The Situation: The Cult of Unqualified Authenticity  —  On Pete Hegseth and the first hearing for a Trump nominee for a major cabinet position  —  Meet The Authors  —  Published by The Lawfare Institute in Cooperation With  —  The Situation on Friday reflected on the sentencing of Donald Trump in New York.

The Most Damning Lines in Jack Smith's Brutal Trump January 6 Report  —  Special counsel Jack Smith did not hold back in his final report on the investigation into Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election.  —  While much of it contains information already made public …

SEC Sues Musk Over Securities Violation in Federal Court  —  The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Elon Musk in federal court over an alleged securities violation, according to a court docket.  —  The agency claimed Musk failed to timely disclose a major purchase of Twitter Inc. shares ahead …

Biden moves to lift state sponsor of terrorism designation for Cuba, part of deal to free prisoners  —  The Biden administration on Tuesday is notifying Congress of its intent to lift the U.S. designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, the White House announced …

Michelle Obama will skip Trump inauguration, but ex-Presidents Obama, Clinton and Bush will be there  —  Former first lady Michelle Obama will skip the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, the second time in two weeks that she is not attending a gathering of former U.S. leaders and their spouses …

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg to attend Trump's inauguration  —  The three will be seated together on the inauguration platform with other prominent guests.  —  Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg will attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday …

GOP Senator Flames Dems for ‘Cheating’ and Voting ‘Drunk’  —  “And don't tell me you haven't seen it, because I know you have,” the Republican senator said.

A Biden-Trump Gaza deal?  —  With help from Connor O'Brien, John Sakellariadis, Maggie Miller and Daniel Lippman,  —  An Israel-Gaza cease-fire deal appears closer than ever, and both JOE BIDEN and DONALD TRUMP's camps are scrambling for credit.  —  Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN …

House passes ban on transgender students in girls sports  —  Washington — The House on Tuesday passed a Republican measure banning transgender girls and women from competing on school sports teams that match their gender identity after the party leaned into the issue during the 2024 campaign.

Vice Is a Moat  —  1. Secretary Pete  —  Here is the thing about Pete Hegseth:  —  Imagine that his character was sterling.  That he was a fine, upstanding man, admired by all who know him.  That he had dedicated his life to service and been judged to be as good a human being as Mister Rogers or Dolly Parton.

I have struggled with how to respond to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook's descent into toxic masculinity and Neo-Nazi madness.  While I have thought about quitting Facebook, I find great value in the connections and friends I have here, and it doesn't seem fair that I should lose that because Zuckerberg is having a mid-life crisis.

Mike Johnson eyes April deadline to pass one big MAGA bill through the House, but GOP senators are skeptical  —  House and Senate Republicans still disagree on the best strategy to advance Trump's policy priorities on the border, energy and taxes.  A recent Trump-GOP meeting failed to resolve it.

I was fully indoctrinated into the Democrat ‘cult.’ Here's why I left my liberal influencer life behind to raise money for Trump  —  A former high energy Democratic fundraiser, failed congressional candidate and social media influencer is now raising money for President-elect Donald Trump's inaugural committee.

Texas House elects new Speaker in blow to far-right wing  —  The Texas House on Tuesday elected state Rep. Dustin Burrows (R) to lead the chamber in a blow to the rising far-right wing of the party, defeating a candidate supported by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and other top state figures.

Republican Hard-Liners Already Have a Problem With the GOP's Reconciliation Strategy  —  Some Freedom Caucus members think a debt limit increase needs to be part of the reconciliation process.  GOP leaders are already signaling that it won't be.  — Copy

Estimated Gaza Toll May Have Missed 25,000 Deaths, Study Says  —  Analysis found that more than 64,000 Palestinians may have been killed by traumatic injury in the first nine months of the war.  —  Deaths from bombs and other traumatic injuries during the first nine months of the war in Gaza …

Speaker Orders Capitol Hill Flags Raised for Inauguration  —  President-elect Donald J. Trump had complained that flags were scheduled to fly at half-staff — a symbol of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter — on the day of his inauguration.  —  Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday announced …