POLITICO Playbook: Unrest swells among McCarthy's backers  —  Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  Around Christmas, Texas Republican Rep. ROGER WILLIAMS' wife suffered a medical emergency.  This week, as she underwent treatment, her husband was eager to be by her side.

‘The Democrats, the Republicans and the Freedom Caucus’: Inside the right's plans to seize power in the new Congress  —  Conservatives want the House to act like “a de facto European-style coalition government.”  —  A week after the midterm elections in November, a small group …

Obstruction in the House picks up where J6 left off  —  The 20 can't quite trust Kevin McCarthy to blow up democracy.  —  Laughing at Republicans is fun, especially when Republicans seem to go out of their way to be so laughable.  —  Who can't enjoy a raging Marjorie Taylor Greene swinging …

Principals  —  with Steve Clemons  —  So many stories are converging on the anniversary of the January 6th insurrection.  Kevin McCarthy was angry at Trump — he was caught on tape that week suggesting he'd push him to resign — but “bent the knee” just weeks later at Mar-a-Lago.

Enablers, line-straddlers and quiet resisters: How GOP lawmakers contributed to Jan. 6  —  A handful of Republicans who remained in the Jan. 6 committee's sights throughout its investigation are now leading the effort to deny Kevin McCarthy the speakership — using their power to bring the House to a standstill.

Judge Rules for Justice Dept. in Dispute With Trump Over Documents Search  —  The court said the former president had to provide the government the names of private investigators he hired to search his properties last year for any classified material still in his possession.

Two years after US Capitol attack, investigation into Trump and insurrection enters new phase  —  Two years after rioters stormed the US Capitol, the Justice Department's sprawling criminal investigation into the effort to block the peaceful transition of power enters a new phase …