Inside the Lincoln Project's Secrets, Side Deals and Scandals  —  A civil war broke out in the group as it antagonized Donald Trump, with leaders splintering over financial arrangements and revelations of online harassment by a top official.  —  A few days before the presidential election …

POLITICO Playbook PM: How Blunt's retirement will reverberate in 2022  —  Sen. ROY BLUNT'S (R-Mo.) announcement this morning that he won't seek a third term next year marks yet another blow to the governing wing of the GOP.  —  Blunt joins four other Republican incumbents heading for the exits …

Gov. Kim Reynolds signs law shortening Iowa's early and Election Day voting  —  Four months after Iowans voted in record numbers, Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed legislation cutting the state's early voting period and closing the polls an hour earlier on Election Day.

The unbearable victim complex of Meghan Markle  —  The Oprah interview was an emotionally manipulative performance designed to consolidate Harry and Meghan's power.  —  Well that was explosive.  Even more than had been expected.  In their two-hour sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, Harry and Meghan drove a long knife into the monarchy.

RNC brushes back Trump on ‘cease-and-desist’ demand  —  The Republican National Committee is denying a cease-and-desist demand from Donald Trump's attorneys, who asked the party organization to stop using the former president's name and likeness in fundraising appeals.

John Roberts issues lone dissent in Supreme Court campus free speech case  —  Chief Justice John Roberts was the lone dissent in a Supreme Court campus free speech case, arguing that a former college student had no standing to protest the school restricting his religious freedoms.

The Best Bagels Are in California (Sorry, New York)  —  West Coast bakers are driving a great bagel boom, producing some of the most delicious versions around and finding ways to expand during the pandemic.  —  BERKELEY, Calif. — The bagels at Boichik Bagels have the look of Labrador puppies curled …

Roger Stone Associate With Oath Keepers Ties Arrested on Capitol Riot Charges  —  Law enforcement officials also identified another man Monday who is now facing charges in the Capitol riot case — 32-year-old Isaac Sturgeon  —  What to Know  — A New York man with ties to Roger Stone …

T21-0039 - Major Individual Income Tax Provisions in H.R.1319, The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 as Passed by the Senate, by Expanded Cash Income Percentile, 2021  —  Table shows the effect on the distribution of federal taxes, by expanded cash income percentile, relative to current law …

Manchin's next power play  —  Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), America's ultimate swing voter, told me on “Axios on HBO” that he'll insist Republicans have more of a voice on President Biden's next big package than they did on the COVID stimulus.  —  The big picture: Manchin said he'll push …

Meet the GOP voters who could decide whether the U.S. reaches herd immunity  —  Almost one-third of Republicans tell pollsters they 'definitely won't' get vaccinated.  —  Margaret, an 80-year-old retiree who lives outside Tulsa, has spent the past year living in fear of the coronavirus.

H.R. 1 Is a Partisan Assault on American Democracy  —  Late Wednesday night, the House passed H.R. 1, the “For the People Act.”  It passed by ten votes, with every Republican voting against it, as well as Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson, who fears that the bill will abolish majority-black districts like his in the Deep South.

Secretary Mayorkas Designates Venezuela for Temporary Protected Status for 18 Months  —  New Designation Allows Eligible Venezuelans to Apply for TPS and Employment Authorization Documents  —  WASHINGTON—Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas is designating Venezuela …

Pence to give speech in SC, his 1st since leaving office  —  COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — In his first public address since the end of the Trump administration, former Vice President Mike Pence is traveling to South Carolina, set to speak to a conservative Christian nonprofit in the state that plays …

Rare trial of U.S. journalist arrested on the job begins in Iowa  —  Prosecutors in Iowa began their case Monday against a Des Moines Register reporter arrested during racial justice protests last summer, in a rare trial of a U.S. journalist charged with a crime while reporting.

REPUBLISH  —  ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.  Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published.  —  Everything looks the same on either side of the Texas-New Mexico border in the great oil patch of the Permian Basin.

The GOP scam is getting worse — for Republican voters.  A new study shows how.  —  When every Senate Republican voted against President Biden's $1.9 trillion rescue package over the weekend, it revived a question that analysts have asked about the modern GOP for decades …

Biden Nominates Two Women To Lead Combatant Commands  —  They would become just the second and third women to head up a top-level joint military command.  —  President Joe Biden nominated two women to lead joint military commands amid a push for more diversity among the Pentagon's top ranks.

Sen. Roy Blunt won't run for reelection in latest blow to GOP  —  Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri announced on Monday that he will not run for reelection in 2022, a surprise decision from the No. 4 GOP leader that comes amid a slew of retirements from top Senate Republicans.

NYC prosecutors' probe into Trump finances expands to include millions loaned for Chicago skyscraper  —  Five elected investigators are turning their attention to Trump  —  (CNN)The Manhattan district attorney's office subpoenaed documents from an investment company that loaned …

Iowa's Johnson County Democrats calls for replacing caucuses with a presidential primary  —  The largest Democratic caucus site in Iowa's Johnson County in 2020 held nearly 900 people, said local activist John Deeth — a far cry from the glorified image of Iowans debating presidential politics in a neighbor's living room.

Josh Hawley Is ‘Not Going Anywhere.’ How Did He Get Here?  —  The senator's objection to the election results surprised some supporters.  But interviews with dozens of people close to him show his growing comfort with doing what it takes to hold on to power.

Pepe Le Pew Won't Be Appearing In Warner Bros' ‘Space Jam’ Sequel  —  EXCLUSIVE: He starred in the first Warner Bros. Space Jam movie back in 1996, however, Pepe Le Pew will not be showing up at all in the upcoming theatrical sequel Space Jam: A New Legacy on July 16.

Biden administration backs nation's biggest wind farm off Martha's Vineyard  —  Once blocked by some waterfront landowners, offshore wind power now enjoys broad support  —  The Biden administration took a crucial step Monday toward approving the nation's first large-scale offshore wind farm …