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More than any other elected official, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama laid the intellectual foundation for President Donald Trumps brand of nationalist politics, agitating for a hard line on immigration and trade while most other Republicans were in thrall to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Trump was still firing contestants on The Apprentice.

Sessions, who was sworn in as attorney general Thursday, was succeeded on the same day in the Senate by the attorney general of Alabama, Luther Strange, a former Washington lobbyist and onetime partner at a white-shoe Birmingham law firm with deep ties to the establishment wing of the Republican Party.

Hes going to be a mainstream conservative Republican, Karl Rove, former strategist for George W. Bush, predicted of Strange, whom he met in the 1990s when the two worked together on the ferocious campaign for Republican control of the Alabama Supreme Court. Hes very smart, really hardworking.

The ascension of Strange to the seat Sessions held for 20 years offers a vivid illustration of how, even as Trump tries to steer the Republican Party toward a more populist orientation on some issues, the institutional party still largely comprises business-aligned Republicans.

Strange, whose appointment was enthusiastically welcomed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, is no stranger to the swamp, Trumps derisive term for the nations capital. After playing in the low post on a basketball scholarship at Tulane University, the towering Strange whose nickname, Big Luther, eventually ended up in campaign television advertisements found his way to Washington to run the government affairs office for Sonat Offshore, then an influential gas utility based in Alabama.

He knows how legislation gets done and doesnt get done, and that gives him a leg up on others who may have a steeper learning curve, said Clay Ryan, vice chancellor for government affairs at the University of Alabama System.

A Birmingham native reared in the citys comfortable suburbs, Strange eventually made his way home from Washington and became a partner at a powerhouse law firm that represents many of Alabamas muscular corporate interests.

After working in politics on the outside, including his efforts with Rove to tilt the states judicial system toward business and away from trial lawyers, Strange entered a race of his own in 2006. He defeated one political scion for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, George Wallace Jr., but narrowly lost to another, Jim Folsom Jr., a Democrat and former governor, in the general election.

Four years later, Strange found success, defeating the incumbent attorney general, a Republican, in the primary and easily winning election that fall. He has cut a prominent profile in Montgomery, the state capital, raising considerable money for the national Republican attorneys general association and making no secret of his ambition to run for higher office. As attorney general, he helped to negotiate a landmark settlement with BP after the catastrophic 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

He has also made some enemies in a state with one-party rule, where the most consequential rivalries are between warring Republican factions. Michael G. Hubbard, speaker of the House, who engineered the Republican takeover of Montgomery, was convicted last year of ethics charges and removed from office.

Hubbard blamed political vendettas for his prosecution, which was handled by lawyers from Stranges office. (Strange appointed an acting attorney general to oversee the investigation and trial.)

But by the time Hubbard was found guilty in June, Gov. Robert Bentley, who appointed Strange to his Senate seat, was embroiled in his own controversy after a recording of a sexually charged conversation with a top aide became public.

Bentley, who divorced his wife of 50 years in the months before the recording shocked Alabama, denied that he had a physical relationship with the woman who was his senior political adviser or that he had committed a crime. Still, the scandal left him politically weak, widely mocked and prone to scrutiny, including an impeachment inquiry in the Legislature.

Strange proved a central, if quiet, figure in the fallout, and the Legislature suspended its inquiry at his request when he said his office was doing related work.

On Thursday, Strange noted that he had never said specifically that Bentley was a target of his office, and the governor, who will name Stranges successor as attorney general, denied any impropriety in his selection.

Although many Republicans in Alabama cheered Stranges appointment, his action in connection with the governors scandal led to some skepticism in Montgomery before a special election for the Senate seat that Bentleys office said would be held in 2018.

Its grimly problematic that the attorney general who blocked the impeachment investigation and who has not gone forward with the Bentley criminal investigation is rewarded with the U.S. Senate appointment, said the state auditor, Jim Zeigler, a Republican who is a frequent critic of the governor. There will be a challenger to Luther Strange in the special Senate election, and this will be an issue. His manipulation against any Bentley investigation will be an issue.

But Strange will probably have strong support from many senior Republicans.

