• Fired FBI official McCabe authorized criminal probe of AG Sessions (ABC News)

• Congressional leaders finalized a sweeping $1.3 trillion budget bill (Associated)

• Dear Nancy Pelosi, Tax Foundation reports top 10% paid 71% of federal income taxes, bottom 50% paid 2.8% (CNS News)

• After data fiasco, Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook will audit thousands of apps (The Washington Post)

• Video: Amazon passes Google as second-most valuable company in the U.S. (National Review)

• Austin bomber recorded 25-minute “confession” to his deadly crimes (Fox News)

• Fed lifts rates in Powell’s first meeting, says economic outlook has strengthened (MarketWatch)

• Mississippi has its first female senator, but is Cindy Hyde-Smith conservative enough for state Republicans? (The Clarion-Ledger)

• House approves ‘right-to-try’ bill giving seriously ill patients access to experimental drugs (USA Today)

• Senate passes controversial online-sex-trafficking bill (The Hill)

• Sessions instructs prosecutors to seek death penalty for drug dealers (National Review)

• Germany selling Iran chemical weapons tech, boosting anti-Israel efforts as U.S. Dems block Trump ambassador (The Washington Free Beacon)

• Humor: Nation begins to wonder if allowing huge tech companies to surveil them 24/7 might be a bad idea (The Babylon Bee)

• Policy: The structural roots of budget dysfunction (Real Clear Policy)

• Policy: Guns, youth and misguided marches (The Washington Times)

For more of today’s news, visit Patriot Headline Report.