Month: February 2018

Congressional Republicans appear unlikely to even attempt to pass a budget resolution that could allow them to push cuts of that sort through the Senate without any Democratic votes, having reserved that move last year not for spending cuts, but for tax cuts that the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates will add more than $1 trillion to the national debt, even after accounting for increased economic growth. The most energy the party put last year into actually reducing spending…

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And without Mr. Trump’s direct intervention, Ms. Blackburn is highly unlikely to bow to Mr. Corker. “Marsha Blackburn is not getting out of this race regardless of who gets in,” said Ward Baker, the Nashville-area lawmaker’s chief strategist. Further, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, has rebuffed Mr. Corker by telling him that he must secure the president’s support to re-enter the race, according to Republicans familiar with the conversation, a rare act of political deference that…

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But in the Capitol, Mr. McConnell and his Democratic counterpart, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, were unable to come to terms on an agreement that would get the debate underway in earnest. Mr. McConnell sought to open with a vote on legislation to punish so-called sanctuary cities, which refuse to cooperate with federal immigration officials. But Mr. Schumer objected, on the grounds that such a measure is unrelated to DACA. Without the Democratic leader’s consent, debate cannot begin…

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On Feb. 6, Judge Arbuthnot rebuffed a claim by Mr. Assange’s lawyer, Mark Summers, that the warrant was void because it stemmed from a Swedish extradition request that has since been withdrawn. Photo Jennifer Robinson, center, a lawyer representing Julian Assange, speaking to reporters outside Westminster Magistrates Court in London this month. Credit John Stillwell/Press Association, via Associated Press On Tuesday, she rejected the argument that the warrant was contrary to the public interest, saying that Mr. Assange’s “failure…

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Photo Maggie Haberman, left, and Jennifer Steinhauer participating in a Times Insider panel discussion, “The Journalist and the Source,” last week in Washington. Credit Scott Henrichsen for The New York Times I first crossed paths with Maggie Haberman, a White House correspondent for The Times, in 2001, when we were both covering City Hall — she for The New York Post and me for The Times. She was exactly the same as she is now — sardonic, witty, neurotic,…

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