On Politics: Trump Orders All Troops Out of Syria

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/us/politics/trump-syria-pullout.html

Version 0 of 1.

Good Thursday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.

_____________________

• Declaring victory in the four-year American-led war against the Islamic State, President Trump ordered a rapid withdrawal of all 2,000 United States ground troops from Syria. But the abrupt, chaotic nature of the move — and the opposition it provoked on Capitol Hill and in the Pentagon — raised questions about how Mr. Trump would follow through with the plan.

• The Senate passed a stopgap spending bill that would keep the government funded through early February. Here’s more about the measure, and what to expect when expecting a shutdown.

• The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point, defying Mr. Trump’s call for the central bank to take a pause. The decision stems from confidence in continued economic growth but seems to ignore recent turbulence in the financial markets.

• As Russia’s online election machinations came to light last year, a group of tech experts decided to try out similar deceptive tactics favoring the Democrat in the fiercely contested Alabama Senate race.

• The man at the heart of a voter fraud inquiry in North Carolina is no stranger to state election officials: Earlier this year, they told prosecutors that they suspected him of possible criminal conduct in voter turnout work from 2016.

• The number of people signing up for insurance on HealthCare.gov declined slightly, but a last-minute surge showed that Americans were still eager for coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

• Women will hold 23 of 42 seats in the Nevada State Assembly when it comes into session in February, making Nevada the first state with a majority-female assembly in the nation’s history.

• In his farewell address as speaker of the House, Paul D. Ryan described politics in America as “broken.” He also reflected on a legacy that includes deep tax cuts, a soaring deficit and a failure to restructure Medicare and Social Security.

• The Trump administration intends to lift sanctions against the business empire of Oleg V. Deripaska, one of Russia’s most influential oligarchs. The sanctions were imposed in retaliation for Russian interference in the 2016 election.

• For the second time, a federal jury found a former Blackwater security contractor guilty in the deadly 2007 shooting of dozens of unarmed Iraqis in Nisour Square in Baghdad.

• Foreshadowing a likely partisan battle next year, the secretary of Veterans Affairs faced sharp questioning from Democrats over how the department will carry out a new expansion of private-sector medical care for veterans.

• In an overture to Democrats, the Trump administration is considering using trade deal provisions to challenge Peru’s decision to dismantle an agency created to stop the illegal harvesting of trees in the Amazon.

• A lawsuit filed by companies affected by Mr. Trump’s tariffs on steel imports argues that the president has too much power over taxes and tariffs — authority that the founding fathers explicitly granted to Congress.

_____________________

Today’s On Politics briefing was compiled by Isabella Grullón Paz in New York.

Were you forwarded this newsletter? Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox.

Is there anything you think we’re missing? Anything you want to see more of? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at onpolitics@nytimes.com.