- Republicans are closing in on a final tax overhaul package. Expect the House and Senate to vote on the final bill next week. The deal, which goes into effect in 2018, lowers the corporate tax rate to 21-percent and drops the top tax rate to 37-percent [New York Times].
- Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein was grilled by a Congressional panel on Wednesday. Republicans are ramping up their attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller over text messages by former members of his team that were critical of President Donald Trump [Fox News].
- The shocking win by Democrat Doug Jones in the Alabama Senate race on Tuesday is energizing Democrats ahead of next year’s midterm elections [Washington Post].
- The loss of a Republican-controlled seat in Alabama has touched off an internal GOP fight over who is to blame [Politico].
- Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore is refusing to concede following his narrow loss on Tuesday [Fox News].
- White House aides are worried that President Trump’s refusal to accept the conclusion from multiple intelligence agencies that Russia interfered with the 2016 election is harming the ability to prevent similar meddling in the future [Washington Post].
- The White House puts the kibosh on two controversial nominees for the federal bench after Senate Republicans make it clear they won’t be confirmed [Politico].
- The FCC will vote on whether to repeal the policy of “net neutrality” on Thursday. If the rules are repealed, it could allow big telecom companies to slow down or even block some content on the internet [Politico].
- Ohio Democrat Marcy Kaptur says some of the clothing her female colleagues wear is an “invitation” to harassment [Politico].
- Minnesota’s governor taps Lt. Gov. Tina Smith to fill Sen. Al Franken‘s seat in the Senate after he resigns [Real Clear Politics].
- A Kentucky state lawmaker died in an apparent suicide after allegations surfaced that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl in 2013 [CNN].
- Whoops! Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s security detail lost track of him last week in the Hamptons, which led to an awkward search for him in a takeout joint [Page Six].
- Drama! Depending on who you listen to, White House appointee Omarosa Manigault Newman either resigned or was fired from her job this week. There are reports that after the firing Newman tried to storm into the White House residence to confront President Donald Trump [Daily Beast].
On this day in history:
- 1799 – George Washington died at his Mount Vernon home in Virginia.
- 1819 – Alabama becomes the 22nd U.S. State.
- 1911 – Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen’s becomes the first to reach the South Pole.
- 1940 – Plutonium is first isolated at Berkely, California.
- 1964 – The Supreme Court rules that Congress can use the Constitution’s Commerce Clause to fight discrimination.
- 1972 – Apollo 17 commander Eugene Cernan re-entered the lunar lander and was the last person to walk on the moon.
- 2012 – Twenty-eight people, including twenty children, are killed in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Conn.
