Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House, says she'll step down as Democratic leader  —  Pelosi, 82, has been the Democratic leader for two decades.  She is expected to remain a member of the House, at least temporarily.  —  WASHINGTON — Nancy Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House …

GOP operative found guilty of funneling Russian money to Donald Trump  —  A Republican political strategist was convicted of illegally helping a Russian businessman contribute to Donald Trump's campaign in 2016.  —  Jesse Benton, 44, was pardoned by Trump in 2020 for a different campaign finance crime …

Resignations Roil Twitter as Elon Musk Tries Persuading Some Workers to Stay  —  Mr. Musk, Twitter's new owner, had given employees a Thursday deadline to decide whether to leave or stay “to build a breakthrough Twitter 2.0.”  —  Hours before a Thursday deadline that Elon Musk …

Republicans Barely Won the House.  Now Can They Run It?  —  A thin margin, ideological differences and competing pressures could make managing the “people's House” virtually impossible.  But the G.O.P. majority, however slim, will still be a challenge for President Biden.

House Republicans plan investigations and possible impeachments with new majority  —  WASHINGTON — House Republicans' majority will be smaller than expected, but they're eager to use their new oversight powers and pass a spate of bills to draw contrasts with Democrats and give the Biden administration heartburn.

Cheney hits back as Pence says January 6 committee has ‘no right’ to testimony  —  Panel vice-chair issues statement with chair Bennie Thompson after Trump vice-president gives interview to CBS  —  The chair and vice-chair of the January 6 committee hit back after Mike Pence said they had …

Trumps had role in fraud scheme, Allen Weisselberg testifies at company's trial  —  Former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg testified in court Thursday, describing how Donald Trump and two of his children allegedly participated in a scheme to defraud tax authorities.

John Mearsheimer on Putin's Ambitions After Nine Months of War  —  The realist political scientist explains why Russia's move to annex four Ukrainian provinces isn't imperialism.  —  Back in February, a few days after Russia launched its war in Ukraine, I spoke with the political scientist John Mearsheimer.

Michael Gerson, Post columnist and Bush speechwriter on 9/11, dies at 58  —  Mr. Gerson helped shape President George W. Bush's messaging after the 9/11 attacks and then moved to The Washington Post, where he wrote about politics and faith  —  Michael Gerson, a speechwriter for President George W. Bush …

Webb telescope spots earliest galaxies yet, and they are cosmic oddballs  —  The two bundles of stars formed shortly after the big bang, offering a long-anticipated window into the origins of the universe  —  From its perch a million miles from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope has sighted …

Trump would act ‘like a little elementary schoolchild,’ former spiritual adviser says  —  IRVING, Tex. — A televangelist who served as a spiritual adviser to Donald Trump says the former president has the tendency to act “like a little elementary schoolchild” and suggests that Trump's focus …

GOP plans to punish ‘woke’ Wall Street  —  Wall Street loves Republican tax cuts and deregulation.  It's going to hate the GOP's plans for 2023.  —  Republican lawmakers, who will be in the House majority come January, are pressing party leaders to send a message to big financial firms …

Meta Employees, Security Guards Fired for Hijacking User Accounts  —  Some workers allegedly accepted thousands of dollars in bribes  —  Meta Platforms Inc. META -1.82%decrease; red down pointing triangle has fired or disciplined more than two dozen employees and contractors over the last year whom …

Billionaires like Elon Musk want to save civilization by having tons of genetically superior kids.  Inside the movement to take ‘control of human evolution.’ … Sitting in their toy-filled family room on a sunny September afternoon, Simone and Malcolm Collins were forced to compete …

Bankman-Fried swaps white-shoe lawyer for Stanford professor  —  Liz is Semafor's Business & Finance Editor and you can sign up for her scoops here.  Reed is Semafor's Technology Editor and his newsletter sign up is here.  —  THE SCOOP  —  Sam Bankman-Fried has parted ways …

Let crypto burn  —  Just say no to legitimacy-inferring regulation … In the aftermath of the collapse of FTX, authorities should resist the urge to create a parallel legal and regulatory framework for the crypto industry.  It is far better to do nothing, and just let crypto burn.

TRAPPED: THE GOP IS STUCK WITH TRUMP  —  The last week in American politics has been almost unspeakably delightful.  It is a phase we call “The Finding Out” after the Republican party's sordid, degrading affair with Donald Trump, his personality cult, and the collection of nationalists …

Starbucks Workers Strike at Dozens of Stores Nationally  —  Workers said they were protesting the company's refusal to bargain in good faith and other anti-union activity.  —  Starbucks employees went on strike on Thursday at dozens of unionized locations nationwide, citing …

Moms for Liberty-backed school board members fire superintendent, ban critical race theory  —  The Berkeley County, South Carolina, school board made several big moves in its first meeting after the election.  The board's former chair said it was a “political witch hunt.”

Knife-wielding man entered New York Times building, demanded to speak to politics section: cops  —  A knife-wielding man walked into the New York Times building in Manhattan on Thursday and demanded to speak to “the politics section,” police said.  —  The deranged man — who had …