POLITICO Playbook: Larry Summers plays the skunk at the Covid relief party  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  LITERALLY BREAKING OVERNIGHT — Vote-a-rama as of 5:35 a.m. ... @caitlinzemma: “Senate PASSES the budget resolution Democrats can use to speed passage of Biden's $1.9T coronavirus plan, 50-51, with VP Harris breaking the tie.

Senate approves budget bill to pass Biden economic relief plan  —  Vice President Harris breaks tie on budget resolution after all-night Senate session  —  The Senate approved a budget bill early Friday that paves the way for passage of President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package …

Trump's allies fear the impeachment trial could be a PR nightmare  —  Allies of former President Donald Trump are imploring his impeachment team to avoid one specific topic when they defend the ex-president at his Senate trial next week: the deadly riot that unfolded at the U.S. Capitol.

THIS IS A PRIMAL SCREAM  —  “All I hear all the livelong day is ‘Mom, mom, MOM!  Mom, MOMMMM, mom, MOM, mom!!  MoM, mommommommom, MOMMM!!’  Aaaaah!!  ‘What?!’  ‘Oh, nevermind.’”  —  4,637,000 The number of payroll jobs lost by women in the U.S. since the pandemic began.

The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election  —  A weird thing happened right after the Nov. 3 election: nothing.  —  The nation was braced for chaos.  Liberal groups had vowed to take to the streets, planning hundreds of protests across the country.

Sen. Warner to unveil bill reining in Section 230, seeking to help users fight back against real-world harm  —  Sen. Mark Warner is set to introduce a new bill that could hold Facebook, Google and other tech giants more directly accountable when viral online posts and videos result in real-world harm.

No, AOC Didn't Make Up Her Capitol Riots Experience  —  Since Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York Democrat, took to Instagram Live on Monday to describe what the Jan. 6 riot was like from inside the Capitol complex, critics have claimed that she wasn't where she said she was …

Christopher Plummer Passes Away At 91; ‘Sound Of Music,’ ‘All The Money In The World’ Star A True Hollywood Legend  —  Christopher Plummer has passed away at 91, his family has confirmed.  He passed peacefully at his home in Connecticut, with Elaine Taylor, his wife and true best friend for 53 years by his side.

2 Capitol Rioters Busted After They Delayed Their Bus Trip Home To Pennsylvania  —  A Trump supporter who organized the bus trip on Facebook told law enforcement that Mark Aungst and Tammy Bronsburg held up their return trip by an hour.  —  A witness who used Facebook to organize a bus trip …

The cottage industry behind Trump's pardons: How the rich and well-connected got ahead at the expense of others  —  A federal judge in South Dakota was blunt last summer when she sentenced Paul Erickson, a seasoned Republican operative who had pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering.

Israeli hospital claims may have found cure for COVID-19  —  Preliminary testing shows that 29 out of 30 virus patients in serious condition that were administered the drug, dubbed EXO-CD24, once a day made a full recovery within five days; similar treatment announced by Hadassah Medical Center

The Indoor-Dining Debate Isn't a Debate at All  —  Last Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York City restaurants would be allowed to resume partial-capacity indoor dining on Valentine's Day—in a non-pandemic year, one of the hospitality industry's busiest nights.

They Stormed the Capitol.  Their Apps Tracked Them.  —  Times Opinion was able to identify individuals from a trove of leaked smartphone location data.  —  Mr. Warzel and Mr. Thompson are writers in Opinion.  They previously reported on smartphone tracking for the series “One Nation, Tracked.”

Joe Biden's Fast 15 Days  —  He is working to untie—or cut through—the political knot of the economic relief bill, even as his team moves swiftly on several other fronts.  —  In his first 100 days, Franklin Roosevelt jammed a transformative agenda through Congress—combating mass immiseration …

Mike Pence is starting a podcast  —  Mike Pence is returning to his radio roots after a 22-year hiatus from the airwaves.  —  The former vice president will launch a podcast in the coming months hosted by the Young America's Foundation, a conservative youth organization dating back to the 1960s.

Biden flying to Delaware despite CDC warnings to avoid travel  —  The CDC issued guidance this week urging against non-essential travel amid the coronavirus pandemic.  —  CDC issues sweeping mask mandate for travelers  —  President Biden is expected to travel to Delaware this weekend …

FBI Raids Home Of Rachel Powell, Mercer County Mother Of 8 Suspected In Capitol Attack  —  Powell has become known as the lady with the bullhorn, seeming to have knowledge of the Capitol building's floor plan, instructing insurrectionists where to go.  —  SANDY LAKE, Pa. (KDKA) …

Virginia legislature votes to abolish the death penalty  —  RICHMOND — Virginia's House of Delegates voted Friday to abolish the death penalty, making it all but certain that the state would become the first in the South to do so.  —  The state Senate voted earlier this week to end capital punishment …

Saudi Arabia's Houses of Horror for Disobedient Women  —  How the threat of the kingdom's “Homes of Care” is causing women to flee abroad  —  Ola Salem is the online editor of Newlines  —  Amani al-Ahmadi was barely 10 when she was ushered into an auditorium at her all-girls school in Yanbu …

After Years in Government, Biden Has a New Perk: Air Force One.  —  On Friday, he flies home for the first time as president.  But it may not be on the plane that has delighted his predecessors.  —  WASHINGTON — President Biden has served in elected office for almost four decades.

The Misogynistic ‘Dating Coach’ Who Was Charged in the Capitol Riot  —  Samuel Fisher left a long trail of videos and social media posts that reflect the views of a fringe faction of disgruntled men who became fixated on President Donald J. Trump.  —  For $150, Brad Holiday's customers …

Who Owns Kavanaugh #1: The Justice & The Replacement  —  Part One of this five-part series examines how Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court seat came to be open, and why he was chosen to fill it.  —  5 hr ago … Prologue  —  IT WAS A CRISP MAY DAY when Brett Kavanaugh put on his sky-blue silk tie …

Manhattan D.A. Candidate Explains Why She'll Stop Prosecuting Drug Offenses, Sex Work  —  Tahanie Aboushi discusses her newly expanded proposal of not prosecuting offenses that criminalize poverty, mental health issues, and substance use, and reducing incarceration for all cases.

Russian doctor who treated Navalny after poisoning has died  —  (CNN)A top doctor at the Russian hospital where opposition leader Alexey Navalny was treated immediately after his poisoning last summer has died, the hospital said on Thursday.  —  Sergey Maximishin, who was the deputy chief physician …

Three American Mothers, On the Brink  —  Dekeda Brown, 41, was in her local grocery store in Olney, Md., thinking back to a year ago, when she was onstage in New York accepting an award for “Working Mother of the Year.”  Her husband watched proudly from the crowd, texting photos to her daughters, 11 and 15.

Frustration Is Spreading Faster Than the Vaccine Is  —  If you are the child of elderly parents in parts of the United States right now, and if you are trying to get them a COVID-19 vaccine, you are living in a shortage economy, a world of queues and rumors, a shadowy land of favoritism and incompetence …