The most notable news of this week was Trump's State of the Union address, which he delivered on Tuesday.

In the address, which was delayed due to the government shutdown, Trump touted - though overstated - his economic successes, claiming that the American economy is "far and away the hottest" across the globe. He also lauded the success of his tariff program, without mentioning its costs and drawbacks for the average American consumer and certain industries. Trump also falsely inflated the number of manufacturing jobs he's created. Trump also covered immigration, painting a bleak picture and reiterating the urgency of the need for a border wall; abortion, using alarmist language to describe it as an act performed shortly before birth despite such late-term abortions being universally banned in the US; and foreign policy. Trump also commented on partisanship, accused the Democrats of sabotage, and took the opportunity to again complain about the unfairness of the Mueller investigation.

The response of Washington insiders and the public tended to fall on party lines. Democrats denounced the speech as shameful nonsense, while Republicans generally approved of Trump's remarks. Most of the speech's television viewers were Republican. Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said that Trump's speech wouldn't stop her party from fulfilling its "congressional responsibility" to investigate Trump.

Trump's pick for attorney general, William Barr, was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday. He'll replace Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. Whitaker was a controversial pick to lead the Department of Justice, since he publicly criticized Mueller's investigation, which the agency oversees. The Democratic House sought his testimony on the matter. Whitaker initially refused unless subpoenaed, but then appeared on Friday. In his remarks to the committee, he claimed he denied that he has interfered with the investigation in any capacity or talked to Trump about it.

House Democrats are also exploring avenues to forcing Trump to release his tax returns. They've discovered an old law on the books from 1924 that permits the chairman of The Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight to review anyone's tax return. Once he reviews it, there would then be a vote on whether to release its contents to the public.

The investigation into Trump's inaugural committee also continued with a fresh round of subpoenas this week. Federal prosecutors in New York are also commencing interviews as part of their inquiry into the Trump Organization for campaign finance violations.

Trump has complained about all the Democratic activity and inquiries into his administration, calling them politically biased and amounts to unprecedented "presidential harassment" - a claim he's made before.