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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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” …

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 …

What If Deplorables Start “De-Platforming” Leftists From Receiving Skilled Trade Services?  —  If Monster Tech can aggressively de-platform businesses and individuals for expressing forbidden opinions, then maybe it's time for skilled tradesmen to respond in kind against the woke left.

Pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood fired by teen who faced off with Native American in viral video  —  BOSTON (Reuters) - A Kentucky teenager whose 2019 face-off with a Native American activist in Washington went viral has fired his lawyer, a man who played a key role in Donald Trump's attempts …

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.

Dr. Anthony Fauci: The Highest Paid Employee In The Entire U.S. Federal Government  —  Dr. Anthony Fauci made $417,608 in 2019, the latest year for which federal salaries are available.  That made him not only the highest paid doctor in the federal government, but the highest paid out of all four million federal employees.

Corporate clients drop Trump-related lobbying shops  —  Some blue-chip corporate clients have cut the cord with lobbying firms that monetized their close relationships with Donald Trump and his administration, new disclosure filings show.  —  Why it matters: Every change in administration shuffles …

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?

Inside CBS' fraught investigation into allegations of racism and misogyny  —  Gripped by scandal in the summer of 2018, CBS came up with a way to contain the crisis.  —  The television giant's board hired two outside law firms to investigate sexual misconduct claims against its longtime leader …

Indian Farmers March Set for Republic Day  —  Protesters used their tractors to pull apart barricades, prompting police to fire tear gas, as emotions flared before the scheduled start of a rally against new farming laws.  —  NEW DELHI — Thousands of protesting farmers poured into the Indian capital …

Fauci says he worried Trump's disinfectant comment would make people ‘start doing dangerous and foolish things’  —  Washington (CNN)Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, said Monday evening he was extremely worried by former President Donald Trump's dangerous April suggestion …

Here are the executive orders Biden has signed so far  —  (CNN)President Joe Biden has signed a flurry of executive orders, actions and memorandums aimed at rapidly addressing the coronavirus pandemic and dismantling many of President Donald Trump's policies.

Biden ushers in historical turn on clean energy and climate change  —  Like the curve of Earth we can't see from the ground, we're on a curve in history that we won't fully recognize until decades in the future.  —  Driving the news: The inauguration of President Biden completes an economic …

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 …