Brian Naylor

The Federal Aviation Administration has been without a permanent chief since early this year when President Obama's appointee stepped down. Now, according to reports President Trump has a nominee in mind, one who happens to be his personal pilot.

The pastor to presidents — that's how Billy Graham was known. He earned that role because he earned their trust, and there will likely never be another like him.

Thousands of jobs with the government dealing with national security and other sensitive issues require applicants to get a background check or security clearance. But the agency conducting the checks has a backlog of some 700,000 applications. Members of Congress say this poses a serious national security risk.

Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai is proposing changes in the way alerts are sent to cell phones, hoping to make them more targeted. Such changes might have better informed residents of Houston during last year's hurricane related flooding and California residents during wildfires.

The federal work force morale is at an all-time low, according to some accounts. That might be because the number of workers is roughly the same as it was 30 years ago, while there are 100 million more people in the country.

The breakthrough in the Senate to reopen the government came on the first weekday of the shutdown, when federal workers were trying to sort out whether to report for duty.

The mail will get delivered, Social Security checks will go out, and the National Park Service says it will try to keep parks accessible if there is a shutdown. But most federal agencies would close.

At a contentious congressional testimony, Kirstjen Nielsen said under oath said President Trump and others used "tough language" on immigration, but not a particular

The president made the comment during an Oval Office discussion of U.S. visa and immigration policies as he was meeting with a group of senators about a bipartisan plan pertaining to the DACA program.

"I'm someone who just found his way into this story of our time," the Fire and Fury author says. He stands by the work that has created a rift between President Trump and former adviser Steve Bannon.

Passage of the tax overhaul means a lot more work for the IRS, which after years of budget and staff cuts, along with creaky computer systems has had issues just keeping up with the current work load.

Millions of public comments in advance of the FCC's vote on net neutrality turn out to have been faked. Some used phony names, others came from Russian email addresses. The FCC says it will go ahead with its vote this week nonetheless.

Hundreds of jobs remain unfilled in the Trump administration, and many are being held by temporary appointees. But a federal law limits how long those temps can serve, and many are bumping up against the end of their terms.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has told people that he has no interest in returning to his old Senate seat from Alabama, as Moore continues to dig in against allegations of sexual misconduct.

The chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee said Moore should be expelled if he wins the Alabama Senate race. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says Moore should "step aside."

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has significant holdings in a Russian shipping company that does business with an energy company who's owners include Vladimir Putin's son-in-law and an oligarch subject to U.S. sanctions. Ross failed to disclose the connection in his confirmation hearings, but says there's nothing improper.

President Trump took to Twitter this morning about how the suspect in Tuesday's terror attack in New York City got into the country and criticizing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.

Of nearly 2,900 files put out by the National Archives, just 53 are totally new to the public. Others have been publicly available in redacted form.

The vast majority of what's being held secret is at the request of the FBI and CIA. The White House is establishing a six-month review process for those remaining records.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is being stretched by the number of natural disasters this year. The agency has put out the help wanted sign as it responds to 22 disasters nationwide, including massive hurricanes in the south and now wildfires in the west.