Politics

Update: Two of the last remaining holdouts have confirmed that they will vote for tax reform. Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake says he now supports the bill. Susan Collins said a deal had been reached to include her unspecified property tax deduction amendment in the bill, and she has tentatively said she'll vote yes.

It looks like it's a done deal, folks. Though, of course, the bill will still need to survive reconciliation before it heads to Trump's desk.

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A Russian lawmaker on Friday said that North Korea doesn’t want nuclear war with the US - but that the country is “morally ready” for war after US threats and if it's left with no other option, RIA reported. At the same time, Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, chimed in, and according to interfax, said there are people in Washington "who wish to provoke Pyongyang to reckless actions" and warned the US that if it "wants to destroy North Korea" then it is playing with fire and making a great mistake.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has charged former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn with "willfully and knowingly" making "false, fictitious and fraudulent statements" to the FBI regarding conversations with Russia's ambassador. Flynn, in turn, is expected to plead guilty in a DC court to making false statements to FBI agents in January 2017, according to the court filing presented below. The plea hearing is set for 10:30 am ET.

After a planned series of votes on the Trump tax plan were called off last night, GOP senators were scrambling to assuage the concerns of Republican holdouts who suddenly decided that the tax bill would blow out the deficit after one proposal – a so-called “trigger” that would automatically raise taxes if revenue targets aren’t met – was rejected by the Senate Parliamentarian. With the first roll-call vote set for 11 am, Republican leaders were scrambling to have amendments of their own lined up for later in the day, with a vote hoped for by late Friday or early Saturday.

In response to the recent crackdown against RT and Sputnik who saw their TV station credentials recently yanked by the US government, which is rapidly descending into a neo-McCarthyite abyss, Russia’s parliament said it could bar U.S. media from reporting within its walls in retaliation.

Olga Savastyanova of the State Duma told Russian news agencies on Friday that she expects the Duma to adopt the ban next week.