Banks held call with the 1/6 committee chair on Tuesday.  By Wednesday, he was off the panel.  —  Pelosi just made an unprecedented move.  Here's why  —  (CNN)Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Banks was just about to send a letter to Democrats requesting a GOP witness for the January 6 select committee's …

At 98 and facing cancer, Bob Dole reckons with legacy of Trump and ponders future of GOP  —  Bob Dole turns 98 years old Thursday and is battling lung cancer, but he is still outspoken about what's going on in the Washington he once helped lead - from the Keystone Pipeline to the need to protect the Senate filibuster.

Scientists discover more than 30 viruses frozen in ice, most never seen before  —  A group of scientists discovered ancient viruses frozen in two ice samples taken from the Tibetan Plateau in China, and most of them are unlike anything ever seen before.  —  The findings, published Wednesday …

Biden administration to impose sanctions on Cuban officials following attacks on protesters  —  The Biden administration will announce new sanctions Thursday against a number of Cuban officials deemed directly involved in human rights abuses during a government crackdown on widespread protests earlier …

Biden's obsession with scoring a bipartisan deal suddenly looks quite doable  —  President Joe Biden may finally be nearing the bipartisan win he's long yearned for but that some in his party say is politically unnecessary and may ultimately prove fleeting.  —  Despite a failed vote …

The Matt Gaetz-Marjorie Taylor Greene Fundraising Tour Is Actually a Cash Fire  —  Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene have teamed up and formed a joint fundraising committee.  Unfortunately for them, they're losing money.  —  At the height of the controversy surrounding Rep. Matt Gaetz …

Why Biden's Approval Rating Has Barely Budged In His First 6 Months  —  The first six months in the White House are often frenzied for presidents as they push for big policy changes to try to live up to their campaign promises.  President Biden is no exception.

America Is Getting Unvaccinated People All Wrong  —  Last week, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that COVID-19 is “becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”  President Joe Biden said much the same shortly after.  They are technically correct.  Even against the fast-spreading Delta variant …

Democrat Abby Finkenauer is running for the U.S. Senate seat long held by Chuck Grassley  —  Former Iowa congresswoman Abby Finkenauer on Thursday became the first major Democrat to announce a 2022 run for the U.S. Senate seat long held by Republican Chuck Grassley.

Life Expectancy, Falling  —  Covid is a terrible health crisis.  It's not the country's only health crisis.  —  Covid-19 has caused the largest decline in U.S. life expectancy since World War II, the federal government reported yesterday.  But Covid is not the only reason that life expectancy …

His Name Was Emmett Till  —  The dentist was a few minutes late, so I waited by the barn, listening to a northern mockingbird in the cypress trees.  His tires kicked up dust when he turned off Drew Ruleville Road and headed across the bayou toward his house.

China rejects WHO plan for study of COVID-19 origin  —  China rejected on Thursday a World Health Organization (WHO) plan for a second phase of an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, which includes the hypothesis it could have escaped from a Chinese laboratory, a top health official said.

5 takeaways from President Joe Biden's CNN town hall  —  (CNN)President Joe Biden arrived in Ohio on Wednesday mindful the days for actual bipartisan governing in Washington are quickly waning.  —  Throughout his CNN town hall, he voiced again and again his conviction that Republicans will come along …

Texas has seen nearly 9,000 COVID-19 deaths since February.  All but 43 were unvaccinated people.  —  Preliminary data shows 99.5% of COVID-related deaths in Texas were among unvaccinated people, according to the Department of State Health Services.  —  Copy link

How Thomas Barrack's alleged illegal lobbying shaped Trump's policies in the Gulf  —  Writing in Fortune magazine two weeks before the 2016 election, Donald Trump's old friend and fundraiser, Thomas J. Barrack, outlined a new U.S. policy for the Middle East.

Why Republicans suddenly seem to be taking COVID seriously  —  Vaccine advocacy from Hannity and McConnell gets the media off Republicans' backs, but won't shift public sentiment  —  Amid a rising media furor over the steady stream of vaccine disparagement from GOP politicians and Fox News talking heads …

Biden warns about conspiracies flourishing in the US: 'The rest of the world's wondering about us'  —  Washington (CNN)President Joe Biden on Wednesday raised the alarm about conspiracy theories flourishing in the US and dividing the nation, warning that “the rest of the world's wondering about us.”

NYT No. 1: Mark Levin's ‘American Marxism’ sells 400,000 in 1st week  —  They don't call conservative media mogul Mark Levin the “Great One” for nothing.  —  Just over week after its release, his latest book, American Marxism, will debut on the New York Times bestseller list in the No. 1 slot …

NYPD lags in vaccinating cops as Delta COVID variant spreads  —  The nation's largest police force is still struggling to get its cops vaccinated against COVID-19 — with the latest figures showing just 43 percent have gotten the jab, The Post has learned.  —  The revelation comes …

Redistricting in America, Part One: Gerrymandering Potency Raises the Stakes for the 2020s  —  Redistricting in America, Part One:  —  Gerrymandering Potency Raises the Stakes for the 2020s  —  Dear Readers: This is the first of a multi-part Crystal Ball series that we'll …

White House boosts funding for Covid tests as infections continue to surge  —  WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is accelerating investments in Covid-19 testing to combat a fourth wave of infections washing over states and regions with low vaccination rates as those rates stall …

Zell Miller's grandson enters race for Georgia's lieutenant governor  —  Zell Miller's grandson is seeking to follow in the footsteps of the legendary politician by launching a campaign Thursday for Georgia's No. 2 spot with a promise to strengthen the HOPE scholarship program his grandfather championed.

Audio: Trump says he spoke to a ‘loving crowd’ at Jan. 6 rally  —  The former president described the atmosphere on Jan. 6 as largely friendly and peaceful in exclusive interview for the new book ‘I Alone Can Fix It.’  —  When former president Donald Trump sat down for an interview in late March …

White House officials debate masking push as covid infections spike  —  Top White House aides and Biden administration officials are debating whether they should urge vaccinated Americans to wear masks in more settings as the delta variant causes spikes in coronavirus infections across the country …