In a dramatic moment on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, as the upper chamber rushed a spending bill through to end the government shutdown, the top Republican and Democrat on the Intelligence Committee warned that the bill contains language that would kneecap Congress’s ability to oversee secret covert actions and surveillance programs. Their effort to amend the language was rebuffed.The intelligence community, in its latest grasp, has gone too far even for Richard Burr. The Republican chair of the Senate Intelligence committee has long been one of the Senate’s staunchest advocates...…In a dramatic moment on the Senate floor Monday afternoon, as the upper chamber rushed a spending bill through to end the government shutdown, the top Republican and Democrat on the Intelligence Committee warned that the bill contains language that would kneecap Congress’s ability to oversee secret covert actions and surveillance programs. Their effort to amend the language was rebuffed.The intelligence community, in its latest grasp, has gone too far even for Richard Burr. The Republican chair of the Senate Intelligence committee has long been one of the Senate’s staunchest advocates...WW…

, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is enacting revenge on Democrats in general and President Joe Biden specifically for the party’s increasingly standoffish attitude toward the kingdom — by driving up energy prices and fueling global inflation.Biden himself seemed to to this at a event with CNN last month, during which he attributed high gas prices to a certain “foreign policy initiative” of his, adding, “There’s a lot of Middle Eastern folks who want to talk to me. I’m not sure I’m going to talk to them.”Biden was making a not-so-veiled reference to his refusal to meet...…, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is enacting revenge on Democrats in general and President Joe Biden specifically for the party’s increasingly standoffish attitude toward the kingdom — by driving up energy prices and fueling global inflation.Biden himself seemed to to this at a event with CNN last month, during which he attributed high gas prices to a certain “foreign policy initiative” of his, adding, “There’s a lot of Middle Eastern folks who want to talk to me. I’m not sure I’m going to talk to them.”Biden was making a not-so-veiled reference to his refusal to meet...WW…

The architect of the Trump administration’s immigration policy, Stephen Miller, “belongs in prison,” Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat from Texas, said during .Miller, a White House adviser and longtime aide to former Sen. Jeff Sessions, was instrumental in implementing President Donald Trump’s child separation policy, which drew international outrage in 2018. Escobar was responding to a question as to whether prosecutions of Trump administration officials ought to be pursued, and at what point Democrats should similarly call for prosecutions of Biden administration officials if the...…The architect of the Trump administration’s immigration policy, Stephen Miller, “belongs in prison,” Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat from Texas, said during .Miller, a White House adviser and longtime aide to former Sen. Jeff Sessions, was instrumental in implementing President Donald Trump’s child separation policy, which drew international outrage in 2018. Escobar was responding to a question as to whether prosecutions of Trump administration officials ought to be pursued, and at what point Democrats should similarly call for prosecutions of Biden administration officials if the...WW…

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If Democrats manage to escape the traditional midterm curse and don’t drop a single vote from 2020 to 2022, they would still lose control of the House of Representatives simply as a consequence of Republican gerrymandering following the census. Unless, that is, there’s a change to current laws or an overwhelming Democratic wave on par with 2006 or 2018.The decisive impact of gerrymandering is well understood by campaign operatives and party leaders but is barely acknowledged in national political conversations — the elephant’s weapon in the room, so to speak — even as analytic...…If Democrats manage to escape the traditional midterm curse and don’t drop a single vote from 2020 to 2022, they would still lose control of the House of Representatives simply as a consequence of Republican gerrymandering following the census. Unless, that is, there’s a change to current laws or an overwhelming Democratic wave on par with 2006 or 2018.The decisive impact of gerrymandering is well understood by campaign operatives and party leaders but is barely acknowledged in national political conversations — the elephant’s weapon in the room, so to speak — even as analytic...WW…

Now that Jeff Bezos’s space flight company Blue Origin has lost a multibillion contract to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Congress is prepping the ground for Bezos to win a contract anyway, ordering NASA to make not one but two awards. The order would come through the Endless Frontier Act, a bill to beef up resources for science and technology research that’s being debated on the Senate floor this week. An amendment was added to that legislation by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., to hand over $10 billion to NASA — money that most likely would go to Blue Origin, a company that’s headquartered in...…Now that Jeff Bezos’s space flight company Blue Origin has lost a multibillion contract to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Congress is prepping the ground for Bezos to win a contract anyway, ordering NASA to make not one but two awards. The order would come through the Endless Frontier Act, a bill to beef up resources for science and technology research that’s being debated on the Senate floor this week. An amendment was added to that legislation by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., to hand over $10 billion to NASA — money that most likely would go to Blue Origin, a company that’s headquartered in...WW…

In 2018, Liuba Grechen Shirley was one of thousands of women across the country galvanized by the election of Donald Trump to jump into the political ring — but first, she had to grapple with child care. She couldn’t simultaneously stop working, run for Congress, and also pay for someone to watch her two kids, ages 3 and 1 at the time. Since child care was essential to her ability to campaign, she appealed to the Federal Election Commission to allow her to use campaign funds to put the kiddos away for the day.Her Democratic opponent in the Long Island primary, DuWayne Gregory, argued that...…In 2018, Liuba Grechen Shirley was one of thousands of women across the country galvanized by the election of Donald Trump to jump into the political ring — but first, she had to grapple with child care. She couldn’t simultaneously stop working, run for Congress, and also pay for someone to watch her two kids, ages 3 and 1 at the time. Since child care was essential to her ability to campaign, she appealed to the Federal Election Commission to allow her to use campaign funds to put the kiddos away for the day.Her Democratic opponent in the Long Island primary, DuWayne Gregory, argued that...WW…

Andrew Cuomo has survived than any other sitting governor in the country. He shut down the Moreland Commission — set up to investigate corruption by politicians — when it started getting too close to home. His as part of a sweeping corruption probe. And he’s come out of them largely unscathed.Yet this time is different for the New York governor. At a news conference on Friday afternoon, a defiant Cuomo rejected the weekslong drumbeat of sexual harassment and misconduct allegations. But all around him, New York politicians at both the state and federal level are demanding his resignation,...…Andrew Cuomo has survived than any other sitting governor in the country. He shut down the Moreland Commission — set up to investigate corruption by politicians — when it started getting too close to home. His as part of a sweeping corruption probe. And he’s come out of them largely unscathed.Yet this time is different for the New York governor. At a news conference on Friday afternoon, a defiant Cuomo rejected the weekslong drumbeat of sexual harassment and misconduct allegations. But all around him, New York politicians at both the state and federal level are demanding his resignation,...WW…

ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS dogged throughout his career by an unseemly moment that almost cost him his life. It was 1842, and Illinois, under Democratic control, announced it would no longer accept state currency to pay debts. There was no national currency yet, and the decision to accept nothing but silver and gold made the state’s paper money worthless. Lincoln, then a 33-year-old state legislator, never passed up an opportunity to attack Democrats, and he lit into the Democratic state auditor, James Shields, a close ally of state kingpin Stephen Douglas, over the decision. And, as was...…ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS dogged throughout his career by an unseemly moment that almost cost him his life. It was 1842, and Illinois, under Democratic control, announced it would no longer accept state currency to pay debts. There was no national currency yet, and the decision to accept nothing but silver and gold made the state’s paper money worthless. Lincoln, then a 33-year-old state legislator, never passed up an opportunity to attack Democrats, and he lit into the Democratic state auditor, James Shields, a close ally of state kingpin Stephen Douglas, over the decision. And, as was...WW…