POLITICO Playbook: A victory lap and a reality check  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  It was all smiles and selfies at the White House on Monday as Democrats celebrated passage of the bipartisan infrastructure deal.  But rising voter concern about inflation has cast a pall over President JOE BIDEN's victory lap.

Trump allies pressed Defense Department to help overturn election, new book says  —  Michael Flynn told a DoD official that Democrats were “stealing the election.”  —  In the aftermath of the 2020 election, some of Donald Trump's closest allies embarked on an unprecedented effort …

In Another Trump Book, a Journalist's Belated Awareness Steals the Show … When you purchase an independently reviewed book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.  —  By the looks of his formidable résumé, the veteran Beltway journalist Jonathan Karl shouldn't startle all that easily.

Jackie Speier is eighth House Democrat to announce retirement in 2022  —  California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier announced that she will not seek reelection in 2022, adding to a Democratic exodus that is expected to grow as members expect Republicans to win control of the House next year.

Biden and Xi Pledge More Cooperation, but Offer No Breakthroughs  —  President Biden and China's leader, Xi Jinping, met for about three and a half hours.  U.S. officials said the talks were meant to reassure both sides that misunderstandings would not lead to unintended clashes.

Goldman: “Inflation will get worse”  —  “The current inflation surge will get worse this winter before it gets better,” Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research warns clients in a “2022 U.S. Economic Outlook.”  —  Driving the news: But Goldman expects the economy “to reaccelerate …

Unauthorized Migration Across the Mexico-U.S. Border Slips  —  Border crossings declined for the third consecutive month in October, but thousands of Haitians and other migrants were waiting in Mexico, hoping to head north.  —  After a major influx of migrants overwhelmed …

Americans broadly support Supreme Court upholding Roe v. Wade and oppose Texas abortion law, Post-ABC poll finds  —  Americans say by a roughly 2-to-1 margin that the Supreme Court should uphold its landmark abortion decision in Roe v. Wade, and by a similar margin the public opposes …

Jen Psaki is annoyed you'd ask about Biden defaming Kyle Rittenhouse as a white supremacist  —  The Biden campaign defamed Kyle Rittenhouse as a white supremacist in 2020, even though there is nothing at all to back such a claim about him.  —  Now, the White House would rather not discuss …

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick Knew for Years About Sexual-Misconduct Allegations at Videogame Giant  —  Top executive didn't inform board of some reports, including alleged rapes; company faces multiple regulatory investigations  —  Bobby Kotick, the longtime chief executive …

GOP revenge for the Bannon indictment may have to wait  —  Donald Trump's closest allies in Congress greeted the indictment of Steve Bannon with a warning: It's payback time once we take back the House.  But getting revenge won't be so simple.  —  Bannon turned himself into authorities …

Andrew Sullivan and the Narrative of the “MSM Narrative”  —  The narrative on MSM narratives is false.  —  Over the weekend Andrew Sullivan published a jeremiad against the “mainstream media” that tracks pretty closely with the Matt Taibbi-Glenn Greenwald-Bari Weiss view …

GOP lawmaker takes credit for infrastructure funding after voting against it  —  Republicans have begun to take credit for things in the infrastructure bill they didn't vote for.  —  Rep. Gary Palmer (R-AL) on Monday night touted “critical funding” that President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill provided …

Waiting for the Apocalypse: The Unnerving New Normal  —  A few months ago, the humorist David Sedaris wrote about his joy at feeling he no longer had to care about political news.  Four years of “constant monitoring” of events, which a friend of his likened to having a second job, had left him exhausted.

Mary Trump: If Donald Runs Again, This Will Be the Reason  —  Mary Trump is honest about what she thinks about Biden's low approval ratings and what her uncle is brewing.  Plus, a Holocaust survivor's son shares a chilling Trump prediction.  —  Mary Trump knows her uncle, Donald Trump …

Tucker Carlson's Jan. 6 ‘Documentary’ Is His Most Nakedly Fascist Piece Of Propaganda Yet  —  His recent series for Fox Nation, “Patriot Purge,” is setting the stage for something even worse than the attack on the Capitol.  —  Tucker Carlson's “Patriot Purge,” a revisionist history …

The second-biggest program in the Democrats' spending plan gives billions to the rich … The House is expected to vote this week on President Biden's Build Back Better legislation.  The social spending bill includes investments in clean energy and affordable child care …

Iran Resumes Production of Advanced Nuclear-Program Parts, Diplomats Say  —  Manufacturing of centrifuge equipment has begun without monitoring from the U.N.'s atomic-power watchdog  —  Iran has resumed production of equipment for advanced centrifuges at a site the United Nations' atomic energy agency …

Audit: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds improperly used COVID funds for salaries  —  DES MOINES, Iowa — A state audit report on government spending released Monday accused Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds of using nearly $450,000 in federal coronavirus relief funds to pay salaries for 21 staff members …

Biden tormented by Republican guerrilla campaign and ‘I did it’ stickers  —  If you see Joe Biden's picture on a gas pump these days, it's not a tribute to his amazingly successful energy policy.  —  The stickers — with Biden pointing to the $3.50 a gallon gas price and saying “I did that!”

Biden administration plans imminent booster expansion to all adults  —  The Biden administration is expected to begin the process of expanding the booster authorization to all adults as early as this week, according to a source familiar with internal planning.

Does It Matter if I Eat the Stickers on Fruits and Vegetables?  —  I keep finding myself biting into an apple or a peach, only to find I've eaten half the sticker the store put on there.  Is there any harm in eating produce stickers?  —  While the stickers that get placed on fruits …

FDR Drive Tear-Down and Manhattan Land Extension Eyed in Downtown Flood Plan  —  A higher waterfront and a lower highway may be on tap for Lower Manhattan.  —  The city has a new proposal for protecting the Financial District and Seaport from future flooding: extending the eastern edge …

New York ethics board revokes approval for Cuomo book deal  —  ALBANY — A New York state ethics board on Tuesday revoked the approval it gave former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to publish his 2020 memoir, a move the Democrat dismissed as “the height of hypocrisy.”  —  The revocation by the Joint Commission …

Democratic strategists plan to get aggressive on critical race theory, saying Republicans are putting ‘politicians in charge of the classroom and white supremacists in charge of the curriculum’  — Democratic strategists say the party should hit back harder against GOP critical race theory claims.

Political News Receiving Heightened Public Attention  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Gallup's annual measure of Americans' attentiveness to national political news, updated each September, reveals a populace more focused on political news at the time of this year's poll than is usual for a year in which there is no presidential election.