Trump told RNC chair he was leaving GOP to create new party, says new book  —  In his new book, Jonathan Karl shares what Trump said before backing down.  —  In an angry conversation on his final day as president, Donald Trump told the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee …

U.S. Covid Deaths Get Even Redder  —  The partisan gap in Covid's death toll has grown faster over the past month than at any previous point.  —  As 2020 wound down, there were good reasons to believe that the death toll during the pandemic's first year might have been worse in red America.

We Can't Wait for Universities to Fix Themselves.  So We're Starting a New One.  —  I left my post as president of St. John's College in Annapolis to build a university in Austin dedicated to the fearless pursuit of truth.  —  So much is broken in America.  But higher education might be the most fractured institution of all.

Notes on an Authoritarian Conspiracy: Inside the Claremont Institute's “79 Days to Inauguration” Report  —  The sun rises on January 6, 2021 while a nation is in crisis.  —  Michigan's presidential electors are in dispute after a mysterious fire in Detroit destroyed thousands of mail-in ballots …

Satellite images show China built mock-ups of US warships  —  BEIJING (AP) — Satellite images show China has built mock-ups of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and destroyer in its northwestern desert, possibly for practice for a future naval clash as tensions rise between the nations.

Republican wave builds to take back the House  —  Republicans could hardly be better poised to recapture the House majority.  —  Increasingly aggressive redistricting, a diverse slate of candidates raking in record-breaking amounts of cash and a political atmosphere that just keeps getting …

Countries' climate pledges built on flawed data, Post investigation finds  —  Malaysia's latest catalogue of its greenhouse gas emissions to the United Nations reads like a report from a parallel universe.  The 285-page document suggests that Malaysia's trees are absorbing carbon four times faster …

Trump will ‘probably’ announce 2024 plans after midterms: ‘A lot of people will be very happy’  —  Trump to Fox News: 'A lot of great people who are thinking about running are waiting for that decision, because they're not going to run if I run'  —  Trump teases press with 2024 hints

NRSC chair Rick Scott declines to say if Trump-backed Senate hopeful accused of strangling wife is right candidate for the job  —  Sen. Rick Scott, who heads the group that works to elect Senate Republicans, declined Monday to say whether Sean Parnell, a GOP hopeful in Pennsylvania …

US seizes $6 million in ransom payments and expected to charge Ukrainian over major cyberattack  —  Here's everything you need to know about ransomware  —  (CNN)Law enforcement officials have seized an estimated $6 million in ransom payments, and the US Justice Department is expected …

Obama says world ‘nowhere near’ done on climate action  —  Former President Obama touted international climate progress at the COP26 climate summit on Monday, but warned that “we are nowhere near where we need to be yet.”  —  “Meaningful progress has been made since Paris,” Obama told world leaders …

Elon Musk faces a $15 billion tax bill, which is likely the real reason he's selling stock  — Elon Musk faces a tax bill of more than $15 billion in the coming months on stock options.  — Musk asked his 62.7 million Twitter followers over the weekend whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla holdings.

Mitch McConnell spent decades chasing power.  Now he heeds Trump, who mocks him and wants him gone.  —  How one of Washington's longtime Republican power players succumbed to the preeminence of the 45th president  —  As President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 …

Six Degrees From Brookings: How a Liberal Think Tank Keeps Coming Up in the Russian Collusion Investigation  —  The latest indictment by Special Counsel John Durham has created a stir in Washington as the investigation into the Russian collusion scandal exposed new connections to the Clinton campaign.

Why Republicans Won in a New York County Where Democrats Outnumber Them  —  Voters readily ousted Democrats in Nassau County on Long Island, electing Republicans down the ballot.  —  It wasn't the high taxes in Nassau County, or the recent changes to New York's bail laws that drove Lizette Sonsini …

MSNBC Regular: ‘Sick of White Men’ Like Carville, ‘Shut the F Up’  —  Text to Speech  —  On Saturday morning's The Cross Connection, MSNBC viewers got a triple helping of racist comments as frequent guests Roland Martin and Elie Mystal took aim at whites.  After Mystal claimed in the show's …

When Keeping It ‘Woke’ Gets Racist, Liberals Should Say So  —  A Republican won Virginia's governorship last week after campaigning on a vow to “ban critical race theory in our schools.”  —  On one level, this was an odd campaign promise.  Properly defined, critical race theory (or CRT) …

Joe Biden's bowels again take center stage in Europe  —  The older you get, the harder travel can be on your body.  You tire more easily, your joints hurt and, if you're unlucky, your digestion goes all flipsy-wopsy.  Joe Biden is just a few days away from turning 79, which is a respectable age for anyone …

Meet the anti-Fauci: Florida's sane surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo  —  America has had 20 long months with Dr. Anthony Fauci as the spokesman for the government's COVID response, poorly explaining to us both the pandemic and the concurrent illogical restrictions.  —  Perhaps it's time for some new voices.

Study: Diversity Statements Required for One-Fifth of Academic Jobs  —  Requirements as common in STEM as in social science  —  Nearly a fifth of university jobs require diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) statements that press applicants to express and expound upon their commitment to diversity …

Ranking the most liberal and conservative law firms among the top 140, 2021 edition  —  One of my most popular posts remains “Ranking the most liberal and conservative law firms.”  That post is from 2013, and an update is long overdue.  —  At the outset, “ranking” a firm or calling it …

The school that pioneered polio shots will give kids the covid vaccine, too  —  Through the long tunnel of time, Jackie French Lonergan still remembers the day very clearly.  It was April 26, 1954, and she was a second-grader at Franklin Sherman Elementary in McLean, Va. …

Bill Clinton Saved His Presidency.  Here's How Biden Can, Too.  —  Mr. Penn is a former adviser and pollster to President Clinton and Hillary Clinton.  Mr. Stein is a former president of the New York City Council.  —  Swing voters in two blue-leaning states just sent a resounding wake …

Biden's border woes expose White House divisions as centrists assert more control  —  Illegal border crossings and coronavirus cases were both rising this summer when a group of Biden administration officials developed a plan to vaccinate migrants in U.S. custody, viewing the shots as a sensible public health measure.

Sen. Josh Hawley defends speech on porn and video games  —  Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) told “Axios on HBO” he'll make masculinity a signature political issue, because he claims “the left” is telling men: “You're part of the problem. ...  Your masculinity is inherently problematic.”

First look: Bullish Republicans launch 2022 ad, midterm strategy  —  The National Republican Congressional Committee will run a one-day, nation-wide ad campaign today — one year out from the 2022 midterm elections, targeting Democrats over rising prices, crime and the border.