FACT SHEET: Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy … The economy is booming under President Biden's leadership.  The economy has gained more than three million jobs since the President took office—the most jobs created in the first five months of any presidency in modern history.

‘F— him’: Rupert Murdoch gave the go-ahead to call Arizona for Biden on election night, enraging Trump, book says  — A new book says Rupert Murdoch approved Fox News' decision to call Arizona for Joe Biden.  — “F— him,” the Fox News proprietor is said to have declared of Donald Trump at the time.

Readout of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. Call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia … President Biden spoke today with President Putin.  The leaders commended the joint work of their respective teams following the U.S.-Russia Summit that led to the unanimous renewal …

C.D.C. to Issue New School Guidance, With Emphasis on Full Reopening  —  The guidance acknowledges that many students have suffered from months of virtual learning.  —  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to release new guidance on Friday urging schools to fully reopen in the fall …

The Biggest Threat to Democracy Is the GOP Stealing the Next Election  —  The greatest threat to American democracy today is not a repeat of January 6, but the possibility of a stolen presidential election.  Contemporary democracies that die meet their end at the ballot box, through measures that are nominally constitutional.

There Is No Debate Over Critical Race Theory  —  The United States is not in the midst of a “culture war” over race and racism.  The animating force of our current conflict is not our differing values, beliefs, moral codes, or practices.  The American people aren't divided.  The American people are being divided.

New Evidence Indicates Enough Illegal Votes In Georgia To Tip 2020 Results  —  In Georgia, there was both an audit and a statewide recount confirming Biden's victory, but ignored in the process was evidence that nearly 35,000 Georgians had potentially voted illegally.

Citizens, Not the State, Will Enforce New Abortion Law in Texas  —  The measure bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy.  And it effectively deputizes ordinary citizens to sue people involved in the process.  —  People across the country may soon be able to sue abortion clinics …

Eric Adams breaks bread with GOP heavyweights at Rao's  —  It was an offer he didn't refuse.  —  Just days after winning the Democratic nomination for mayor, Eric Adams broke bread at storied Italian eatery Rao's with billionaire Republican John Catsimatidis.

Former GOP Hill aide pleads guilty in child porn case  —  A former GOP staffer and Republican National Committee aide pleaded guilty Friday to a child pornography charge and is facing 12 years or more in prison under a plea deal with prosecutors.  —  Ruben Verastigui, 27 …

How a hidden Biden victory could deal a big blow to Trumpian nationalism  —  When President Biden recently announced a deal with 130 countries to combat tax avoidance by multinational corporations, you probably didn't connect the news to the poisonous impact that Donald Trump continues to wield over our politics.

Scripps Spelling Bee 2021: Live Updates  —  Zaila Avant-garde spells her way to victory!  —  The last few words were rattled off fast between the two final finalists, Chaitra Thummala and Zaila Avant-garde.  —  First was fewtrils (things of little value), which Chaitra got right.

The Christian Right Is in Decline, and It's Taking America With It  —  The presidency of George W. Bush may have been the high point of the modern Christian right's influence in America.  White evangelicals were the largest religious faction in the country.

GOP lawmakers caught on undercover video gleefully thanking Manchin and Sinema for preserving Senate filibuster  —  Progressive activists erupted in anger on Friday after several Republican GOP lawmakers were caught on camera praising Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) …

The Supreme Court's Term Appeared To Be Cautious.  The Numbers Tell A Different Story  —  Despite a cautious approach to controversy for most of the Supreme Court term, statistics for the whole term tell a different story.  By the numbers, the justices swerved to the right …

It's Time to Admit It: The Left Has an Antisemitism Problem  —  In our super-charged partisan times, it is often said that every issue has become politicized, with each side of the spectrum lining up on “their” side.  This is also true of antisemitism which, like so many other issues in society …

Chief Guantánamo Prosecutor Retiring Before Sept. 11 Trial Begins  —  Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins had held the job longest, and was for many years the public face of military commissions.  —  WASHINGTON — The Army general who has led war crimes prosecutions at Guantánamo Bay …

Special Report: Afghan pilots assassinated by Taliban as U.S. withdraws  —  Afghan Air Force Major Dastagir Zamaray had grown so fearful of Taliban assassinations of off-duty forces in Kabul that he decided to sell his home to move to a safer pocket of Afghanistan's sprawling capital.

Biden nominates L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti as U.S. ambassador to India  —  Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who has led the city during a period of booming development, a worsening homelessness crisis and a devastating pandemic, is President Biden's nominee to become ambassador to India, the White House announced Friday.

American freedom is on the line  —  On the day President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law, he declared it, “one of the most monumental laws in the entire history of American freedom.”  —  That declaration has stood the test of time.  With the stroke of his pen …

Charlottesville to take down Robert E. Lee statue, focus of 2017 Unite the Right rally  —  The city of Charlottesville will take down its two Confederate monuments Saturday, the city said, including the statue of Robert E. Lee at the center of the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in 2017.

Trump Organization Indictment May Spell Trouble for Trump Spawn  —  The indictment against the Trump Organization named seven specific companies within the overall business.  Guess who's connected to those companies.  —  The indictment filed last week against the Trump Organization …

POLITICO-Harvard poll: Most Americans believe Covid leaked from lab  —  Most Americans now believe that the coronavirus leaked from a laboratory in China, according to a new POLITICO-Harvard poll that found a dramatic shift in public perception of Covid-19's origins over the last year.

Live Updates: Americans Claim They Were Just ‘Translators’ in Killing of Haiti's President, Judge Says  —  As the investigation into the killing of Haiti's president continued, his chief bodyguards have been called in for questioning next week, and more than a dozen people have been arrested.

Trump, after agreeing to sit for a raft of book interviews, declares them a ‘total waste of time’  —  Former president Donald Trump, who reportedly agreed to sit for at least a dozen interviews in recent months for forthcoming books about his tenure, said Friday that he considered doing so “a total waste of time.”

Why corporate America can't quit the ‘sedition’ Republicans  —  caught flak for making political donations to 38 members of the “sedition caucus,” as critics refer to the  —  147 Republican members of Congress who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.

AG accepts GOP lawmaker's request to investigate those peddling election lies  —  Michigan's chief law enforcement officer, along with state police, will launch an investigation into those who have allegedly peddled disinformation about the state's Nov. 3 election for their own financial gain.

“We're (expletive) idiots”: Some Democrats regret Colorado's new redistricting process now that their party is in charge  —  If Y and Z hadn't passed, Democrats would now have nearly unfettered power to draw new congressional districts ahead of the 2022 election, and more say over how legislative districts are drawn.