David Welna

President Trump is expected to declare a national emergency to get additional border security funding. There are a few different areas where that money might come from.

The White House is examining ways to pay for construction of a border wall that not require a vote of Congress. Budget veterans believe there is a way to do it.

President Trump made it clear that he's intent on leaving Afghanistan, even as top military officials warn that nation harbors a growing number of groups intent on attacking the U.S.

The U.S. is pulling out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, saying that Russia has violated its terms. Its demise could renew the kind of arms race Reagan and Gorbachev tried to end.

The U.S. special representative for North Korea says Kim Jong Un and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agreed in October that North Korea will dismantle its facilities that make fuel for nuclear weapons.

Federal employees will receive backpay when the government reopens. Federal contractors will not, but some in Congress are trying to change that.

A commission studying national service says there's a compelling case to be made for mandatory national service, not necessarily military, for young Americans. Final recommendations are a year away.

The court's decision allows the Pentagon to effectively bar transgender people from joining the military while two lower court rulings that had blocked the policy are appealed.

Federal workers are growing increasingly frustrated with the shutdown and political mess in Washington. Some have found other jobs temporarily.

After Watergate, Congress passed a law aimed at greater oversight of presidential emergency power. Since then presidents have assumed the powers, but Congress has yet to exercise oversight.

One expert estimates millions of contractors in the federal workforce won't receive back pay when the shutdown ends.

On his final day, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis sent a farewell letter to the Defense Department's troops and civilians. He expressed confidence the department's workforce will remain "undistracted."

Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., and Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., will respectively chair the Senate and House armed services committees in the new Congress. They have very different views on what is needed.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' replacement will take over two months earlier than planned. President Trump says Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan will be acting Pentagon chief starting Jan. 1.

It appears Jim Mattis' resignation Thursday was prompted by the president's order to pull U.S. forces from Syria, and reduce troop levels in Afghanistan. Mattis disagreed with both decisions.

President Trump tweeted on Thursday that Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis will retire "with distinction" at the end of February.

President Trump called the Army major a hero and vowed to review the case. To a military law specialist, it looks like "the commander in chief is putting his thumb on the scales of justice."

The Trump administration is giving Russia until early February to get back into compliance with a ban on all intermediate-range land-launched missiles that was signed 31 years ago.

Federal prosecutors are investigating President Trump's inaugural committee spending. The U.S. military may be asked to build a border wall. An effort to ban cockfighting in Puerto Rico is underway.

The president said in a tweet that if Congress does not fund construction of a border wall, he may ask the U.S. military to build it. There is no apparent support for such a move on Capitol Hill.