Top health officials told to prioritize COVID testing for Cuomo's relatives  —  High-level associates also benefited from program in early days of pandemic  —  ALBANY — High-level members of the state Department of Health were directed last year by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Health Commissioner …

McConnell's No. 2 weighs future as Trump reshapes Senate GOP  —  John Thune could eventually succeed Mitch McConnell as Senate GOP leader.  But first the second-ranked Senate Republican has to decide whether to run for reelection — with Donald Trump prepared to stand in his way.

Trump aide concealed work for PR firm and misled court to dodge child support  —  Jason Miller signed secret deal to stay with DC-based Teneo after ‘resigning’ and then appeared to misrepresent employment status  —  A top aide to Donald Trump was secretly re-engaged by a leading political strategy firm …

The mess at Medium … I.  —  Last week, a partnerships manager at Medium working with the White House found that there was a strange problem with the platform: President Joe Biden was being served porn.  —  The manager was in a video conference with a White House staffer to discuss how Biden …

Texas AG Ken Paxton refuses to release texts, emails sent during pro-Trump rally and Capitol riot  —  The Texas attorney general's office is attempting to withhold all messages Ken Paxton sent or received while in Washington for the pro-Donald Trump rally that devolved into a riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack says only 0.1 percent of Trump administration's covid farm relief went to Black farmers  —  A Q&A with the new secretary of agriculture about how the American Rescue Plan's USDA portion will be spent  —  A tiny fraction of the Trump administration's coronavirus relief …

Jobless Claims Expected to Signal Improving Economy  —  Number of people receiving regular state and federal pandemic-related benefits is likely to retreat further  —  Jobless claims are near the lowest levels since the pandemic struck last spring in the midst of signs of a broader economic recovery.

Biden Tries to Stem Border Surge With Diplomacy, More Shelter Space  —  President has few short-term options to alleviate political and policy challenge  —  WASHINGTON—President Biden has few short-term options to slow the surge of migrants at the border as a record number …

Sources: Secret Service inserted itself into case of Hunter Biden's gun  —  On Oct. 23, 2018, President Joe Biden's son Hunter and daughter in law Hallie were involved in a bizarre incident in which Hallie took Hunter's gun and threw it in a trash can behind a grocery store, only to return later to find it gone.

U.S. COVID response could have avoided hundreds of thousand of deaths - research  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States squandered both money and lives in its response to the coronavirus pandemic, and it could have avoided nearly 400,000 deaths with a more effective health strategy …

White House targets COVID-19 vaccine skeptics with $10B persuasion push  —  The White House on Thursday will unveil a nearly $10 billion effort to persuade people in areas hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic they should get vaccinated.  —  Starting in April, funding will go out to nearly 1,400 centers …

North Korea fires two ground-based ballistic missiles, South Korea says  —  Pentagon, Washington (CNN)North Korea launched two ballistic missiles Thursday — the second such launch in less than a week.  —  South Korea's joint chiefs of staff said in a statement that two short-range missiles …

Americans have ‘no right’ to carry guns in public, 9th Circuit Court rules  —  A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that there is no right to carry a gun in public.  —  The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 7-4 ruling rejected a challenge to Hawaii's requirement that residents must pass …

Scoop: Inside Biden's private chat with historians  —  Hosting historians around a long table in the East Room earlier this month, President Biden took notes in a black book as they discussed some of his most admired predecessors.  Then he said to Doris Kearns Goodwin: “I'm no FDR, but ... ”

Herd Immunity Is Near, Despite Fauci's Denial  —  His estimate that it'll take a 70% to 85% vaccination rate ignores those who have already been infected.  —  Anthony Fauci has been saying that the country needs to vaccinate 70% to 85% of the population to reach herd immunity from Covid-19.

Exclusive: NRSC drops $1M ad buy targeting Democrats' voting rights bill  —  Senate Republicans' main campaign arm will unveil a seven-figure ad campaign in Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and New Hampshire targeting Democrats' effort to expand voting, Axios has learned.

The Power of Political Disinformation in Iowa  —  Republicans demonized Democratic candidates in 2020.  It worked, and their narrative remains largely intact, posing challenges for the Biden Administration.  —  The Biden Administration is accomplishing much, and quickly …

Advocates want NIH to use its Moderna vaccine patent to push for global access  —  The agency has leverage it could use to require Moderna to make its mRNA coronavirus vaccine more widely available, groups contend  —  When Moderna sprinted to create a coronavirus vaccine last year …

Duped by Duffel Blog, a congressman claims that the VFW and American Legion were labeled hate groups … Duffel Blog has fooled yet another member of Congress.  —  Most recently, the military-centric satirical website was inadvertently cited during a Wednesday hearing about extremism in the military …

A Cargo Ship Drew a Giant Dick Pic in the Ocean Then Got Stuck in the Suez Canal  —  Just before blocking one of the world's busiest waterways where 10 percent of world trade flows, the unfortunate Ever Given sailed an even more unfortunate course.  —  MC  —  The Suez Canal has been blocked …

Heritage Foundation turned down six-figure tech donations  —  Flagship conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation turned down a pair of six-figure contributions last year from tech giants Google and Facebook, Axios has learned.  —  Why it matters: CEOs for both companies will be on the Hill …

Maddow Shreds Cornyn Blocking Top DOJ Nominee With Reminder of Their Connection to Case of a ‘Cartoonishly Evil’ TX Cop  —  MSNBC host Rachel Maddow offered a long and scathing indictment of Sen. John Cornyn (R) for leading the charge to block the nomination of Vanita Gupta as Associate Attorney General …

Fox News Isn't Even Trying to Hide That It Purged These Staffers  —  In January, Fox claimed a set of layoffs was mere “restructuring.”  But now fired staffers notice their old jobs being advertised, “blatant” proof of an “ideological purge.”  —  BEAST INSIDE

Blue-State Voter ‘Suppression’  —  Where's the outcry over Democrats' earlier poll-closing hours and ID rules?  —  Moves by Republican legislators to reform state election laws are drawing incendiary accusations from Democrats.  Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams denounced them as “Jim Crow in a suit and tie.”

Trump Aides Begged Him to Publicly Back the Vax.  He Refused.  —  “I have practically begged him to get out there constantly and make videos calling on his supporters who are hesitant to get their shots,” one person close to Trump said.  —  In the final months of Donald Trump's term in office …

Rachel Levine, historic transgender nominee, confirmed as assistant health secretary  —  Levine is the first openly transgender official ever confirmed by the Senate  —  The Senate on Wednesday voted 52 to 48 to confirm Rachel Levine as the nation's assistant secretary for health …

Google offered a professor $60,000, but he turned it down.  Here's why  —  (CNN Business)When Luke Stark sought money from Google in November he had no idea he'd be turning down $60,000 from the tech giant in March.  —  Stark, an assistant professor at Western University in Ontario, Canada …

Jay Leno Apologizes for Decades of Jokes About Asians: ‘In My Heart I Knew It Was Wrong’ … Late-night host and comedian Jay Leno has issued an apology for a series of jokes told over his career targeting Asian communities.  —  The apology comes after a nearly 15-year campaign …

Beware of CEOs proposing regulations  —  We've seen this play before.  —  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants Congress to regulate him, and he'll say as much Thursday when he testifies before a House subcommittee.  This will undoubtedly surprise some lawmakers and many reporters who cling …