Trump cancels Jan. 6 event amid GOP complaints  —  Senate Republicans can now breathe easier on Jan. 6.  —  Former President Donald Trump's announcement Tuesday evening that he would cancel a previously planned press conference is good news for Senate Republicans, who earlier in the day openly fretted …

Ben Smith Is Leaving The Times for a Global News Start-Up  —  Mr. Smith will help start a new organization with Justin Smith, the chief executive of Bloomberg Media.  —  Ben Smith, the media columnist for The New York Times, is leaving the paper to start a new global news organization with Justin Smith …

Entrata founder emails Utah tech CEOs, claiming COVID vaccine part of extermination plot by ‘the Jews’  —  SALT LAKE CITY — The founder and chair of Entrata, a Silcon Slopes tech firm, sent an email to a number of tech CEOs and Utah business and political leaders, claiming the COVID-19 vaccine …

I-95 in Va. reopens as motorists battle bailout traffic jam on Route 1  —  Have you or someone you know been stuck on I-95?  Tell WTOP about your experiences.  —  Listen to WTOP live online and on the radio at 103.5 FM.  Download the free WTOP News app for Android and Apple phones to sign up for custom traffic and weather alerts.

Top Senate Republican signals support for election reform  —  A top Republican is signaling his party isn't necessarily opposed to joining with Democrats to clarify an existing federal law to reduce the potential for election subversion.  —  Driving the news: While broader federal voting …

White House embraces a manage-not-contain Omicron game plan  —  When President Joe Biden took office last January amid a winter Covid-19 surge, he vowed an all-out federal assault aimed at vanquishing the virus.  —  A year later, with the country facing unprecedented levels of disease once again …

Rep. Brenda Lawrence to retire from Congress, leaving Detroit-area seat up for grabs  —  Washington — U.S. Rep. Brenda Lawrence said she plans to retire from Congress at the end of her term, becoming the 25th House Democrat to decide against seeking reelection in 2022.

Manhattan DA to stop seeking prison sentences in slew of criminal cases  —  Who needs soft-on-crime judges when the district attorney doesn't even want to lock up the bad guys?  —  Manhattan's new DA has ordered his prosecutors to stop seeking prison sentences for hordes of criminals …

The smoking gun that Liz Cheney is looking for on Trump comes into view  —  For weeks, Rep. Liz Cheney has hinted that the House select committee examining Jan. 6 might urge the Justice Department to consider prosecuting Donald Trump.  The grounds for this criminal referral might be that Trump obstructed the …

The Radicalization of J.D. Vance  —  As he runs for the Senate, the ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author has gone from media darling to establishment pariah.  Is his new, fiery, right-wing persona an act?  Or is something more interesting going on?  —  Let's start with the beard.  J.D. Vance didn't used to have one.

Ron Johnson escalates attack on vaccines: ‘Why do we think that we can create something better than God?’  —  Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) this week doubled down on his campaign to promote the so-called “natural immunity” that occurs after one has been infected by Covid-19.

‘Vaccine Police’ Leader Traveling Country With Flamethrower Jailed for Trespassing  —  The antivax leader, who set out to arrest Democratic governors, has found himself behind bars.  —  An anti-COVID-19 vaccine organization leader, who recently set out on a cross-country road trip …

One MVP voter says he won't vote for Aaron Rodgers, calling him “the biggest jerk in the league”  —  Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is the favorite to win the league's MVP award.  But one voter has already ruled out Rodgers for consideration.  —  That voter is Hub Arkush …

BREAKING: Chicago Teachers Union Begins Strike Over in-Person Learning  —  As many schools across the country resume in-person learning after the holiday break, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) finds itself in turmoil.  —  On Tuesday, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) voted to refuse anything but a return to remote learning.

Democracy is not in crisis just because Democrats are losing  —  Everywhere you look, Democrats are warning about the threat to democracy currently posed by Trump or the GOP or some combination of the two.  The panic seems omnipresent and is peaking as we approach the anniversary of the Jan. 6 riots at the capitol.

Inside D.C.'s Rowdy New Progressive Scene  —  Once a month, in the latter, vaccinated half of 2021, denizens of D.C.'s progressive ecosystem flocked to a bar in Washington's Adams Morgan neighborhood for a happy hour hosted by the pollster and think tank Data for Progress.

Ron DeSantis's Vaccination Status Is Now a State Secret … Florida governor Ron DeSantis has been walking a delicate balancing act on vaccinations, assiduously courting vaccine skeptics without going so far to the right that he lands in Marjorie Taylor Greene territory.

Capitol rioter compares attacks on her to treatment of ‘Jews in Germany’  —  Jenna Ryan, a Texas realtor who has sought to parlay her role in the Capitol riot into a career as a right-wing media personality, posted a tweet in March last year that quickly went viral.