Ted Cruz's Trip to Cancún Draws Fire Amid Texas' Deep Freeze  —  The Texas senator faced fierce blowback for fleeing his state as a disaster unfolded.  Text messages sent by his wife revealed a hastily planned trip away from their “FREEZING” family home.

Texas was “seconds and minutes” away from catastrophic monthslong blackouts, officials say  —  Officials with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said that grid operators implemented blackouts to avoid a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months.  —  Copy link

Manhattan D.A. Recruits Top Prosecutor for Trump Inquiry  —  The Manhattan district attorney has enlisted a former federal prosecutor who is an expert on white-collar crime to join the team investigating the Trump family business.  —  As the Manhattan district attorney's office steps …

6 Capitol Police officers suspended, 29 others being investigated for alleged roles in riot  —  (CNN)Six US Capitol Police officers have been suspended with pay, and 29 others have been placed under investigation, for their actions in the January 6 riot, a department spokesman said Thursday.

Immigration Overhaul Would Offer 8-Year Path to Citizenship for Millions  —  The proposal offers an eight-year path to citizenship for most of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, eliminates restrictions on family-based immigration and expands worker visas.

White House announces $4 billion in funding for Covax, the global vaccine effort that Trump spurned  —  The White House is throwing its support behind a global push to distribute coronavirus vaccines equitably, pledging $4 billion dollars to a multilateral effort the Trump administration spurned.

Biden Administration Formally Offers to Restart Nuclear Talks With Iran  —  President Biden campaigned on restoring an accord limiting Iran's nuclear program.  It remains unclear if Tehran, which is demanding that sanctions be lifted, will accept the offer to talk.

AG Jason Ravnsborg charged with three misdemeanors in crash that killed Highmore man  —  South Dakota's Attorney General will face misdemeanor charges for his role in a crash that killed a Highmore man more than five months ago.  —  The Hyde County State's Attorney's Office announced Thursday …

Trump snubs Haley  —  SCOOP: NIKKI HALEY reached out to former President DONALD TRUMP on Wednesday to request a sit-down at Mar-a-Lago, but a source familiar tells Playbook that he turned her down.  The two haven't spoken since the insurrection on Jan. 6, when Haley blasted Trump for inciting his supporters to storm the Capitol.

Trump Can Still Be The Republican Party's Future.  Just Look To Arizona.  —  Arizona Republicans keep losing.  But the Arizona Republican Party has already turned itself into a Trump machine, still trying to win an election that's long over.  And that might be the future of conservatism.

Ella Emhoff Drops a Small (Very Small) Collection of Knits  —  The second daughter turned model released a five-piece collection.  Only one of each item was made.  —  Ella Emhoff, the 21-year-old knitwear designer who signed a major modeling contract in January, has released …

‘Recipe for disaster’: Dem fears mount over immigration overhaul  —  “Biden is going to be dealing with a minority in Congress if he continues down some of these paths,” said one Democratic congressman.  —  Migrants are loaded onto a bus by U.S. Border Patrol agents after being detained …

Grosse Pointe Park man hangs KKK flag in window facing Black neighbor sparking outrage  —  GROSSE POINTE PARK, MIch. (FOX 2) - A racist display has a community outraged in Grosse Pointe Park after a white resident displayed a KKK flag in the window of a home facing their Black neighbor Tuesday.

Biden privately tells governors: Minimum wage hike likely isn't happening  —  When Joe Biden met with a group of mayors and governors last week he bluntly told them to get ready for a legislative defeat: his proposed minimum wage hike was unlikely to happen, he said, at least in the near term.

“My Job Is Not to Protect ‘the Squad’”: Briahna Joy Gray Wants to Upend Democrats' Political Strategy  —  The Bernie Sanders vet and progressive host envies the right-wing media's ability to drive messages and corral Republican lawmakers—as a recent “Medicare for All” podcast push showed the limits of the left's clout in Congress.

What Rush Limbaugh Discussed on His Final Radio Show  —  After Rush Limbaugh's heartfelt message to his audience before the holiday season, longtime listeners feared it would be the last time they heard from him.  He told them how he outlived his diagnosis many times over and was grateful to have been alive to hear his eulogies.