- The Senate will again try to pass their tax package on Friday. The process hit a snag on Thursday after deficit hawks raised concerns that the plan would blow a $1 trillion hole in the budget [Washington Post].
- If Republicans can pass the proposed massive tax cuts, it could trigger massive spending cuts in federal programs, including Medicare [Politico].
- President Donald Trump repeatedly pressured top Republicans over the summer to end the Senate probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election [New York Times].
- Russian trolls pushed offensive and racist content to Americans via Twitter during the 2016 election. Some of the posts accused Democrats of satanic practices and supporting rape [NBC News].
- President Donald Trump reportedly is telling close confidants that a government shut down would be good for him politically [Washington Post].
- The State Department warned the White House about possible protests and violence at US embassies after President Donald Trump retweeted some anti-Muslim videos this week [CNN].
- The White House is reportedly working on a plan to oust Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. He will reportedly be replaced by current CIA Director Mike Pompeo [New York Times].
- The Trump administration is considering allowing former US intelligence officers to run privatized covert actions, including intelligence gathering and the rendition of suspected terrorists [BuzzFeed].
- Congress secretly paid nearly $100,000 to settle sexual harassment claims from two male staffers against former Congressman Eric Massa [ABC News].
- Sen. Al Franken is facing increasing pressure to resign after multiple women have come forward to accuse him of groping them [Washington Post].
- President Donald Trump complained Friday morning that the immigration history of a Mexican man who was acquitted in the murder of a San Francisco woman was not presented to a jury. Trump often highlighted the case while on the campaign trail in 2016 as part of his rhetoric against illegal immigration [Politico].
- A female candidate for Attorney General in Michigan raises the issue of sexual harassment in a campaign ad. She vows she won’t show her penis to staffers because she doesn’t have one [Detroit Free Press].
- Robots could replace a third of the American workforce by 2030 [Washington Post].
On this day in history:
- 1824 – Since no candidate won a majority of the votes in the electoral college during the presidential election, the US House of Representatives is given the task of deciding the winner. John Q. Adams was declared the winner in February of 1825.
- 1903 – The world’s first drive-in gasoline station opened in Pittsburgh.
- 1913 – Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving assembly line.
- 1917 – Rev. Edward Flanagan founded Boys Town near Omaha.
- 1955 – In Montgomery, Alabama Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city’s racial segregation laws.
- 1969 – The first draft lottery in the United States is held since World War II.
