McCarthy Proposes Gutting Office of Congressional Ethics in Bid for Speaker  —  House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spent the first two days of the new year trying to shore up GOP support for his bid to be Speaker by releasing a series of proposals aimed at winning over hard-right detractors who stand to torpedo his ascension.

George Santos Comes to Washington.  It Could Be Awkward.  —  On the first day of the 118th Congress, the representative-elect, a Republican who has made false claims about his background, education and finances, will bring his saga to Capitol Hill.  —  WASHINGTON — Representative-elect George Santos has been hard to pin down.

Ukrainian Forces Grow More Adept at Defending Against Russian Drones … Ukraine says it shot down all the drones Russia launched over the new year.  —  Ukraine shot down all of the exploding drones that Russia had fired over the new year, an Air Force spokesman said on Tuesday …

Trying to Trademark ‘Rigged Election,’ and Other Revelations From the Jan. 6 Transcripts  —  The Jan. 6 committee released a whirlwind of documents in its final days and wrapped up its work on Monday.  —  WASHINGTON — The nation's top military officer saw the Jan. 6 attack as similar to the …

Exclusive: Donald Trump Jr. signs 7-figure podcast deal with Rumble … - Rumble went public via a blank check company merger in September that valued the platform at over $2 billion at the time.  — The company has made strides in user growth, but continues to burn through cash as it launches new features and spends on marketing.

Islamic Extremism Drove Suspect in Times Square Attack, Official Says  —  Trevor Bickford, a 19-year-old from Maine, had recently become radicalized and traveled to New York to attack the police, according to a law enforcement official.  —  The man charged with attacking three police officers …

Trump's Tax Returns Are Only Part of the Picture  —  Democrats released six years' worth of former President Donald Trump's tax returns last Friday, confirming earlier findings outlined in a pair of congressional analyses of the records: Trump took hundreds of millions of dollars …

We're Going to Miss Greed and Cynicism  —  It's 2023.  What will the new year bring?  The answer, of course, is that we don't know.  There are a fair number of what Donald Rumsfeld (remember him?) called “known unknowns” — for example, nobody really knows how hard it will be to reduce inflation …

Arizona inducing the labor of pregnant prisoners against their will  —  The Arizona Department of Corrections is inducing the labor of pregnant prisoners against their will, according to three women currently incarcerated at the Perryville prison in Buckeye, Arizona.

A Far-Right Gang Of House Members Will Hold Power Over Their Caucus — With A Megaphone  —  The GOP lawmakers, who have spent years becoming far-right influencers, are poised to hold a concerning amount of control over the new Congress.  —  The day after Election Day, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona …

David French Joins The Times as an Opinion Columnist  —  Opinion announces that the writer and legal scholar David French is joining The New York Times staff as an Opinion columnist.  Read more in this note from Kathleen Kingsbury and Patrick Healy.  —  Writing about politics and current affairs …

Pro-Putin operatives in Germany work to turn Berlin against Ukraine  —  In Germany some are clamouring for a change in course on Ukraine.  Key figures in the campaign have links to the Russian state or far right, a Reuters investigation has found.  —  In a square beneath the twin spires …