How the White House botched the Neera Tanden nomination  —  Just about everyone in Washington, D.C., could see that Neera Tanden's nomination to head the Office of Management and Budget was beleaguered from the beginning — everyone, that is, except the White House.

Scoop: Biden will call Saudi king ahead of damning report  —  President Biden plans to call Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Wednesday, ahead of the public release of a potentially damning intelligence report about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a source briefed on the call told Axios.

Romney predicts Trump would win the 2024 G.O.P. nomination if he ran for president.  —  Senator Mitt Romney of Utah said on Tuesday that he believed Donald J. Trump would win the Republican nomination for president if he ran for his former office in 2024, another indication of Mr. Trump's perceived strength in the party.

Retired NYPD officer attacked D.C. police officer like ‘junkyard dog,’ prosecutor alleges  —  A Marine veteran and retired New York Police Department officer is accused of beating and choking a D.C. officer in one of the most brutal of the hundreds of violent attacks on law enforcement during the siege at the U.S. Capitol last month.

NY Prosecutors Are Looking at Don Jr. in Trump Biz Probe  —  The Daily Beast has learned that investigators have been asking questions in recent days about Trump's eldest son as they expand their criminal probe into Trump's business empire. … For months, some of Donald Trump's top advisers …

A Simple Rule of Thumb for Knowing When the Pandemic Is Over  —  Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers.  Find the collection here.  —  In the middle of January, the deadliest month of the pandemic, one day after inauguration …

What we know — and still don't — as Congress starts its Jan. 6 investigation  —  Congress is taking its first steps toward a potentially massive investigation into the failures that contributed to the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6.  But its initial foray only underscored how little lawmakers …

First on CNN: Biden's Covid plan gets backing from more than 150 top business leaders  —  What Biden said he would do for the Covid-19 economy  —  (CNN)More than 150 senior executives from some of the largest American companies across several major industries have lined …

Life amid the ruins of QAnon: ‘I wanted my family back’  —  An epidemic of conspiracy theories, fanned by social media and self-serving politicians, is tearing families apart. … She bought ammunition, camping gear, a water purifier and boxes of canned food.

One America News clashes again with White House correspondents over Trump-approved camera tent  —  One America News, the upstart right-wing cable channel that was granted special status by the Trump White House, is clashing again with its mainstream colleagues on the presidential beat.

State GOP leaders opt for drive-up convention at Liberty University to nominate candidates  —  After months of disagreement, the Virginia Republican Party's governing body agreed Tuesday night on a method to nominate statewide candidates for the November election.

Arizona Man Is Accused of Faking Own Kidnapping to Evade Work  —  When the police arrived, they found the man with his hands bound behind his back by a belt and a bandanna “stuffed in his mouth” in Coolidge, Ariz.  —  The authorities in Arizona accused a man of going to extreme lengths …

Pence speaks highly of Trump in meeting and plans to launch a political group  —  Did Pence feel betrayed after riot?  His former chief of staff responds  —  (CNN)Former Vice President Mike Pence told a group of conservative lawmakers on Tuesday that he maintains a close personal friendship …

Biden's Stimulus Bill Is a $1.9 Trillion Clunker  —  Senate Republicans are eager to get aid where it's needed, reopen schools and encourage work.  —  Democrats are anxious for any excuse to blow up the Senate filibuster, the last procedural hurdle to one-party government.

Atlas, Ferguson, and Hanson: On Free Speech at Stanford  —  What is the purpose of academic freedom?  —  Is it to allow all kinds of ideas to be expressed and explored, protecting even speech that people in the past considered heretical—protecting free expression that some people today would like to “cancel”?

Texas disaster puts Beto O'Rourke back in business  —  While Ted Cruz was getting clobbered for fleeing Texas amid its historic winter storm, the Democrat he defeated in 2018, Beto O'Rourke, was already deep into disaster relief mode — soliciting donations for storm victims …

Gucci Is Staying in Trump Tower  —  Tiffany and other luxury companies have stepped away from deals with the former president's organization, but not Gucci.  —  The day President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were inaugurated in Washington, D.C., Melania and Donald Trump stepped off Air Force …

Buckley would weep at the CPAC circus coming to Orlando … If the political descendants of William F. Buckley Jr., Ronald Reagan and Antonin Scalia were coming to town, that would be exciting.  —  But that's not what CPAC is bringing to Orlando starting Thursday.

