McConnell: No legislative agenda for 2022 midterms  —  Mitch McConnell has told colleagues and donors Senate Republicans won't release a legislative agenda before next year's midterms, according to people who've attended private meetings with the minority leader.

More Democratic senators are willing to weigh changes to Supreme Court  —  This week's Supreme Court argument on abortion has accelerated an urgency among Senate Democrats to fundamentally alter how the court operates, fueled in part by lingering anger over Republican confirmation maneuvers …

Avoiding shutdown, Congress approves bill to fund government through Feb. 18  —  House deal on government funding bill could face challenge in the Senate  —  WASHINGTON — Congress on Thursday passed a short-term government funding bill that will prevent a shutdown before the Friday night deadline …

Biden takes the fight to Omicron.  But the toolkit is growing bare.  —  President Joe Biden has staked his presidency on defeating the pandemic.  But nearly a year into his term, the administration is crashing into the limits of its power to end the nation's fight against Covid-19.

Increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 reinfection associated with emergence of the Omicron variant in South Africa  —  Juliet R.C. Pulliam, Cari van Schalkwyk, Nevashan Govender, Anne von Gottberg, Cheryl Cohen, Michelle J. Groome, Jonathan Dushoff, Koleka Mlisana, Harry Moultrie

Job growth disappoints in November, with a gain of just 210,000, despite high hopes  —  November job growth falls far short of expectations, unemployment rate hits 4.2%  —  The U.S. economy created far fewer jobs than expected in November, before a new Covid threat created a scare that growth …

Didi Global Plans to Delist From New York Stock Exchange  —  Chinese ride-hailing giant says it plans to pursue a listing in Hong Kong  —  Didi Global Inc. plans to delist its shares in the U.S. and pursue a listing in Hong Kong, a dramatic reversal just months after the Chinese ride-hailing …

Amy Coney Barrett Doesn't Understand the Trauma of Adoption  —  Ms. Spiers, a Democratic digital strategist, was adopted as an infant.  —  On Wednesday, as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments from state attorneys seeking to uphold Mississippi's 15-week abortion ban …

Meadows' book possible ‘waiver’ of executive privilege, Jan. 6 investigators say  —  Jan. 6 investigators have tried to pry information from Mark Meadows for months.  Now, excerpts from his forthcoming book have piqued the select committee's interest.  —  In interviews, members of the committee …

Feds could release ‘alternative’ Mueller report soon  —  An unpublished investigative compilation sometimes referred to as the “Alternative Mueller Report” has been located in Justice Department files and could be released soon, according to a letter filed in federal court Thursday.

Amid heightened tensions, Russia and U.S. make quiet breakthrough on staffing at Moscow embassy  —  MOSCOW — Despite significant tensions over a Russian troop buildup at the Ukrainian border, U.S. diplomats have overcome a months-long standoff with the Kremlin on the granting of visas …

Burnout, money, concern drive Harris turnover  —  Burnout, better opportunities and concern about being permanently branded a “Harris person” is driving some of the turnover in Vice President Kamala Harris's office, people familiar with the situation tell Axios.

DeSantis proposes a new civilian military force in Florida that he would control  —  St, Petersburg, Florida (CNN)Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to reestablish a World War II-era civilian military force that he, not the Pentagon, would control.  —  DeSantis pitched the idea Thursday …

Exclusive: Sinema won't commit to voting for Biden's sweeping social safety net expansion  —  (CNN)Kyrsten Sinema, the influential moderate Democratic senator from Arizona, did not commit to voting for President Joe Biden's sweeping social safety net legislation in a sit-down interview with CNN on Thursday …

A drama professor told students they got their feelings hurt too easily.  They decided to fight back  —  It all started with a misunderstanding.  —  A Black theater student at Coastal Carolina University told a visiting drama teacher she wanted to connect with nonwhite students …

Epstein visited the White House on 14 separate days and stopped by twice in one day on three occasions during Bill Clinton's first term  —  The disclosure puts renewed scrutiny on Clinton's friendship with Epstein, who was known to have flown the former president on his private jet …

TGIF: A Report From Waukesha  —  Plus: the brothers Cuomo; teachers against teaching; crime on the rise; and good news. … → Teachers against teaching: Public school teachers' unions around the country are proposing “self-taught” Fridays—in other words, a four-day work week—citing the stresses of the pandemic.

Congress needs to act on Xi Jinping's genocide now  —  This week, a private U.K.-based investigative panel released what it says are classified Chinese government documents that appear to show how Chinese President Xi Jinping personally laid the groundwork for the systematic forced assimilation of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.

As world focuses on omicron, delta variant overwhelms parts of U.S.  —  While the U.S. braces for the unknowns of omicron, which has now been detected in Minnesota, St. Cloud Hospital in the central part of the state is still deep in a battle with the delta variant of the coronavirus.

Liberty University professor charged in alleged abduction, sexual battery of student  —  A professor at Liberty University is accused in the abduction and sexual battery of a student, according to the evangelical school and court records in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Alec Baldwin's Gun Could Have Fired Without Him Pulling the Trigger, But Did It?  —  In his first major interview since being involved in a fatal shooting on the set of his latest movie, Alec Baldwin made a surprising new claim about his actions that day.  —  Baldwin said the gun went off without him ever actually pulling its trigger.