Thursday's Headlines: Trump ponders a recess appointment to replace Attorney General Sessions

'It's inexplicable': GOP senators try to warn Trump against going after Sessions; More modest overhaul of Obamacare gains traction with GOP senators; 'Skinny repeal' proposal has skeptics in House; 'It's not my thing': A history of Trump's shifting relationship with the LGBT community; The Fix: Transgender ban is an example of political malpractice by the White House; Lawyers upon lawyers upon lawyers: In Trump World, everyone has an attorney.;   Democracy Dies in Darkness     The morning's most important stories, selected by Post editors   Top Stories Trump ponders a recess appointment to replace Attorney General Sessions Two people familiar with the issue described President Trump as musing about the idea rather than outlining a plan of action, and several others said the president's fury peaked over the weekend and that he and Jeff Sessions now seem to be heading toward an uneasy detente. By Carol D. Leonnig, Ashley Parker and Philip Rucker  •  Read more » @PKCapitol | Analysis 'It's inexplicable': GOP senators try to warn Trump against going after Sessions If President Trump forces out the attorney general, the fallout would be devastating to the rest of the White House's agenda, said some Republican members of the Senate. By Paul Kane  •  Read more »   More modest overhaul of Obamacare gains traction with GOP senators Republicans in the Senate seemed to coalesce around a "skinny repeal" that would abolish individual and employer mandates for health insurance and perhaps just one tax. But they'll face strong obstacles in trying to do more. By Juliet Eilperin, Kelsey Snell and Sean Sullivan  •  Read more »   'Skinny repeal' proposal has skeptics in House House Republicans who fought tooth and nail earlier this year to expand the scope of the repeal legislation are saying "fat chance" to the skinny repeal. By Mike DeBonis  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   'It's not my thing': A history of Trump's shifting relationship with the LGBT community He once vowed to do more than rival Hillary Clinton to protect LGBT people, but since President Trump took office, he has taken positions more in tune with his social conservative base. Those familiar with Trump say his changing stances reflect his tendency to shape his views to the moment, rather than deep-seated hostility toward a group. By Robert Samuels and Jenna Johnson  •  Read more »   The Fix: Transgender ban is an example of political malpractice by the White House The administration's failure to talk to key Republican lawmakers and other stakeholders about the transgender military ban is a stunning indictment of how the issue was handled. By Aaron Blake  •  Read more »   Lawyers upon lawyers upon lawyers: In Trump World, everyone has an attorney. The White House has its counsel, and now Trump has his own personal attorneys, as does the Trump Organization. There are lawyers for each member of the Trump family. And that's not counting the layers of lawyers for everyone else in the administration. By Ben Terris  •  Read more »   Opinions   Kenneth Starr: Mr. President, please cut it out By Kenneth W. Starr  •  Read more »   The norms of government are collapsing before our eyes By E.J. Dionne Jr.  •  Read more »   Welcome to the United States of Anarchy By Dana Milbank  •  Read more »   Republicans have a chance to eliminate the individual mandate. They should take it. By Avik Roy  •  Read more »   Trump isn't hurting the economy. Here's why. By Charles Lane  •  Read more »   Trump's dishonest betrayal of America's transgender troops By Editorial Board  •  Read more » ADVERTISEMENT   More News   Senate, House leaders strike a deal to send sanctions bill to Trump's desk The Senate will vote on the House-passed measure stepping up sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea, in exchange for a promise to consider expanding congressional checks on the president later. By Karoun Demirjian  •  Read more » Fact Checker | Analysis Trump’s embrace of African American employment data he once scorned During the campaign, the candidate proclaimed that 58 percent of African American youth was unemployed. Now that he's president, Trump cites Bureau of Labor Statistics showing the rate for African Americans in general at 7.1 percent. By Glenn Kessler  •  Read more » Report of drugs, a prostitute and a former med school dean rocks USC campus Officials on the Southern California campus are struggling to answer questions about why they didn't respond sooner to concerns expressed about the now ex-dean. By Susan Svrluga and Sarah Larimer  •  Read more » Perspective These college students lost access to legal pot — and started getting better grades The Netherlands unintentionally created a perfect laboratory for studying marijuana effects, and it produced troubling results for legalization advocates. By Keith Humphreys  •  Read more » She was a historic first lady, but Michelle Obama says some never saw past ‘my skin color’ In her largest public appearance since the 2016 election, the former first lady touched on personal attacks that she faced again and again. By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.  •  Read more »         Share Today's Headlines:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. 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