Recording of Trump Phone Call to Georgia Lead Investigator Reveals New Details  —  Then-president says ‘Something bad happened’ and presses for investigation into Fulton County votes  —  ATLANTA—Then-President Donald Trump urged the chief investigator of the Georgia Secretary of State's office …

BREAKING: Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri acquitted after trial on charges from George Floyd protest in May 2020  —  Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri was acquitted Wednesday in a trial stemming from her arrest covering the George Floyd protests in May 2020.

Rep. David Cicilline Says He'll Propose Rule to Stop Marjorie Taylor Greene's Delay Tactics  —  Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's repeated efforts to delay work in the House of Representatives has drawn bipartisan ire and may result in a new rule change.

Stimulus bill with $29B in direct restaurant aid appears headed for passage  —  The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which features grants to restaurants in need, overcame a key challenge over the weekend.  —  A landmark COVID-relief bill earmarking $28.6 billion in direct aid to restaurants …

Whistleblowers Allege Improper Hiring At Justice Department During Trump's Last Days  —  Two whistleblowers assert that a Justice Department official improperly injected politics into the hiring process during his waning days in the Trump administration, according to a new filing obtained by NPR.

Collins-Schumer rift shocks Senate  —  While Washington undergoes a much-needed spring thaw, Chuck Schumer and Susan Collins' relationship is frostier than ever.  —  More than four months after Collins handily dispatched Schumer's efforts to deny her a fifth term, the moderate Maine Republican …

Biden is leading a quiet revolution  —  Opinion by  —  “Our economic package is a closely knit, carefully constructed plan to restore America's economic strength and put our nation back on the road to prosperity,” the president declared in a speech from the Oval Office.  “Each part of this package is vital.”

Jayapal asks for investigations into three GOP members for their role in instigating the Capitol Insurrection  —  GOP lawmaker accused of giving ‘reconnaissance’ tour prior to Capitol riot  —  (CNN)Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington has sent letters to the House Committee on Ethics …

Female aide said Cuomo aggressively groped her at the governor's mansion  —  Cuomo issues denial but describes details of woman's account as ‘gut-wrenching’  —  ALBANY — A female aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo alleges he aggressively groped her in a sexually charged manner after she had been summoned …

America Without God  —  The United States had long been a holdout among Western democracies, uniquely and perhaps even suspiciously devout.  From 1937 to 1998, church membership remained relatively constant, hovering at about 70 percent.  Then something happened.

Somebody's Taking a Huge Risk on Biden's Bill.  It's Not Biden.  —  Try to imagine we are living in the following hypothetical world: A popular Republican president quickly passes emergency legislation that has the support of two-thirds of the country, while Democrats in Congress refuse to vote for it.

Biden Got the Vaccine Rollout Humming, With Trump's Help  —  Trump administration officials grumble that they laid the groundwork for surging vaccinations, but some hard work in the trenches has helped pick up the pace of production.  —  WASHINGTON — When President Biden pledged last week …

Biden and his Covid-relief bill prove popular in new CNN poll  —  (CNN)The economic relief bill moving rapidly through Congress is broadly popular, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS.  —  The popularity of the bill comes as President Joe Biden's approval rating tilts positive around 50 days after he took the oath of office.

BuzzFeed Is in Talks to Go Public Via 890 5th Avenue SPAC  —  BuzzFeed Inc. is in talks to go public through a merger with 890 5th Avenue Partners Inc., a special purpose acquisition company, according to people with knowledge of the matter.  —  Once public, the company may use its currency …

Newsom To Californians: Let's Face It, We're Never Getting Back To Normal  —  That's a great message to send to a restive electorate after a year of fumbling the response to COVID-19.  Gavin Newsom tried to get cute in his State of the State speech from an empty Dodger Stadium …

Senate confirms Michael Regan to lead EPA  —  The 44-year-old North Carolina regulator, the first Black man to head the agency, has vowed to fight climate change and environmental injustice.  —  The Senate confirmed Michael Regan on Wednesday as the next Environmental Protection Agency administrator …

For Creators, Everything Is for Sale  —  Digital stars are coming up with new ways to make money.  Yet fans still hold the power.  —  A rash of new start-ups are making it easier for digital creators to monetize every aspect of their life — down to what they eat, who they hang out with and who they respond to on TikTok.

Criticizing Public Figures, Including Influential Journalists, is Not Harassment or Abuse  —  As social media empowers uncredentialed people to be heard, society's most powerful actors seek to cast themselves as victims and delegitimize all critiques.  —  1 hr ago

A $60 billion surprise in the Covid relief bill: Tax hikes  —  Democrats are getting an early start on their tax-increase agenda.  —  They've tucked a trio of little-noticed tax hikes on the wealthy and big corporations into their coronavirus relief package that together are worth $60 billion.

The Daily Beast's Lawyers Eviscerate Dan Bongino Over His Refusal to Accept That He Lost a Defamation Case and Has to Pay Up  —  The Daily Beast's lawyers were merciless in a response to Dan Bongino's recent objection to a federal court's award of attorney's fees in his failed defamation case against the online publication.

Exclusive: ‘Migrant president’ Biden stirs Mexican angst over boom time for gangs  —  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's government is worried the new U.S. administration's asylum policies are stoking illegal immigration and creating business for organized crime, according to officials and internal assessments seen by Reuters.

Beth Moore, a Prominent Evangelical, Splits With Southern Baptists  —  A teacher on biblical topics, she cited the “staggering” disorientation of seeing denominational leaders support Donald J. Trump, among other issues.  —  One of the most prominent Southern Baptists in the country is leaving the denomination.

Robin Bullock Claims ‘Prophets’ Have the Power to Call Trump Back Into the White House  —  Right-wing pastor Robin Bullock used his church service Tuesday to urge his fellow “prophets” to come together and call former President Donald Trump back to the White House, declaring that if they will do so …

Run for Texas governor now ‘a real consideration,’ Matthew McConaughey says  —  HOUSTON, Texas — Can Matthew McConaughey lead Texans out of disaster as the state's governor?  —  That is a question that could only be posed if a rumored bid for the top seat in Texas government becomes reality.

How Biden Funds His Next Bill: Shrink the $7.5 Trillion Tax Gap  —  The I.R.S. is often unable to detect or fight blatant tax cheating by the rich and big businesses.  Restoring it is a solution that pays for itself.  —  Ms. Huang is the executive director of the Tax Law Center at the New York University School of Law.

Review: Exposing life in the shadows of the United States of Amazon  —  Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America  —  Farrar, Straus & Giroux: 400 pages, $28  —  If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.

US-based Sinn Féin support group places ads for vote on Irish unification  —  Adverts in New York Times, Washington Post and other US papers seek to rally Irish-American support  —  A US-based Sinn Féin support group has placed half-page advertisements in the New York Times …

GOP Decides Equal Representation Is an ‘Assault on Democracy’  —  The Republican Party has won the popular vote in just one of the six presidential elections held this century — but has nevertheless held the White House for 12 of the past 20 years.  Since 2000, the GOP's Senate caucus …