POLITICO Playbook: ‘The View’ struggles to find a Republican  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  Before taking off for the holidays, the four long-standing hosts of “The View” had a message for executive producer BRIAN TETA: We're tired of the rotating cast of Republican guest hosts.

CDC recommends shorter COVID isolation, quarantine for all  —  NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials on Monday cut isolation restrictions for Americans who catch the coronavirus from 10 to five days, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine.

Dan Bongino and the Big Business of Returning Trump to Power  —  The Secret Service agent turned radio host is furious at liberals—so he's trying to build a right-wing media infrastructure in time for 2024. … Dan Bongino, one of America's most popular conservative commentators …

Capitol panel to investigate Trump call to Willard hotel in hours before attack  —  Committee to request contents of the call seeking to stop Biden's certification and may subpoena Rudy Giuliani  —  Congressman Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack …

Justice Roberts Tops Federal Leaders in Americans' Approval  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Chief Justice John Roberts earns the highest job approval rating of 11 U.S. leaders rated in a Dec. 1-16 Gallup poll with 60% approving of how he is handling his role.  —  Only two other leaders on the list …

Alleged ‘dead’ Georgia voters found alive and well after 2020 election  —  Trump's allegations of vast voter fraud debunked  —  False claims that there were thousands of ballots cast in the names of dead Georgia voters can now rest in peace.  —  Election investigators found …

The One Thing Biden Is Doing Exceptionally Well  —  As 2021 draws to a close, President Joe Biden has good reason to be frustrated.  His legislative agenda is stymied in the Senate.  His executive authority is under assault from Donald Trump's judges.  His administration was blindsided …

U.S. President Biden signs $770 billion defense bill  —  U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, for fiscal year 2022, which authorizes $770 billion in defense spending, the White House said on Monday.  —  Earlier this month …

5 GOP-led states extend unemployment aid to workers who lose jobs over vaccine mandates  —  Critics says the rule changes in Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas and Tennessee are incentivizing people to skip shots, and undermining the White House's pandemic response.

Massive New Bird Flu Outbreak Could Be 2022's Deadly Pandemic  —  In the Galilee, migrating cranes infected with H5N1 are dying by the thousand, raising fears of a global pandemic.  —  Israel's National Security Council has assumed control of a massive bird flu outbreak in the Galilee …

Flight disruptions continue with thousands more cancellations as Omicron thins airline crews.  —  Flight disruptions in the United States showed few signs of abating on Monday as many people embarked on their first trips in almost two years, and Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the nation's top infectious …

Russian court extends jail term for Gulag historian to 15 years  —  A Russian court on Monday added two more years to a 13-year jail sentence for historian Yuri Dmitriev, in a sex abuse case that his supporters say was trumped up to punish him for uncovering mass graves of Stalin's Gulags.

The Case Against the Trauma Plot  —  Fiction writers love it.  Filmmakers can't resist it.  But does this trope deepen characters, or flatten them into a set of symptoms?  —  It was on a train journey, from Richmond to Waterloo, that Virginia Woolf encountered the weeping woman.

Men across America are getting vasectomies ‘as an act of love’  —  With the right to abortion under threat, men say they want to play a role in reproductive planning to support their partners  —  After Andy and Erin Gress had their fourth child, Andy decided it was time for him to “step up” and help with the family planning.

Richard Marcinko, Founding Commander of SEAL Team 6, Dies at 81  —  The Navy asked Commander Marcinko, a larger-than-life soldier who often flouted rules, to build a SEAL unit that could respond quickly to terrorist crises.  —  Richard Marcinko, the hard-charging founding commander of Navy SEAL Team 6 …

So much happened this year, it can be hard to keep track.  Take our quiz to see if you remember when something actually occurred.  —  The United States reached 500,000 deaths from the coronavirus in the early months of 2021.  Alex Trebek, the beloved ‘Jeopardy!’ host, died of cancer at age 80 in November 2020.

NASCAR driver Brandon Brown who inadvertently sparked 'Let's Go Brandon!' anti-Biden chant says he has been CANCELLED: Phrase has made it ‘extremely difficult’ for him to get sponsorship  — NASCAR driver Brandon Brown, who unintentionally sparked 'Let's Go Brandon!', spoke out about the difficulties of getting corporate sponsorship

Gov. Wolf Names Leigh M. Chapman New Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth  —  Governor Tom Wolf today announced his intention to name Leigh M. Chapman to serve as Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth.  Chapman will replace Acting Secretary Veronica Degraffenreid, who will be elevated to serve …

Inside Disney's Handling of the ABC News Sexual-Assault Allegations  —  A lawsuit claims executives knew of misconduct at the key revenue generator ‘Good Morning America’ but didn't follow up and discouraged an official report  —  When writer Jay Carson was doing research in the fall of 2017 to develop …

Russia ‘not bluffing’ on NATO rollback, warns of ‘large-scale conflict in Europe’  —  Russia will not drop a demand that NATO “be rolled back” to its 1997 boundaries, according to a senior Russian envoy, a requirement backed by the threat of “a large-scale conflict in Europe” arising out of Ukraine.

Record Beef Prices, but Ranchers Aren't Cashing In  —  “You're feeding America and going broke doing it”: After years of consolidation, four companies dominate the meatpacking industry, while many ranchers are barely hanging on.  —  SHEPHERD, Montana — Judging from the prices at supermarkets …