Mitt Romney's op-ed crystallizes all the reasons the old GOP establishment has been pushed aside  —  Henry Olsen is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and author of “The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism.”

Pelosi has a message for Trump: ‘Nothing for the wall’  —  “We can go through the back and forth,” the incoming House speaker told NBC News in an exclusive interview.  “No. How many more times can we say no?”  —  Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi told NBC's “Today” show in an interview set …

Source: Trump tells Schumer he can't accept Dems' offer because he'd ‘look foolish’  —  Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump told a group of lawmakers he can't accept Democrats' offer to re-open the government as the two sides negotiate border wall funding because he “would look foolish if I did that …

Letter from Tim Cook to Apple Investors  —  CUPERTINO, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Apple® today issued the following public letter to investors:  —  To Apple investors:  —  Today we are revising our guidance for Apple's fiscal 2019 first quarter, which ended on December 29.  We now expect the following:

Harry Reid Has a Few Words for Washington  —  The former Senate majority leader on President Trump and Senator Chuck Schumer, and on why he doesn't regret ending the filibuster for judicial appointments.  —  Early on the afternoon of Dec. 11, about an hour after an Oval Office meeting between President Trump …

For Bernie Sanders, Claims of Sexism in 2016 Campaign Hang Over 2020 Bid  —  In February 2016, Giulianna Di Lauro, a Latino outreach strategist for Senator Bernie Sanders's presidential operation, complained to her supervisor that she had been harassed by a campaign surrogate whom she drove …

I Don't Hate Women Candidates — I Just Hated Hillary and Coincidentally I'm Starting to Hate Elizabeth Warren  —  “How does Warren avoid a Clinton redux — written off as too unlikable before her campaign gets off the ground?”  — Politico, 12/31/18  —  I have no problem with women.

Democrats to ask for 10 years of presidential tax returns in new bill  —  Fact Check: Trump's false tax return claims  —  (CNN)Democrats are making presidential tax returns a focal point in one of their first pieces of legislation, an effort to build the case to the American people …

Old Post Office Tower at Trump hotel to open during shutdown  —  Want access to the top energy and environment news?  —  Sign up for a free trial!  —  Enter your email to register or log in.  —  By signing up, you agree to receive E&E News email updates and offers.

Former NY Times editor rips Trump coverage as biased  —  President Trump appears content to ride out partial government shutdown stalemate over border security funding  —  A former executive editor of the New York Times says the paper's news pages, the home of its straight-news coverage, have become “unmistakably anti-Trump.”

Brazil's Bolsonaro targets LGBT people, Indigenous groups on 1st day in office  —  SAO PAULO — Newly installed President Jair Bolsonaro targeted Brazil's indigenous groups, descendants of slaves and the LGBT community with executive orders in the first hours of his administration …

EXCLUSIVE: PHOTOS of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or “Sandy” as She Was Known at Her Elite High School in Yorktown — NOT in the Bronx  —  Congresswoman elect Democrat-Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez grew up and attended school in affluent Westchester, New York but likes to pretend like she grew up in the Bronx.

CNN Asks Brother Of Detained American About His Anti-CNN Posts On Social Media  —  A CNN anchor asked the brother of a detained American about his anti-CNN social media posts in an interview Wednesday morning.  —  Forty-eight-year-old Michigan businessman and ex-Marine, Paul Whelan …

Exculpatory Russia evidence about Mike Flynn that US intel kept secret  —  Sometimes public silence can be deafening or, for that matter, misleading.  —  For nearly two years now, the intelligence community has kept secret evidence in the Russia collusion case that directly undercuts …

Oscars: It's January, So Why Is There Still No Host?  —  The Hollywood Reporter's awards columnist breaks down the challenges — and possibilities — facing the Academy as it nears a record-late date for announcing a host or hosts.  —  As the holiday break comes to an end and Hollywood's denizens stagger …

Shutdown worsens strain on U.S. immigration system  —  Tens of thousands of U.S. immigration officers and agents are showing up for work each day to guard the Mexico border, where President Trump insists on putting a wall.  But the government is shut down, so no one is getting paid.

NASA: Icy object past Pluto looks like reddish snowman  —  LAUREL, Md. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft 4 billion miles from Earth yielded its first close-up pictures Wednesday of the most distant celestial object ever explored, depicting what looks like a reddish snowman.

Stoneman Douglas commission calls for arming teachers, more school security spending in first report to state leaders  —  Students are evacuated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on the day of the shooting.  (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel)  —  South Florida Sun Sentinel

No One Can Get A Marriage License In DC During The Government Shutdown  —  WASHINGTON — Danielle Geanacopoulos and Dan Pollock are no strangers to a government shutdown, having gone through a few when they used to work in Congress.  —  But when the two former congressional staffers walked …

Trump's bizarre history lesson on the Soviet Union, Russia and Afghanistan … President Trump said a lot of strange, untrue things after Wednesday's Cabinet meeting.  But the most bizarre snippet might have been his “history” lesson on the Soviet Union.  —  Trump, who has assured us …

Blackburn, Ernst become first GOP women to serve on Senate Judiciary  —  Freshman Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa will become the first Republican women to serve on the Judiciary Committee when the new Congress is seated this week, according to a roster obtained …

The New Acting Interior Secretary Is An Agency Insider And Ex-Oil Lobbyist  —  Ryan Zinke has stepped down as Interior Secretary, resigning as planned amid a series of ethics investigations.  In a tweeted out farewell note he says it's been a “high honor” to serve, that the agency has restored public lands …