Chinese Spy Balloon Tracked Over U.S. This Week  —  Incident comes days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken's trip to China  —  WASHINGTON—The U.S. tracked what officials described as a Chinese reconnaissance balloon over the continental states this week, in what would be an aggressive act …

Leaked Audio And Staff Dispute Show Chaos Inside George Santos' Office  —  Start your day with TPM.  —  After a little over a week working with embattled Rep. George Santos (R-NY), Derek Myers was informed that he would not be getting a permanent job.  During that tense conversation, Santos also offered some parting advice.

Former Trump Executive, Already Jailed, Could Face More Fraud Charges  —  Manhattan prosecutors warned that they might charge Allen H. Weisselberg with insurance fraud to pressure him to cooperate in an investigation of the former president.  —  Manhattan prosecutors this week warned …

AOC decries vote to remove Omar from House Foreign Affairs Committee  —  Moments before House Republicans voted to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over what a resolution said was a series of antisemitic remarks, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. …

Trump's Republican opponents are making a painfully obvious mistake  —  It's often said that military leaders “fight the last war”: They assume their current enemy is just like the previous one so they misjudge their foe and lose.  —  The Republican establishment is making that exact mistake in the 2024 presidential primary.

Kari Lake meets with NRSC officials  —  Defeated Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake met with officials at the National Republican Senatorial Committee on Thursday, two people familiar with the matter told POLITICO.  —  The meeting comes as Lake is considering a run for the Senate in Arizona.

Joe Biden's new squad  —  Presented by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living  —  Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.  With help from Allie Bice.

McCarthy's Horse-Trading Nightmare  —  His imperiled speakership was a collaborative effort that resulted in plenty of begging and favor-trading.  Now, as members expect reciprocity for loyalty in the form of committee assignments, McCarthy's up to his eyeballs placating unhappy former allies in his slim majority.

Columbia Journalism Review's Big Fail: It Published 24,000 Words on Russiagate and Missed the Point  —  Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.  —  Misdirection, an essential tool for magicians, is not usually a component of media criticism.

EXCLUSIVE: House, Senate GOP To Start ‘DC Home Rule’ Vote To Block District's New Crime Law  —  Republican Georgia Rep. Andrew Clyde and Tennesee Sen. Bill Hagerty will introduce a joint resolution of disapproval to block the Washington, D.C., Council's Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022 …

The GOP Can't Remember Why It Took the Debt Ceiling Hostage  —  Hostage taking is, traditionally, a means to an end.  A criminal organization wants to earn fast cash, so it kidnaps the child of a business tycoon.  Or a militant group wants some of its members released from prison, so it seizes a government building.

New Jersey Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour shot dead outside home in ‘despicable criminal act’  —  Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour found dead inside vehicle outside apartment with multiple gunshot wounds  —  Fox News Flash top headlines for February 2

As Mississippi Hospitals Fail, Leaders Kill Medicaid Expansion Efforts Again  —  Standing inside a shuttered hospital's abandoned emergency room in Newton County, Miss., on Monday night, Democratic candidate for governor Brandon Presley blamed Gov. Tate Reeves for the fact that more than half …

Broome County Man Pleads Guilty to Making Interstate Threats to Member of Congress  —  For Immediate Release  —  U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of New York  —  SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - Joseph F. Morelli, 51, of Endicott, New York pled guilty today to making threatening phone calls …

Soaring Death Toll Gives Grim Insight Into Russian Tactics  —  Moscow is sending poorly trained recruits, including convicts, to the front lines in eastern Ukraine to pave the way for more seasoned fighters, U.S. and allied officials say.  —  WASHINGTON — The number of Russian troops killed …

Nikole Hannah-Jones isn't done challenging the story of America  —  A new Hulu series is the latest version of “The 1619 Project,” a landmark reframing of American history around slavery that triggered a firestorm  —  Just about 16 minutes into the opening episode of Hulu's “The 1619 Project” …

Fox News Poll: Bipartisan support for sending funding, weapons to Ukraine  —  Over half of American voters think Ukraine is winning the war against Russia  —  Europe needs to step up in supporting Ukraine: Rep. Mike Waltz  —  Just over half of American voters think Ukraine is winning …

Tucker Carlson Ignores Virtually Every George Santos Lie to Say the Media Covers Him for Lying About Playing Volleyball  —  Tucker Carlson utterly ignored the many lies of Rep. George Santos (R-NY) and discussed just two of the freshman congressman's fabrications, which are fairly frivolous.

Close to 1,000 migrant children separated by Trump yet to be reunited with parents  —  Nearly 1,000 migrant children separated at the U.S.-Mexico border by the administration of former President Donald Trump have yet to be reunited with their parents despite a two-year effort by President Joe Biden.

Potential Mass Shooting Thwarted in Hollywood  —  CRISIS AVERTED  —  Calls made to police by concerned neighbors in Los Angeles thwarted a potential mass shooting on Tuesday, authorities said.  Several neighbors flagged mental health concerns to cops after 25-year-old Braxton Johnson threatened …

In rare move, U.S. releases ‘high-value’ Guantánamo Bay prisoner  —  A former al-Qaeda courier who endured dehumanizing treatment at CIA black sites before spending more than 15 years in Guantánamo Bay was released in Belize on Thursday, a milestone in President Biden's push …