is going to make sure that he continues to fight for the American people every single day.”

In the days after his election victory, Trump told CBS’ “60 Minutes” that he would be “very restrained” on Twitter in the White House, though he cautioned that he would also use the service to combat negative press. He has continued to use the social media platform to blast opponents, propose policies and make statements that critics and fact-checkers have labeled as alternately outlandish and false.

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Trump’s top spokesman questions whether Russian sanctions went too far

President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming press secretary questioned Sunday whether the Obama administration’s sanctions after concluding Russia interfered in the election were out of proportion.

“Why the magnitude of this?” Sean Spicer, Trump’s incoming press secretary, told ABC News.

The White House announced last week that it was levying sanctions against Russian intelligence services and booting 35 Russian officials from the U.S. in response to meddling in the election. It also blocked Moscow’s access to two compounds it owns in the United States.

“Is that response in proportion to the actions taken? Maybe it was; maybe it wasn’t, but you have to think about that,” Spicer said. “That’s nothing that we haven’t seen in modern history and when we look back.”

U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials have alleged that Russia’s two largest intelligence agencies conducted an aggressive campaign of cyber attacks that were aimed, in part, at interfering in the November election.

Trump has expressed skepticism that Russia is behind the cyber assaults, and he reiterated those doubts Saturday.

“It could be somebody else,” Trump told reporters before attending a New Year’s Eve bash at his Florida resort. “And I also know things that other people don’t know, and so they cannot be sure of the situation.”

When pressed to describe what he knew, Trump replied, “You’ll find out on Tuesday or Wednesday.”

Trump has tweeted that he will receive an intelligence briefing on the hacking in coming days, and Spicer said the president-elect would reserve judgment until learning more.

Republicans in Congress have said they intend to hold hearings into election hacking by the Russian intelligence services. House Speaker Paul Ryan said that the sanctions were “overdue.”

“Russia does not share America’s interests. In fact, it has consistently sought to undermine them, sowing dangerous instability around the world,” Ryan said in a statement, signaling that he will not be in full alignment with the Trump administration on the issue.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, told ABC that the intelligence community has gathered “solid” evidence to support its conclusions that Russia was behind the election hacking.

“It’s indeed overwhelming and the president-elect, as you know, also said that he knows things that other people don’t know,” said Schiff. “He needs to stop talking this way. If he’s going to have any credibility as president, he needs to stop talking this way. He needs to stop denigrating the intelligence community. He’s going to rely on them.”

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Russian malware found on laptop at Vermont electric utility

Malicious software tied to Russian intelligence agencies has been found on a computer of a small electric utility in northern Vermont, raising concerns of Russian attempts to interfere with critical infrastructure as well as the 2016 presidential race.

The laptop computer was not connected to the electric system, and the malware did not disrupt electric grid operations or compromise customer data, according to the Burlington Electric Department and a U.S. law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity.

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This Congress filled the fewest judgeships since 1952. That leaves a big opening for Trump

(Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press))

President-elect Donald Trump will take office with a chance to fill more than 100 seats on the federal courts, thanks mostly to an extraordinary two-year slowdown in judicial confirmations engineered by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

Since Republicans took control of the Senate at the beginning of the 114th Congress last year, senators have voted to confirm only 22 of President Obama’s judicial nominees. That’s the lowest total since 1951-52, in the final years of Harry Truman’s presidency.

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