Eager to Challenge Trump, Republicans Aren't So Eager to Be the First  —  Nikki Haley is expected to join the 2024 race this month, but other G.O.P. contenders are taking a wait-and-see approach.  Some anti-Trump Republicans worry that too much dithering could be costly.

Hunter Biden's lawyers, in newly aggressive strategy, target his critics  —  His attorneys have sent letters to prosecutors urging probes of Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon and others  —  Hunter Biden's lawyers, in a newly aggressive strategy, sent a series of blistering letters Wednesday …

Ukraine Carries Out Wide Anticorruption Raids Ahead of Visit From E.U. Leaders … More searches are conducted in connection with corruption allegations in Ukraine.  —  The Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday carried out dozens of searches across the country in connection with corruption allegations …

Feds probing Santos' role in service dog charity scheme  —  NEW YORK — FBI agents are investigating Rep. George Santos' role in an alleged GoFundMe scheme involving a disabled U.S. Navy veteran's dying service dog.  —  Two agents contacted former service member Richard Osthoff Wednesday …

Mike Lee, Rick Scott lose key committee seats, Scott blames McConnell  —  Rick Scott tells Fox News Digital ‘McConnell gets to pick’ committee assignments  —  Sen. Rick Scott loses to Mitch McConnell in GOP Senate leadership bid  —  FIRST ON FOX: Republican Senators Mike Lee of Utah …

Biden and McCarthy hold ‘first good’ meeting on debt ceiling, but ‘no agreements, no promises’  —  President Joe Biden met Wednesday with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in search of a path to lifting the nation's debt ceiling — and averting the potential for an economic catastrophe.

Lawmakers Call for Inquiry Into Durham's Review of Russia Investigation  —  The Democrats asked the Justice Department's inspector general to scrutinize whether John H. Durham and William P. Barr “violated any laws, D.O.J. rules or practices, or canons of legal ethics.”

Democrats and Republicans clash over where lawmakers can carry guns in the Capitol  —  The House Natural Resources Committee's first meeting of the year turned heated Wednesday when a Democratic member offered an amendment that would prohibit lawmakers from carrying guns in its hearing room.

2024 House Race Ratings: Another Competitive Fight for Control  —  House Republicans enter the 2024 cycle with an infamously thin 222-213 majority and lots of questions about why they didn't perform better in 2022.  But they have history on their side: despite the House flipping partisan …

US, Philippines agree on larger American military presence  —  The United States and the Philippines announced on Thursday an agreement to expand American military presence in the Southeast Asian country, where U.S. forces would be granted access to four more Philippine military camps …

Congress is off to a spectacularly slow start, and members fear it won't get better  —  WASHINGTON — The House, paralyzed for days, struggled to elect a speaker.  The Senate is holding symbolic votes just to pass the time.  America's most powerful lawmakers have been twiddling their thumbs …

Jan. 6 defendant who sprayed line of police sentenced after tearful apology  —  A Jan. 6 defendant who sprayed a chemical irritant at about 15 police officers — and later bragged about it in a video interview — was sentenced Wednesday to 68 months in prison.  This is one of the stiffest Jan. 6 sentences handed down to date.

Illegal border crossings fell sharply in January, U.S. figures show  —  Tighter restrictions applied by the Biden administration against migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti along the southern border last month led to a precipitous drop in the number of people from those countries crossing …

Lawsuit can proceed against Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse  —  A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled Wednesday that a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of a man shot and killed by Kyle Rittenhouse during a protest in 2020 can proceed against Rittenhouse, police officers and others.

Inside the GOP's “Save the kids” strategy  —  The fractious Republican Party is consolidating around a “Protect the children” platform for 2024 that aggressively targets school policies on gender identity and how racial issues are taught. … - Much of the battle is being fought at the state …

Inclusive or Alienating?  The Language Wars Go On  —  New vocabulary is supposed to be supportive.  But terms like “bodies with vaginas” just antagonize voters and empower the right.  —  Before the millions of views, the subsequent ridicule and finally the earnest apology …

Senator calls on Apple, Google to remove TikTok from app stores  —  TikTok poses “an unacceptable threat,” the senator said.  —  The push on Capitol Hill to rein in China-owned social media network  —  TikTok  —  has set its sights on tech giants Apple and Google.

New $5 Banknote Design  —  The Reserve Bank has decided to update the $5 banknote to feature a new design that honours the culture and history of the First Australians.  This new design will replace the portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  The other side of the $5 banknote will continue to feature the Australian Parliament.

Snubbing the Palestinians, Biden's Team Opts to Focus on Keeping Israel's Fragile Democracy Alive  —  During his visit, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken seemed much more worried about the internal state of Israeli democracy than the possibility of a major escalation between Israel and the Palestinians

Bellingcat Chief Forced to Leave Vienna Following Security Threats  —  Bulgarian investigative journalist and director of the Bellingcat investigative reporting group Christo Grozev is being forced to relocate from Austria, his home of nearly 20 years, due to the alleged threat posed …

South Dakota Senator Censured, Unsuspended After ‘Suckling’ Scandal  —  ‘BEYOND REPROACH’  —  A week after suspending state Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller, the South Dakota Senate voted Wednesday to censure and reinstate the Republican, despite a pending lawsuit in which she claimed the legislature violated …

Former ABC News journalist charged in child pornography case  —  Federal prosecutors in Virginia have charged a former national security journalist for ABC News with a child pornography offense.  —  James Gordon Meek, a producer who covered wars, terrorism and major crimes for the network …

Fireworks in House after Democrat says ‘insurrectionists’ should be banned from leading Pledge of Allegiance  —  WASHINGTON — A routine House committee meeting erupted into a heated, nearly hourlong debate Wednesday over the Pledge of Allegiance, with one Democratic lawmaker saying that …