Top Items:
Ian Millhiser / Vox:
A new bill would add 4 seats to the Supreme Court — It's on! — Four Democratic members of Congress plan to introduce legislation that would add four seats to the Supreme Court, which would, if passed, allow President Biden to immediately name four individuals to fill those seats and give Democrats a 7-6 majority.
Discussion:
CBS News, Fox News and The Gateway Pundit
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Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
Democrats to introduce bill to expand Supreme Court from 9 to 13 justices — WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats will introduce legislation Thursday to expand the Supreme Court from nine to 13 justices, alongside progressive activists pushing to transform the high court.
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA, Washington Examiner, Insider, Fox News, Real America's Voice News, Current, KARK-TV, TheBlaze, The Week and Washington Post
Ryan Grim / The Intercept:
House and Senate Democrats Plan Bill to Add Four Justices to Supreme Court … Congressional Democrats plan to unveil legislation expanding the size of the Supreme Court on Thursday, according to three congressional sources familiar with the closely held measure.
Discussion:
Fox News, The Sun, CD Media, Breitbart, Twitchy, The Gateway Pundit, New York Post, The RFAngle, Mediaite and Todd Starnes
Kate Riga / Talking Points Memo:
‘Frankly, I Think Everyone Is Baffled’: Searching For Clues In SCOTUS' Abortion Silence — When Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the Supreme Court in October 2020, the anti-abortion community celebrated the beginning of a new era. The Court would now be heavily skewed to the right …
Jess Bravin / Wall Street Journal:
Democratic Lawmakers to Present Plan to Expand Supreme Court
Democratic Lawmakers to Present Plan to Expand Supreme Court
Discussion:
The Guardian and Washington Times
Graham Piro / Washington Free Beacon:
District Court Upholds Ohio Law Banning Down Syndrome Abortions
District Court Upholds Ohio Law Banning Down Syndrome Abortions
Discussion:
Arkansas Online
The Daily Beast:
Matt Gaetz's Wingman Paid Dozens of Young Women—and a 17-Year-Old — VEN-UH-OH … Venmo payment records reveal a vast network of young women received money from Rep. Matt Gaetz's associate, the accused sex trafficker Joel Greenberg. — As new details emerge about Rep. Matt Gaetz's role …
Discussion:
Insider, Raw Story, Fortune, Law & Crime, Talking Points Memo, The Intellectualist and HotAir
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Benjamin Din / Politico:
Rep. Matt Gaetz announces ad buy to ‘fight back’ against CNN, allegations — Rep. Matt Gaetz on Wednesday announced a six-figure ad buy for a spot that targets CNN, as he fights to save his political career amid sexual trafficking allegations. — The new 30-second ad will be featured …
Discussion:
The Hill, Forbes, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, Florida Politics, The Intellectualist, Fox News, Talking Points Memo, Mock Paper Scissors and Insider
Bloomberg:
U.S. Poised to Impose Russia Sanctions Over Election, SolarWinds — Moves coming as soon as Thursday, days after Biden-Putin call — U.S. blames Russia for SolarWinds hack, election interference — The Biden administration is poised to take action against Russian individuals …
Discussion:
Insider, Raw Story, The Week, Politico and The White House
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Kylie Atwood / CNN:
US is expected to sanction Russia and expel Russian officials in response to hacks and election interference — Washington (CNN)The Biden administration is expected to announce sanctions as soon as Thursday targeting Russian individuals and entities, in addition to the expulsion …
Discussion:
KDFX-TV
Matt McKinney / Star Tribune:
Officer arrested, charged with second-degree manslaughter in killing of Daunte Wright — The charge carries maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. — TEXT SIZE — MORE — Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly A. Potter was arrested late Wednesday morning at the offices …
Discussion:
Minnesota Reformer, NBC News, Washington Examiner, USA Today, wabe.org, Talking Points Memo, Power Line and UPI
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New York Times:
The Minnesota officer who killed Daunte Wright was charged with manslaughter. — BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — The Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, after appearing to mistake her handgun for her Taser was arrested on Wednesday and charged …
Discussion:
CNN, KDFX-TV, Associated Press, RedState, CNBC, WHDH-TV, The Daily Caller, Slate, Balloon Juice, New York Post, Twin Cities, The Daily Beast, WCCO | CBS Minnesota, HillReporter.com, REVOLT, Insider, Forbes, The Week and HotAir
U.S. Department of Justice:
Department of Justice Closes Investigation into the Death of Ashli Babbitt — WASHINGTON - The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice will not pursue criminal charges against the U.S. Capitol Police officer involved …
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Washington Post:
Armed ‘quick reaction force’ was waiting for order to storm Capitol, Justice Dept. says
Politico:
How Biden's team overrode the brass on Afghanistan — The military spent more than a decade urging three different American presidents to stay in Afghanistan. With President Joe Biden's decision this week to withdraw all U.S. forces by Sept. 11, they finally lost the battle.