Inside the new $65 million push from progressives to compete with conservative media  —  It's called the Project for Good Information, and it raises big questions about the future of the information wars.  —  A prominent Democratic strategist is planning a new $65 million effort …

A Bristling Standoff Rattles Gun-Friendly Vermont  —  In Pawlet, Vt., where a landowner opened a tactical weapons training site, a zoning dispute has escalated into something more dangerous.  —  PAWLET, Vt. — Fear has gradually spread in the town of Pawlet.

‘Bad politics for them’: GOP sneers at Dem Covid bill  —  Republicans are making a risky but calculated bet: that voters won't punish them for opposing a popular $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill.  —  With President Joe Biden and Democrats barely even seeking their input …

Iran limits UN nuclear inspections while inching closer to talks with US, others  —  “A lot of diplomatic work is underway,” says the European Union's top diplomat.  —  Biden addresses foreign powers: ‘America is back’ … Vahid Salemi/AP  —  The U.S. and Iran are inching closer toward diplomatic talks …

LGBT Identification Rises to 5.6% in Latest U.S. Estimate  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Gallup's latest update on lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender identification finds 5.6% of U.S. adults identifying as LGBT.  The current estimate is up from 4.5% in Gallup's previous update based on 2017 data.

Climbing the Bell Curve to the Cathedral  —  Notes on reactionary sea lions  —  Some folks aren't thrilled about my previous post, “Grey Lady Steel Man.”  It seemed to distress Curtis Yarvin (aka Mencius Moldbug) in particular.  He penned a defensive, typically catty ad hominem response in his inimitably hysterical prose style.

Liz Cheney calls on Republicans to “make clear we aren't the party of white supremacy”  —  Liz Cheney, the third ranking House Republican, on Tuesday called on the Republican party to “make clear we aren't the party of white supremacy.”  Cheney's remarks came during an event hosted by the Reagan Institute.

Biden orders supply chain review for 4 industries  —  President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Wednesday to review the global supply chains used by four key industries in an effort to avoid the shortages in medical equipment, semiconductors and other goods seen as critical during the pandemic.

McConnell to support Garland for attorney general  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will support Merrick Garland's nomination for attorney general, five years after blocking the judge's path to the Supreme Court.  —  “I do,” McConnell told POLITICO Tuesday afternoon when asked if he plans to back Garland.

Coup in Myanmar: growing protest movement defies the military  —  In the shadow of US-China rivalry, the country is caught in a confrontation between the junta and a civil disobedience campaign  —  At a press conference last week, the first by Myanmar's junta since General Min Aung Hlaing grabbed power …

The Sunday Shows Are Hopelessly Broken  —  Jonathan Karl, the guest host of ABC's This Week, knew exactly what he was doing on Sunday when he asked Republican Representative Steve Scalise if the 2020 election was stolen.  This was, on its face, a simple and straightforward question.

One of the Nation's Largest Chicken Producers Pleads Guilty to Price Fixing and is Sentenced to a $107 Million Criminal Fine  —  First Corporation Pleads Guilty in Ongoing Criminal Antitrust Investigation into the Broiler Chicken Industry  —  Pilgrim's Pride Corporation (Pilgrim's) …

NRSC CHAIRMAN RICK SCOTT: REPUBLICAN CIVIL WAR HAS BEEN CANCELLED  —  MEMO  —  TO: REPUBLICAN VOTERS, ACTIVISTS, LEADERS, DONORS  —  FROM: SENATOR RICK SCOTT, NRSC CHAIRMAN  —  RE: REPUBLICAN CIVIL WAR HAS BEEN CANCELLED  —  DATE: FEBRUARY 23, 2021  —  The long running impeachment show is now over.

Top Senate Republican has ‘serious concerns’ over Pentagon policy pick  —  The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee has “serious concerns” over the nomination of Colin Kahl, President Joe Biden's pick to run the Pentagon's policy shop.  —  The news comes as the committee plans …

Four ERCOT board members who live outside of Texas resign in the aftermath of the power outage, winter storm  —  Sally Talberg, board chair; Peter Cramton, vice chair; Terry Bulger, finance and audit chair; and Raymond Hepper, human resources and governance committee chair …

Biden's slow start  —  With help from Renuka Rayasam and Tyler Weyant  —  TIME KEEPS ON SLIPPING — For the past few weeks, Democrats have comforted themselves about the slow clip of Joe Biden's cabinet confirmations by noting he was on track to get all of his nominees confirmed.