Scoop: “How about zero?”  Manchin, Sanders get heated behind closed doors  —  Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) squabbled behind closed doors Wednesday, with Manchin using a raised-fist goose egg to tell his colleague he can live without any of President Biden's social spending plan, Axios has learned.

Liberal backlash against Sinema grows on Capitol Hill as potential Arizona challenger emerges  —  (CNN)Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is at the zenith of her influence in Washington, with the ability to dramatically reshape — or derail — President Joe Biden's domestic agenda simply by threatening to point her thumb down.

Mastodon's Founder Says Trump's New Social Network Is Just Mastodon  —  ‘Truth Social’, which will launch officially later in the year, is seemingly using Mastodon's codebase without credit.  —  Joseph Cox  —  Former President Donald Trump's new social network ‘Truth Social’ is seemingly …

Kevin McCarthy or Liz Cheney?  Consultants Forced to Choose  —  The message, delivered by a lobbyist close to the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, has already led one Republican firm to cut ties.  —  WASHINGTON — A prominent Washington lobbyist close to Kevin McCarthy …

Justice Dept. Adds Two Top Prosecutors to Matt Gaetz Case  —  The move by the department is a sign of the complex and high-stakes nature of the sex trafficking investigation into Representative Gaetz, a close ally of Donald Trump.  —  The Justice Department has added two top prosecutors …

This Is What Climate Change Will Look Like In D.C.  —  The Lincoln Memorial, on an island surrounded by churning Potomac waters; Nationals Park, a bathtub surrounded by mid-rise office buildings flooded by the Anacostia River; the Pentagon, accessible by boat, with State Route 110 and the George Washington Memorial Parkway underwater.

CNN defends Joe Rogan treatment in fiery statement  —  Podcaster Joe Rogan's three-hour interview with CNN's Sanjay Gupta last week was an amicable affair, though it got a bit tense when the topic turned to the network's coverage of Rogan's recent bout with covid.  “It's a lie.

Prosecutors: Clark County man touted in Republican election fraud allegations voted his dead wife's ballot  —  A man who once described a ballot being cast in his dead wife's name as “sickening” and was cited by the Nevada Republican Party last November as evidence that massive voter fraud swayed …

Photos inside Rikers Island expose hellish, deadly conditions  —  Dozens of men crammed together for days in temporary holding cells amid a pandemic.  Filthy floors sullied with rotten food, maggots, urine, feces and blood.  Plastic sheets for blankets, cardboard boxes for beds and bags that substituted for toilets.

DeSantis calls for special Florida legislative session to fight Biden's vaccine mandate  —  TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday called for a special legislative session to block the Biden administration's vaccine mandates, taking the most aggressive action yet in his ongoing fight with the White House over Covid restrictions.

Schumer endorses Walton for Buffalo mayor  —  WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer on Thursday announced that he is endorsing India Walton to be mayor of Buffalo, giving the winner of the Democratic primary a crucial boost only days before early voting begins in her race against Mayor Byron Brown.

The Methods of Moral Panic Journalism  —  Scare stories on “left-wing illiberalism” display a familiar pattern.  —  During the 1990s, the media convinced Americans that frivolous lawsuits were out of control.  —  The canonical example was the 1994 “McDonald's hot coffee” case.

CDC gives green light to Moderna, J&J boosters plus mix-and-match strategy  —  The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday formally endorsed the use of Covid-19 booster shots from Moderna and Johnson & Johnson for some adults, clearing the way for millions of Americans to receive additional doses.

Gov. Greg Abbott's pick for top Texas election post worked with Trump to fight 2020 results  —  As secretary of state, Fort Worth attorney John Scott would oversee election administration in Texas.  —  Copy link  —  Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday appointed John Scott …

My Daily Life Is a Game of Roulette  —  Medicine has never been about certainty, but odds.  —  A pair of realities: This week, Colin Powell, the former secretary of state whose service under President George W. Bush is most prominently associated with the American invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan …

“He's Making Real Money for the First Time in His Life”: Mike Pence Is Already Cashing In on His Potential 2024 Run  —  The former veep and his wife are living their best lives: traveling widely, making bank on the speaking circuit, and residing in one of Indiana's toniest suburbs.

At informal ‘bitching’ dinners, Pete Buttigieg donors are chattering about prodding him to run against Kamala Harris in 2024 if Biden backs out  — Democrats publicly insist that Joe Biden will run again in 2024.  — But privately, some Democratic donors are preparing for a post-Biden campaign.

No Proof Anyone ‘Callously’ Took Video of Rape on SEPTA Train, DA Says  —  “That is simply not true.  It did not happen.  We have security video from SEPTA that shows that is not the true narrative,” Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said

USPS mismanaged DeJoy's conflicts of interest and tried to cover it up … The United States Postal Service seriously mismanaged Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's conflicts of interest from the start, according to documents obtained by CREW via a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

A couple died of covid, leaving five children behind.  A relative says people called their deaths ‘fake news.’  —  Two days after arriving at a Fredericksburg, Va., hospital with covid-19 in September, Misty Mitchem was put on a ventilator.  Another two days later, she died.

Fed Imposes New Restrictions on Officials' Investment Activities  —  Rules prohibiting trading of individual stocks and bonds, when officials can buy diversified securities follow revelations of active trading last year as the Fed responded to Covid-19  —  Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome …

Human remains found in Florida reserve confirmed to be Brian Laundrie, FBI says  —  FBI: Human remains found in Brian Laundrie search  —  Partial remains found by authorities searching for Brian Laundrie, Gabby Petito's fiancé, were confirmed to be his after a review of dental records.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has paid his first voter fraud bounty.  It went to an unexpected recipient  —  Patrick, a Republican, promised to pay $25,000 to any tipster who came forward with evidence of real voter fraud.  He cut his first check this week.  —  AUSTIN — Nearly a year …

Biden pledges to defend Taiwan if China attacks  —  China has been amping up the pressure on Taiwan, which it considers its territory  —  Cotton: US allowing ‘China to annex, invade’ Taiwan would be catastrophe of ‘historic proportions’  —  President Joe Biden vowed to protect Taiwan …

Email from Loudoun Co. superintendent alerted school board on day of bathroom assault  —  The superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools sent a brief, confidential email to school board members on May 28 — the same day a female student at Stone Bridge High School said she was sexually assaulted in bathroom.

Rather than inducing psychological reactance, requiring vaccination strengthens intentions to vaccinate in US populations  —  11, Article number: 20796 (2021) Cite this article  —  Abstract  —  In a survey and three experiments (one preregistered with a nationally representative sample) …