Rumors are spreading that the U.S. Supreme Court will vote 5-4 to rule that a U.S. president cannot be prosecuted for anything he does while he is president. Some Democrats are suggesting that Joe Biden bring a gun to his first debate with Donald Trump. If he shoots Trump, he would be immune, but if Trump shoots Biden he would be prosecuted because he is not a sitting president.   read more

Stoytchev was back in Washington in 2008 as deputy chief of mission in the embassy. He remained there until 2011, serving as chargé d’affaires from 2009 to 2010. Beginning in 2012, Stoytchev served as foreign policy secretary to Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev until being tapped as ambassador to the U.S. Stoytchev said one of his major goals is to get his country added to the U.S. visa waiver program, which would facilitate travel by Bulgarians.   read more

Aides to Trump have signaled he'll look for a quick exit from the U.S. commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Of all the climate policies he has promised to undo, auto emissions standards could be the most consequential. The sheer volume of auto emissions has made the goals introduced by President Obama, intended to reduce auto pollution, one of the single biggest steps any nation has taken to fight global warming. Those targets are now likely to be scaled back or even scrapped.   read more

Was it a hidden racist vote? Could more than 1 million people in Colorado really be in favor of keeping a slavery loophole? “It just shouldn’t be a Colorado value,” said activist William Dickerson. “It shouldn’t be in the bedrock of our founding document, both on the state level and on the national level.” Those bewildered by the vote say the explanation may be simple: Voters say they were disoriented by a mouthful of a ballot question, leaving them unsure what “yes” and “no” actually meant.   read more

"I think a lot of Americans would be very nervous to learn Donald Trump has access to our phone records,'' said Elizabeth Goitein of Pompeo's desire to reinstate the collection of Americans' phone data. "It would make a lot of Congress nervous as well.'' Prof. Freiwald said Pompeo will have leeway to interpret the law broadly so they may collect vast amounts of information. Pompeo is promoting the discredited view that it is always good for a government to collect more data on its people.   read more

Eight children asked a judge to find Washington in contempt. "The most concerning thing to me is that our planet will be destroyed and I would have done nothing about it," said Aji Piper, 16. "We're bringing this case because we need to have a stronger voice and right now that's through the legal system." Gabe Mandell, 14, added: "This is the world I'm going to have to grow up in. Ecology has a mandate to protect our future and they're not doing it. They're not doing their job..."   read more

Pierre had helped to unite Mexico’s bishops and establish better links between the church and its followers. His posting to Washington was made upon the retirement of Nuncio Vigano, who had blindsided Pope Francis by setting up a meeting with Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who broke the law by refusing to issue same-sex marriage licenses. Pierre is seen as a good fit for the job because his experience in Mexico is considered helpful, given the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president.   read more

Canjura’s background is in medicine, not diplomacy. She was ambassador to Guatemala from 2009 to 2012. She was then made ambassador to Russia, where she helped open El Salvador’s embassy. She was also credentialed to Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Canjura was in Moscow until being moved to Washington.   read more

Phillips-Spencer spent much of his career working in close proximity to Trinidad and Tobago’s presidents. When he returned there in 2011, he was named commanding officer of the army. In 2013, he was made vice chief of the defense force and was thought to be in line to be chief. However, when the incumbent chief retired, Phillips-Spencer was passed over and a few months later was sent to Washington as ambassador.   read more

There could be big money ahead for the private prison industry. A day after the election, stock market shares for the nation's top prison firm jumped by 43%. "They're handing the keys to a deportation machine over to the Trump administration," Libal said. "And I think there's no reason to believe that [it] won't drive that machine forward through human rights...or due process protections in the detention system." A federal audit said private prisons have more problems than government lockups.   read more

Facebook has quietly developed software for China to suppress posts from appearing in people’s news feeds in specific geographic areas. The feature was created to help Facebook get into China. It illustrates the extent to which Facebook may be willing to compromise one of its core mission statements, “to make the world more open and connected,” to gain access to a market of 1.4 billion Chinese people. Several employees have left Facebook after expressing misgivings about it.   read more

In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has directed state police to create a special unit to investigate reports of hate crimes, saying it's in response to what he called "ugly political discourse" that didn't end with the election. He plans to push for legislation that expands protections under New York's human rights law to all students statewide. Cuomo also wants to create the nation's first emergency legal defense fund to ensure all immigrants have access to representation.   read more

Donald Trump boasted he knew more about fighting terrorists than America’s generals. But now his focus on them worries national security experts, who say Trump could place undue emphasis on military force in foreign policy. Trump’s inclination runs counter to civilian control of the military — a constitutional principle that protects the U.S. from becoming like Pakistan or Turkey, where the military is a political player. "We are not a militaristic society, nor do we want to be,” said Gen. Ham.   read more

Mining claims on 30,370 acres north of the nation's first national park would be prohibited for at least two years while a long-term ban is considered, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said during a visit to Montana. It's part of the Obama administration efforts in its last days to keep industry out of natural and environmentally sensitive areas. Republicans and industry representatives have promised to seek their reversal once Donald Trump takes charge of the White House.   read more

“I’m...a very busy businessman and I don’t have time to fact-check everything that I put out there," said Eric Tucker, who wrote the original tweet. His comment on Twitter the night after the election turned into a fake-news phenomenon that, within an hour, was cited by Donald Trump. It is an example of how, in an ever-connected world where speed often takes precedence over truth, an observation by a private citizen can quickly become a talking point, even as it is being proved false.   read more

The report said the problem was far worse than originally believed. In the last three years, the agency produced at least 19,000 cards that included incorrect information or were issued in duplicate. Also, more than 2,400 immigrants who were approved for two-year conditional resident status were instead given cards that were good for 10 years. The agency had also had used incomplete fingerprint records to grant citizenship to hundreds of people who were to have been deported.   read more

The case could now go to the Supreme Court, where its fate may rest with a single justice, Anthony Kennedy, who has expressed a willingness to strike down partisan gerrymanders. Should the court affirm the ruling, it could upend the next round of state redistricting for elections nationwide, most of which are likely to be conducted by Republican-controlled legislatures. “It is a huge deal,” said Prof. Gerken. “For years, everyone has waited for the Supreme Court to do something on this front."   read more