On Thursday, just before a flood of questions about his own scandal and Stranges connection to its aftermath, Bentley said that McConnell had sent a clear signal in recent months.

I went by his office, and the first person that he actually mentioned was Luther Strange, the governor said. He named several people, but the first one that he mentioned was Luther Strange.

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Successor to Sessions has deep ties to Republican establishment - MyStatesman.com

WASHINGTON Republican Congressman Will Hurd - whose district spans 800 miles (1,290 km) of the Texas-Mexico border - on Friday criticized plans under consideration by the Trump administration to build walls and fences costing an estimated $21.6 billion to deter illegal immigration.

Reuters on Thursday revealed details of an internal report by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that estimated the cost of covering the entire border. It called for the first phase of construction to begin in San Diego, California; El Paso, Texas and the Rio Grande Valley.

"Building a wall is the most expensive and least effective way to secure the border," Hurd, whose district includes El Paso, said in an email. He said his district includes rough terrain where "it is impossible to build a physical wall."

The estimated price tag in the report is much higher than a $12 billion figure cited by Republican President Donald Trump in his campaign and estimates as high as $15 billion from Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan and Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

The border wall was one of Trump's main campaign promises. Trump, who took office on Jan. 20, has vowed to make Mexico pay for it, but the United States' southern neighbor has repeatedly said it will not fund its construction.

Many congressional Democrats reacted strongly to the news of plans for the wall and its estimated price.

Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the senior Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a telephone interview that he welcomed the debate in his committee over funding the wall.

"Instead of funding this costly and ineffective proxy for real action on immigration reform, we should be directing our resources toward finding cures for cancer, building schools for our children, feeding the hungry and rebuilding our bridges and our roads," Leahy said.

Five Democratic senators on Friday wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly claiming that the money would be misspent.

The letter was signed by Senators Kamala Harris of California, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Tom Udall of New Mexico, Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Warren, a star of the political left, was silenced in the Republican-controlled Senate on Tuesday evening for speaking out against Trump's attorney general nominee, Republican Senator Jeff Sessions. Sessions was confirmed on Wednesday.

The senators wrote, "We are extraordinarily concerned that President Trump's executive order appears to require that you divert DHS funds meant for critical security priorities to instead fund the border wall."

They asked that Kelly respond to a series of questions, including how much funding will be diverted to cover costs for building the wall.

Hurd said he had seen estimates as high as $40 billion for the barrier's construction, citing a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study released in October.

(Reporting by Julia Edwards Ainsley; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump is considering issuing a new executive order banning citizens of certain countries traveling to the United States after his initial attempt to clamp down on immigration and refugees snarled to a halt amid political and judicial chaos.

NEW YORK Anti-abortion groups have called demonstrations at more than 200 Planned Parenthood locations throughout the United States on Saturday to urge Congress and President Donald Trump to strip the women's health provider of federal funding.

BEIJING Combining public bluster with behind-the-scenes diplomacy, China wrested a concession from the United States as the two presidents spoke for the first time this week, but Beijing may not be able to derive much comfort from the win on U.S. policy toward Taiwan.

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Skepticism over Trump's 'wall' cost simmers among Democrats, border Republican - Reuters

WASHINGTON (JTA) President Donald Trump reportedly decided against nominating Elliott Abrams as deputy secretary of state because of Abrams opposition last year to Trumps nomination.

CNN cited three anonymous Republican sources on Friday as saying Abrams, known for his closeness to the Israeli establishment and the pro-Israel community, was out of the running.

Abrams, a veteran of several Republican administrations in senior State Department and National Security Council positions, reportedly was a favorite for the job because Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, formerly the CEO of Exxon, wanted someone with extensive diplomatic experience advising him.

Trump interviewed Abrams on Tuesday and was favorably impressed. According to CNN, also lobbying for Abrams was Jared Kushner, Trumps Jewish son-in-law. Trump wants Kushner, who is serving as a top non-paid aide to the president,to spearhead Israeli-Arab peacemaking.

Abrams is close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is meeting with Trump at the White House next week.

