What's the RFS reaction?  

Trump proposes opening up Tongass — Report: White House deferred to 'three amigos'

Health officials: Trump immigration order could be illegal   -50%

Trump's proclamation has rattled the career civil servants who would have to transform a vague order into policy.

Donald Trump confirms US Energy Secretary Rick Perry stepping down as impeachment probe deadline looms   -15%

US Energy Secretary Rick Perry will step down by the end of the year, President Donald Trump said on Thursday, a day before a deadline set by congressional Democrats for Perry to turn over documents in the impeachment probe.Trump told an event in Texas that he had known for months that Perry would resign.“Rick and I have been talking for six months. In fact, I thought he might go a bit sooner,” Trump said. “But he’s got some very big plans. He’s going to be very successful. We have his…

WaPo: Russia and Hungary helped sour Trump on Ukraine  

President Donald Trump's urging of Ukraine's President to investigate rivals coincided Russian President Vladimir Putin ad Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pushing a disparaging view of the country to Trump, according to the Washington Post.

Republican Strategist Michael Steel On What GOP Lawmakers Are Saying About Trump  

NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Republican strategist Michael Steel about what he's hearing from Republican lawmakers regarding President Trump.

Democrats 2020 race has a new shadow: Hillary Clinton  

Some Democrats are putting up caution signs for Hillary Clinton as she wades back into presidential politics by casting 2020 candidate Tulsi Gabbard as a “Russian asset,” mocking President Donald … Click to Continue »

Amash: Republicans wish they weren't 'trapped' into defending Trump  

Rep. Justin Amash lamented administration and congressional Republicans as being caught in an untenable position trying to defend President Donald Trump as the controversy surrounding his dealings with Ukraine continues to grow.

Tough love with Turkey got Syria ceasefire done Trump   20%

US President Donald Trump hailed the news that Turkey agreed to halt its operation in Syria pending the withdrawal of Kurdish militia from the ‘safe zone’ along the border, crediting his “tough love” approach for the breakthrough.
Read Full Article at RT.com

The Closed-Door Impeachment   -18%

In the three and a half weeks since Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, House investigators have broken through the administration’s stonewalling of Congress and heard dozens of hours of testimony from key witnesses.

The public, however, has seen virtually none of it—and that dynamic could ultimately threaten the Democrats’ bid to get public opinion firmly on their side.

Except for an initial open hearing, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee have so far conducted their impeachment investigation entirely behind closed doors. They have yet to release transcripts of their depositions, either to the public or, to the chagrin of Republicans, other lawmakers. The only testimony that’s filtered out has come secondhand from those on the committee or in selective leaks to the press.

That decision has, in some respects, paid dividends for Democrats: They obtained—and found a way to make public—damaging revelations about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine that have gone significantly beyond the accusations initially leveled by a whistle-blower. The current and former U.S. diplomats who provided that information might have fought requests to testify in public hearings, making the Democrats’ approach all the more valuable to their fact-finding.

But the closed-door strategy runs counter to another goal Democrats have. The lack of televised hearings could limit their ability to capture attention and build voter support for the party’s case against Trump—which Pelosi had long made a prerequisite for pursuing impeachment in the first place. While public hearings haven’t always been a success for the Democrats since they won the House majority last year, they’re a potentially useful venue for compelling political theater.

In interviews, lawmakers pushed back on the suggestion that Americans have been cut out of the process. “I’m not aware that the public is experiencing any confusion,” Representative Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, the co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in an interview yesterday. “I have zero concerns on that front.”

What the process has done, however, is open the party up to criticism from Republicans that it’s running an overly secretive operation, including from those who have not marched in lockstep with Trump.

“I want to get to the truth, just like everybody else,” said Representative Jaime Herrera-Beutler, a Republican from a competitive district in Washington State. “But this needs to happen out in the open, with full transparency, and right now that’s not happening.” Herrera-Beutler was speaking in a video she tweeted on Thursday, in which she stood outside the room where the Intelligence Committee has been hearing testimony in secret.

For days, Republican members who are not on the panel have been trying to get into the room, knowing full well they would be turned away, to highlight what they claim is a fundamentally unjust process. Yesterday, that was the subject of a heated exchange between the second-ranking members of each party, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, that devolved into a shouting match on the House floor.

“Are we going to finally get beyond this secret, closed-door star-chamber process of impeachment and get to something that is rooted in fairness?” Scalise asked Hoyer.

[Read: The risks of impeachment are overblown]

“I reject wholly and fully the premise underlying the whip’s representation,” the Democrat replied. “There is no unfairness in this process.

“The Republicans are pounding on process, Mr. Speaker, because they do not want to discuss the substance,” Hoyer continued, pounding loudly on his own lectern for effect.

As for why the Democrats are holding hearings behind closed doors, Hoyer added, “We do not want to turn it into a circus.”

