It Was More Than a #DeSaster  —  Ron DeSantis's botched campaign launch suggests that he's no Trump killer.  —  I've long been of the view that Donald Trump is something akin to a horror-movie monster—a Godzilla or a T. Rex, say—for the American political system.

Oath Keepers founder sentenced to 18 years in Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case  —  Stewart Rhodes, who said after the Capitol attack that the rioters “should have brought rifles,” received the longest sentence of any Jan. 6 defendant to date.  —  WASHINGTON — The founder of the far-right Oath Keepers …

CPAC Is Rocked by a Resignation  —  A top leader in the organization that puts on CPAC, the highly influential conference of conservative leaders, resigned on Tuesday night citing financial mysteries surrounding the organization's leader.  —  Bob Beauprez, the longtime treasurer …

Supreme Court Limits E.P.A.'s Power to Address Water Pollution  —  The justices ruled that discharges into some wetlands are not covered by the Clean Water Act.  —  Reporting from Washington  —  The Supreme Court on Thursday curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency's authority …

Exclusive: Slimmed-down US debt ceiling deal takes shape  —  U.S. President Joe Biden and top Republican lawmaker Kevin McCarthy are edging close to a deal on the U.S. debt ceiling, with the parties just $70 billion apart on discretionary spending, according to a person familiar with the talks.

The Florida mom who sought to ban Amanda Gorman's poem says she's sorry for promoting the Protocols of the Elders of Zion  —  (JTA) - Months before a Miami-area mother persuaded a local school to restrict access to an Amanda Gorman poem, she was posting antisemitic memes on her Facebook page.

Trump's Lawyers Warn Him: Get Ready to Be Indicted by the Feds  —  The former president has angrily complained in response to predictions that if the Justice Department is going to charge him, then “what about Joe Biden?” … The feds have also been probing whether or not Trump tried …

The Head of the Republican Party Literally Said a Default Could Bode “Very Well” for the GOP  —  It's easy to see why debt ceiling negotiations haven't gone anywhere.  —  With just over a week to go before an unprecedented default, the White House and Republicans still don't have an agreement to raise the debt limit.

What polls tell us about the debt limit fight  —  Welcome to The Daily 202!  Tell your friends to sign up here.  Special guest Scott Clement, The Post's polling director, is filling in for Olivier today.  —  On this day in 1961, President John F. Kennedy told Congress …

Tennessee Speaker appoints conspiracy theorist to develop state social studies standards  —  Last week, Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) announced that he had appointed Laurie Cardoza-Moore to serve on the Tennessee Standards Recommendation Committee to oversee …

Lauren Boebert's son called 911 in tears to report his father was ‘throwing’ him around the house.  Then she took the phone.  — In December, Lauren Boebert's teen son called 911 to report his dad was “throwing me” in the house.  — The teen sobbed throughout the two-minute call, saying he didn't understand why his dad was mad.

Brian Laundrie's mother offered him a shovel and garbage bags in ‘burn after reading’ letter  —  The letter was released to Gabby Petito's parents Wednesday after a Florida judge denied a request from Laundrie's parents to withhold it from them as part of a civil lawsuit.

'I Told My Assistant, “They're Gonna Fire Me"'  —  James Cromwell feared his scene-stealing Succession eulogy would end his career.  —  James Cromwell's career is a series of milestones.  From his breakout role as Stretch on All in the Family through acclaimed performances in Babe and L.A. Confidential …

CNN Is Tanking After Its Unforgivable Trump Town Hall  —  CNN's brass defended its disastrous early-May town hall with Donald Trump on journalistic grounds, arguing that while he may present unique challenges as an interview subject—serial lying, general incoherence, a literal attempted coup …

Gym Shoes In The Oval Office Is A Sartorial Wake-Up Call For Leaders  —  It was, to borrow a Sports Illustrated phrase, a sign that the apocalypse is near.  —  Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries …

Iowa 2024: Biden and Trump Start with Significant Leads in Party Caucuses  —  Home Polls Iowa 2024: Biden and Trump Start with Significant Leads in Party Caucuses … An Emerson College Polling survey of Iowa voters finds President Joe Biden with a 35% job approval rating, and a 54% disapproval.

Democrats Need to Get Over Their Pathetic Fear of the Supreme Court  —  On today's X-Date, remembering what Franklin Roosevelt did when faced with a potential Court decision that would blow up the economy: prepare to ignore it.  —  In the ongoing debate about whether or not President Biden …

Target's surrender to MAGA rage shows how anti-wokeness really works  —  It is sometimes said that corporate America is a battleground in the culture wars.  This has taken on ugly new meaning in the case of Target, which just announced that it will pull some LBGTQ-friendly merchandise …