Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century  —  On a leaked conference call, leaders of dark-money groups and an aide to Mitch McConnell expressed frustration with the popularity of the legislation—even among Republican voters.

White House dramatically increased tax proposal as it sought to address tensions over next big spending plan  —  Biden aides see next major legislative effort as comparable to LBJ's Great Society but face divisions among key allies  —  When President Biden's team began putting together …

Ghislaine Maxwell Charged With Sex Trafficking of 14-Year-Old Girl  —  A new indictment accuses Ms. Maxwell of paying a victim of her longtime associate Jeffrey Epstein.  —  Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of Jeffrey Epstein, was charged on Monday for the first time with sex-trafficking …

Trump targets Fauci, Birx in lengthy diatribe  —  Former President Trump on Monday went on a tirade against Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, two of his former top medical advisers on the COVID-19 pandemic, excoriating their decisionmaking during his administration on the day after CNN aired previews …

The Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are very effective in real-world conditions at preventing infections, the C.D.C. reported.  —  The coronavirus vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are proving highly effective at preventing symptomatic and asymptomatic infections under real-world conditions …

The facts about Georgia's ban on food, water giveaways to voters  —  Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a sweeping elections bill into law.  It includes some controversial provisions about absentee and in-person voting.  —  One provision of the new law includes a ban on giving away water or food …

Kentucky lawmakers override veto of McConnell-backed Senate vacancy plan  —  The Republican-run Kentucky legislature on Monday easily overrode Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of a notable bill that restricts his ability to fill any vacancies that arise if one of the state's U.S. senators dies or leaves office early.

Mafia fugitive caught after posting YouTube cooking video  —  Marc Feren Claude Biart was betrayed by failing to hide his distinctive tattoos in the clip  —  A mafia fugitive has been caught in the Caribbean after appearing on YouTube cooking videos in which he hid his face but inadvertently showed his distinctive tattoos.

Capitol riot suspect wore ‘I Was There’ shirt when arrested  —  Garret Miller didn't speak to the law enforcement officers who arrested him on charges he stormed the U.S. Capitol in January, but the T-shirt he was wearing at his Dallas home that day sent a clear and possibly incriminating message.

Florida Republicans considering new election bill that would effectively ban giving voters water  —  Florida Republicans are considering a bill that would effectively make it a crime to give voters food or drink, including water, within 150 feet of polling places.

New accounts detail how New York health officials were told to prioritize coronavirus testing of people connected to Andrew Cuomo  —  New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's relatives and other well-connected New Yorkers were among those given preferential treatment at state coronavirus testing centers.

Scoop: Substack is raising $65 million amid newsletter boom  —  Substack is raising $65 million in new venture capital funding that would value the company at around $650 million, Axios has learned.  Existing investor Andreessen Horowitz is leading the round.

Washington Post reverses prohibition on reporter from writing about sexual assault  —  The Washington Post on Monday reversed a policy preventing a reporter from covering sexual misconduct issues that she said was imposed because of her outspokenness over being a victim of sexual assault.

Corporations, Vocal About Racial Justice, Go Quiet on Voting Rights  —  “They are complicit in their silence,” one activist said, as bills that would disproportionately affect Black citizens across the country stir public debate.  —  As Black Lives Matter protesters filled the streets last summer …

Dominion Builds Legal Behemoth To Drain Trumpland of Billions  —  Dominion Voting Systems is adding a new team of lawyers as they prepare for their current lawsuits—and another potential round.  —  With billions of dollars in lawsuits now in the balance, Dominion Voting Systems …

Japan's Kyoto cherry blossoms peak on earliest date in 1,200 years, a sign of climate change  —  Amid an exceptionally warm March in Japan, the cherry blossoms in Kyoto peaked Friday, the earliest in more than 1,200 years of records.  The record bloom fits into a long-term pattern toward …

64 percent view ‘cancel culture’ as threat to freedom: poll  —  A majority of Americans say they view “cancel culture” as a threat to their freedom, according to a new Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey released exclusively to The Hill on Monday.  —  Sixty-four percent of respondents said that there is …

With an Eye on 2024, a Rarely Bashful Pompeo Grows More Combative  —  Criticized for partisan activity even when he was the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo is taking aim at the Biden administration and talking like a candidate.  —  WASHINGTON — As secretary of state during the Trump administration …

The Biden administration makes a swath of ocean between New York and New Jersey an offshore wind zone.  —  The Biden administration on Monday announced it will designate an area between the South Shore of Long Island and the New Jersey coast as a priority offshore wind zone …

Trooper who arrested Ga. lawmaker says he was wary of a Jan. 6-type of attack  —  A Georgia State Patrol lieutenant said memories of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol were on his mind when he arrested a Democratic legislator after she knocked repeatedly on the door …

Buttigieg says no gas or mileage tax in Biden's infrastructure plan  —  (CNN)Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Monday that neither a gas tax nor a mileage tax would be part of President Joe Biden's sweeping infrastructure plan to be detailed on Wednesday.

Column: Woke California pays homage this week to another American hero with a complex legacy  —  Let me tell you about an American hero whom the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education might find, um, troublesome.  —  He opposed undocumented immigrants to the point of urging his followers to report them to la migra.

Big Tech defenders dominate the country's top group of antitrust lawyers  —  Current and former members say the American Bar Association's antitrust section is overrun with lawyers who have represented Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple.  —  One of the most trusted institutions …

Judge tosses terrorism threat charge against 3 accused in alleged Whitmer plot  —  Three men accused in an alleged plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will not face false report or threat of terrorism charges, a Jackson County judge ruled Monday.  —  Judge Michael Klaeren of 12th District Court …

Nearly half of Americans changed sports viewing habits because of social justice  —  In the wake of last summer's social justice protests, which consumed sports for much of the second half of 2020, nearly half of all Americans changed their sports viewing habits, according to a new YouGov / Yahoo News poll.

Boston Dynamics unveils Stretch: a new robot designed to move boxes in warehouses  —  Stretch can shift up to 800 boxes an hour, comparable to a human  —  Boston Dynamics is best known for its robot dog Spot, a machine designed to work in a range of environments, from offshore oil rigs to deep underground mines.

U.S. Church Membership Falls Below Majority for First Time  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' membership in houses of worship continued to decline last year, dropping below 50% for the first time in Gallup's eight-decade trend.  In 2020, 47% of Americans said they belonged to a church …

Biden task force to probe science manipulation under Trump  —  WASHINGTON — A new White House task force will examine instances where the Trump administration may have distorted or suppressed science in critical government decisions, with an eye toward creating fail-safes to prevent it from happening again, the White House said Monday.

Jim DeMint: Senate filibuster protects minority views and small states  —  THE TRI-STATE'S TRUSTED NEWS SOURCE.  —  Stop me if you've heard this one.  —  A new Democratic president, elected on promises of unity and bipartisanship, suddenly pushes policies much more divisive and extreme than voters were led to expect.

White House announces ‘expert’ review of WHO-China COVID-19 origins report  —  The Biden administration announced that “experts” from a range of federal agencies and scientific fields would review the controversial WHO-China report on COVID-19's origins as the Biden team continues expressing its …

New York Lawmakers Weigh Raising Taxes as Budget Deadline Looms  —  As negotiations continue, unions push for more revenue on top of federal pandemic aid  —  ALBANY, N.Y.—Union leaders and Democratic state lawmakers made a final push Monday to increase taxes on the wealthy as part of a roughly $200 billion state budget due this week.