Former GOP treasury secretaries tried defusing debt ceiling bomb in private talks with McConnell, Yellen  —  Paulson and Mnuchin have warned political leaders about the consequences of default, but the Biden administration and Senate Republicans don't appear close to a deal.

Del Rio congressman furious after call with Mayorkas: 'You can't bull**** me'  —  DEL RIO, Texas — The U.S. congressman whose district includes 800 miles of the southern border and the town of Del Rio said the Biden administration's top homeland security official was “dismissive” …

Bipartisan Police-Overhaul Talks End With No Deal  —  Lawmakers had sought to address abuses by law-enforcement in wake of protests over killings of Black Americans  —  WASHINGTON — Bipartisan talks aimed at overhauling police tactics and accountability have ended with no agreement …

Joint Statement on the Phone Call between President Biden and President Macron  —  President Emmanuel Macron of the French Republic and President Joe Biden of the United States of America spoke on September 22, at the request of the latter, in order to discuss the implications of the announcement on September 15.

Flynn: Libs Are Plotting To Put Vax In Salad Dressing  —  “Somebody sent me a thing this morning where they're talking about putting the vaccine in salad dressing.  Have you seen this?  I mean, I'm thinking to myself, this is the bizarro World, right?  This is definitely the bizarro world.

Trump Sues NYT and Niece—Who Calls Him ‘F*cking Loser’  —  The ex-president claims there was an “insidious plot to obtain confidential and highly-sensitive records.” … Former President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against The New York Times, three of its reporters, and his niece …

Murder Rose by Almost 30% in 2020.  It's Rising at a Slower Rate in 2021.  —  The increase in murders this summer does not appear to be as large as the record spike last summer.  —  The United States in 2020 experienced the biggest rise in murder since the start of national record-keeping in 1960 …

Liz Cheney's Re-Election Bid Pits Trump Against Bush  —  George W. Bush to hold fundraiser for Wyoming congresswoman who has sparred with Donald Trump  —  WASHINGTON—The race for Wyoming's single U.S. House district has pitted two of the biggest names in Republican politics against one another …

Biden's Approval Rating Hits New Low of 43%; Harris' Is 49%  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Eight months after President Joe Biden's inauguration, his job approval rating has fallen six percentage points to 43%, the lowest of his presidency.  For the first time, a majority, 53%, now disapproves of Biden's performance.

Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement  —  The Federal Reserve is committed to using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy in this challenging time, thereby promoting its maximum employment and price stability goals.  —  With progress on vaccinations and strong policy support …

Top Adviser to Ukrainian President Is Targeted in an Assassination Attempt  —  President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would return to Ukraine from New York immediately.  The adviser, Serhiy Shefir, was unharmed, but his driver was shot and wounded in the attack.

‘Critical race theory’ roils a Tennessee school district  —  Robin Steenman, an Air Force veteran and white mother of three, is fed up with the way public schools in her community of Franklin, Tennessee are teaching kids about race.  —  She believes that the reading materials and teachers' manuals …

Book Review: ‘The Authority of the Court and the Peril of How Much I Love My Job,’ by Stephen Breyer  —  The 83-year-old leader of the Court's liberal wing is facing significant public pressure to step down from the bench.  He decided to write a book instead.

Tim Cook says employees who leak memos do not belong at Apple, according to leaked memo  —  The CEO says the company is doing everything in its power to track down workers  —  Tim Cook sent an email to Apple employees Tuesday evening about an all-hands meeting that leaked to The Verge last week.

High Covid Hospitalizations Have Delayed Elective Surgeries  —  In areas inundated with coronavirus patients, hospitals have postponed treatments and surgeries for people with other serious conditions.  —  In chronic pain, Mary O'Donnell can't get around much.

The Texas abortion law is a human rights crisis for American women  —  Uma Thurman is an actress and mother.  —  I have followed the course of Texas's radical antiabortion law with great sadness, and something akin to horror.  Now, in the hope of drawing the flames of controversy away …

Charter schools boomed during the pandemic  —  Charter schools picked off hundreds of thousands of public school students across the U.S. during the pandemic, according to a new analysis from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.  —  Why it matters: The pandemic …

Why I'm a Single-Issue Voter  —  I'll vote against the party threatening the republic—simple as that.  —  In a few weeks, Virginia will hold an election and I will have to make a decision.  Both the Democratic and the Republican candidates for governor could be described as moderates.

Lithuania says throw away Chinese phones due to censorship concerns  —  Lithuania's Defense Ministry recommended that consumers avoid buying Chinese mobile phones and advised people to throw away the ones they have now after a government report found the devices had built-in censorship capabilities.

Dean Heller won't acknowledge Biden's election win in RJ interview  —  RENO — Dean Heller says he knows who the president is.  He just won't name that person — no matter how the question is asked.  —  “I still know who the president is, but I do believe we have a problem with elections …

Chaos Theory Is the Future of American Politics  —  A website changes its algorithm and a game show host becomes president.  —  1. A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings in Peking . . .  I've pointed you to the Margins before and I'm going to do it again with this essay from Ranjan Roy about Reddit.

Hillary Clinton tried to warn us — and paid the price.  Let's at least call Republicans what they are  —  Still, America's political class is unwilling to call the fascist, white supremacist Republicans what they are  —  During a speech in September 2016, Hillary Clinton …

The Unbelievable Grimness of HermanCainAward, the Subreddit That Catalogs Anti-Vaxxer COVID Deaths  —  This is not a forum that attempts to change minds.  It's much darker.  —  HermanCainAward, one of the fastest-growing subreddits on Reddit.com, is exactly what it sounds like …

In Kabul, a Former American Citizen Keeps Running the City Under Taliban Watch  —  Taliban decision to retain Kabul's mayor shows challenges facing a rural insurgency now governing big cities  —  KABUL—After attending the funeral of a fellow United Airlines pilot who was killed in the Sept. 11 …

Pfizer CEO rallies staff to fight Democrats' drug price negotiation  —  Pfizer's CEO sent a video message to company employees urging them to fight proposed government drug price negotiations and expressing frustration with Congress, which is considering using the projected savings to help pay …

'It's Become Increasingly Hard for Them to Feel Good About Themselves'  —  Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C., on politics, demographics and inequality.  —  Is there a whole class of men who no longer fit into the social order?  —  A decade ago, Marianne Bertrand …

Biden administration ‘strongly opposes’ honorable discharge for service members who refuse COVID-19 vaccine  —  The Biden administration has come out against an amendment to the defense budget that would prevent the Pentagon from dishonorably discharging service members who refuse to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Postcard from an overrun ICU: ‘The problem is we are running out of hallways’  —  BILLINGS — Nurses fill the hospital room to turn a patient from his stomach to his back.  The ventilator forcing air into him is most effective when he's on his stomach, so he is in that position most hours of the day, sedated and paralyzed by drugs.

Prosecutors to seek testimony of former Nevada AG in trial of Giuliani associate  —  Prosecutors plan to call former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt — the frontrunner for the GOP nomination in a crucial 2022 Senate race — to testify in the upcoming criminal trial of Lev Parnas …