WASHINGTON (AP) — A conservative House Republican is calling on special counsel Robert Mueller to resign, citing what he says is a conflict of interest because of Mueller's relationship with fired FBI Director James Comey.
A member of the Judiciary Committee, Arizona congressman Trent Franks, describes a "close friendship" between Muller and Comey.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Simmering tensions between President Donald Trump and his attorney general appear to be cooling down.
The White House says Trump has "100 percent" confidence in his Cabinet.
That would include Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whom Trump has publicly belittled in recent weeks.
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Tulsa World
U.S. Sen. James Lankford inserted himself on Monday into a squabble between a conservative legal advocacy group and ABC News.
In a letter to ABC News President James Goldston, Lankford lodges his displeasure with a July 12 on-line story that quotes the Southern Policy Law Center's description of the Alliance Defending Freedom as an "anti-LGBT hate group.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A published report says the Capitol Police were initially directed to the wrong location the morning that Rep.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Environmental advocates are urging the Trump administration to reverse course on its move to set aside an Obama-era measure limiting water pollution from coal-fired power plants.
About 50 people spoke during a public hearing at Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington on Monday.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's drug commission is calling on him to declare a national emergency to deal with the country's opioid epidemic.
The commission sent an initial report to the Republican president on Monday saying the approximately 142 deaths each day from overdoses means the death toll is "equal to September 11th every three weeks.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House defended President Donald Trump's recent remarks that police shouldn't be too nice when transporting suspects, saying Monday that the president was "making a joke.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is setting an aggressive deadline to pass the first tax code rewrite since 1986.
A White House aide, Marc Short, says officials hope to have the House pass a tax overhaul in October that the Senate could then approve in November.
There are scant details about the rewrite itself, but the administration is planning a significant amount of promotion to generate support for it.
President Donald Trump plans to travel the country to rally backing for intended tax cuts, while conservative activists and business groups will be asked to encourage and pressure Congress to pass the revision.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Republican efforts to repeal and replace the nation's health care law (all times EDT):
4 p.m.
Republican, Democratic and even bipartisan plans for reshaping parts of the Obama health care law are proliferating in Congress.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says members of Congress should be paying what the public pays when it comes to Obamacare.
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NBC News
The United States and its allies flew supersonic bombers and fighter jets over the Korea Peninsula on Sunday in a 10-hour show of force against North Korea following the country's latest ICBM launch.
The U.S. B-1 bombers first flew over Japanese airspace, where they were joined by two Japanese F-2 fighter jets, before flying over the Korean Peninsula with four South Korean F-15 fighter jets, U.S. Pacific Air Forces said in a statement.
Escorted by the South's jets, the U.S. bombers performed a low pass over an air base near the capital, Seoul, before returning to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.
Hollywood Reporter
Following a massive social media campaign urging HBO to abandon its upcoming slave drama Confederate, the premium cable network has responded to the outcry.
"We have great respect for the dialogue and concern being expressed around Confederate. We have faith that [writers] Nichelle, Dan, David and Malcolm will approach the subject with care and sensitivity.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's presentation of the Medal of Honor to James McCloughan (all times local):
3:25 p.m.
An Army medic who saved wounded soldiers from a Vietnam War kill zone despite his own serious injuries is receiving the Medal of Honor from President Donald Trump.
The medal is the nation's highest military honor for actions in combat, and Monday is Trump's first time presenting it.
The recipient is 71-year-old James McCloughan (mih-KLOO'-uhn), of South Haven, Michigan.
Trump says McCloughan "ran into danger" to rescue other men.
McCloughan was a 23-year-old private first class who ended up in the middle of a raging, two-day battle in Vietnam in 1969.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — US hits Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with financial sanctions after election to rewrite constitution.
WASHINGTON (AP) — White House says Scaramucci out as communications director to give new chief of staff 'clean slate'
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign (all times local):
3 p.m.
The Republican National Committee is telling its staff to preserve all documents related to the 2016 presidential campaign because of the possibility that they may be requested by investigators probing Russia's meddling in the election.
The committee says in a memo to staff obtained by The Associated Press that it's taking the step because of its large role in national elections and the "potentially expansive scope of the inquiries.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — AP source: Anthony Scaramucci ousted from White House communications post after 11 days on the job.
WASHINGTON (AP) — AP source: Anthony Scaramucciousted from White House communications post after 11 days on the job.
This a developing story.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration says a Pennsylvania-based coal company has won a contract to supply coal used for heating to Ukraine's state-owned power company.
The deal announced Monday calls for Xcoal Energy and Resources to ship 700,000 tons of thermal coal to the Ukraine to heat homes and businesses.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say the Trump administration is preparing to levy new sanctions on Venezuela, following through on threats to impose fresh penalties if the country went through with a controversial weekend election.
