West Virginia's coal miners just made Joe Manchin's life a lot harder  —  For months, Sen. Joe Manchin III has sold his opposition to the Build Back Better proposal as driven uniformly by a brave and hardheaded assessment of the national interest.  He has warned that BBB will fuel inflation …

More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people.  This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation.  —  The Washington Post has compiled the first database of slaveholding members of Congress by examining thousands of pages of census records and historical documents

I Spent Insurrection Week Listening to Steve Bannon  —  For three hours every day, the Republican coup plotters who inspired the domestic terror attack at the U.S. Capitol last year gather to discuss their next move.  On their January 6th anniversary program, the Dead Cops Society beseeched …

Symone Sanders, a Top Strategist for Biden and Harris, Is Joining MSNBC  —  Ms. Sanders, 32, will host a weekend show on the cable network, one of the first big programming moves by MSNBC's president, Rashida Jones.  —  Symone D. Sanders, the former chief spokeswoman for Vice President Kamala Harris …

Trump calls GOP senator a ‘jerk’ after he rejects former president's false claims of widespread election fraud  —  Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said on Sunday that the 2020 election was “as fair as we have seen.”  —  Former president Donald Trump lashed out Monday at Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) …

Updates: At Least 19 Dead, Including 9 Children, in Bronx Apartment Fire  —  Crews entering the building found victims on every floor.  Heavy smoke likely prevented victims from escaping.  —  Here's what you need to know:  —  ‘The numbers are horrific,’ Mayor Eric Adams said after the city's deadliest fire in decades.

U.S. House Jan. 6 committee got Michigan Republicans' claimed electors certificate  —  Lansing — Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office provided the U.S. House committee that's investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection a certificate, signed by 16 Republicans, falsely claiming Donald Trump won Michigan's electoral votes.

Mitch McConnell's Electoral Count Act offer is a poison pill for voting rights  —  Fate of voting rights legislation rests on pressure from ‘spotlight of history’  —  The Electoral Count Act, the law governing how Congress certifies presidential elections, is filled with gaps and ambiguities.

Live Updates: Russia Plays Down Threat to Ukraine After Meetings with U.S.  —  Here's what you need to know:  —  Russia tells U.S. it has no plans to invade Ukraine, and agrees to keep talking.  —  GENEVA — With Russian troops massing along Ukraine's borders, American and Russian diplomats …

Trump's potential liability for Capitol riot faces major test in court  —  (CNN)A federal judge in Washington, DC, is set to consider, for the first time, whether former President Donald Trump is immune from liability related to his supporters attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Anti-Vax Leader Urges Followers to Drink Their Own Urine to Fight COVID  —  ‘EVERYTHING WE NEED’  —  Anti-COVID-19 “Vaccine Police” leader Christopher Key has a new quarter-baked conspiracy theory for his anti-vax followers to use to cure themselves of COVID-19: Drink their own urine.

Greg Gutfeld has risen to the top at Fox News — and that's no joke  —  NEW YORK — Greg Gutfeld is picking through a long, narrow closet.  He wrenches a painting from the depth of the clutter.  A painting of himself.  That familiar arched right eyebrow.  That sideways grin.

Why More Americans Are Saying They're ‘Vaxxed and Done’  —  Sign up for Derek's newsletter here.  —  To understand how ideologically scrambling the Omicron wave has been, consider this: Some 2022 Democrats are sounding like 2020 Republicans.  In spring 2020, many Republicans …

Are Democrats Trying to Lose Elections?  —  Would you have predicted that the first big political blunder of 2022 would be committed by the freshly-inaugurated mayor of New York?  Would you have thought that Eric Adams, the African-American former cop, political moderate …

Treasury warns of ‘enormous challenges’ this tax-filing season that could delay refunds  —  Officials predict a number of services could be delayed because of issues related to the pandemic and budget constraints.  The tax filing deadline this year is April 18.

Ted Cruz's Humiliation Isn't the Worst Part  —  Tucker “Patriot Purge” Carlson and the deeper meaning of their clash over Jan. 6th terminology.  —  By now, you've heard about the clip of Ted Cruz groveling for Tucker Carlson's approval on Fox News.  Every last member of the punditocracy …

Omicron Makes Biden's Vaccine Mandates Obsolete  —  There is no evidence so far that vaccines are reducing infections from the fast-spreading variant.  —  Federal courts considering the Biden administration's vaccination mandates—including the Supreme Court at Friday's oral argument—have focused on administrative-law issues.

How ‘Christian’ Overtook the ‘Protestant’ Label  —  Over the past several decades, American evangelicalism has moved away from the religious labels, symbols, and buildings that used to define church.  —  Many newer churches don't contain stained glass, crosses, or traditional sanctuary setups.

North Carolina voters dispute Cawthorn candidacy over Jan. 6  —  A group of North Carolina voters want U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn disqualified as a congressional candidate  —  RALEIGH, N.C. — A group of North Carolina voters told state officials on Monday they want U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn disqualified …

Stimulus for a terrorist  —  On Thursday, US District Court Judge George O'Toole Jr. approved a request by federal prosecutors in Massachusetts to seize funds belonging to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the convicted Boston Marathon bomber.  The money, which had accumulated in his prison canteen account …