Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century  —  On a leaked conference call, leaders of dark-money groups and an aide to Mitch McConnell expressed frustration with the popularity of the legislation—even among Republican voters.

Ghislaine Maxwell Charged With Sex Trafficking of 14-Year-Old Girl  —  A new indictment accuses Ms. Maxwell of paying a victim of her longtime associate Jeffrey Epstein.  —  Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, was charged on Monday for the first time with sex-trafficking …

White House dramatically increased tax proposal as it sought to address tensions over next big spending plan  —  Biden aides see next major legislative effort as comparable to LBJ's Great Society but face divisions among key allies  —  When President Biden's team began putting together …

Trump targets Fauci, Birx in lengthy diatribe  —  Former President Trump on Monday went on a tirade against Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, two of his former top medical advisers on the COVID-19 pandemic, excoriating their decisionmaking during his administration on the day after CNN aired previews …

The Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are very effective in real-world conditions at preventing infections, the C.D.C. reported.  —  The coronavirus vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are proving highly effective at preventing symptomatic and asymptomatic infections under real-world conditions …

Florida Republicans considering new election bill that would effectively ban giving voters water  —  Florida Republicans are considering a bill that would effectively make it a crime to give voters food or drink, including water, within 150 feet of polling places.

Capitol riot suspect wore ‘I Was There’ shirt when arrested  —  Garret Miller didn't speak to the law enforcement officers who arrested him on charges he stormed the U.S. Capitol in January, but the T-shirt he was wearing at his Dallas home that day sent a clear and possibly incriminating message.

Scoop: Substack is raising $65 million amid newsletter boom  —  Substack is raising $65 million in new venture capital funding that would value the company at around $650 million, Axios has learned.  Existing investor Andreessen Horowitz is leading the round.

Corporations, Vocal About Racial Justice, Go Quiet on Voting Rights  —  “They are complicit in their silence,” one activist said, as bills that would disproportionately affect Black citizens across the country stir public debate.  —  As Black Lives Matter protesters filled the streets last summer …

How New York health officials were told to prioritize coronavirus testing of people connected to Andrew Cuomo  —  New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's relatives and other well-connected New Yorkers were among those given preferential treatment at state coronavirus testing centers.

U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' membership in houses of worship continued to decline last year, dropping below 50% for the first time in Gallup's eight-decade trend.  In 2020, 47% of Americans said they belonged to a church …

Trooper who arrested Ga. lawmaker says he was wary of a Jan. 6-type of attack  —  A Georgia State Patrol lieutenant said memories of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol were on his mind when he arrested a Democratic legislator after she knocked repeatedly on the door …

The Biden administration makes a swath of ocean between New York and New Jersey an offshore wind zone.  —  The Biden administration on Monday announced it will designate an area between the South Shore of Long Island and the New Jersey coast as a priority offshore wind zone …

Japan's Kyoto cherry blossoms peak on earliest date in 1,200 years, a sign of climate change  —  Amid an exceptionally warm March in Japan, the cherry blossoms in Kyoto peaked Friday, the earliest in more than 1,200 years of records.  The record bloom fits into a long-term pattern toward …

CDC Chief Warns of ‘Impending Doom’ as Covid Cases, Deaths Rise  — Walensky says she's scared by uptick that hints at fourth wave  — U.S. doesn't have ‘luxury of inaction’ amid spike, she says  —  The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pleaded with Americans …

64 percent view ‘cancel culture’ as threat to freedom: poll  —  A majority of Americans say they view “cancel culture” as a threat to their freedom, according to a new Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey released exclusively to The Hill on Monday.  —  Sixty-four percent of respondents said that there is …

AP sources: SolarWinds hack got emails of top DHS officials  —  Suspected Russian hackers gained access to email accounts belonging to the Trump administration's head of the Department of Homeland Security and members of the department's cybersecurity staff whose jobs included hunting threats …

Judge tosses terrorism threat charge against 3 accused in alleged Whitmer plot  —  Three men accused in an alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will not face false report or threat of terrorism charges, a Jackson County judge ruled Monday.  —  Judge Michael Klaeren of 12th District Court …

A partisan chasm in views of Trump's legacy  —  Two months after President Donald Trump left office, 38% of Americans say he made progress toward solving major problems facing the country during his administration - while a nearly identical share (37%) say he made these problems worse.

The Dumbest Tweet I Have Ever Seen  —  Not Really, but C'mon  —  I usually defend a high degree of license verging on irresponsibility when it comes to Tweets—I think its fine for them to be half-baked, ironical, whimsical, the first drafts of ideas, or one's most cranky and maybe not most-well-informed opinions.

White House announces ‘expert’ review of WHO-China COVID-19 origins report  —  The Biden administration announced that “experts” from a range of federal agencies and scientific fields would review the controversial WHO-China report on COVID-19's origins as the Biden team continues expressing its …

New York Lawmakers Weigh Raising Taxes as Budget Deadline Looms  —  As negotiations continue, unions push for more revenue on top of federal pandemic aid  —  ALBANY, N.Y.—Union leaders and Democratic state lawmakers made a final push Monday to increase taxes on the wealthy as part of a roughly $200 billion state budget due this week.

Biden task force to probe science manipulation under Trump  —  WASHINGTON — A new White House task force will examine instances where the Trump administration may have distorted or suppressed science in critical government decisions, with an eye toward creating fail-safes to prevent it from happening again, the White House said Monday.

Trump is losing the war over his legacy  —  On Sunday evening, CNN aired a special featuring interviews with the senior officials involved in the early coronavirus pandemic response under President Donald Trump.  No longer operating under the Trump political umbrella, they offered assessments …

Dear Joe Scarborough: Nice Smear.  Now Invite Me To Debate Your Network's Russiagate Coverage  —  “Morning Joe” says those who reported on Russia errors are a “joke” and might be “on Russia's payroll.”  MSNBC should break its four-year freeze-out and invite a skeptic to respond  —  2 hr ago

The facts about Georgia's ban on food, water giveaways to voters  —  Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a sweeping elections bill into law.  It includes some controversial provisions about absentee and in-person voting.  —  One provision of the new law includes a ban on giving away water or food …

The Republican Attack on Voting Rights  —  The father of the Constitution wasn't having it.  —  On August 7, 1787, toward the end of what would become known as the Constitutional Convention, the delegates debated what powers state legislatures and the Congress would have when it came to federal election administration.