https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MzVZE-Mk0U

U.S. Representative Darrell Issa, a Republican representing the 49th district in California, said he was not going to let the Trump-Russia accusations slide and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions should recuse himself for an independent, special prosector should Trump be charged or suspected of wrongdoing.

Donald Trump told 46 of the nation's governors Monday that he has a plan to make the federal government "lean and accountable to the people." His plan includes raising defense spending by $54 billion. He says he will offset the increase in spending by trimming other federal departments and agencies.

Currently, the U.S. spends more on defense and military than the next 7 nations combined, according to a report from 2015.

During Sunday morning's episode of Meet the Press, host Chuck Todd and his panel of political commentators discussed the current state of the Republican and Democratic Parties. The conclusion? Grassroots movements are dominating the discussion and the two most energizing forces on both sides of the aisle, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, are not actually members of their respective parties.

On March 2, 2017, Northern Ireland’s citizens will cast their votes for Members of the country’s sixth Legislative Assembly. In this election, the country’s heavily Protestant Democratic Union Party (DUP), which holds 37 of the 108 seats, will face off with the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein Party (28 seats) for influence over the Assembly’s legislative agenda. Additionally, this election will provide an opportunity for smaller, more moderate parties such as the Ulster Unionist Party and the Social Democratic and Labor Party to gain a voice amongst the larger parties.

The issue of civil liberties versus states' rights has entered the forefront of the national political discussion as the White House made two announcements this week: (1) It's a states' rights issue to decide bathroom policy for transgender people, and (2) there will likely be an increase in enforcement of federal marijuana prohibition in states that have legalized it for recreational use.

Today, the Republican Party finds itself in a precarious position despite holding a majority in Congress and, ostensibly, the presidency. While President Trump did run with the Republican nomination, a closer look at his political origins suggests voters elected a third-party candidate instead.