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 …

The Minnesota officer who killed Daunte Wright will be charged with manslaughter.  —  BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. — The white Minnesota police officer who fatally shot Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, after appearing to mistake her handgun for her Taser will be charged with second-degree manslaughter …

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 …

Women detail drug use, sex and payments after late-night parties with Gaetz and others  —  ‘Bombastic, antagonistic, unapologetic’: A look at Gaetz's political career  —  Orlando, FL (CNN)The first thing some of the women were asked to do when they got to the house parties in the gated community …

Republican U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady will retire from Congress at the end of his term  —  The Montgomery County Republican has served in Congress for more than two decades.  —  Copy link  —  WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, announced Wednesday morning that this will be his last term serving in the U.S. House.

Democrats signal limited patience for GOP opposition to Biden infrastructure package  —  They are warming to the idea of using budget ‘reconciliation,’ which would allow them to bypass Republicans but could carry other risks  —  Top Senate Democrats on Tuesday signaled they may have no choice …

One in Five Still Shun Vaccine  —  Biden gets high marks for Covid response  —  West Long Branch, NJ - About 1 in 5 American adults remain unwilling to get the Covid vaccine, even as more people are getting the shot.  The Monmouth ("Mon-muth") University Poll also finds that President Joe Biden continues …

POLITICO Playbook: ‘A gaslighting chamber of insanity’: Moderate Republicans seethe at Biden  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  “It's a f—ing nightmare.”  —  That was the lament of a staffer working for one of the members of the so-called G-10, the group of 10 Republican senators who insist they're itching …

Late night hosts list things more dangerous than Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, including COVID-19  —  “In the last few months, we've gotten all sorts of vaccines — Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Montero — but for at least a little while, it looks like there's gonna be one less,” Trevor Noah said on Tuesday's Daily Show.

Bad news for journalists: The public doesn't share our values.  But there's hope.  —  Ask almost any group of journalists to name the core values of their profession, and they'll probably deliver a list like this:  —  Oversight.  We're the watchdogs keeping an eye on government officials and other powerful people and institutions.

Trump didn't bring White working-class voters to the Republican Party.  The data suggest he kept them away.  —  White working-class voters had been moving to the Republican Party for years.  Trump stopped the trend.  —  Republican leaders have been hailing a class realignment of the parties.

Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal is a moment of truth — and a potentially humbling one — for GOP hawks  —  Shortly after 2 p.m. on Wednesday, President Biden will go further than any recent American president in announcing a full withdrawal from Afghanistan.  President Barack Obama attempted it but failed to deliver.

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.

Republicans prepping smaller counteroffer to Biden's infrastructure plan  —  Republicans are preparing a counteroffer to President Joe Biden's infrastructure proposal, a plan that's likely to be in the range of $600 to $800 billion, more targeted in scope and funded by unspecified user fees, according to several GOP senators.

The FBI wanted to unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone.  It turned to a little-known Australian firm.  —  Azimuth unlocked the iPhone at the center of an epic legal battle between the FBI and Apple.  Now, Apple is suing the company co-founded by one of the hackers behind the unlock.

Bernard Madoff, Architect of Largest Ponzi Scheme in History, Is Dead at 82  —  His enormous fraud left behind a devastating human toll and paper losses totaling $64.8 billion.  —  Bernard L. Madoff, the one-time senior statesman of Wall Street who in 2008 became the human face of an era …

School Won't Be Named After Obamas Following Protests  —  A school in Waukegan, Illinois, will not be renamed after former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, following protests from members of the Latino community in the city.  —  Thomas Jefferson Middle School …

More Than 817 Million Shots Given: Covid-19 Tracker  —  In the U.S., 195 million doses have been administered; rollout goes global  —  The biggest vaccination campaign in history is underway.  More than 817 million doses have been administered across 152 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg.

Anti-Vax Activists Are Quietly Bending State Politics To Their Will  —  At least five states are considering bills based on language written by a fringe group.  Across the U.S., legislators are promoting bad science and COVID denial.  —  Anna Merlan  —  South Carolina State Representative Bill Chumley was feeling vindicated.

The Jolt: Gov. Brian Kemp censured by two county Republican Parties  —  By Patricia Murphy - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Greg Bluestein - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tia Mitchell - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution  —  Gov. Brian Kemp's footing might be firmer among fellow Republicans …

A minor investigation into the Bidens' Major problem  —  The Goldwater Rule prohibits mental health professionals from diagnosing presidents from afar.  It does not, however, apply to their pets.  And so we must respectfully ask: What's the deal with Major Biden?

Biden moves to leverage corporate America's falling out with GOP  —  The business community doesn't dislike President Joe Biden's proposal to hike corporate taxes to pay for a massive $2 trillion-plus infrastructure plan.  They detest it.  —  But there are some reasons to think corporate leaders …

Intel chiefs sound alarm on China in global threats hearing  —  China's push to expand its influence dominated the first congressional hearing about global threats in more than two years on Wednesday, with U.S. intelligence chiefs sounding the alarm about Beijing's aspirations.

New Target for New York's Ascendant Left: Rep. Carolyn Maloney  —  Justice Democrats, a left-wing group that fueled the rise of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is backing Rana Abdelhamid's primary bid.  —  Nearly three years ago, a little-known left-wing organization helped engineer …

The veteran air force pilot hoping to oust scandal-hit Republican Matt Gaetz  —  Bryan Jones will challenge the congressman, who is under investigation for alleged sex trafficking, in the next primary  —  A veteran air force pilot is laying the groundwork to challenge the scandal-hit congressman Matt Gaetz …

North Atlantic Council Ministerial Statement on Afghanistan  —  In 2001, Allies invoked Article 5 of the Washington Treaty for the only time in NATO's history and went to Afghanistan together with clear objectives: to confront al-Qaeda and those who attacked the United States on September 11 …