Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) announced Saturday that she will not seek re-election next year and plans to retire after serving for 30 years in Congress.
Why it matters: Johnson, 85, is a trailblazing Democrat who was the first Black woman elected to state public office from Dallas and was the first Black woman to chair the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
People who study democracies around the world will be watching the 2022 midterm elections for new signs of how vulnerable the U.S. system has become.
Why it matters: Even if the true test doesn't come until the 2024 presidential election, the year ahead could set the stage and weaken American democracy in a more lasting way.
Donald Trump's "big lie" playbook — the collection of falsehoods alleging that the 2020 election was stolen through voting fraud — mirrors the tactics used by sophisticated spreaders of disinformation.
The big picture: Research from the Harvard Kennedy School Shorenstein Center shows there's a typical cycle that people use to manipulate the media and spread disinformation. Trump's dissemination of false claims of a stolen election demonstrates how the cycle works.
In Minnesota and Nevada, officials are launching initiatives to explain how audits work. In California, they're erecting glass walls to allow people to easily watch ballot counting.
Around the country, state election officials are taking targeted actions to build trust in and answer questions about voting processes for the 2022 midterm elections — their best chance to blunt disinformation and bogus attempts to overturn results.
Republicans' confidence in elections has plummeted since the 2020 election while Democrats' confidence actually rose, according to a new Axios-Ipsos poll.
Why it matters: A year before the 2022 midterm elections, the survey offers new evidence of how significantly Donald Trump's false claims that the election was stolen from him have eroded trust in the system among his base.
Time's Up on Friday released a report detailing internal failures at the anti-workplace harassment group that advised former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on how to respond to harassment allegations.
Driving the news: Mostof the 25 remaining employees will be laid off by the end of the year and a staff of three, with four board members, will remain, per the "reset plan."
President Biden on Saturday marked Transgender Day of Remembrance and mourned "those we lost in the deadliest year on record for transgender Americans," according to a statement.
Driving the news: Biden also paid tribute to "the countless other transgender people—disproportionately Black and brown transgender women and girls—who face brutal violence, discrimination, and harassment."
Old Dominion University put a professor on administrative leave following an uproar over their research into people who are sexually attracted to children.
Driving the news: "Reactions to Dr. Walker's research and book have led to concerns for their safety and that of the campus," the public university wrote in a statement on Nov. 16, adding that Professor Allyn Walker's leave is "effective immediately."
Three women in the Senate on Friday published a letter to the editor in the New York Times criticizing the paper for four pieces related to Senator Kyrsten Sinema's dress.
Driving the news: "We cannot imagine The Times printing similar pieces on the fashion choices of any of our male colleagues," Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) wrote in the letter.
Independents' faith in Americans' voting choices is in a dismal place after the 2020 election, much more pessimistic than the way Democrats or Republicans feel, according to a new Axios-Ipsos poll.
Why it matters: The historically bitter fight between Donald Trump and Joe Biden energized the most partisan voters, but it was a big turnoff to those whose views may align with one major party or the other but who don't claim allegiance to either.
The Interior Department will review, remove and replace derogatory names, including "squaw," from U.S. geographic landmarks, Secretary Deb Haaland announced Friday.
The big picture: Haaland's order formally declares the term as derogatory and creates a task force to rename the federal lands that bear it. A separate committee will review proposed name changes related to other derogatory terms.
The Senate this week voted to unanimously confirm Charles Sams III as director of the National Park Service, making him the first Native American to head the agency.
State of play: Sams is the first director to be confirmed by the Senate in five years, AP reports. Jonathan Jarvis, who was confirmed under the Obama administration, left the position in 2017 and, since then, the agency has been led by acting directors.
The Denver suburb of Aurora agreed to pay a $15 million settlement to the family of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died in 2019 after officers put him in a chokehold and paramedics injected him with ketamine, AP reports.
What they're saying: "The money is just the world’s way of saying, ‘We’re sorry,’ but it’s not going to help me heal the hole in my heart," said Sheneen McClain, McClain's mother, per AP.
