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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Minnesota state House Democrats walk out in effort to block GOP speaker vote  —  The Minnesota Democratic caucus plans to skip nearly three weeks of the new legislative session in a bid to deny Republicans the ability to conduct business before a special election.

Michelle Obama Will Skip Trump's Inauguration  —  Mrs. Obama also declined to attend the funeral of Jimmy Carter last week, which would have put her face-to-face with Mr. Trump.  —  Michelle Obama, the former first lady, will not attend the inauguration of President-elect Donald J. Trump, her office said in a statement on Tuesday.

Meta just flipped the switch that prevents misinformation from spreading in the United States  —  I.  —  Last week, Meta announced a series of changes to its content moderation policies and enforcement strategies designed to curry favor with the incoming Trump administration.

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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

‘Days of thunder’: Steve Bannon on the second coming of the Trump administration  —  The former adviser sat for a wide-ranging interview with POLITICO this week.  —  Steve Bannon had some thoughts on what the next four years have in store for Donald Trump as he returns to the White House.

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 …

Rep. Mace challenges Rep. Crockett to ‘take it outside’ at House hearing  —  The two firebrands for their respective parties got into a heated exchange Tuesday at a House Oversight Committee hearing.