Developments in Washington, D.C., over the weekend include upcoming congressional testimony from President Donald Trump's son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner and former campaign manager Paul Manafort; an upcoming vote in the Senate on its latest health care legislation; a tweet storm by the president early Saturday; and the resignation of former White House communications director Sean Spicer and the addition of the new head, Anthony Scaramucci.
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There are many reasons why the Senate will probably reject Republicans' crowning bill razing much of former President Barack Obama's health care law. There are fewer why Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell might revive it and avert a GOP humiliation. Leaders say the Senate will vote Tuesday on their health care legislation. They've postponed votes twice because too many Republicans were poised to vote no. That could happen again.
-- Trump's new communications adviser says it's time to hit the "reset button." Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci pledged to begin "an era of a new good feeling" and said he hopes to "create a more positive mojo." He also promised to crack down on information leaks and pledged to better focus the message coming from the White House.
? -- The probe into Russian meddling in the U.S. election crosses into new territory this week as congressional committees seek information from two of Trump’s family members, including the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is expected to make the first of two appearances on Capitol Hill Monday. In closed-door sessions, Kushner is slated to answer questions before the Senate and House intelligence committees. Both are expected to seek information about Kushner’s Russia contacts, including a December meeting with Russia’s ambassador and, last June, with a Russian attorney and other figures connected to Moscow.
? -- The U.S. Congress is moving toward adoption of new sanctions against Russia for its interference in the 2016 election, but it was unclear Sunday whether Trump would sign the legislation. Scaramucci, the new White House communications director, told CNN, "You've got to ask President Trump. My guess is he's going to make that decision soon." White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told ABC News "the White House supports where the legislation is now." Key Republican and Democratic lawmakers reached accord Saturday on the measure, which does not include changes Trump wanted to make it easier for him to lift penalties against Moscow.
? -- Sergei Kislyak, Russia’s controversial ambassador to Washington, on Saturday departed from the United States as he ended his nine-year term as Moscow’s chief diplomat to its main global rival. The Russian Embassy said his departure was part of a scheduled reassignment for the 66-year-old ambassador. Russian state-run Interfax news agency quoted a source as saying Kislyak’s next move could be to become a member of Russia’s upper house, the Federation Council.
-- Trump criticized on Saturday on Twitter for allegedly ruining a U.S. attempt to assassinate Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The president did not provide details or explain how the supposedly ruined plans to kill Baghdadi, but his tweet was posted minutes after a Fox News Channel segment about information leaks was broadcast. A i spokesman, meanwhile, has asked the White House for details about Trump's tweet, according to a Times statement provided to Politico.
? -- Trump helped commission Saturday the USS Gerald R. Ford, a technologically advanced nearly $13-billion warship that he said sends a "100,000 ton message to the world" and will cause enemies of the U.S. to "shake with fear." After three years of delays and billions of dollars of cost overruns, Trump officially turned over the first of the next generation nuclear-powered aircraft carriers to the U.S. Navy at Naval Station Norfolk in the southeastern state of Virginia. "Wherever this vessel cuts through the horizon, our allies will rest easy and our enemies will shake with fear because everyone will know that America is coming and America is coming strong," he said.
-- The first six months of the Trump administration saw relatively few confrontations over the territorial disputes in the South China Sea; however, analysts and officials say the lack of public conflict does not mean the issues have disappeared.?