That is probably more compelling a reason than many Democrats would care to admit. The party saw firsthand the downside of televised hearings when the House Judiciary Committee called Trump’s pugnacious former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, to testify during the brief period when that panel had opened an impeachment probe. Bickering with members and stalling for time, Lewandowski tried to make a mockery of the proceedings. He largely succeeded in stymieing Democrats’ attempt to elicit useful information until the very end of the hearing, when a lawyer for the committee questioned him uninterrupted for a half hour.

“I think we saw that wasn’t a particularly productive way to get information in front of the committee or in front of the public,” says Molly Reynolds, an expert on Congress at the Brookings Institution. “Congressional hearings, particularly in today’s media environment, aren’t necessarily well structured for deliberative consideration of material.”

Impeachment in the House is roughly equivalent to an indictment in criminal law. The Senate conducts the trial, which is held publicly and during which attorneys for the president can mount a defense. Democrats say the Intelligence Committee is still in fact-finding mode; Hoyer likened the process occurring now to a grand jury, whose proceedings are secret.

While Republicans point out that previous impeachment inquiries have been conducted more openly, Democrats counter that unlike Watergate with President Richard Nixon or the Kenneth Starr investigation into President Bill Clinton, they are starting from scratch, without the help of an exhaustive report from a special prosecutor. (Democrats might have been able to move more swiftly to public hearings had they continued pursuing impeachment based on the Robert Mueller investigation, but they put that effort on hold to pursue the separate Ukraine matter.)

“The reasons for conducting interviews in private are sound and based on the best interests of a thorough and fair investigation,” Representative Adam Schiff of California, the Intelligence Committee chairman who is leading the investigation, wrote in a letter released this week. Schiff also wrote that Democrats plan to make interview transcripts public, but are holding back for now so that witnesses can’t coordinate their statements or align their stories.

“That information will be made public,” echoed Representative Derek Kilmer, the chairman of the New Democrat Coalition, when we asked whether he was concerned about the appearance of secrecy. “There will be an opportunity to review the evidence.”

A key question, however, is when—or if—Democrats will release that information and hold those public hearings before they decide whether to take articles of impeachment to the House floor. The clock is ticking: Lawmakers have said they want to finish the proceedings as early as Thanksgiving, which means only six weeks remain.

For now, rank-and-file Democrats say they aren’t worried about the process, or the attacks from Republicans. The caucus seems uniquely united on this front: They believe they’re following the proper procedures to ensure that the inquiry is treated with the seriousness that it deserves, and they argue that the American people recognize that.

“I think it’s a manufactured issue by Republicans,” Pocan said. “They can’t defend the president, so they’re trying to throw misdirection out there.

“As someone who does magic,” Pocan added, “I understand misdirection.”

Deep state versus a president? It didnt begin with Trump.  

Career bureaucrats are among those providing evidence in the Democratic-led impeachment investigation of President Trump.

Timeline: Key dates in the U.S. House's impeachment inquiry into Trump  

U.S. congressional Democrats are pursuing a fast-moving impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, focused on whether he abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to launch an investigation against a key political rival.

Trump Reaches Phase 1 Deal With China and Delays Planned Tariffs  

President Trump said he had reached an agreement with China to walk back tensions in the trade war as he met with a top Chinese envoy Friday

Top U.S. Diplomat In Ukraine To Testify Before Congressional Impeachment Panels   -25%

As the U.S. Congressional impeachment investigation into President Donald Trump has continued for over a month, the country’s top diplomat in Ukraine is set to be deposed on October 22 behind closed doors in front of three panels as this week’s key witness.

As Support for Trumps Impeachment Grows, His Base Digs In Its Heels   33%

Republicans remain almost unanimously opposed to removing President Trump from office, leaving him with a loyal but shrinking core of supporters.

Could Mitt Romney be Trump's nemesis in the Senate?   8%

The 2012 presidential nominee has criticized the president over Syria and Ukraine – could he rally Republicans in the event of an impeachment trial?

With most of his colleagues unable to choke out a syllable of opprobrium for Donald Trump, Republican senator Mitt Romney has stood out as a willing, if reserved, critic of the president.

Related: Cracks appear in Republican effort to shield Trump as scandals mount – live

How Trump brought Israel and Democrats closer together   35%

The unintended consequence of Trump’s betrayal of Kurds: Amy Klobuchar's depiction of Israel in Democratic debate as 'beacon of democracy' is sweet music to the ears of worried supporters

Letters to the Editor: This isn't the first time Trump has acted in Turkey's interest   25%

Trump's first national security advisor was a paid agent of Ankara, and he lobbied the Justice Department to dismiss a case involving Turkey.

A series of images of Pelosi and Trump have made her a meme, and for some, a symbol of a woman in power  

The pointed finger. That red coat. These images of Pelosi with Trump are resonating for a few reasons.

