Donald Trump went scorched earth on Sen. Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, releasing a long statement that hammered the GOP Senate leader in highly personal terms.
Why it matters: The blistering statement is vintage Trump, who frequently lashes out at critics. But it also shows the former president's attempt to remain atop the GOP power structure will mean tearing down every perceived internal obstacle.
Why it matters: Over 3 million customers in Texas are still without power, as more freezing rain, sleet, and snow is forecast for western Texas until 9 p.m. CST, per the National Weather Service.
Most Americans will be able to get their coronavirus vaccines between the middle of May and early June, President Biden's chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci told CNN on Tuesday.
Why it matters: That timeframe is slightly delayed from Fauci's previous projection of late March to early April, and it comes after Johnson & Johnson failed to meet its promised supply timetable due to lags in production.
Former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) announced on Twitter Tuesday that he's "considering" a 2022 bid to reclaim a different Senate seat after losing Georgia's runoff election to Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat.
Why it matters: The 2022 election will play a key role in determining which party controls the Senate after Republicans lost two Georgia seats to Democrats last month.
Last year's SolarWinds hack of U.S. government information was the latest escalation in a digital battle that is expected to worsen, playing out in a global black market where governments can buy tools to hack everything from laptop cameras to power grids.
Axios Re:Cap goes deeper with Nicole Perlroth, a New York Times cybersecurity reporter who just published a book called "This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends."
The Biden administration is urging officials to use more inclusive terms for immigrants, including replacing the word "alien" with "noncitizen," Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The Trump administration referred to unauthorized immigrants as "illegal aliens" and described border crossings as an "invasion." The new terms point to President Biden's more welcoming immigration stance overall.
There are no current plans for President Joe Biden to address a joint session of Congress this month, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday.
Why it matters: Reporters pointed out thatBiden said last month that his "first appearance before a joint session" would be held in February and would address his national coronavirus recovery plan. Psaki had said it "was never planned to be in February."
Rep. Adam Kinzinger's (R-Ill.) family members sent him a handwritten letter in the days following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, calling him "a disappointment" for saying President Trump should be removed from office, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: The early admonishment highlights the political and personal risks now faced by Republicans who have spoken out against Trump. Most of the House Republicans who voted in favor of impeachment have been censured, a trend now happening among the Senate Republicans who broke party lines.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said in a local radio interview Monday that the Jan. 6 Capitol riots "didn't seem like an armed insurrection to me," despite the Justice Department charging at least 14 people with bringing deadly weapons onto Capitol grounds.
Why it matters: Johnson, who voted to acquit former President Trump on the impeachment charge of inciting an insurrection, appeared to downplay the severity of the Jan. 6 attack, calling it "the most pitiful armed insurrection anybody could ever possibly imagine" in one interview.
A senior Biden administration official used the term "sharp power" last week in a phone call with reporters to describe China's coercive activities around the globe.
Why it matters: The phrase hints at the administration's intellectual influences as they formulate new U.S. policies toward China.
U.S. special envoy to Iran Rob Malley had an "in-depth exchange of views on the Iranian nuclear issue" with a Chinese vice minister on a call initiated by Malley, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Feb. 10. The Biden administration has not spoken publicly about the call.
The big picture: Renewing multilateral diplomatic efforts to stop Iran's nuclear program is Malley's mandate under Biden.
What they're saying: A Manhattan judge agreed to drop the misdemeanor charge of filing a false report after Cooper "completed a therapeutic educational program that included instruction about racial biases," per the Times.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee and Senate Rules Committee will hold a joint hearing on Feb. 23 on the security failures that led to the breach of the Capitol by pro-Trump rioters on Jan. 6, the panels announced Tuesday.
Details: The committees have invited former U.S. Capitol Police chief Steven Sund, former House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving, former Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger and D.C. Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee to testify. Sund, Irving and Stenger all resigned in the wake of the riots.
The NAACP filed a lawsuit Tuesday against former President Trump and far-right extremist groups in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riots that killed five people and injured dozens of officers.
Why it matters: The federal lawsuit filed on behalf of House Homeland Security Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) shows that Trump continues to face legal problems stemming from the riot, even after he was acquitted in his Senate impeachment trial Saturday.
The Biden administration Tuesday announced it's extending the moratorium on home foreclosures and the enrollment window for mortgage forbearance through June.
Why it matters: Many Americans have struggled to make home payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both programs were set to expire in March. The actions are an extension of a program the Trump administration started in 2020.
Politicians, celebrities and business leaders are trying to adapt to a new world beyond the attention inflation of the Trump era — one where the volume of attention-getting statements and actions has dropped and the value and impact of individual events may rise.
Why it matters: DonaldTrump used social media to provoke and distract Americans around the clock, rewiring the country's nervous system and diminishing the value of each individual news cycle. Now we're going to learn whether our fried collective circuits can recover.
CEOs — more trusted than government — want alarger role in what may be the biggest countrywide undertaking of our lifetimes: the mass rollout of coronavirus vaccines.
The big picture: A slew of big businesses are offering up the resources they have, including technical expertise and physical space. But there's no coordinated effort at the federal level to tap the full potential of the private sector’s muscle.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) indicated in a Wall Street Journal interview Monday that he may become involved in the Republican primaries for the 2022 midterms.
Why it matters: McConnell and the GOP will have to balance candidates aligned with former President Trump, who remains popular among Republican voters, and those more likely to win seats in contested states.
The North Carolina Republican Party announced Monday night that its members had voted unanimously to censure Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) for finding former President Trump guilty of inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol siege.
The big picture: Most of the House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in January have been censured.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a letter to House Democrats Monday an independent "9/11-type Commission" will be set up to investigate the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection.
Why it matters: Calls for a bipartisan commission to investigate the deadly attack have grown in recent weeks, and escalated since former President Trump was acquitted Saturday of charges of high crimes and misdemeanors.
