*By Kristen Lee*
Attorney General Jeff Sessions abruptly resigned at President Trump's request on Wednesday, ending a tenure marked by a series of public humiliations inflicted by the man who elevated him into the nation's highest law-enforcement position.
After enjoying Sessions' early support on the campaign trail, Trump turned against his AG in March 2017 after he recused himself from a probe into Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Since Sessions stepped aside, Trump has frequently railed against his attorney general in public.
"I don't have an attorney general. It's very sad," Trump said during a scathing interview with Hill.TV in September. The president previously said he would not have named Sessions to head the Justice Department had he known the AG would recuse himself from the Russia probe.
Sessions' job security has long been in question. At a post-election press conference earlier on Wednesday, Trump had declined to answer a question about Sessions' future in his administration.
“I’d rather answer that at a little bit different time," Trump had said.
In a tweet on Wednesday afternoon, Trump said Sessions' chief of staff Matthew Whitaker will step in as acting attorney general.
"We thank Attorney General Jeff Sessions for his service, and wish him well! A permanent replacement will be named at a later date," Trump said.
In a formal letter to Trump, Sessions noted that he was submitting his resignation at the president's request. He said he was proud that he and Trump "restored and upheld the rule of law" during his time in office.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