Discussion:
Bloomberg, New York Times, Responsible Statecraft, The Hill, Air Force Magazine, UPI, National Review, Mediaite and Defense One
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Kevin Baron / Defense One:
Petraeus Trashes Biden Decision to Quit Afghanistan — Pulling out now is an “unforced error,” the former commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan said. Other former war leaders say the threat can be managed. — AFGHANISTAN - WHITE HOUSE - INTELLIGENCE - CONGRESS - TERRORISM
Discussion:
Washington Post, The Sun, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Slate and The Atlantic
Benjamin Mueller / New York Times:
Western Warnings Tarnish Vaccines the World Badly Needs — Amid a deep residue of mistrust, American and European cautions on the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines risk igniting anti-vaccine fervor in the global south. — Safety worries about the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines …
Discussion:
New York Post
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Graeme Wood / The Atlantic:
The J&J Vaccine Is Not a Tainted Cantaloupe
The J&J Vaccine Is Not a Tainted Cantaloupe
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, PolitiFact, Politico, KDFX-TV, Kaiser Health News, UPI and NBC New York
QU Poll:
Biden Receives High Marks On Pandemic, Low Score On Mexican Border Situation, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Infrastructure Plan Is More Popular If Corporate Taxes Fund It — As President Joe Biden approaches his 100th day in office, he receives a positive 48 - 42 percent job approval rating …
Discussion:
USA Today, New York Times, The Hill and Bloomberg
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New York Times:
The C.E.O.s Who Didn't Sign a Big Defense of Voting Rights — Hundreds of leaders and companies signed a letter opposing strict limits. They did not. — A big show of corporate solidarity — Amazon, BlackRock, Google, Warren Buffett and hundreds of other companies and executives …
Discussion:
The Verge, Washington Examiner, Twitchy, HotAir, Insider, CNBC, New York Post, Breitbart, No More Mister Nice Blog and National Review, more at Mediagazer »
Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Shades of 2016: Republicans Stay Silent on Trump, Hoping He Fades Away — Just like when Donald J. Trump was a candidate in 2016, rival Republicans are trying to avoid becoming the target of his attacks or directly confronting him, while hoping someone else will.
Discussion:
Raw Story
Daniel McCarthy / spectator.us:
The strange death of the Democrats — The party will decline because it has a demographic problem — The Democratic party is dying. That may be hard to believe since Democrats control both houses of Congress and won the last presidential election with a record 81 million votes.
Discussion:
Insider, The Daily Caller and Washington Post
Ronn Blitzer / Fox News:
Cruz challenges Biden DOJ pick's contention that she opposes defunding police — Kristen Clarke insisted she opposes defunding police, despite a 2020 op-ed with a headline calling for it — Cruz challenges Biden DOJ Kristen Clarke pick over her position on defunding police
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, VICE, Washington Free Beacon, Slate, RedState, Law & Crime, Power Line and Washington Times
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Ronn Blitzer / Fox News:
Biden DOJ nominee Kristin Clarke defends past controversial writings on race
Biden DOJ nominee Kristin Clarke defends past controversial writings on race
Discussion:
Daily Kos, National Review, Townhall, USA Today and Washington Post
CBS News:
White House to name Erika Moritsugu to Asian American liaison position — The Biden administration is expected Thursday to announce Erika Moritsugu to a senior-level Asian American liaison position, according to sources familiar with the decision making. — The White House committed …
Discussion:
KDFX-TV, The White House, Associated Press, The Hill and UPI
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Seth A. Richardson / Plain Dealer:
Mike Gibbons used Russian and Ukrainian stock footage to illustrate the ‘American dream’ in his Senate announcement video — CLEVELAND, Ohio - Despite describing the United States as the “greatest country in the history of the world” in his announcement that he would run for U.S. Senate …
Discussion:
Scene and Heard and Washington Times
CNN:
Her sons held hands, cried and crossed the border alone — Migrants expelled by the US fear being deported into danger — Reynosa, Mexico (CNN)The mother's mind raced as she watched her sons from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande. — The two boys were crying and holding hands as they crossed the border alone.
Discussion:
HotAir
HuffPost:
Mitt Romney And Kyrsten Sinema Team Up On Bipartisan Proposal To Increase Minimum Wage — Senate Democrats have had little success finding agreement among themselves on how much to increase the federal minimum wage. — Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) …
Discussion:
Forbes, The Daily Caller, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Insider, Washington Examiner and The Hill
Anand Giridharadas / The Atlantic:
Welcome to the New Progressive Era — Washington in the first days of the Biden administration is a place for double takes: A president associated with the politics of austerity is spending money with focused gusto, a crisis isn't going to waste, and Senator Bernie Sanders is happy.
Discussion:
Eschaton
Marianna Sotomayor / Washington Post:
House committee approves bill to create commission on slavery reparations, supporters call it long overdue — A House committee on Wednesday approved legislation to create a commission to make recommendations on paying reparations to the descendants of enslaved people, the furthest the bill …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Washington Times and Real America's Voice News
Philip Bump / Washington Post:
Tucker Carlson's toxic ‘replacement’ rhetoric gets picked up in the House — From the moment Fox News's Tucker Carlson explicitly advocated the idea that immigrants are “replacing” real Americans — a rhetorical construct popular among self-proclaimed white nationalists — the danger was obvious.
Discussion:
New Republic, Committee on Foreign Affairs, The Intellectualist, Raw Story, Mediaite, Townhall and Human Events, more at Mediagazer »
Luke Ramseth / Tupelo Daily Journal:
Mississippi Supreme Court weighs legality of state's medical marijuana ballot initiative … • Medical marijuana was hardly mentioned Wednesday as attorneys argued over whether Initiative 65, the voter-approved pot legalization program, should be overturned by the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Discussion:
Raw Story, WLOX-TV and Marijuana Moment
Gabriel Sterling / Washington Post:
Mr. President, your misinformation on Georgia's voting law is dangerous — Gabriel Sterling is the chief operation officer and chief financial officer in the office of the Georgia Secretary of State. — “Someone is going to get hurt.” I made that prediction four months ago regarding misinformation about the 2020 election.
Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:
The Promise and the Tragedy of Biden's Afghanistan Speech — Joe Biden gave the most forthright antiwar argument of any post-9/11 president. Then he spared the broader War on Terror from its implications. — BEAST INSIDE — In many ways, Joe Biden's speech outlining a final withdrawal …