DeSantis cannonballs into America's deep blue states for war on ‘woke’ ahead of 2024  —  The Florida governor has used his trips to highlight his state's accomplishments — citing statistics that sometimes mask far more complicated debates  —  LOS ANGELES — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has found …

Democrats hit some snags on Biden judicial nominees after topping 100 new judges  —  Senate absences are causing issues.  Some worry that the “blue slip” custom will prevent the party from hitting its targets.  And a couple of Biden's judicial nominees are under fire.

Why Are We Still Arguing About Masks?  —  All this time later, their utility is in doubt.  —  In the past few weeks, the conventional wisdom about COVID seems to have been upended.  —  Early in the pandemic, several mainstream news outlets dismissed theories that COVID came from a Chinese lab.

Amazon Pauses Construction on Second Headquarters in Virginia as It Cuts Jobs  —  Amazon.com Inc. is pausing construction on its sprawling second headquarters near Washington, a decision that coincides with the company's deepest ever job cuts and a reassessment of office needs to account for remote work.

Leaked audio reveals US rail workers were told to skip inspections as Ohio crash prompts scrutiny to industry  —  Exclusive: employee says manager told her to stop marking cars for repair, as Ohio derailment brings hard look at industry's record of blocking safety rules

There's Never Been a Better Time to Take on Fox News  —  Fox News is not a news organization.  This has long been apparent: It has functioned, more or less openly, as a propaganda arm of the Republican Party for years, but to a certain extent, the company was able to keep this reality somewhat veiled.

Effort to change Utah's state flag narrowly passes Legislature after hours of debate  —  Gov. Spencer Cox now has three weeks to decide if he'll approve or veto the new state flag bill.  —  The bill to change Utah's state flag squeaked by on the House floor Thursday morning on a razor-thin 40-35 vote …

Trump calls for contest to create futuristic ‘Freedom Cities’  —  Modern cities and flying cars might sound like the makings of an episode of the 1960s cartoon The Jetsons, where a fictionalized family flew around in Orbit City.  —  For former President Donald Trump, however …

The IRS braces for the unthinkable: A normal tax season  —  The tax agency has spent nearly $1 billion in new funding to improve service, and tax pros say the investment is already paying off  —  The Internal Revenue Service's massive — and controversial — funding boost has begun to reach …

Walgreens won't distribute abortion pills in states where GOP AGs object  —  The nation's second-largest pharmacy chain confirmed Thursday that it will not dispense abortion pills in several states where they remain legal — acting out of an abundance of caution amid a shifting policy landscape …

LGBTQ-Activist Dem Mayor, Who Was ‘Mentored’ by Buttigieg, Arrested for Vile Charge  —  The gay-activist Democrat mayor of College Park, Maryland, who has branded himself as something of a role model for LGBTQ youth, was arrested Thursday morning on dozens of counts of possessing …

Exposed: Dallas Humber, Narrator Of Neo-Nazi ‘Terrorgram,’ Promoter Of Mass Shootings  —  Her propaganda canonized white supremacist murderers as “saints.  She may have helped inspire a shooting at a gay bar.  Now she's been unmasked.  —  On Oct. 12, 2022, Juraj Krajč …

Jim Jordan's first FBI whistleblowers face scrutiny from skeptical Democrats  —  In his quest to prove the federal government has been “weaponized” against conservatives, Republican House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan has touted the allegations of what he claims are “dozens” …

Scoop: Biden tried to hire Jon Meacham, his volunteer muse  —  President Biden has grown so close to his volunteer muse, Jon Meacham, that he tried to bring the presidential historian into the White House. … So a government gig doesn't appear to be in the cards — but the overture reflects their warm relationship.

Trump's Prosecution Primary Has Already Begun.  It's Going to Be Wild.  —  Trump's legal threats are moving faster than the political calendar.  —  WASHINGTON, US  —  A strange and volatile early stage of the 2024 presidential race has already begun, where investigations in Atlanta …

Both Worse  —  Understanding DeSantis and Trump  —  In the Monday New York Times, Damon Linker had a piece entitled “My Fellow Liberals Are Exaggerating the Dangers of Ron DeSantis.”  In it, Linker contends that people on the left are hyperventilating about Florida governor Ron DeSantis …

Missing Jan. 6th texts due to Signal, personal phone use … The reason the government is missing text messages for Trump's acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli from the period around the January 6th attack on the Capitol could be due …

Exclusive: Russia set to mothball damaged Nord Stream gas pipelines - sources  —  Russia's ruptured undersea Nord Stream gas pipelines are set to be sealed up and mothballed as there are no immediate plans to repair or reactivate them, sources familiar with the plans have told Reuters.

Shocking video shows black kids attack, force white kids to say ‘Black Lives Matter’ at Ohio school: cops  —  Multiple Ohio elementary school kids are facing assault charges after disturbing video caught the group of black students attacking white students — and forcing them to say “Black Lives Matter,” according to cops.

Washington's Favorite Republican Is Making All the Right Moves  —  The Republican primary season hasn't even started, and already one contest appears to have a runaway winner: The Permanent-Washington Primary, where New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu is absolutely crushing it.

Jury quickly finds Murdaugh guilty of murder of wife, son  —  South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was convicted of murder Thursday in the shooting deaths of his wife and son in a case that chronicled the unraveling of a powerful Southern family with tales of privilege, greed and addiction.

Top Republican lawmakers reach deal on NC Medicaid expansion  —  The top leaders in North Carolina's legislature reached an agreement that is expected to expand Medicaid coverage.  The momentous deal, announced Thursday, is the culmination of more than a decade of political wrangling and a Republican change of heart.

In The Room Where It (Doesn't) Happen  —  Paul Ryan's choice … — Hamilton and (more or less) Paul Ryan  —  [Note: I've been thinking about my conversation with Paul Ryan last week and, given all the reaction, wanted to revise and extend my remarks on what we learned.]

Daily Briefing: War in Ukraine  —  Belarus Sentences Nobel Peace Laureate to 10 Years in Prison … A Belarusian Nobel Peace laureate is sentenced to 10 years in prison.  —  A Belarusian court sentenced Ales Bialiatski, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October for his decades …