The officials say the new sanctions could be imposed as early as Monday and will likely target Venezuela's oil sector, including possibly its state owned petroleum company.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans signed more contracts to buy homes in June, snapping a three-month decline in pending sales.
The National Association of Realtors says that its pending home sales index rose 1.5 percent in June to 110.2.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump swears in John Kelly as new chief of staff, predicts he'll do "spectacular job.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):
8:35 a.m.
President Donald Trump is insisting there is no chaos in his White House.
Trump says on Twitter on Monday: "Highest Stock Market EVER, best economic numbers in years, unemployment lowest in 17 years, wages raising, border secure, S.C.: No WH chaos!
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WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of Democratic senators is introducing legislation to crack down on lobbyists who fail to disclose their work on behalf of foreign governments.
The legislation being introduced Monday would ensure the Justice Department has the authority to impose civil financial penalties on lobbyists who fail to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
The bill is being introduced by Illinois senators Tammy Duckworth and Richard Durbin and Sen.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — An Army medic from Michigan who risked his life nine times to rescue comrades in Vietnam is becoming the first person to receive the Medal of Honor from President Donald Trump.
Trump is set to present America's highest military honor to 71-year-old James McCloughan (mih-KLOO'-uhn) at the White House.
McCloughan was a 23-year-old private first class who was drafted into the Army and sent to Southeast Asia.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's new chief of staff is entering a West Wing battered by crisis.
Retired Gen.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is insisting that the Senate resume efforts to repeal and replace the nation's health care law.
It is signaling that President Donald Trump stands ready to end required payments to insurers this week to let "Obamacare implode" and force congressional action.
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway says the president is not accepting that it is "time to move on" after last week's defeat.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrat Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election to President Donald Trump, but some Republicans in Congress are intensifying their calls to investigate her and other Obama administration officials.
Their demands come as investigations into Russian meddling and possible links to Trump's campaign have escalated on both sides of the Capitol.
Several officials from former President Barack Obama's administration and Clinton's campaign have appeared before or been interviewed by the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, along with Trump campaign officials.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Over the past week in Washington, most of the noise was made by internal strife in the Trump administration.
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Figures released last week show that Google spent a record amount of almost $6m lobbying in Washington DC in the past three months, putting the Silicon Valley behemoth on track to be the top corporate lobbying spender in the US. Last year it ranked No 2, behind Comcast.
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By Ben Felder Staff Writer bfelder@oklahoman.com
Oklahoma's pre-K through 12th grade student enrollment is projected to grow by 6 percent over the next decade, adding an additional 41,000 students to an already financially-strained public school system.
The projected growth rate would be a slight slowdown from the 9 percent increase the state's public school system experienced over the past decade, according to projected and historical data from the U.S. Department of Education.
But it's a growth trend in line with many other western and southern states, while states in the northeast and Great Lakes region are expected to post declining enrollments.
Enrollment is an important factor in school funding, as much of the money Oklahoma schools rely on is dispersed through the state aid formula on a per student basis.
Oklahoma's per student spending average of nearly $8,000, which combines all local, state and federal sources, is one of the lowest rates in the nation.
Oklahoma has cut per student spending since 2008 by more than any other state in the nation, according to analyses from multiple groups, including the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Education leaders have promoted a return to pre-2008 funding levels, but student enrollment growth will raise the amount necessary to do so.
“These projections pose a challenge to an already insufficiently funded system,” said Joy Hofmeister, Oklahoma's state schools superintendent.
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By Justin Wingerter Staff Writer jwingerter@oklahoman.com
Critics and supporters of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt have found common ground in their shared belief that the former Oklahoma attorney general is operating with an efficiency and zeal beyond that of his predecessors.
“There's a tremendous amount of attention and a tremendous amount of focus that's going into our agenda and the president has given us that charge,” Pruitt said during an interview Thursday.
In February, Pruitt took over a federal agency that had, in his words, “lost its moorings.” He has compared disdain of the EPA to that directed at the Internal Revenue Service and told a conservative gathering that critics of the agency were justified in their scorn.
“What people are justified feeling is the oppressiveness and the paternalism and the use of regulatory power to pick winners and losers,” Pruitt said Thursday.
The ardor with which Pruitt set out to change an agency of 15,000 employees with a budget of $8 billion has made him a polarizing figure, beloved by industrialists and despised by environmentalists.
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By Dale Denwalt Capitol Bureau ddenwalt@oklahoman.com
Oklahoma's back-to-school sales tax holiday begins Friday, but the tax-free weekend was almost eliminated this year to help fund state government.
As lawmakers scrambled to find revenue in May, they considered temporarily suspending the three-day window for buying untaxed clothes and shoes.
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