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 …

POLITICO Playbook: Schumer and his flip phone get their moment  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  A busy Wednesday night in the House:  —  H.R. 1 ... “House passes sweeping bill on election, government reforms,” by Sarah Ferris: “Nearly every Democrat voted for the bill, which includes a slew of ballot access …

Once omnipresent Kushner now MIA from Trump's political pack  —  (CNN)As Donald Trump plotted his Conservative Political Action Conference appearance last week, and a broader, more-robust plan to return to politics as an omnipresent disruptor, one person was conspicuously absent from the confab.

Did the Pentagon wait for Trump's approval before defending the Capitol?  —  Three hours and 19 minutes.  —  That's how long it took from the first, desperate pleas for help from the Capitol Police to the Trump Pentagon on Jan. 6 until the D.C. National Guard finally received permission to help put down the bloody insurrection.

Biden's bungling anti-Trumpism starts to fray  —  “Orange man bad” is the leitmotif of Biden administration messaging and policymaking.  If you want to know what President Biden is doing, check what President Donald Trump did, and it'll either be the opposite or be presented that way.

Sole GOP vote on House police reform bill says he ‘accidentally pressed the wrong voting button’  —  Rep. Lance Gooden (Texas), the only House Republican to vote in favor the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act on Wednesday, tweeted Wednesday evening that he cast the wrong ballot by accident.

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.

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%.”

Maybe It's a Good Thing Andrew Cuomo Is Still Governor  —  Gov. Andrew Cuomo stands accused by three different women of sexual harassment.  And yet, oddly enough, he is still serving as governor.  And that, friends, may be a good thing.  —  In Monday's New York Times …

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 …

House Democrats pass sweeping elections bill as GOP legislatures push to restrict voting  —  The House late Wednesday night passed expansive legislation to create uniform national voting standards, overhaul campaign finance laws and outlaw partisan redistricting, advancing a centerpiece …

Moderate Democrats Strip Stimulus Checks From 12 Million Voters for No Reason  —  For weeks, a handful of moderate Democrats in the Senate have been fighting to prevent $1,400 COVID-relief checks from reaching their own upper-middle-class constituents.  It has never been all that clear to the public …

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 …

Brexit: Northern Ireland loyalist armies renounce Good Friday Agreement  —  Loyalist Communities Council warns of ‘strength of feeling’ over border checks but says protests about Northern Ireland Protocol should stay peaceful  —  A body that claims to represent loyalist paramilitary organisations …

Former Trump appointees say they're still waiting on their vacation payouts  —  Some former political appointees say they were promised lump-sum payouts and are now struggling to pay rent.  —  A number of former Trump political appointees have still not received their lump-sum vacation payouts …

Republicans Won Blue-Collar Votes.  They're Not Offering Much in Return.  —  Party leaders want to capitalize on Donald Trump's appeal to the white working class.  But in recent weeks, they've offered very little to advance working people's economic interests.

White House weighs minimum wage negotiations with Republicans  —  The White House is weighing whether to engage in talks with Republicans on a minimum wage hike once Congress passes its Covid relief bill, two sources with knowledge of their strategic thinking say.

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.

Republicans, please save your party  —  President Trump's address last weekend to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), in which he publicly identified his opponents, had all the charm and grace of another speech given in 1979, by Saddam Hussein, in Baghdad.

The danger of a fourth wave  —  The U.S. may be on the verge of another surge in coronavirus cases, despite weeks of good news.  —  The big picture: Nationwide, progress against the virus has stalled.  And some states are ditching their most important public safety measures even as their outbreaks are getting worse.

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 …

Jeffrey Epstein's New York Townhouse to Sell for Roughly $50 Million  —  The late financier and convicted sex offender's Upper East Side home originally asked $88 million.  —  The New York City townhouse of the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is in contract to sell …

Rantz: Man calls 911 on self to ‘goad’ cops into George Floyd incident, reports Black man with gun  —  Arlington Police were called to a bus stop near a middle school after a report of a young Black man brandishing a handgun.  That man, Tamon Leverette, later said that “he was stopped and frisked” …