First Run News

Two Republican senators who had said they did not recall President Donald Trump using a vulgarity to describe African countries backtracked Sunday and challenged other senators' descriptions of the remark. Trump has been accused of using the word "shithole" to describe African countries during an Oval Office meeting Thursday with a bipartisan group of six senators in which the president also questioned the need to admit more Haitians to the U.S., according to people briefed on the conversation but not authorized to describe it publicly.

Congress has until midnight Friday to strike a deal on a host of thorny issues before government funding is set to run out, but talks appear to be at a standstill and a stopgap spending bill is looking more likely. At the heart of it: the fate of nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants. Democrats insist that if Republicans want their support for a spending deal, it must include a legislative fix to help DACA recipients.

A public he-said, they-said debate has been unfolding for days in the wake of last week’s Oval Office meeting where President Donald Trump reportedly used a derogatory term to refer to certain countries. The White House initially offered no denial of the charge that Trump questioned why the United States would want to accept immigrants from "s---hole countries.” But Trump is now denying that he made that specific remark, also citing claims from two people at the meeting that he says support his version of events. Here is a ti

A pastor in Maryland who had Vice President Mike Pence as a captive audience on Sunday took the opportunity to attack the politician's boss, calling President the church's Facebook page. "And a statement was made that we ought to welcome people from Norway more than we should welcome people from Haiti. I stand here today as your pastor to vehemently denounce and reject such characterizations.

President Donald Trump's schedule today marks a break in presidential tradition. Though it isn't unusual for Trump to visit his golf course while spending time at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida, the timing of it today, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, shows a break from the actions of past presidents. While Trump urged Americans last Friday to observe the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday with acts of civic work and community service to honor the life of the civil rights legend, it doesn’t appear he'll be doing the same, with no public events listed on his schedule.

DATA: Twitter Daniel McLaughlin / Globe Staff © 2018 Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC

capital source Jay Gonzalez has hired Healey’s pollster. Healey has repeatedly affirmed she is running for reelection as attorney general.  That fund-raising cements his status as a serious contender for the seat that US Representative Niki Tsongas is vacating.   Capital Source Joseph Gargan, Kennedy’s close cousin, died Dec. 12 at age 87 at his Virginia home.  capital source He’s back, and he is not letting a stretch in a federal penitentiary get in the way of his political activities.   For pols who shunned Donald Trump’s candidacy, 2017 has been an annus horribilis.

Hyperpartisan, anonymous conservative websites have alarmed state Democrats and media observers — and some posts may already have influenced one election.  President Trump’s incendiary words about immigration have dampened the prospects that a broad spending and immigration deal can be reached by the end of the week  The law gives judges the discretion to send veterans accused of criminal charges to rehabilitation or counseling programs, rather than jail.  The party has been buoyed by a string of Republican retirements and President Trump’s low approval rating.  US Sentator Elizabeth W

Hyperpartisan, anonymous conservative websites have alarmed state Democrats and media observers — and some posts may already have influenced one election.  President Trump’s incendiary words about immigration have dampened the prospects that a broad spending and immigration deal can be reached by the end of the week  The law gives judges the discretion to send veterans accused of criminal charges to rehabilitation or counseling programs, rather than jail.  The party has been buoyed by a string of Republican retirements and President Trump’s low approval rating.  US Sentator Elizabeth W

Hyperpartisan, anonymous conservative websites have alarmed state Democrats and media observers — and some posts may already have influenced one election.  President Trump’s incendiary words about immigration have dampened the prospects that a broad spending and immigration deal can be reached by the end of the week  The law gives judges the discretion to send veterans accused of criminal charges to rehabilitation or counseling programs, rather than jail.  The party has been buoyed by a string of Republican retirements and President Trump’s low approval rating.  US Sentator Elizabeth W