Kyrsten Sinema accidentally reveals the huge hole in her filibuster defense  —  If and when Republicans refuse to allow any debate of the Democrats' voting rights legislation on Tuesday, there will be a hidden silver lining: It will finally force the Senate to engage in the grand argument …

Saudi Operatives Who Killed Khashoggi Received Paramilitary Training in U.S.  —  The training, approved by the State Department, underscores the perils of military partnerships with repressive governments.  —  WASHINGTON — Four Saudis who participated in the 2018 killing …

US government seizes dozens of US website domains connected to Iran  —  (CNN)The United States government has seized dozens of US website domains connected to Iran, linked to what the US says are disinformation efforts, a US national security official told CNN.

When an Eel Climbs a Ramp to Eat Squid From a Clamp, That's a Moray  —  Moray eels can hunt on land, and footage from a recent study highlights how they accomplish this feat with a sneaky second set of jaws.  —  In the video, forceps nudge a piece of squid that sits on a ramp as an offering.

Nearly 900 Secret Service employees got COVID … Nearly 900 Secret Service employees tested positive for COVID-19 between March 1, 2020 and March 9, 2021, according to government records obtained by CREW.  The vast majority served in protection jobs, either as Special Agents or in the Uniformed Division.

Gov. Abbott vetoes bipartisan anti dog-chain bill.  Twitter responds with #AbbottHatesDogs.  —  “Pancake” gets some attention after Governor Greg Abbott, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick and Speaker Dennis Bonnen speak at the Governor's Mansion on January 9, 2019.  —  Texans love their dogs, no doubt.

Biden's Justice Dept may defend Trump in Capitol riot lawsuits  —  Former U.S. President Donald Trump may have an unlikely ally to defend him against lawsuits alleging he incited the U.S. Capitol insurrection: President Joe Biden's Justice Department.  —  The Biden administration paved …

Ground Temperatures Hit 118 Degrees in the Arctic Circle  —  Newly published satellite imagery shows the ground temperature in at least one location in Siberia topped 118 degrees Fahrenheit (48 degrees Celsius) going into the year's longest day.  It's hot [Siberia] Earth summer, and it certainly won't be the last.

Trump Wanted His Justice Department to Stop ‘SNL’ From Teasing Him  —  “SNL” amounted to “nothing less than unfair news coverage and Dem commercials,” Trump tweeted in 2018, pondering whether his thought “should be tested in courts, can't be legal?”  —  It was the middle of Donald Trump's presidency …

Iowa Poll: Majority of Iowans disapprove of the job Joe Biden is doing as president  —  President Joe Biden's approval rating among Iowans is underwater six months into his term in office, with 43% approving of the job he is doing and 52% disapproving in the latest Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll.

Joint Chiefs Warn Against Bill Overhauling Military Justice System  —  Commanders in letters to Congress take unusual exception to popular Senate measure stripping commanders of authority over serious criminal cases  —  The top leaders of the Army, Navy, Marines and other military branches voiced concern …

US gives more asylum-seekers waiting in Mexico another shot  —  SAN DIEGO (AP) — Thousands of asylum-seekers whose claims were dismissed or denied under a Trump administration policy that forced them to wait in Mexico for their court hearings will be allowed to return for another chance …

153 people resigned or were fired from a Texas hospital system for refusing to get vaccinated  —  Houston Methodist was one of the nation's first health systems to impose a coronavirus vaccine mandate.  —  More than 150 health-care workers who did not comply with a Houston-based hospital …

Pelosi to appoint select committee to investigate January 6, sources say  —  (CNN)House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to appoint a select committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the US Capitol after Senate Republicans blocked the creation of an independent commission to probe the insurrection …

Scoop: Lincoln Project's Law Firm Concludes Independent Investigation of John Weaver Allegations  —  The independent investigation into the sexual harassment allegations against Lincoln Project co-founder John Weaver, and whether the anti-Trump group's leadership covered up those allegations, has concluded.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Demands Joe Biden Remove Kamala Harris as She Signs Letter  —  Georgia Republican Congressperson Marjorie Taylor Greene says she is proud to have signed a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to replace Vice President Kamala Harris in her role controlling illegal immigration at the U.S. border.

