President Donald Trump is weighing at least four people to serve as his next chief of staff, after plans for an orderly succession for departing John Kelly fell through. The high-profile hiring search comes at a pivotal time as the Republican president looks to prepare his White House for the twin challenges of securing his re-election and fending off inquiries once Democrats gain control of the House next year. Trump's top pick for the job, Nick Ayers, announced Sunday that he would instead be leaving the White House, surprising even senior staffers who believed the move was a done deal. Trump is now soliciting input on at least four people, including Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney and Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the chair of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. Get More

A woman accused of being a secret agent for the Russian government has likely taken a plea deal, prosecutors indicated Monday in a court filing that said her case has been "resolved." The information was included in a filing in the case against Maria Butina. Her lawyers and federal prosecutors have asked for a hearing as soon as Tuesday morning. Prosecutors have alleged Butina, 30, gathered intelligence on American officials and political organizations and worked to develop relationships with American politicians through her contacts with the National Rifle Association. Get More

The Supreme Court on Monday avoided a high-profile case by rejecting appeals from Kansas and Louisiana in their effort to strip Medicaid money from Planned Parenthood, over the dissenting votes of three justices. The court's order reflected a split among its conservative justices and an accusation from Justice Clarence Thomas that his colleagues seemed to be ducking the case for political reasons. The two states were appealing lower court rulings that had blocked them from withholding money that is used for health services for low-income women. Get More

Several people who were severely injured when a man drove his car into counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally last year described devastating physical and psychological effects to a jury tasked with making a sentencing recommendation Monday. Jurors on Friday convicted James Alex Fields Jr. of first-degree murder and other charges for ramming his car into a crowd in Charlottesville during a "Unite the Right" rally on Aug. 12, 2017. Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal, was killed and dozens were injured. Under the law, the jury can recommend from 20 years to life in prison. Get More

A steady trickle of Central American migrants have been finding ways to climb over, tunnel under or slip through the U.S. border wall to plant their feet on U.S. soil and ask for asylum. In recent weeks, Honduran migrant Joel Mendez fed his 8-month-old son, Daniel, before handing him over to his partner, Yesenia Martinez, who had crawled through a hole in the rain-softened soil under the wall. Get More

A Texas judge on Monday accepted a plea bargain allowing a former Baylor University fraternity president accused of rape to avoid serving jail time, prompting outrage from the former Baylor student who filed the complaint and her parents. Jacob Anderson, 23, is accused of drugging and raping a woman repeatedly at the party. He will serve no jail time, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald. Police say a woman reported Anderson sexually assaulted her after she drank punch he gave her at a fraternity party and grew disoriented. A friend took her to the hospital for an examination and hospital staff notified police. Get More

President Donald Trump is in denial when it comes to the Russia investigation and other scandals besieging him. The president insists he's been fully vindicated by court filings released Friday that lay out the level of cooperation from two of his former top advisers, whom prosecutors have accused of lying to federal investigators or Congress. In fact, Trump's Justice Department puts him in even greater legal jeopardy by directly implicating him in an illegal scheme involving hush money payments to a porn actress and a former Playboy model. Get More

A disturbing video shows a group of police officers trying to pull a 1-year-old child from the arms of his mother, who is lying on the floor of a social services office in Brooklyn. The NYPD called the video "troubling" and said the encounter was under review. "No mother should have to experience the trauma and humiliation we all witnessed in this video,” Public Advocate and Attorney General-elect Letitia James said. Get More

Many Ohio State University students are taking a break from studying for final exams by making a bacon run. Senior Sarah Page, who studies meat science, says the bacon vending machine at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences has turned out to be even more popular than expected. It has to be restocked four or five times a day. It offers cooked bacon strips and bacon bits for $1. Proceeds will benefit the meat science program. Members of the program are responsible for the bacon machine operation on the Columbus campus. Get More

A Virginia high school teacher who refused to use a transgender student's new pronouns has been fired. News outlets report that the West Point School Board voted unanimously Thursday to dismiss Peter Vlaming after a four-hour hearing that drew an overflow crowd. The school system said in a statement that Vlaming was fired for insubordination. Get More

The Hawaii Department of Agriculture is importing four dangerously invasive brown tree snakes in an effort to prevent the species from establishing themselves in the islands. Jonathan Ho, acting manager of the department's Plant Quarantine Branch, says the Hawaii Board of Agriculture approved a request for the sterile, male snakes to be used in a dog detection program. West Hawaii Today reported Monday the snakes will be used to train four dogs to hunt for the snakes that could enter Hawaii by plane, ship or cargo carrier. Get More

President Donald Trump is defending the hush money payments made by his former lawyer to two women during his 2016 campaign as "a simple private transaction." He tweeted Monday that if there was wrongdoing, it's lawyer Michael Cohen's "liability" and not his. Federal prosecutors said in a court filing Friday that Cohen "acted with the intent to influence the 2016 presidential election" and at the direction of Trump when he brokered deals to stop women from going public about their alleged affairs with Trump. Get More