Good Friday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.
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• President Trump was expected to sign a spending bill funding the government through September, which does not include money for his long-promised border wall. But he still intends to build the wall — by declaring a national emergency to bypass Congress, the White House announced on Thursday.
• The former F.B.I. deputy director Andrew McCabe said that Justice Department officials, alarmed by Mr. Trump’s decision to fire James Comey in May 2017, had discussed using the 25th Amendment to remove the president from office.
• To accommodate an already sprawling field of candidates, the first Democratic presidential primary debates will be split across two consecutive nights, the Democratic National Committee said.
• The Senate confirmed William P. Barr as attorney general. He will take over the Justice Department at a critical moment, with the special counsel’s Russia investigation said to be wrapping up.
• The federal debt ticked past $22 trillion this week — a record, despite continued economic growth. Neither major party appears to be making debt reduction a priority.
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