Putin and Hungarian PM reportedly disparaged Ukraine to Trump  

President Donald Trump's urging of Ukraine's President to investigate political rivals coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pushing a disparaging view of the country to Trump, The Washington Post reported on Monday.

Trump says hes the dealmaker in chief, but his record lists mostly incompletes   -10%

In roughly two dozen diplomatic and trade efforts, Trump has landed a handful of victories and floated some mystifying non-starters. Greenland, anyone?

Opinion: With McAleenan's ouster, leading Homeland Security could be the least-secure jobs in D.C.   11%

Kevin McAleenan was the fourth Homeland Security chief in less than three years of the Trump administration. How many more can Trump squeeze in?

Another anti-Muslim group wants to hold event at Trumps Palm Beach resort, Mar-a-Lago   -16%

An anti-Muslim group is planning to hold a private event at President Donald Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago, getting a permit only days before the Trump Organization canceled another such hate … Click to Continue »

Trump reverses plans to host G-7 summit at his Doral resort in Florida   -8%

President Donald Trump reversed course on his decision to host the next Group of Seven summit of world leaders at his resort in Doral, Florida, on Saturday night, less than … Click to Continue »

Opinion: If Democrats dislike Trump's authoritarianism, why were the debates so hot for executive action?   -20%

Trump has shown us the dangers of electing an authoritarian president. We should be wary of Democratic candidates eager to use executive action.

What does THAT mean? Trump says US secured the oil in Syria, causes confusion   12%

President Donald Trump’s claim that the US has “secured the oil” in Syria has set Twitter on fire, from speculation he will keep troops there to accusations he was only ever interested in oil rather than fighting terrorism.
Read Full Article at RT.com

Trump melts down when he cant control the news   -50%

Syria and impeachment leave Trump powerless.

James Mattis hits back at Donald Trump: honoured to be most overrated general   22%

Former US defence secretary James Mattis said he was honoured to be the “world’s most overrated general” in a swipe at his former boss, Donald Trump, who insulted him earlier this week.At a gala charity dinner in New York on Thursday evening, Mattis told diners he had now “achieved greatness.”“I’m not just an overrated general. I am the greatest, the world’s most overrated,” he said.“I’m honoured to be considered that by Donald Trump because he also called Meryl Streep an overrated actress,” he…

Trump blasts critics who pushed him to cancel G-7 at Doral   -10%

President Donald Trump is lamenting that he was forced to move next year's Group of Seven summit from his private golf club in Florida after bipartisan criticism.

Republicans advantage on national security has faded and Democratic candidates are responding  

The Trump administration keeps moving farther from what Americans say they want.

Don Lemon: Trump knows he's in trouble   -15%

CNN's Don Lemon breaks down the claims made by President Donald Trump concerning the whistleblower and his call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Trumps betrayal of the Kurds shames us all  

Donald Trump’s betrayal of the Kurds in northern Syria is both a moral and strategic calamity.

Forget Trumps MeltdownFollow the Testimony  

Susan B. Glasser writes about the death of Elijah Cummings and this week’s revelations in the House of Representative’s impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump.

Dan Rather has dire warning about Trump   -11%

Dan Rather and Sam Donaldson tell CNN's Don Lemon that they think that President Donald Trump is dangerous for the country because Trump is only interested in protecting himself.

Investigation into Hillary Clinton emails finds no deliberate mishandling of classified information  

Speculation over former Secretary of State's emails settled as President Trump continues to raise the issue to attack Democrats

Ambassador and Oregon hotelier Gordon Sondland faces backlash at home over role in Ukraine scandal  

Gordon Sondland, a Portland hotelier appointed ambassador to the European Union after donating $1 million to Trump's inauguration, called himself a master of the quid pro quo in deals between Oregon and the George W. Bush White House.

Trump has meltdown during Syria meeting and has no plan to deal with Isis  

Democrats say president called Nancy Pelosi a 'third-rate politician' in blistering meeting at the White House

Trump's attacks on Biden follow a playbook he's practiced for more than 30 years   -40%

In his attacks on Joe Biden, President Trump is executing a playbook he has honed for decades, spreading false accusations using the media he scorns.

How old is too old to be president?  

Are Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren — and Donald Trump — too old to be president of the United States?

From Ukraine to Syria, is Americas beacon dimming?   28%

President Trump has faced overwhelming bipartisan criticism on Syria. Ukraine has also elicited broad concerns. Observers see a shift in values.

A U.S. Indictment Draws Ukraine Further Into Washington's Impeachment Drama  

The U.S. indictment unsealed this week targets two U.S. businessmen with Ukrainian business interests, charging them with violating U.S. campaign-finance laws. But the court papers also add more evidence of Ukrainian links to the impeachment inquiry that has engulfed President Donald Trump's administration.