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.

Biden tells CNN Trump's impeachment trial ‘has to happen’  —  (CNN)President Joe Biden on Monday offered his most extensive comments since taking office on former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, telling CNN, “I think it has to happen.”  —  Biden made the comment during a brief …

From Navy SEAL to Part of the Angry Mob Outside the Capitol  —  The presence in Washington of a longtime member of the Navy SEALs who was trained to identify misinformation reflects the partisan politics that helped lead to the assault.  —  In the weeks since Adam Newbold …

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler pepper sprays unmasked man who confronted him with video camera  —  Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler blasted with pepper spray an unmasked man who confronted him and former Mayor Sam Adams with a video camera as the two left a pub Sunday night, the two men told police.

As Trump Seeks to Remain a Political Force, New Targets Emerge  —  As Donald Trump surveys the political landscape, there is a sudden Senate opening in Ohio, an ally's bid for Arkansas governor, and some scores to settle elsewhere.  —  Former President Donald J. Trump …

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 …

Robert Kraft's sex videos from police sting should be destroyed, judge orders  —  Sex videos of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft are set to be destroyed under a court order.  —  It's been two years since the 79-year-old billionaire was among more than two dozen people secretly videotaped …

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.

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has been banned from Twitter  —  (CNN Business)Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, was banned from Twitter Monday night, according to a Twitter spokesperson.  —  Twitter made its decision based on a new policy it enacted after the Capitol insurrection whereby people …

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 …

Scoop: Google won't donate to members of Congress who voted against election results  —  Google will not make contributions from its political action committee this cycle to any member of Congress who voted against certifying the results of the presidential election, following the deadly Capitol riot.

U.S. Satisfaction at 11% in Early January  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Before the Jan. 20 inauguration of Joe Biden as the nation's 46th president, 11% of Americans said they are satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S. This is down from 16% in December and marginally lower than readings …

Mayor Aims to Turn Small Town Into QAnon, USA  —  “I think we're a little microcosm of what's happening at the national level,” said Marsha Maguire, a resident of Sequim, Washington.  —  City council meetings don't often get heated in Sequim, Washington, a small town of roughly 7,000 people popular with retirees from Seattle.

Woman Accused of Stealing Laptop from Nancy Pelosi's Office May Lose Internet Access as Feds Allege Deepening Cover-Up  —  The woman alleged to have stolen a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office during the U.S. Capitol insurrection may have encouraged others to destroy evidence …

Let America be America  —  It feels like having a weight lifted off my soul.  —  I'm describing my emotions as Joe Biden was inaugurated as president last week, marking the end of Donald Trump's time in the White House.  —  I'm not alone.  —  Dr. Anthony Fauci described his emotion as a “liberating feeling.”

After Capitol riot, a call to protect veterans from disinformation  —  A prominent veterans advocate wants the Biden administration and Congress to help retired servicemembers protect themselves from online disinformation following the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

Biden's politically correct assault on girls sports  —  President Biden has signed an executive order forcing schools that accept public funding to allow biological boys to compete in girls sports.  His Department of Education is also expected to flip sides on two transgender sports battles …

Harris County judge dismisses vaccine theft charge against doctor, blasts DA for bringing the case  —  Dr. Hasan Gokal was fired by Harris County Public Health and charged with misdemeanor theft after he admitted taking leftover doses of COVID-19 vaccine and administering them to nine people.

Biden to tap nurse as acting surgeon general  —  Susan Orsega would be among the first nurses to serve in the role of 'the nation's doctor'  —  The Biden administration has selected nurse Susan Orsega to serve as the nation's acting surgeon general, said two people with knowledge of her selection …

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 …

Biden to reopen ACA insurance marketplaces as pandemic has cost millions of Americans their coverage  —  President Biden is scheduled to take executive actions as early as Thursday to reopen federal marketplaces selling Affordable Care Act health plans and to lower recent barriers to joining Medicaid.

The Republican Party is at war with itself as it charts its post-Trump future  —  AZ GOP censures politicians who know how to win statewide as it doubles down on Trump conspiracy theorists  —  (CNN)A cold war is underway within the Republican Party as its members begin to navigate …

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.

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 …

On the Ground … Making America California  —  The Biden administration seems determined to run the country on the ruinous model of the Golden State.  —  California  —  Politics and law  —  Economy, finance, and budgets  —  As the Biden administration settles in and begins to formulate its agenda …

Former DNC head Perez ‘taking a look at’ Maryland governor bid  —  Former Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez is considering a run for Maryland governor in 2022.  —  “I live here in Maryland,” he told liberal podcaster Bill Press in an episode of Press' show, “The Bill Press Pod,” set to air on Tuesday morning.

A genocide, by any other name  —  How are we to describe the abominations being carried out in Xinjiang by the Chinese Communist Party?  What word is apt for the concentration camps, the mass sterilizations, the deportations, and the slave gangs?  Repression?  Ethnic cleansing?  Extermination?

Trump establishes ‘Office of the Former President’ in Florida  —  Former President Trump on Monday established an official post-presidency office in Palm Beach County, Fla., setting up a vehicle for future public appearances and statements.  —  “The Office of the Former President” …

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Unlikely to Run for Fourth Term  —  The Democrat has raised little money and hasn't campaigned ahead of a June Democratic primary  —  In the past year, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has raised only a few thousand dollars for his re-election.

Lawmakers say North Korean diplomat defected to South Korea  —  SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A North Korean diplomat who served as the country's acting ambassador to Kuwait has defected to South Korea, according to South Korean lawmakers who were briefed by Seoul's spy agency.

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 …

Boebert Claimed not to Know Anti-Govt Extremists She Posed With, But Photos Show Otherwise  —  Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-CO) claimed she “didn't know” the anti-government extremists she posed with on the steps of the Colorado Capitol in 2019, but it turns out she's known some of them for over a year.

Many Republicans are choosing collective amnesia of Jan. 6.  That would be disastrous.  —  As we move away from the events of Jan. 6, many elected Republicans seem to be settling on a strategy of collective amnesia.  Some propose to forget the unpleasant past in the cause of national “healing.”

Our Radicalized Republic  —  Four years ago, Lilliana Mason learned something she really, really hoped wasn't true.  A political scientist who studies Americans' attitudes about politics and each other, she had long known that the citizens of this country were growing increasingly resentful …

Scoop: Former OMB director to set up Pro-Trump think tanks  —  Russ Vought, who led Donald Trump's Office of Management and Budget, plans to announce two pro-Trump organizations Tuesday, aiming to provide the ideological ammunition to sustain Trump's political movement after his departure from the White House.