First Run News

DATA: Twitter Daniel McLaughlin / Globe Staff © 2017 Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC

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. Except, of course, for Governor Baker.

For some local politicians, Donald Trump’s presidency created opportunities they might not otherwise have.  An unusually high number of voters — 22,852 people, or 1.6 percent of the 1.3 million people who went to the polls — opted for write-in candidates.  Ground Game For some local politicians, Donald Trump’s presidency created opportunities they might not otherwise have.  Despite support from a majority of its members, legislation raising the Massachusetts minimum wage from $11 to $15 is ending 2017 the same way it began the year: pending before the Democrat-controlled Labor and Workforc

For some local politicians, Donald Trump’s presidency created opportunities they might not otherwise have.  An unusually high number of voters — 22,852 people, or 1.6 percent of the 1.3 million people who went to the polls — opted for write-in candidates.  Ground Game For some local politicians, Donald Trump’s presidency created opportunities they might not otherwise have.  Despite support from a majority of its members, legislation raising the Massachusetts minimum wage from $11 to $15 is ending 2017 the same way it began the year: pending before the Democrat-controlled Labor and Workforc

For some local politicians, Donald Trump’s presidency created opportunities they might not otherwise have.  An unusually high number of voters — 22,852 people, or 1.6 percent of the 1.3 million people who went to the polls — opted for write-in candidates.  Ground Game For some local politicians, Donald Trump’s presidency created opportunities they might not otherwise have.  Despite support from a majority of its members, legislation raising the Massachusetts minimum wage from $11 to $15 is ending 2017 the same way it began the year: pending before the Democrat-controlled Labor and Workforc

New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt on Friday defended his impromptu interview with MORE against backlash from readers who said he should have pressed the president harder. “Some readers criticized my approach, saying I should have asked more follow-up questions,” Schmidt wrote in the Times’ “Insider” section. “I believed it was more important to continue to allow the president to speak and let people make their own judgments about his statements.” Schmidt’s

Republicans are mulling changing the Senate's rules to speed up consideration of MORE's nominees. GOP senators want to cut down the amount of debate time needed to confirm hundreds of the president’s picks, arguing Democrats are using the Senate’s rulebook to stonewall and slow-walk nominees and the GOP agenda. Republicans have been privately discussing the potential changes for months, but support for the move appears to be growing amid mounting frustration about the pace of nomination votes. “It merely shortens what is currently an unreasonably long process,” said

Medicaid could face crucial tests in 2018 at both the federal and state levels. Republicans in Congress failed in their attempts earlier this year to impose drastic cuts to the program as part of ObamaCare repeal, but GOP lawmakers could try again next year. The tax bill that MORE recently signed into law is projected to add $1 trillion to the federal deficit, making cuts to Medicaid an even more tempting target for some conservatives.  “Medicaid is front and center in any budget exercises, and now that deficits have increased, it puts Medicaid squarely in the bulls e

The Pentagon will begin accepting transgender military recruits on Monday, Jan. 1, after the Trump administration decided not to appeal a court order blocking the president's ban. The Department of Justice announced Friday it would delay challenging the stay on MORE's transgender ban before the Supreme Court. “The Department of Defense has announced that it will be releasing an independent study of these issues in the coming weeks.

The White House is preparing to overhaul its senior staff next month, ahead of what could be a tumultuous midterm election in 2018.  The expected changes come at a turning point for the administration, after MORE wrapped up a hectic first year in office with a major legislative victory in the Republican tax bill.  One imminent change will reportedly include tapping Johnny DeStefano, a White House aide who worked for former House Speaker MORE (R-Ohio), to help manage the West Wing’s political outreach.  A White House official said the move ha