However, it came to Trumps attention after the interview, CNN reported, that Abrams had criticized Trump during the campaign although he had never joined the Never Trump movement among disaffected Republicans and had not forsworn serving in a Trump administration.

In May Abrams wrote a column in The Weekly Standard that likened Trump to the failed Democratic nominee in 1972, George McGovern. It was titled When You Cant Stand Your Candidate.

As a prominent member of the neoconservative movement, whose followers favor aninterventionist foreign policy, Abrams would have been a counter to many in Trumps circle who favor pulling back from American involvement overseas.

Trump would have made the third Republican administration for which Abrams worked. He was assistant secretary of state in the Reagan administration, as a result ofwhich he agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges of withholding evidence related to the Iran-Contra arms sale scandal, and was deputy assistant to George W. Bush and his deputy national security adviser.

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CNN Reports Trump Nixed Senior Jewish Republican for State Department Job - Forward

Democrats are confidently selling Obamacare for perhaps the first time since the law was passed.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have rallied behind the case that the Affordable Care Act needs to be amended and not repealed, using the prospects of coverage disappearing as a cudgel against Republicans, including newly installed Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. But the real action has been in the districts, where constituents and activists alike have overwhelmed phone lines and town halls demanding that Republicans put the brakes on their repeal efforts.

The latest bit of disruption took place Thursday night, when constituents practically upended Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetzs town hall over concerns about an Obamacare repeal and the Republican lawmakers handling of congressional oversight with respect to the Trump administration. Other representatives have had similar experiences, with some fleeing their events, others beingforced to leave with police protectionand a select few (maybe just one: Justin Amash) forcefully pushing back against the crowd.

Feeling buoyed by what theyve seen, groups tasked with defending the law are ramping up their efforts. Save My Care, which is in the middle of a two-month bus tour, is planning a new demonstration targeting Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) outside his appearance at a Republican Party dinner this weekend. And from there, its going to Arizona to target GOP Sen. Jeff Flake.

What Obamacare defenders need in the Senate are three Republican votes unwilling to support repeal legislation so long as there isnt a replacement to accompany it. And for that, Heller and Flake are prime targets, as both have had some moderate streaks in the past, both come from states that expanded Medicaid coverage under Obamacare and both are up for re-election in 2018.

But even if groups like Save My Care are able to sow enough doubt of the efficacy of repeal among elected officials and the evidence is mounting that serious doubt exists the law remains under obvious threat. Price has vast administrative control at HHS over Obamacares implementation. And he could try to reduce and upend the legislation through its administration.

For now, the hope is that enough localized pressure will force members to legislate around the law (as opposed to killing it) and make even Price think twice about letting Obamacare simply crater to death.

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Obamacare Advocates Set Their Sights On Republican Senators Out West - Huffington Post

Consumer sentiment is very high, but Democrats and Republicans have starkly different views on the economy.

A measure of how optimistic Americans are about the economy, known as consumer sentiment, fell in February just a month after hitting the highest level since 2004. But Democrats and Republicans see the economy in starkly different terms.

The consumer sentiment survey dropped to 95.7 this month from 98.5 in January, based on a preliminary reading by the University Michigan. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had forecast a reading of 98.

Americans were just as optimistic about current economic conditions in February as they were in January, but they set their sights a bit lower for the next six months. A gauge that measures expectations slipped to 85.7 from 90.3.

In February, roughly six in 10 consumers polled made either positive or negative references to some government action by the new Trump administration, an unusually high level. About the half the responses were favorable and half were unfavorable.

Expectations for the next six months among Democrats were near a historic low while expectations among Republicans was near a record high.

These differences are troublesome, said Richard Curtin, chief economist of the Michigan survey.

He said consumer spending is more influenced over time by negative instead of positive expectations, perhaps a sign that it could eventually weigh on the economy.

A similar survey of consumers by the New York Federal Reserve suggests that recent highs in consumer confidence are exaggerated by partisanship. After factoring out how liberals and conservatives view the economy, the New York Fed concluded that overall consumer confidence is probably little changed compared to pre-election levels.

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Democrat, Republican consumers have starkly different views of US economy - MarketWatch