McCarthy relents on key conservative demand — but uncertainty remains over speaker bid  —  Kevin McCarthy has made perhaps his biggest concession so far to the band of conservatives standing in the way of his path to speaker.  Yet it's not clear if it will be enough to clinch his gavel.

Inside the Jan. 6 committee's massive new evidence trove  —  The Jan. 6 select committee has unloaded a vast database of its underlying evidence — emails between Trump attorneys, text messages among horrified White House aides and outside advisers, internal communications among security …

Ukrainian Attack Kills 63 Russian Soldiers in East, Moscow Says … A Russian proxy official called the attack in Donetsk a ‘massive blow.’  —  Ukrainian missiles struck a building that housed Russian soldiers in an occupied city in Donetsk early on New Year's Day, according to Russian proxy officials and the Ukrainian military.

A Comprehensive Guide to Why a Ron DeSantis Presidency Would Be as Terrifying as a Trump One  —  His bigoted policies and authoritarian behavior make him just as bad a pick for the top job in Washington.  —  Ron DeSantis has not (yet) said if he will run for president in 2024 …

New data shows the folly of Trump's crusade against early voting  —  If there was any doubt Donald Trump's vilification of early voting is only hurting the GOP, new receipts from the midterm elections show it.  —  Election data from a trio of states that dramatically expanded the ability …

Lula Becomes Brazil's President, With Bolsonaro in Florida  —  Brazil inaugurates its new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on Sunday.  Facing investigations, former President Jair Bolsonaro has taken refuge in Orlando.  —  President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took the reins …

Teen Romanced by George Santos: He Lied to Me, Too  —  Pedro Vilarva was 18 when Santos, then 26, swept him off his feet and fed him malarkey.  —  A man who was 18 years old when he began dating and then moved in with George Santos—while the future congressman was married to a woman—says he was lied to, too.

Ex-Capitol police chief: FBI, DHS, Pentagon failed on Jan. 6  —  Former chief Steven Sund warns in a new book that the Capitol is still not safe from domestic terror attacks  —  In a new firsthand account of the frantic efforts of Capitol Police officers to protect Congress and themselves …

Culture wars: House Republicans attack Defense Department for ‘woke’ social policies  —  Rachel Looker Tom Vanden BrookUSA TODAY  —  WASHINGTON - House Republicans plan to open a new front in the culture wars: attacking the Pentagon for its “woke” social policies.  —  GOP leaders have won an early skirmish.