Supreme Court upholds Obamacare again, rejecting GOP challenge from Texas  —  The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld Obamacare for the third time and rejected a sweeping challenge backed by former President Trump and Republican state attorneys.  —  The 7-2 majority found the state of Texas …

Biden politely reads riot act to Putin  —  Modest goal of stabilising US relations with Russia conveys realism that eluded earlier presidents  —  Summitry, contrary to a former British prime minister, is nothing like tennis.  The outcome is rarely “game, set and match”.

In secret recording, Florida Republican threatens to send Russian-Ukrainian ‘hit squad’ after rival  —  MIAMI — A little-known GOP candidate in one of Florida's most competitive congressional seats was secretly recorded threatening to send “a Russian and Ukrainian hit squad” to a fellow Republican opponent to make her “disappear.”

GOP congressman refuses to shake hands with D.C. police officer who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6  —  Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-Ga.), who voted against awarding police officers the Congressional Gold Medal for their bravery in protecting the U.S. Capitol against violent, pro-Trump rioters on Jan. 6 …

House repeals 2002 Iraq War authorization  —  Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he will also put the authorization to a vote this year and President Joe Biden supports its repeal.  —  Rep. Barbara Lee said the nearly 20-year-old war authorization “bears no correlation to the threats we face today.”

Joe Manchin's sweeping new voting rights proposal, explained  —  The pivotal senator has released a potentially transformative plan to promote fair elections.  —  No voting rights bill will become law without Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-WV) approval, at least in the current Congress.

A Pill to Treat Covid-19?  The U.S. Is Betting on It.  —  A new $3.2 billion program will support the development of antiviral pills, which could start arriving by the end of this year.  —  The U.S. government spent more than $18 billion last year funding drugmakers to make a Covid vaccine …

Pennsylvania's Conspiracy Kiss-Up Contest  —  To win Donald Trump's endorsement, candidates for the state's two major 2022 races embrace his big election lie.  —  Former President Donald Trump is watching Pennsylvania.  —  Like every other campaign observer, Trump knows …

Disgraced lawyer Michael Avenatti deserves ‘very substantial’ prison time, prosecutors say  —  Prosecutors urged a judge Wednesday to impose a “very substantial” prison sentence on Michael Avenatti for trying to extort millions of dollars from Nike.  —  Prosecutors noted in a Manhattan …

Apple Daily accused of using journalism to endanger national security  —  Hong Kong's national security police have arrested two executives and three news staff of Apple Daily, the only pro-democracy newspaper in the city, for foreign collusion, and raided its office.

On the Campaign Trail With Andrew Giuliani The Son of Rudy is working out his father issues on the road to Albany.  —  Andrew Giuliani was holding a silver spoon.  He just was.  There's no getting around it.  Sitting in a booth at Mansion Diner on 86th and York — about a thousand feet …

Senate Democrats weigh $6T infrastructure bill, without GOP  —  Senate Democrats are weighing spending as much as $6 trillion on their own infrastructure package if the chamber's bipartisan talks fail, according to two sources familiar with the matter.  —  Majority Leader Chuck Schumer …

House passes bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday … The House on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of making Juneteenth a national federal holiday with a 415-14 tally, and Democrats are hopeful President Joe Biden will sign the measure into law by Saturday.

The Trump Administration's Extraordinary Leak Investigations  —  A Times reporter on the news that Democrats' and reporters' phone data were seized by the Justice Department.  —  Last week, the Times reported that, during Donald Trump's Presidency, the Justice Department subpoenaed Apple …

A Final Column on What it Means to Be a Columnist  —  This is the last of Frank Bruni's regular Opinion columns, but his popular weekly newsletter will live on.  To keep up with his political analysis, cultural commentary and personal reflections, sign up here.  —  I owe Ted Cruz an apology.

Gov. Greg Abbott says power grid better than ever as Texans asked to cut back electricity use  —  A number of power plants were inexplicably offline at the same time that Texas was experiencing record June demand for electricity.  ERCOT officials are still working to determine why.  —  Copy link

Fox's anti-"critical race theory" parents are also GOP activists  —  One '"everyday American" '"parent" is a GOP consultant who worked for the RNC in 2020  —  Nearly a dozen of the Fox News guests the network has presented as concerned parents or educators who oppose the teaching of so-called …