1/ The White House plans to force Secretary of State Rex Tillerson out and replace him with Mike Pompeo, the current CIA director, at the end of the year. Pompeo would be replaced by Senator Tom Cotton. It’s unclear if Trump has signed off on the plan, which was devised by John Kelly. (New York Times / Washington Post)

2/ Jeff Sessions tapped Kellyanne Conway to oversee the White House’s response to the opioid crisis. The Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also announced $12 million in grants to combat the epidemic, which Sessions considers “the worst drug crisis in American history.” (CBS News / BuzzFeed News)

3/ Robert Mueller’s team questioned Jared Kushner about Michael Flynn earlier this month. The 90-minute conversation was aimed at establishing whether Kushner had any information that could exonerate Flynn. (CNN / New York Times)

4/ Paul Manafort reached an $11 million bail agreement with Robert Mueller’s team, clearing the way for Manafort to be released from house arrest. The deal involves Manafort pledging a Virginia condominium, Florida home, a condo in Manhattan, and another property in Bridgehampton, New York. (Politico)

5/ Jeff Sessions declined to say if Trump ever asked him to obstruct the Russia investigation when questioned today during his House Intelligence Committee testimony. Sessions said his conversations with Trump were subject to executive privilege and he would not respond to the question either way. (The Hill)

6/ John McCain said he will vote for the GOP tax bill, saying he believes the legislation is “far from perfect.” Republicans need at least 50 of its 52 members to pass the bill without Democratic support. Currently, Bob Corker, Jeff Flake, Susan Collins, and James Lankford have yet to commit to the bill. (Politico / Bloomberg)

  • Susan Collins said it would be “very difficult” for her to support the tax bill, citing concerns over healthcare and the loss of a deduction for state and local taxes. (Reuters)

7/ The Senate bill would add $1 trillion to deficit over a decade, even with economic growth taken into account, according to a Joint Committee on Taxation report. Republicans have promised that the tax bill would pay for itself. (Wall Street Journal / Washington Post)

8/ Trump falsely claimed that the Republican tax bill would cost rich Americans like himself “a fortune.” Trump and his family could save more than $1 billion under the House tax plan that passed two weeks ago. Under the Senate plan, wealthy Americans like Trump would receive nearly 62% of the benefit by 2027, while two-thirds of the middle-class would face a tax increase. “This is going to cost me a fortune, this thing, believe me,” Trump said. “This is not good for me.” He added that his “very wealthy friends” were “not so happy with me.” (NBC News)

9/ The Secret Service has spent nearly $150,000 on golf cart rentals since Trump took office. Trump has spent more than 100 days at Trump properties, and 81 days at golf courses in particular, during his presidency. (The Hill)

10/ Trump attacked Theresa May on Twitter after the British prime minister criticized him for retweeting anti-Muslim propaganda from a British far-right party. “Don’t focus on me,” Trump tweeted at May, “focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom.” The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, issued a statement of condemnation and called on May to cancel Trump’s state visit and to demand an apology. (The Guardian)

poll/ 40% of Americans think Fox News should receive the Fake News Trophy that Trump suggested earlier this week. 25% of respondents think CNN deserves a trophy. (Rasmussen)