Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) has endorsed Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in her bid for House speaker, the Washington Post reports.
Why it matters: Some House Democrats have encouraged Fudge to challenge Nancy Pelosi, and Fudge had said she was weighing throwing her name in the running. Meanwhile, 16 current and incoming House Democrats have signed a letter saying they'd refuse to vote for Pelosi in an effort to foster change in the party.
President Trump has privately discussed investigating and prosecuting two of his most prominent political opponents, Hillary Clinton and James Comey, the New York Times' Michael S. Schmidt and Maggie Haberman report.
Details: Trump reportedly told former White House counsel Don McGahn this spring that he wanted to order the Justice Department to prosecute the two. After being told that his request could spark backlash as risky as impeachment, Trump continued to privately discuss investigating Clinton and Comey with a second special counsel.
President Trump's lawyers said they have submitted written answers to special counsel Robert Mueller's questions today. Trump said Friday that he had written the responses himself.
Why it matters: As Axios' Jonathan Swan has reported, responding to Mueller's questions about the Russia investigation is President Trump’s literal moment of truth. Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday that it is now "time to bring this inquiry to a conclusion" and suggested that "much of what has been asked raised serious constitutional issues and was beyond the scope of a legitimate inquiry," per the Los Angeles Times' Chris Megerian.
"They weren’t classified like Hillary Clinton. They weren't deleted like Hillary Clinton, who deleted 33,000. She wasn't doing anything to hide her emails."
— Trump to reporters before departing for Mar-a-Lago
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said "It's a mean, nasty world out there" while justifying the United States' decision to maintain a relationship with Saudi Arabia after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Pompeo's statement falls in line with Trump's decision to stand by the country, regardless of whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) ordered Khashoggi's murder.
"It's a mean, nasty world out there — the Middle East in particular. There are important American interests. To keep the American people safe. To protect Americans ... It is the president's obligation ... to ensure we adopt policies that further America's national security."
The House Oversight Committee will lead an investigation into whether Ivanka Trump's use of a personal email account for official government business violated federal law, reports the Washington Post.
The big picture: The use of personal email accounts by White House officials is one of at least 85 targets that may be considered by Democrats for investigation now that they've taken control of the House. According to incoming chair Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the House Oversight Committee launched a bipartisan investigation into the controversy last year, but never received a response from the White House.
Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley, Lindsey Graham, Mike Lee and Tim Scott called Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday and pressured him to move forward with a vote on a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill before the end of the year, Scott's office and another Hill source with knowledge of the call confirmed to Axios.
The big picture: President Trump endorsed the legislation, called the First Step Act, last week. But on Thursday, McConnell told Trump there likely wasn't enough time for a vote during the lame duck session, the New York Times reported. The bill will have to go back through the House if it passes the Senate — and waiting until next year when Democrats take control would risk killing it, according to reform advocates.
President Trump has long prided himself on being a champion of the armed services, claiming during an interview with AP last month that he has done "more for the military than any president in many, many years." But his rhetorical history paints another picture.
The big picture: Trump has a history of sparring with and criticizing military officials and service members, even before his presidency, though he frequently points to his prioritization of funding for the Pentagon as a sign of his commitment to the troops. Yet two years after his election, he hasn't visited troops in combat zones, and former Trump administration official and retired Marine Col. David Lapan told the New York Times that Trump doesn't understand "the proper use and role of the military and what we can, and can't, do."
Mississippi's special Senate election — once thought to be a foregone conclusion — has taken on a national profile and is now being actively targeted by Democrats as the race heads to a runoff next week.
The big picture: The contest between Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who would be the first woman elected to represent the state in Congress, and Democrat Mike Espy, who would be Mississippi's first African-American senator since Reconstruction, has devolved into what Politico calls "a bare-knuckle brawl infused with ugly racial politics."
A federal judge issued a nationwide temporary restraining order late Monday, barring the Trump administration from denying asylum to migrants who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border, the Washington Post reports.
Details: In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Jon S. Tigar in San Francisco said that Trump "may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden." Tigar's order is effective through Dec. 19 and will hear arguments for a permanent order after that point, but the administration has appealed similar decisions in the past on its controversial policies.
Incoming House Democratic leaders are being warned to emphasize the findings of their Trump administration investigations rather than the mechanics, like subpoenas and document requests.
The big picture: "Show — don’t tell," says a new progressive strategy blueprint from Navigator Research, a collaboration of two Democratic firms, Global Strategy Group and GBA Strategies. "[T]oo much focus on the investigative process rather than the findings could tarnish public perceptions."
President Trump has been telling people privately that he’s impressed by the "courage" acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker is showing in the face of burgeoning legal challenges and questions about his history of publicly criticizing the Mueller investigation.
What they're saying: A source familiar with Trump’s thinking said the president has privately used the word "courage." "Clearly what he likes about him is he’s holding his ground, not running for the tall grass," the source said.
Why it matters: Many of the emails reportedly violated federal records rules and "alarmed" some of President Trump's advisers, given he made Hillary Clinton's use of a private email account a central tenet of his 2016 campaign.
In the recovery from the financial crash, the largest, densest U.S. cities have had much steeper employment growth than smaller communities, according to a new study by Brookings' Clara Hendrickson, Mark Muro and William Galston.
"Big, techy metros like San Francisco, Boston, and New York with populations over 1 million have flourished, accounting for 72% of the nation’s employment growth since the financial crisis. By contrast, many of the nation’s smaller cities, small towns, and rural areas have languished."
— An excerpt from the report
The big picture: The report traces this economic trend to the current state of political polarization. "In a very real way, the 2016 election of Donald Trump represented the revenge of the places left behind in a changing economy," the authors say.
