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Town halls centered around rowdy crowds disrupting Republican members of Congress grabbed headlines recently, but certain Senate Democrats facing tough reelection races next year have avoided in-person town halls in their own states all together. The Associated Press reported Friday Democratic Sens. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Bill Nelson of Florida, Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Joe Manchin West Virginia all decided against going to town halls to speak to and answer questions from their constituents, preferring to communicate through tele-town halls, e-mail opinion surveys, social media and speeches.

<p>Washington (CNN) — Zac Petkanas thought he was done with politics after the 2016 election. He was ready to move into the private sector -- or maybe chase a dream job in the art world.</p> <p>Then his boss, Hillary Clinton, lost.</p>

This election cycle, Michelle Obama proved she could give a speech as well as — and maybe even better than — her husband. But according to her law professor, Michelle’s skills rivaled Barack’s in other areas, too. TMZ caught up with Charles Ogletree Jr., a constitutional law professor at Harvard who taught both the Obamas when they attended the university. And according to him, Michelle was the better student — and would’ve been the better president. First, Ogletree confirmed that Barack was totally that guy in law school: “He was speaking too much,’” he said. “He wanted everything. He said,...

Steve Clemons spews bovine excrement about the Secret Service. The US Secret Service official Twitter account calls him on it. Hilarity ensues.https://twitter.com/SCClemons/status/827558963864596480https://twitter.com/SecretService/status/827561110656184320https://twitter.com/SCClemons/with_replies https://twitter.com/SecretService/with_replies

In what may be the biggest firestorm set off by a Trump executive order to date, surpassing even the widespread angry response to the Trump immigration order, a draft of an executive order circulating in the Trump administration would dramatically expand the legal protections for individuals, organizations and employers on the grounds of their religious beliefs, and as the WSJ reports, would potentially allow the denial of services to gay and transgender people, and contraception coverage for employees. The draft is titled “Establishing a Government-Wide Initiative to Respect Religious Freedom.” While it hasn't been signed and may never make it...

Art of the Deal author and U.S. President Donald Trump is maybe not the negotiator he's chalked up to be. Despite his spokesperson once dubbing him "the best negotiator in the history of the world," Thursday's series of incidents with Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto were evidence to the contrary, The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza writes. Mexico is a major trading partner and ally of the U.S., but was alienated Thursday when Trump insisted Mexico would pay for the border wall, Peña Nieto insisted he wouldn't, and Trump responded by tweeting that if that was the case, then maybe the...

The planet moved significantly closer to a catastrophic event this week as Donald Trump assumed the U.S. presidency, according to a new report. The planet's Doomsday Clock is now two-and-a-half minutes to midnight, which represents a global catastrophe. It's the closest the measure has been to midnight since the successful testing of hydrogen bombs in 1953. The new position represents a 30-second lurch forward from the previous position. A group of nuclear scientists affiliated with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists determine when to move the clock in response to a number of threats from nuclear security to climate change.

President Donald Trump’s Justice Department will likely find numerous offenses to warrant launching a broad investigation into voter fraud, legal experts and watchdog groups say. Trump has said that more than 3 million to 5 million illegal votes were cast during the 2016 election, causing him to receive a lower popular vote total than his vanquished opponent, Hillary Clinton, whom he defeated in the Electoral College.

The Associated Press Verified account ‏@AP BREAKING: Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto says he has informed the White House he has canceled trip to Washington.