WASHINGTON TIMES — Senators passed a bill Thursday to ensure all federal employees, whether they are still working or were furloughed, will be paid in full when the partial government shutdown ends. The shutdown will cross the three-week mark on Friday, which is also the same day that they will miss their first paychecks.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — President Trump Wednesday assured federal workers sidelined by the partial government shutdown that they'll get paid retroactively. "They're all going to get the money and I think they're going to be happy," he told reporters at the White House on the 19th day of the shutdown.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Congressional Democratic leaders have embraced the goal of increased border security in their fight with President Trump, proposing measures to harden the U.S. ports of entry -- but omitting the barrier they supported five years ago. Those designated border crossings account for roughly 2.5 percent of the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border.... (more)

WORLDNETDAILY — Led by a former Obama official, Democratic operatives bought ads on misleading Facebook pages to suppress Republican voter turnout in the recent midterm elections, reported the Daily Caller News Foundation.... (more)

NEWSMAX — Democratic leadership appears to "struggle...to relate to Americans," strategist Andrew Feldman said Wednesday. In a panel discussion Wednesday on The Hill.TV's "Rising" program, a day after President Donald Trump's Oval Office speech on border security, Feldman said he was disappointed in the somber and stern televised response from Senate Minority leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.... (more)

BIZ PAC REVIEW — Liberal pundit Geraldo Rivera and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino got into a volcanic shouting match while debating illegal immigration and the border wall on Sean Hannity's Fox News show. Hannity slammed Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer for their cavalier approach to border-wall discussions, which led to the government shutdown.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Illegal immigration across the Southwest border ticked down in December, though the number of migrant families shattered records with nearly 32,000 caught trying to jump the border, officials said Wednesday. The numbers were fueled by migrant caravans and other changes to the way migrants travel the route from Central America through Mexico to the U.S. border.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that the city will provide illegal immigrants with a way to obtain affordable health care as part of a broader program to cover city residents traditionally shut out of insurance options. The liberal mayor said it is unacceptable that 600,000 city residents still lack options. They include immigrants who cannot access federal benefits but rack up costs anyway when they show up at emergency rooms.... (more)

NEWSMAX — Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is expected to leave the Department of Justice in the coming weeks, according to reports. ABC News attributed the information to unnamed "multiple sources" in a report posted Wednesday. It also said that Rosenstein has notified President Donald Trump of his intentions.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Planned Parenthood President Dr. Leana Wen has affirmed the organization's commitment to providing abortions after she claimed the news media misconstrued her earlier statements about expanding non-abortion services. Ms. Wen clarified Tuesday that Planned Parenthood's "core mission" is to provide, protect and expand access to abortion. "We will never back down from that fight -- it's a fundamental human right and women's lives are at stake," she tweeted.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Roger Simon, a New York Times best-selling author and former chief political columnist at Politico, floated a hypothetical this week asking if fans of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would be willing to give up days of their lives in order to extend hers.... (more)

NEW YORK TIMES — The Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the novelist MacKenzie Bezos announced on Twitter Wednesday that they are getting divorced after 25 years of marriage. In a statement posted on Mr. Bezos's Twitter account, the couple said they had been separated for a long period of time, but planned to remain involved as "parents, friends, partners in ventures and projects."... (more)

ALAN KEYES — President Trump continues to refine the substance behind the "Wall" meme he has used so effectively to dramatize the urgent need to regain control of our nation's southern border. In an article I wrote in January of last year, I observed and supported his efforts to do so:... (more)

PETER LEMISKA — "Monolithic" is one word often used to describe the Democrat Party. Whether it's universal health care, abortion, or opposition to President Trump, Democrats invariably stand united. But even loyal party members must find it hard to toe the party line on immigration, when the party line continuously changes.... (more)

TIMOTHY BUCHANAN — Time was, that Democrats would wait for their promises to be forgotten before allowing them to be exposed as lies. But this is new era of overt fraudulence and unrestrained hostility, and liberals are desperate to reclaim power. Incoming House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave a speech this week in which she promised transparency and bipartisanship after accepting the speaker's gavel from Republican Congressman Kevin McCarthy. Let us recall that "transparency" was the well-worn and swiftly broken promise made by former presidents Bill Clinton in 1992 and Barack Hussein Obama in 2008.... (more)

NEWSMAX — President Donald Trump on Sunday pledged not to bend in his demand for a wall along the southern border with Mexico but said the barrier could be made of steel instead of concrete as a potential compromise with Democrats who refuse to fund the project.... (more)

REUTERS — U.S. President Donald Trump said he would address the nation on immigration and the southern border on Tuesday at 9 p.m./0200 GMT. Trump announced his prime time address on Twitter on Monday, the 16th day of a partial government shutdown triggered by his demand that Congress fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.... (more)

WASHINGTON TIMES — Sen. Lindsey Graham said that after speaking with President Trump this weekend, it's clear Mr. Trump is holding firm in his demands for border wall money as part of a deal to end a partial government shutdown. "It was pretty clear to me that we're never going to have a deal unless we get a wall as part of it," Mr. Graham, South Carolina Republican, said Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation."... (more)

JOSEPH FARAH — 1. "Trump has not risen to the mantle of the office." This cheap shot from Mitt Romney actually came in 2019, but I suspect it was a brazen untruth scripted in 2018. Furthermore, I couldn't wait another year for the 2019 list. Romney is clearly gunning for another shot at the big show. This will not help him in the least. All it does is show us there's one more Republican vote in the Senate right-thinking Americans cannot count on.... (more)

PJ MEDIA — The Vatican News website recently paid tribute to Cuba on the 60th anniversary of the Communist revolution in a post that was quickly deleted, according to reports. The Communist island nation marked the occasion with celebrations on News Year's Day, while several leftist Latin American leaders tweeted their best wishes.... (more)

DAILY CALLER — President Trump has often criticized former President Barack Obama for having a "10-foot wall" around his house in Washington, D.C. Trump tweeted recently "President and Mrs. Obama built/has a ten foot Wall around their D.C. mansion/compound. I agree, totally necessary for their safety and security."... (more)

STARS & STRIPES — Army veteran and Florida Rep. Brian Mast tweeted a photo Thursday marking the swearing-in ceremony of fellow wounded veterans and Republican congressmen Jim Baird and Dan Crenshaw. "5 eyes. 5 arms. 4 legs. All American," Mast captioned the image in a post on Twitter. "Welcome to Congress, @ElectJimBaird and @DanCrenshawTX."... (more)

DAILY CALLER — Republican Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw responded to Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday after she posted a video of herself dancing in response to what she said Republicans considered 'scandalous.'... (more)

DAILY CALLER — West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin condemned freshman Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib on Your World With Neil Cavuto Friday afternoon for her comments about impeaching President Donald Trump.... (more)

REAL CLEAR POLITICS — On Wednesday's 'Fox & Friends,' Trump supporter Dan Bongino responds to Mitt Romney's op-ed arguing that the president's character "falls short" of what it should to lead the nation. Bongino said Romney is a "sell out" and a "fraud" and "the kind of guy who has absolutely decimated the Republican Party."... (more)