President Trump didn't have to punish his critics in Congress — his allies back in the states instantly and eagerly did the dirty work.

• Why it matters: Virtually every Republican who supported impeachment was censured back home, or threatened with a primary challenge.
• Today through Sunday, many will make the trek to a sold-out CPAC ("America Uncanceled") in Orlando to kiss the ring — and trash the "traitors."

We're quickly seeing that Trump's true power source is in the states, powered by 2020 success, Axios CEO Jim VandeHei writes:

• Republicans picked up 14 House seats, including a dozen they lost two years earlier. They need +6 in 2022.
• In 2021, Republicans will have full control of the legislative and executive branches in 24 states. Democrats will have full control of the legislative and executive branch in 15 states.
• "Republicans hold total control of redistricting in 18 states, including Florida, North Carolina and Texas, which are growing in population and expected to gain seats after the 2020 census is tabulated," the N.Y. Times reports (subscription). "Some election experts believe the G.O.P. could retake the House in 2022 based solely on gains from newly drawn districts."
• Democrats targeted nine states to flip control and failed in all.

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Closed-door selection processes for police chiefs have been replaced by highly public vetting of candidates — who need better community-relations skills than ever, Jennifer A. Kingson writes in Axios Cities.

• Why it matters: In the post-George-Floyd era, the choice of a police chief has become like an election, with the need to build consensus around a candidate.
• "This is a turning point for policing in America," says Gary Peterson, CEO of Public Sector Search & Consulting, a boutique headhunting firm that exclusively handles police chief searches. "Communities are demanding ... input."

Following last summer's protests, there has been high turnover among big-city chiefs, with many retiring or switching jobs. High-profile searches are under way in San Jose, Albuquerque, Miami and Memphis.

• The candidate pool has shrunk under the weight of all the demands, police recruiters say.

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Flu has virtually disappeared from the U.S., with reports coming in at far lower levels than anything seen in decades, AP's Mike Stobbe reports.

• February is usually the peak of flu season, with doctors' offices and hospitals packed. But this is the lowest flu season in at least 25 years.

What's happening: Experts say that measures put in place to fend off the coronavirus — mask wearing, social distancing and virtual schooling — were a big factor in preventing a "twindemic" of flu and COVID.

• A push to get more people vaccinated against flu probably helped, too, as did fewer people traveling.

New coronavirus infections continued their sharp decline over the past week, and are now back down to pre-Thanksgiving levels, Axios' Sam Baker and Andrew Witherspoon report.

• Why it matters: The U.S. really is doing something right. Cases are way down, vaccinations are way up, and that’s going to save a lot of lives.

Caseloads got worse over the past week in four states — Idaho, New Hampshire, Washington and Wyoming — and improved in 34 states.

The bottom line: If we can keep this up, some form of post-pandemic life is within reach.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom is the target of a Republican campaign that increasingly looks like it will secure the 1.5 million signatures needed to trigger a recall election later this year, the N.Y. Times reports (subscription).

• Why it matters: Newsom was elected in 2018 by a record 24-point margin, and had a 70% approval rating as recently as April. "Across the country, pandemic-weary Americans are taking their rage and grief out on chief executives," The Times writes.

The big picture: The recall campaign against Newsom is the most far-reaching and successful since 2003, when then-Gov. Gray Davis was replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the L.A. Times reports (subscription).

This wind-carved rock — seen in a 360-degree panorama taken by the Mars Perseverance rover's Mastcam-Z, and released yesterday by NASA — shows the amazing detail being captured by the mission.

• Watch the landing video.
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Politicians of all stripes are coming together to address a severe chip shortage due to COVID disruptions — and the longer-term threat posed by reliance on China, Ina Fried and Scott Rosenberg write in Axios Login.

• President Biden yesterday signed an executive order to boost manufacturing jobs by strengthening U.S. supply chains for advanced batteries, pharmaceuticals, critical minerals and semiconductors.

The big picture: The chip shortage is having huge implications beyond tech, with carmakers having to cut production.

Flipping sneakers has been big business since 1985, when Nike dropped the culture-shifting Air Jordan 1. (Ask my entrepreneurial nephews in Oregon for tips on bot-gaming and drop-shipping.)

A new generation of speculator is treating footwear like an investment as worthy of informed valuation as any other commodity, Joshua Hunt writes in Bloomberg Businessweek's cover story:

In the hours after siphoning up shoes from retailers, they essentially sell short-term futures based on street sentiment. By the time prices plateau, ultra-rare shoes such as the Air Jordan 1 OG  Dior ... have become "grails" worth $10,000 or more.

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Move over, GameStop. The newest speculative game in town is NFTs — digital files that can be owned and traded on a plethora of new online platforms, Axios' Felix Salmon writes.

• Most NFTs include some kind of still or moving image, which makes them similar to many physical art objects. Some of them, including a GIF of Nyan Cat flying through the sky with a Pop-Tart body and rainbow trail, can be worth more than your house.

Nyan Cat sold for 300 ETH (the Ethereum cryptocurrency), or about $580,000 at the time the bid was entered on Feb. 19.

• An artist going by "Beeple" sold 20 artworks for $3.5 million in December, and has consigned a major digital work to Christie's for an online auction ending March 11.

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Brewers are taking a page from Gatorade and putting electrolytes in "performance beers" to cut dehydration, Bloomberg's Tony Rehagen writes:

The market is still small ... but brewers say there are signs of growth. Some appeal to millennials who want to consume fewer calories and might put down their hard seltzer for a light beer.