Rich Lowry stepping down as editor of National Review's print magazine  —  Rich Lowry, the longtime editor of the conservative opinion magazine National Review, is stepping down from his role overseeing the print publication to focus on more strategic long-term initiatives as the company's editor-in-chief, Lowry tells Axios.

Listen to Black Parents Furious With Critical Race Theory  —  In a nation of hundreds of millions of people, each with their own thoughts, beliefs, and ideas, there will be those with ugly thoughts committing ugly deeds.  Racial prejudice will to a certain degree never be truly eradicated.

Scoop: Longtime C-SPAN political editor Steve Scully leaving network  —  Longtime C-SPAN political editor and on-air host Steve Scully is leaving the network on July 2, Axios has learned.  He will join the Bipartisan Policy Center as SVP of communications.  —  Why it matters: Scully has been with C-SPAN for over three decades.

Fauci Warns Dangerous Delta Variant Is The Greatest Threat To U.S. COVID Efforts  —  The dangerous Delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading so quickly in the United States that it's likely the mutant strain will become predominant in the U.S. within weeks, according to federal health officials and a new analysis.

They Relied on Chinese Vaccines.  Now They're Battling Outbreaks.  —  More than 90 countries are using Covid shots from China.  Experts say recent infections in those places should serve as a cautionary tale in the global effort to fight the disease.  —  Mongolia promised its people a “Covid-free summer.”

Britney Spears Quietly Pushed for Years to End Her Conservatorship  —  Confidential court records obtained by The Times reveal that the singer has urged changes to the arrangement that controls her life, and her father's role in leading it.  —  In the years since a judge gave the father …

So when is Trump going to turn on Gov. Ron DeSantis?  —  For most of the summer of 2015, Donald Trump was leading the field of Republicans vying for the party's presidential nomination.  By August, though, he faced a new threat: Neurosurgeon Ben Carson had emerged from the pack behind him to surge into second place.

‘Stop talking right now’: University of Oklahoma training shows instructors how to censor, indoctrinate students  —  Do you question whether refusing to use preferred pronouns is hate speech?  You can't — writing on that topic is “not acceptable.”  —  Think Black Lives Matter shouldn't engage in property destruction?

What Biden — and a lot of other people — get wrong about journalists  —  Journalism has never been the most admired of professions, and in recent years the rap on its practitioners has only gotten worse.  —  Gallup puts trust in the news media at about 40 percent nationally …

The big questions on Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and the allegedly ‘all-White’ beach club  —  It's not entirely clear whether Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has indeed belonged to an all-White beach club.  What is clear is that he has handled questions about it poorly and that it remains inexplicable that we don't know more by now.

Job Approval of Biden Steady, Congress Down  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fifty-six percent of Americans approve of the job President Joe Biden is doing overall, essentially unchanged from 54% in May. Biden's approval rating has averaged 56% since he took office, with his monthly approval ratings straying …

Mike Lindell Promises ‘Donald Trump Will Be in Office by This Fall, For Sure’  —  Thousands of right-wing activists gathered in Tampa, Florida, last weekend for a “Restore America” rally that featured a cavalcade of election, COVID-19, and QAnon conspiracy theorists as speakers.

Shawnna Bolick, author of bill to reject voters' presidential choice, running to be top elections official  —  State Rep. Shawnna Bolick, who sponsored legislation earlier this year that would have allowed the legislature to reject voters' selection in presidential races, is running to become Arizona's top elections official.

Tentacles of Manhattan DA's Trump probe reach former bodyguard Calamari  —  New York prosecutors involved in a sweeping probe of the Trump Organization are investigating Matthew Calamari, the former Donald Trump bodyguard who's now a top executive at the former president's company …