Privatizing the V.A. Will Hurt Veterans  —  It has been my greatest professional honor to serve our country's more than 20 million veterans.  Almost three years ago, I left my private sector job running hospitals and came to Washington to repay my gratitude to the men and women who put their lives on the line for our country.

Trump Rings Up Roseanne Barr After Her Show Is a Ratings Winner  —  President Trump made a personal phone call on Wednesday to a political supporter with a huge megaphone — Roseanne Barr.  —  Mr. Trump called Ms. Barr to congratulate her on the revival of her comedy, “Roseanne,” and to thank her for her support.

We may know why Paul Manafort has kept quiet.  But his bet is still risky.  —  Harry Litman practices law at the firm Constantine Cannon and teaches constitutional law at the University of California at San Diego.  He served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department …

Kelly Loses White House Clout as Trump Blazes Own Path  —  Chief of staff out of loop for several key recent decisions  —  President and top aide at times now on different wavelengths  —  White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has lost some of his clout following recent missteps …

Jeff Sessions Is Winning for Donald Trump.  If Only He Can Keep His Job  —  Sessions greets law-enforcement officers in Kentucky.  “The fundamental question is, Who rules the streets?” the U.S. Attorney General says.  “The government or the outlaws?”  Philip Montgomery for TIME

Rival Korean leaders to meet April 27 in historic summit  —  PAJU, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will meet South Korean President Moon Jae-in at a border village on April 27, the South announced Thursday, for a rare summit that could prove significant in global efforts …

Inside the Cutthroat Battle to Be the Next Hope Hicks  —  Hope Hicks plans to depart Washington by Good Friday, over a month after she resigned as the White House communications director on February 28.  She will leave behind a press operation that is inherently broken …

Jeb fires Trump barbs at Yale talk  —  Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's psychiatrist wants him to move past the 2016 presidential election.  —  “I'm not going to talk about the 2016 election,” Bush joked on Tuesday in a talk sponsored by the The William F. Buckley, Jr. Program at Yale.

FBI looked into Trump plans to build hotel in Latvia with Putin supporter  —  Exclusive: US authorities made inquiries even before 2016 election campaign into Trump property dealings in former Soviet Union … They wanted to build the Las Vegas of the Baltics.

It's Time to Stop Yammering About Liberal Bias  —  We're now several days into a roiling debate over whether liberals ought to be upset that the Atlantic hired a man who once argued that a quarter of American women should be executed.  Predictably, both sides have progressed from that specific …

64% of assailants in mass attacks suffered from symptoms of mental illness, Secret Service report finds  —  WASHINGTON — A striking number of suspects linked to violent attacks in schools and other public places last year were stalked by symptoms of mental illness and nearly half were motivated …

Boeing hit by WannaCry virus, but says no impact on jet production  —  Boeing was hit by the WannaCry computer virus Wednesday, initially raising fears within the company that airplane production could be affected.  Later Boeing played down the impact and called it a “limited intrusion” with production unaffected.

Crazed girls flood Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz with fan mail  —  Sun Sentinel  —  Mass murderer Nikolas Cruz is getting stacks of fan mail and love letters sent to the Broward County jail, along with hundreds of dollars in contributions to his commissary account.

Why Are States So Strapped for Cash?  There Are Two Big Reasons  —  The proportion of state and local tax revenues dedicated to Medicaid and public pensions is the highest since the 1960s  —  The only speaker standing between state budget officers and the opening cocktail hour …

Minneapolis FBI agent charged with leaking classified information to reporter  —  A Minneapolis FBI agent who started his career with the agency as an intern in 2000 has been charged with leaking classified information to the news website The Intercept.  —  Terry James Albury …

Documents suggest possible coordination between CIA, FBI, Obama WH and Dem officials early in Trump-Russia probe: investigators  —  The political rhetoric over the FISA abuse memo took a new turn with the ranking Democrat drafting his own version; Catherine Herridge goes in-depth for ‘Special Report.’

After a long wait, World War II spy service honored for daring acts that helped secure Allied victory … For former military pilot John Billings, the commendation he received on Capitol Hill last week was welcome but late.  Seventy-three years late, to be exact.

Onion Inc. has unionized  —  We've decided to form a union here at Onion Inc., home of The A.V. Club and our sister sites The Onion and ClickHole.  First, all of The A.V. Club staff, along with an overwhelming majority of Onion Inc. staff, signed cards signaling our desire to unionize.

Los Angeles Rams' male cheerleaders make NFL history  —  SportsPulse: NFL owners voted on Tuesday to overturn the league's confusing catch rule, but will the new verbiage make a difference?  USA TODAY Sports' Mike Jones thinks so.  USA TODAY Sports  —  CONNECT

James Comey cashing in after being fired by Trump  —  Getting fired by President Trump was the best thing that ever happened to James Comey — at least financially.  —  The former FBI director — who never made more than a bureaucrat's salary in law enforcement — already …

Scalise comeback fuels talk of succeeding Ryan  —  ATOP THE OLYMPUS TLP OIL RIG IN THE GULF OF MEXICO — With one arm snaked around his crutches and the other gripping a handrail, Steve Scalise climbed gingerly up hundreds of stairs to the peak control room of a hulking oil rig 77 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

‘Kiss Up, Kick Down’: Those Recalling Bolton's U.N. Confirmation Process Say He Hasn't Changed  —  WASHINGTON — The last time — perhaps the only time — John R. Bolton inspired bipartisan agreement, it was over the shared conclusion that he was perhaps the least diplomatic personality …

Sacramento Home For Sale, But Not To Trump Supporters  —  SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Sacramento area home is up for sale, but it comes with a catch.  —  The homeowner has a political preference in mind for the next owner of her house, which has been in her family for decades.

Channeling his inner Fred Astaire: 6 times George W. Bush broke out the dance moves  —  WASHINGTON — George W. Bush has talked about finding his “inner Rembrandt.”  Maybe he has an inner Fred Astaire, too.  —  The former president — who's taken up painting since leaving the White House …

Ben Shapiro to take his podcast to radio  —  A favorite of young conservatives enters a talk-radio world dominated by Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.  —  Ben Shapiro, the conservative firebrand whose clashes with liberal academia have helped him attract a huge social media following, will be taking his podcast to old-fashioned radio.

Conservative outlets take on Facebook  —  Add another item to Facebook's growing list of headaches: Conservative publishers are complaining that the social media network has unfairly targeted their traffic.  —  In January, Facebook announced that it would be changing the algorithm for its newsfeed …

Groupon Apologizes for Using N-Word to Describe Boots  —  Groupon's got a major mishap to deal with after a racial slur appeared on its site for a listing for women's boots ... and it started by issuing an apology.  —  Screenshots from outraged customers started making the rounds on social media Wednesday …

Under Ben Carson, HUD Scales Back Fair Housing Enforcement  —  WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is attempting to scale back federal efforts to enforce fair housing laws, freezing enforcement actions against local governments and businesses, including Facebook, while sidelining officials …

Julian Assange has internet cut at Ecuadorian embassy in London  —  Ecuador has cut Julian Assange's internet connection at its embassy in London, preventing him from communicating with the outside world.  —  The move is to prevent the WikiLeaks founder from interfering in other countries' affairs, Ecuador said.

Statistically, at Least 2 Disney Princesses Have Had Abortions  —  We need many kinds of Disney princesses, according to an extremely fun meme whooshing across the 'net.  We need a Disney princess who juuls; we need a Disney princess who is falling asleep/calling a cab/having a smoke/taking a drag …