Inspector General's Report Cites Elaine Chao for Using Office to Help Family  —  The Justice Department under the Trump administration declined to open a criminal investigation into the actions by Ms. Chao when she was transportation secretary.  —  WASHINGTON — While serving …

Capitol Police Increase Security Following Threat  —  The United States Capitol Police Department is aware of and prepared for any potential threats towards members of Congress or towards the Capitol complex.  We have obtained intelligence that shows a possible plot to breach the Capitol …

Biden limits eligibility for stimulus payments under pressure from moderate Senate Democrats  —  President Biden has agreed to narrow eligibility for a new round of $1,400 stimulus payments in his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill, under pressure from moderate Senate Democrats who've pushed for more “targeted” spending in the bill.

Election Integrity Is a National Imperative  —  After an election marked by significant voting irregularities and numerous instances of officials setting aside state election law, I share the concerns of millions of Americans about the integrity of the 2020 election.

David Shor on Why Trump Was Good for the GOP and How Dems Can Win in 2022  —  In the United States, every season is campaign season.  Four months after America last went to the polls, Democrats are still refining their autopsies of the 2020 race and already governing with an eye toward the 2022 midterms.

David Brooks's Side Hustle Was Funded By Facebook And Jeff Bezos's Father  —  New York Times columnist David Brooks is drawing a second salary for his work on an Aspen Institute project funded by Facebook and other large donors — a fact he has not disclosed in his columns.

The House Is Poised to Pass a Major Voting Rights Bill—and Create a Helluva Battle in the Senate  —  Let our journalists help you make sense of the noise: Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter and get a recap of news that matters.  —  With a supercharged assault on voting rights …

Murkowski emerges as focus of Biden effort to find GOP support for his agenda  —  As early as December, the incoming Biden administration began to woo a Republican who could prove pivotal in their legislative efforts: Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.  —  As transition officials sifted through …

In Trump probe, Manhattan district attorney puts pressure on his longtime chief financial officer  —  The Manhattan district attorney is delving deeply into the personal and financial affairs of the chief financial officer for former president Donald Trump's company, probing the extent …

Biden Secretly Limits Counterterrorism Drone Strikes Away From War Zones  —  Requiring higher-level approval is a stopgap measure as officials review whether to tighten Trump-era targeting rules and civilian safeguards.  —  WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has quietly imposed temporary limits …

Two Transformer Statues At Center Of Georgetown Debate  —  The fate of humanity may not exactly have been at stake, but still the battle was on.  —  On one side, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.  On the other, a Georgetown Advisory Neighborhood Commission.  (Cue dramatic music.)

U.S. suspends federal agent who joined crowd outside Capitol during rampage, lawyer says  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has suspended an agent who was outside the Capitol when a mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the building, his lawyer said …

3 out of 4 Abbott medical advisers say they were not consulted before he lifted Texas mask mandate  —  Texas' top health official said Wednesday he did not speak with Gov. Greg Abbott before the governor announced Tuesday he would end his statewide mask order and “open Texas 100%.”

Stockton's Basic-Income Experiment Pays Off  —  Two years ago, the city of Stockton, California, did something remarkable: It brought back welfare.  —  Using donated funds, the industrial city on the edge of the Bay Area tech economy launched a small demonstration program …

Public Wants Stimulus Checks More Than GOP Support for Plan  —  Majority back jobless benefits, wage hike, some college debt relief; Negative views of Biden, Congress rise  —  West Long Branch, NJ - More than 6 in 10 Americans support the Covid stimulus bill being considered by Congress …

Jim Jordan Under Scrutiny for Nearly $3 Million in Unreported Campaign Funds  —  “Jordan's campaign appears to have had systemic reporting problems over multiple years,” Brendan Fischer, director of reform at the Campaign Legal Center, told the Daily Beast.  —  This week, the campaign committee …

Lin Wood Booted From Lawyers Club After Calling for Pence's Execution  —  OBJECTIONABLE  —  Pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood has been banished from a private lawyer's club in Atlanta after calling for former Vice President Mike Pence to face a firing squad.  Wood, who was behind several failed …

Alabama Senate votes to make hormone therapy and surgery for trans youth a felony  —  Under a new law, transgender youth in Alabama could not be treated with puberty-blockers, hormone therapy or surgery.  The state Senate voted to make the treatment a felony on Tuesday.

Google to Stop Selling Ads Based on Your Specific Web Browsing  —  Citing privacy concerns, Google says it won't use technologies that track individuals across multiple websites  —  Google plans to stop selling ads based on individuals' browsing across multiple websites …

CDC delays guidelines for vaccinated people  —  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will not be releasing its guidance for vaccinated Americans on Thursday as originally planned, according to two senior administration officials with knowledge of the situation.

Apple Threatens North Dakota, Suffers Crushing Loss in Arizona: “A Lot of It is Just Fear”  —  Facebook, Apple, Google do not obey the law.  Lawmakers know it.  —  4 hr ago  —  Welcome to BIG, a newsletter about the politics of monopoly and finance.  If you'd like to sign up, you can do so here.

Donald Trump's Gab Account Uses an Email Address Belonging to the Extremist Platform's CEO … Gab, the far-right social network that's known as a safe space for hate speech, QAnon believers, Trump election fraud conspiracists, and white supremacist terrorists, was hacked pretty badly.

Zero COVID Risk Is the Wrong Standard  —  Oregon governor Kate Brown has been fighting to reopen the state's schools, some 80 percent of which remain fully remote.  Her efforts included providing schools with masks, testing, and ventilation, and giving teachers access to vaccines.

The silenced majority  —  In red America and blue America, an epidemic of self-censorship is threatening democracy  —  I know a lot of people who live in fear of saying what they really think.  In red America and in blue America — and, perhaps more so, on the red internet and the blue internet …

ID Requirements Are Meant To Stop Vaccine Tourists, But They Can Also Shut Out Vulnerable Residents  —  As an undocumented construction worker living outside Miami, Miguel is constantly challenged to prove that he exists.  Police hassle him for an ID he doesn't have.

1619, 1776, and Us  —  What the conflict over the NYT extravaganza and the much-mocked Trump commission report is really about.  —  Among the Trump administration's final acts was the release, less than 48 hours before Donald Trump left office, of the “1776 Report.”

‘Vial Of Death’: Louis Farrakhan Pushes Vaccine Conspiracy Theories In Videos Posted On Facebook, Twitter  — Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam, called the coronavirus shot a “vial of death” at an event held this weekend, and falsely claimed that the vaccine has killed people.

Trump Served With Civil Rights Suit After Capitol Riot  —  Attorneys for Rep. Bennie Thompson and the NAACP have served the former president at his Mar-a-Lago club with a lawsuit filed in February.  —  Attorneys for Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and the NAACP have served former President Donald Trump …

How Marjorie Taylor Greene Won, And Why Someone Like Her Can Win Again  —  Before Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene set off a metal detector outside the House chamber, lost her committee assignments, or hung a transphobic sign in the halls of the Capitol complex, she was just a candidate in a Republican primary in Georgia.