Can Democrats exercise a mini-nuclear option against McConnell?  —  The standoff in the Senate continues: Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is demanding that Democrats agree in advance to keep the legislative filibuster in place and is refusing to allow Senate business to proceed until they do.

Leahy, not Roberts, to preside over impeachment trial  —  Chief Justice John Roberts will not preside over Donald Trump's Senate impeachment trial, which is scheduled to begin in earnest on Feb. 8.  —  Instead, Senate President Pro Tempore, Pat Leahy (Vt.), the most senior member …

Apollo C.E.O. to Step Down After Firm Finds More Payments to Jeffrey Epstein  —  An inquiry's finding that Leon Black, the billionaire boss of Apollo Global Management, paid the convicted sex offender $150 million touched off an attempt to remove him.  —  The founders of Apollo Global Management …

Ohio's U.S. Sen. Rob Portman won't run for re-election; Republican cites ‘partisan gridlock’  —  Republican Rob Portman will not seek a third term in the U.S. Senate in 2022, he told The Enquirer - a move that will unsettle politics in both Greater Cincinnati and Washington D.C.

Janet Yellen confirmed as Treasury secretary  —  The Senate voted 84-15 to confirm Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary on Monday.  —  Why it matters: Yellen is the first woman to serve as Treasury secretary, a Cabinet position that will be crucial in helping steer the country out of the pandemic-induced economic crisis.

Rupert Murdoch, Accepting Award, Condemns ‘Awful Woke Orthodoxy’  —  Mr. Murdoch of News Corp, who spoke in a video, has been relatively quiet publicly in recent years.  He called conformity on social media “a straitjacket on sensibility.”  —  The media mogul Rupert Murdoch denounced an …

Rudy Giuliani Sued by Dominion Voting Systems Over False Election Claims  —  The suit against Mr. Giuliani, a lawyer for former President Donald Trump who pushed to overturn the election results, accuses him of carrying out “a viral disinformation campaign.”

Majority Support Trump Impeachment  —  Belief that voter fraud led to Biden win persists among 1 in 3  —  West Long Branch, NJ - A clear majority of Americans support the second impeachment of former president Donald Trump.  A majority also wants the Senate to convict him and bar …

“Fight for Trump”: Video Evidence of Incitement at the Capitol  —  How direct is the connection between what President Donald Trump communicated to his supporters and their actions in laying siege to the U.S. Capitol?  Videos recorded by many individuals over the course of the day provide some answers.

Feds Arrest Man Who Wore His High School Varsity Jacket To The Capitol Siege  —  “We all stormed the us capital and tried to take over the government,” he wrote.  “We failed but f**k it.”  —  Federal authorities have charged a New York man in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol …

Meet the Woman Behind Salon's Sloppy Tom Cotton Piece  —  Something funny happened when Sen. Tom Cotton's (R., Ark.) aides received a request for comment from intrepid Salon reporter Roger Sollenberger.  —  Cotton's team, which shared the email correspondence with the Washington Free Beacon …

Meet Trump's Pro-Insurrection “Intellectuals”  —  We should have known January 6 was coming, because Trumpism's “intellectual” wing called for it, for weeks.  —  Last December, Ross Douthat suggested that “there are two Republican Parties.”  One of them governs dutifully, “certifying elections …

Some Trump aides stuck with him till the end.  Now they're screwed.  —  Four days into his post-presidency life, Donald Trump has insulated himself from the outside world.  —  Unseen by the public and unusually quiet as key parts of his policy legacy are dismantled by the new administration …

This D.C. neighborhood has quietly become a national model for resisting gentrification  —  How one D.C. neighborhood quietly became a national model for resisting gentrification  —  On Monday afternoon, June 1, the city of Washington was on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General Announces Initiation of Investigation  —  Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz announced today that:  —  The DOJ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is initiating an investigation into whether any former …

QAnon Thinks Trump Will Become President Again on March 4  —  QAnon has started to merge with even more extreme conspiracy theories, including the “sovereign citizen” movement.  —  DG  —  Donald Trump will be sworn in as the 19th president of the United States on March 4, 2021.

Journalists Mobilize Against Free Speech  —  A new generation of media crusaders clamors for government control over what you see, hear, and read—and for banning their competition

100+ Politico Staffers Send Letter to Publisher Railing Against Publishing Ben Shapiro  —  The signees called out their top editor's response to internal critics, and reiterated that a firebrand like Shapiro does nothing to advance Politico's editorial values.  —  BEAST INSIDE

Iowa Senate leaders change virtual meeting policy after ‘pornographic’ Zoom incident  —  Republicans in the Iowa Senate said they have changed their policy for participants in virtual subcommittee meetings after an incident that was “pornographic in nature” during a Monday morning hearing.

Right-Wing Activist Banned From Airline for Not Wearing Mask Is Charged in Capitol Riots  —  Brandon Straka founded the “WalkAway Campaign,” urging liberals to ditch the Democratic Party.  —  A right-wing activist known for his unwavering support for former President Trump has been charged for participation in the Capitol riots.

Dr. Fauci: Double-masking makes ‘common sense’ and is likely more effective  —  Dr. Fauci says it's ‘common sense’ to wear two masks instead of one  —  Could wearing two face masks at once during the pandemic provide more protection than just wearing one?  According to White House advisor …

The most powerful Zoom call in the world  —  Welcome to POLITICO's 2021 Transition Playbook, your guide to the first 100 days of the Biden administration.  —  The most important meeting in JOE BIDEN's White House each day doesn't even happen in person.  The senior staff meeting each morning around 7:30 …

Hunter Gets a Bagel  —  Will media cover foreign influence sales as extensively as breakfast purchases?  —  It's no surprise that the American press corps is falling hard for the Biden presidency.  This week's coverage suggests that public displays of media affection are likely to continue …

Trump's coup didn't fail just from incompetence — credit the progressive activists who stopped him  —  To defeat the GOP's assault on democracy, it's critical for everyday voters to understand that they do have power  —  Last week, Donald Trump finally left the White House …

Erasing Three Colleagues, CA Democrat Claims She's the ‘Only Single Mother’ in Congress  —  Democratic congresswoman Katie Porter (Calif.) claimed to be the only single mother in Congress in a fundraising email on Monday, erasing at least three of her House colleagues who are also single mothers.

National Park Service spent 4,000 hours working on Trump's RNC fireworks show  —  Nikhel Sus, Linnaea Honl-Stuenkel, and Walker Davis … National Park Service employees spent nearly 4,000 hours working on the Republican National Convention's massive pro-Trump fireworks show at the National Mall …

Former Voice of America overseer hired two law firms to $4 million no-bid contracts.  —  The former head of Voice of America's parent agency hired two law firms to open-ended, no-bid contracts, including one specifying that top lawyers would earn $1,470 per hour, according to documents and people familiar with the matter.

Twitter unveils ‘Birdwatch,’ a ‘community-driven approach’ to combat misleading information  —  ‘Birdwatch’ allows users to add notes to tweets they believe are false in an attempt to ‘add context’ for other users  —  Does Trump's Twitter ban set a dangerous precedent?