Graham deals with Trump “dark side” to “harness the magic”  —  Sen. Lindsey Graham told “Axios on HBO” that Donald Trump has a “dark side” but he tries to “harness the magic” because he succeeded where Republican candidates like John McCain and Mitt Romney failed.

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 …

Biden to sign two executive orders to establish Gender Policy Council, review Title IX policies  —  WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden is set to mark International Women's Day Monday by signing two executive orders creating a Gender Policy Council and reviewing Trump-era changes to Title IX …

Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, Ex-Wife of Jeff Bezos, Marries Seattle School Teacher  —  Ms. Scott, one of the world's wealthiest women, has married Dan Jewett, a science teacher at a private school  —  MacKenzie Scott, the philanthropist formerly married to Jeff Bezos …

They Had a Fun Pandemic.  You Can Read About It in Print.  —  A downtown New York crowd is pushing back against the homogenization of big social media.  —  Honor Levy, 23, with a piece of fiction published on The New Yorker's website and a short story collection coming out next year …

Cuomo defiant as top New York lawmakers call on him to quit  —  NEW YORK (AP) — The two top Democrats in New York's legislature withdrew their support for Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday amid mounting allegations of sexual harassment and undercounting COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes.

Hawley becomes GOP cash cow despite Jan. 6 blowback  —  Sen. Josh Hawley's effort to block certification of the 2020 election has been a fundraising boon — not just for him but his party, Axios has learned.  —  Why it matters: Corporate donors and establishment Republicans recoiled …

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 …

Hitting Woke Herd Immunity?  —  We have become an absurd society obsessed with race but without any mechanism to develop a logical category of victimization and reparation.  —  Two recent polls suggest wokism is beginning to recede on a variety of fronts, from less trust in Black Lives Matter …

Democratic refusal to open schools is on the ballot in Virginia and New Jersey in 2021  —  President Biden claimed he would unite the country, turn down the temperature, and forge bipartisan consensus, but he has spent his first month in office unilaterally killing jobs through executive orders …

68% of Americans Support Biden's Pandemic Response, Most Say Lifting Restrictions Too Fast: Poll  —  More than two-thirds of Americans approve of President Joe Biden's response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday.

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.

Rescue Package Includes $86 Billion Bailout for Failing Pensions  —  Democrats pushed through a big aid measure for multiemployer pensions whose problems predate the pandemic.  —  Tucked inside the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill that cleared the Senate on Saturday is an $86 billion aid package that has nothing to do with the pandemic.

Preparing for Retaliation Against Russia, U.S. Confronts Hacking by China  —  The proliferation of cyberattacks by rivals is presenting a challenge to the Biden administration as it seeks to deter intrusions on government and corporate systems.  —  WASHINGTON — Just as it plans …

POLITICO Playbook: Does Fox care more about Dr. Seuss or stopping Biden's agenda?  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  Congress is about to pass and President JOE BIDEN is about to sign into law the greatest expansion of the welfare state since LBJ.  —  The bill extends far beyond stimulus payments …

The power to change what we are: Social media as the new ‘Fifth Estate’  —  Could Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey ever have imagined that his social media platform would become a U.S. president's preferred manner of communicating with the American electorate and beyond?

Texas shows the way on COVID rationality  —  Last week, a US state decided to throw off the shackles of prolonged pandemic restrictions that have done very little good and much harm.  That state will reopen libraries, museums, houses of worship and most businesses at full capacity.  —  No uproar ensued.

Switzerland referendum: Voters support ban on face coverings in public  —  Switzerland has narrowly voted in favour of banning face coverings in public, including the burka or niqab worn by Muslim women.  —  Official results showed the measure had passed by 51.2% to 48.8% in Sunday's referendum.

Georgia Republicans are pushing dozens of ‘election integrity’ bills.  Black voters are the target, rights groups say.  —  After 15 years allowing voters to cast absentee ballots without excuses, Georgia Republicans say the practice has got to go.  —  The Republican-controlled state Senate votes Monday …

‘An essential service’: Inside Biden's struggle to meet his school reopening promises  —  The promise was clear and hopeful: With strong public health measures, then-President-elect Joe Biden declared in early December, “the majority of our schools can be open by the end of my first 100 days.”

Child Tax Credit, Proposed in Stimulus, Advances an Effort Years in the Making  —  The $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package moving through Congress advances an idea that Democrats have been nurturing for decades: establishing a guaranteed income for families with children.

An FBI official told Congress the bureau can't monitor Americans' social media.  That's not true.  —  WASHINGTON — A senator had a simple question for the FBI's counterterrorism chief at a hearing last week about the Capitol riot.  —  Didn't the FBI see all those postings by extremists …

Diplomats Warned of a Coronavirus Danger in Wuhan—2 Years Before the Outbreak  —  After seeing a risky lab, they wrote a cable warning Washington.  But it was ignored.  —  On January 15, in its last days, President Donald Trump's State Department put out a statement with serious claims about the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Accountant faces pressure to turn on Trump in criminal probe  —  (Reuters) - When lawyers asked Donald Trump more than a decade ago to identify who estimated values on some of his signature properties, he shrugged and pointed to his longtime accountant, Allen Weisselberg.

It's past time for Biden to hold a news conference  —  Opinion by Editorial Board  —  WHITE HOUSE press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that President Biden would hold a news conference “before the end of the month.”  Last month would have been better, and this week would be better than next.