Monday, Feb. 11

á           House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the entire Democratic leadership on Monday condemned Rep. Ilhan Omar for her tweet suggesting that IsraelÕs allies in American politics were motivated by money rather than principle. In response, Omar, ÒunequivocallyÓ apologized.

á           Legislators negotiating a spending bill said they reached an Òagreement in principleÓ to avoid a second government shutdown.

Tuesday, Feb. 12

á           A Jury in a U.S. District Court in Brooklyn convicted MexicoÕs most notorious drug lord, Joaquin ÒEl ChapoÓ Guzman, of 17 counts of drug and conspiracy charges associated with running an industrial-scale smuggling operation.

á           A government audit of the IRS was released showing that the government shutdown in December and January resulted in a ÒshockingÓ number of taxpayersÕ calls to the Internal Revenue Service going unreturned or being left to languish on hold for unusually long periods and over 5 million pieces of unanswered mail awaiting returning workers.

á           By a vote of 92 to 8, the Senate passed the most sweeping conservation measure in a decade, protecting millions of acres of land, hundreds of miles of wild rivers and establishing four new national monuments honoring, among other things, the site of the first major Union victory in the Civil War and civil rights hero Medgar Evers.

á           The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that a record 7 million Americans are 90 days or more behind on their auto loan payments, even more than during the wake of the financial crisis than in 2010, when the auto loan delinquency rate reached its former peak.

Wednesday, Feb. 13

á           The Justice Department unsealed an indictment against former Air Force counterintelligence officer Monica Witt of espionage for allegedly revealing classified information to Iran. Witt defected to Iran in 2013.

á           Military families described living in decrepit and dangerous homes — managed by the Americas Lendlease Corporation for the Defense Department — with black mold, lead, infestations of vermin, flooding, radon and faulty wiring in a hearing before a Senate Armed Services subcommittee.

á           The Mars Opportunity rover experienced a system failure during a platewide dust storm on that planet and was declared dead after 15 years, longer than any other rover.

á           The House passed a measure to end U.S. military involvement in the Yemen war, repudiating TrumpÕs continued backing of the Saudi-led coalition there.

á           Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator William Long resigned.

á           U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson found that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort lied to prosecutors from the special counselÕs office and breached his cooperation deal with them.  In addition, she found he also lied to the FBI and the federal grand jury and made false statements material to another Justice Department investigation.

Thursday, Feb. 14

á           The Senate confirmed William Barr as Attorney General.

á           In an article he authored in the Atlantic, former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe said, ÒThe president has stepped over bright ethical and moral lines wherever he has encountered them. Every day brings a new low, with the president exposing himself as a deliberate liar who will say whatever he pleases to get whatever he wants.Ó

á           At a speech at a U.S.-sponsored conference on the Middle East, Vice President Mike Pence demanded that France, Germany and the U.S. pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and stop trying to break American sanctions.

á           Both houses of Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill to avoid another government shutdown, with the Senate voting 83-16 and the House, 300-128.

Friday, Feb. 15

á           Trump declared a national emergency in an attempt to redirect monies from a military construction fund toward building a wall on the Mexican border, saying, among other things, ÒI didnÕt need to do this but IÕd rather do it faster. I want to get it done faster, thatÕs all.Ó

á           Trump signed a government funding law for nine cabinet-level departments and dozens of other agencies passed the day before to avoid another government shutdown. The funding would have expired at midnight.

á           Supreme Court Justice Ruther Bader Ginsburg returned to the Supreme Court for the first time since undergoing cancer surgery in December.

á           U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras in D.S. allowed the Mashantucket Pequot tribe to refile a case dismissed last year arguing that former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke responded to improper political pressure to block a new casino.

á           The Supreme Court said it would decide by the end of June whether the administration can add a question about citizenship status to the 2020 Census.

Saturday, Feb. 16

á           White House press secretary Sarah Sanders confirmed a CNN report on Friday that she has been interviewed by Special Counsel Robert MuellerÕs team.

á           Former Fox News journalist and State Department spokesperson under Rex Tillerson withdrew herself from consideration as ambassador to the United Nations. Her name had never formally been sent to the Senate for confirmation.

Sunday, Feb. 17

á           Former Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe told 60 Minutes that law enforcement officials discussed whether to secretly record a conversation with Trump and whether Trump could be removed from office by invoking the 25th Amendment.