The investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and ties to the Trump campaign was chosen as the top political story of 2017, narrowly beating out the fallout from sexual harassment.
NPR's Ari Shapiro takes a look back at the political news of 2017, and the first year of Trump's presidency, with Matt Yglesias, columnist, editor and co-founder of Vox, and Rachael Larimore, online managing editor of The Weekly Standard.
It was a messy year in Congress. Despite control of the House and Senate — and a president willing to sign legislation — Congressional Republicans spent much of the year fighting amongst themselves. But at both the start and the finish of the year, they scored some important wins.
NPR's Robert Siegel speaks with Bloomberg Businessweek reporter Devin Leonard about President Trump's tweet saying the U.S. Postal Service should charge more to deliver Amazon packages. Leonard wrote a book about the U.S. Post Office called Neither Snow nor Rain.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says contractors and diplomats will be sent to Eastern Syria to help stabilize the country. They will be protected by American troops already there. Mattis says that besides rebuilding, the increased American presence will make sure diplomatic efforts continue for the future of Syria. Both Russia and Syria have said U.S. forces should leave.
Studies show some promising results for new approaches to opioid addiction, but some insurers won't pay for alternative treatments like classes on pain management.
President Trump has given relatively few interviews to networks other than Fox News since taking office. But CBN, founded by the televangelist Pat Robertson, is an exception.