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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Kevin McCarthy says he called Paul Gosar about now-deleted tweet  —  How Rep. Gosar's constituents reacted to the violent video he posted  —  (CNN)House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told CNN that he called Rep. Paul Gosar last week after the Arizona Republican posted an anime video …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

Parents protesting ‘critical race theory’ identify another target: Mental health programs  —  At a September school board meeting in Southlake, Texas, a parent named Tara Eddins strode to the lectern during the public comment period and demanded to know why the Carroll Independent School District …

Pfizer deal would allow experimental covid-19 pill to be manufactured around the world … U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has agreed to a license-sharing deal that would allow its experimental covid-19 drug to be manufactured more widely around the globe.  It's an agreement that the company …

DHS inspector general declined to investigate horse-mounted Border Patrol ‘whipping’ accusation  —  AUSTIN, Texas — The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General did not investigate whether horse-mounted Border Patrol agents in Texas used whips against Haitian migrants …

Rep. Jackie Speier retiring from Congress  —  Rep. Jackie Speier on Tuesday announced she would not seek reelection to Congress next year, becoming the latest House Democrat to opt against running for another term.  —  “It's time for me to come home — time for me to be more than a weekend wife …

Joe Biden's Empty Inflation Toolbox  —  President Joe Biden was clear.  Inflation — now at the highest point in 30 years — was at the top of his concerns.  —  “Many people remain unsettled about the economy, and we all know why,” Biden said recently at the Port of Baltimore.  “They see higher prices.

How Did So Much of the Media Get the Steele Dossier So Wrong?  —  Mr. Grueskin is a professor of professional practice and former academic dean at Columbia Journalism School.  He has held senior editing positions at The Wall Street Journal, The Miami Herald and Bloomberg News.

U.S. Allies Drive Much of World's Democratic Decline, Data Shows  —  Washington-aligned countries backslid at nearly double the rate of non-allies, data shows, complicating long-held assumptions about American influence.  —  The United States and its allies accounted for a significantly outsize share …

As Congress advances Democrats' tax plans, the wealthy eye loopholes  —  As Congress looks to advance its $1.75 trillion spending package this week, wealthy individuals are already planning ways to avoid paying for it.  —  Lawmakers are expected to vote on Democrats' social spending bill …