US carries out air strikes in Syria targeting Iranian backed militia structures  —  (CNN)The US military struck a site in Syria on Thursday used by two Iranian-backed militia groups following rocket attacks on American forces in the region in the past two weeks, according to a US official.

Biden's minimum wage increase runs afoul of budget rules  —  The Senate parliamentarian has ruled that President Joe Biden's minimum wage hike violates arcane budget rules that could jeopardize the rest of his $1.9 trillion relief package, dealing a blow to progressives in a highly anticipated decision …

Boehner goes off script, tells Cruz to “go f**k yourself”  —  John Boehner has been going off script while recording the audio version of his new memoir, using expletives and asides not in the book — such as the former Republican House speaker saying, “Oh, and Ted Cruz, go f**k yourself.”

Judge rules CDC eviction moratorium unconstitutional  —  A federal judge in Texas ruled on Thursday that an order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) temporarily halting evictions amid the pandemic is unconstitutional.  —  In a 21-page ruling, U.S. District Judge John Barker sided …

House votes to pass Equality Act, prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity  —  The House on Thursday voted to pass the Equality Act, a far-reaching measure that has been decades in the making and would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

‘Nobody Listened To Me’: The Quest to Be MTG  —  ALPHARETTA, Ga.—Marjorie Taylor Greene smacked her gum as she pretended to listen to a man in a dress read a book about a unicorn.  —  It was late April of 2019.  She sat in the rear of a room at the public library here near her home in this suburb north of Atlanta.

Twitter announces paid Super Follows to let you charge for tweets  —  It's also planning a groups feature  —  Twitter announced a pair of big upcoming features today: the ability for users to charge their followers for access to additional content, and the ability to create and join groups based around specific interests.

Saudi Crown Prince Implicated in Khashoggi Murder, U.S. Finds  — Intelligence report will be declassified as soon as Friday  — Prince has denied involvement in the columnist's killing  —  A U.S. intelligence report expected to be declassified as soon as Friday implicates Saudi …

Scoop: Schumer wants to freeze stimulus changes  —  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is privately saying he can pass President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus package but wants to avoid any last-minute changes jeopardizing its trajectory, three sources familiar with the talks tell Axios.

The Republican Party Is Now in Its End Stages  —  We are living in a time of bad metaphors.  Everything is fascism, or socialism; Hitler's Germany, or Stalin's Soviet Union.  Republicans, especially, want their followers to believe that America is on the verge of a dramatic time …

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's Final Financial Disclosures Show Where They Made Their Money  —  Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have filed their final financial disclosure forms (known as OGE 278e), covering their non-governmental income for 2020 and the first few weeks of 2021.

Three Percenter Truck at Capitol on Jan. 6 Belongs to Hitler-Quoting Rep's Husband  —  At least one baseball-bat wielding man tied to the far-right militia group has been arrested for his alleged role in the insurrection. … A pickup truck parked at the United States Capitol and bearing …

Manhattan DA Gets Trump's Tax Returns  —  Manhattan's District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. now has possession of the tax records of former President Donald Trump.  —  The records from 2011-2018 arrived at the DA's office as a result of the Supreme Court refusing to intervene in the DA's subpoena for the documents.

Unprecedented numbers of students have disappeared during the pandemic.  Schools are working harder than ever to find them.  —  DETROIT — Kenneth Chapman Sr. was hopeful as he navigated a hulking Detroit Public Schools van down the street, pulling up to a brick home.

Trump shares plans for new super PAC in Mar-a-Lago meeting  —  President Donald Trump told political advisers Thursday that he's chosen longtime ally Corey Lewandowski to run a yet-to-be-formed super PAC as part of his expanding post-presidential political apparatus, according to multiple people familiar with the discussion.

Biden's chief of staff at center of controversy over White House budget pick  —  White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain has adamantly defended Neera Tanden, both in public and internally  —  White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain is at the center of the controversy over President Biden's choice …

Sen. John Thune, Opposing $15 Min Wage, Says He Earned $6 As a Kid—That's $24 With Inflation  —  In a tweet voicing his opposition to raising the national minimum wage to $15 an hour, Republican South Dakota Senator John Thune said he made $6 an hour working at a restaurant as a “kid.”

Capitol Police chief says extremists have discussed attack on Congress during Biden's first joint address  —  The acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police warned lawmakers Thursday that militia members involved in the Jan. 6 riot “want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible” …

Biden's Proposed Tax Hike Would Have 3 Huge Consequences, Study Finds  —  President Biden is pushing a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 spending package which he claims will boost the economy.  But a new study warns that one other key policy Biden has proposed would hurt the economy and have at least three major consequences for workers.

‘Nobody came, nobody helped’: Fears of anti-Asian violence rattle the community  —  About US is an initiative by The Washington Post to cover issues of identity in the United States.  Sign up for the newsletter.  —  They gather almost every night at San Francisco's Dragon Gate …

Visualizing Cyber Harassment  —  Content warning: this blog contains racist and anti-semitic language and terminology associated with sexual assault.  —  Harassment campaigns by swarms of trolls online are disruptive and destructive to their targets' lives, but what these campaigns actually look like is somewhat nebulous.

QAnon Believers Duped by Trump, Melania Impersonators on Telegram  —  Kicked off of most social media platforms, QAnon believers who flocked to Telegram found that some of MAGAworld's biggest stars had joined them.  Unfortunately, they were fakes.  —  QAnon conspiracy theorists pushed off …

“You've Made the Post Swashbuckling Once Again”: Marty Baron Receives a Star-Studded Farewell and Dishes in a Wide-Ranging Exit Interview  —  Stars from Hollywood (Spielberg, Schreiber) and the news biz (Baquet, Blitzer) toasted the legendary editor, who recalls angry calls from Trump …

Republican Senators Haven't Represented a Majority of Voters Since 1996  —  As we wait for the Senate parliamentarian to let us know if 41 senators will be able to block a minimum wage increase that a comfortable majority of Americans supports, it's as good a time as any to be reminded …

Why Senate Republicans fear Deb Haaland  —  Opinion by Julian Brave NoiseCat  —  Julian Brave NoiseCat (Secwepemc/St'at'imc) is vice president of policy and strategy at Data for Progress and a fellow of the Type Media Center.  —  Alexander Stuart, the third interior secretary …

NYC's creative industry suffered more job losses during COVID-19 than any other sector: report  —  New York City's arts, entertainment and recreation industry took the greatest hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, losing a larger percentage of jobs than in any other economic sector, a new state comptroller report has found.

Ex-Olympic gymnastics coach dies by suicide hours after being charged with human trafficking, sex crimes  —  Former U.S. Olympic gymnastics coach John Geddert, who led the women's team to a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics, killed himself Thursday after he was charged with sexual assault …

With Iran, nuclear diplomacy comes first  —  Since Joe Biden's inauguration on January 20, the new administration's top foreign policy and national security figures have said repeatedly that the United States would resume full compliance with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) if Iran does.