Pirro Enlists Dance Photographer-Lawyer in Lawmaker Video Case  —  Washington's US Attorney Jeanine Pirro tapped a dance photographer who worked for her decades ago as one of the prosecutors who tried—and failed—to convince a grand jury to indict six Democratic lawmakers Tuesday, said two people familiar with the situation.

Airspace closure followed spat over drone-related tests and party balloon shoot-down, sources say  —  Add CBS News on Google  —  The unexpected but brief airspace closure in the Texas border city of El Paso stemmed from disagreements between the Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon officials …

Pam Bondi hearing devolves into shouting matches with Democrats over Epstein and DOJ prosecutions  —  The attorney general made her appearance hours after the Trump administration tried and failed to indict Democratic lawmakers over a social media video.  —  Listen to this article with a free account

Gallup will no longer measure presidential approval after 88 years  —  Gallup will no longer track presidential approval ratings after more than eight decades doing so, the public opinion polling agency confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday.  —  The company said starting this year …

Poll: Trump's ratings on immigration tumble as Americans lose confidence in his top issue  —  Immigration has been one of President Donald Trump's strong suits, but the new NBC News Decision Desk Poll shows his numbers falling to the same level as his overall approval.  —  Listen to this article with a free account

U.S. payrolls rose by 130,000 in January, more than expected; unemployment rate at 4.3%  —  Job growth was stronger than expected to start 2026, providing some relief to concerns about the state of the U.S. labor market.  —  Nonfarm payrolls increased by 130,000 for January …

National Guard troops were quietly withdrawn from some U.S. cities  —  The deployments encountered repeated legal setbacks that stymied President Donald Trump's show of force in Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland, Oregon.  —  The Trump administration has withdrawn all federalized National Guard troops …

Trump tries and fails to extort Canada  —  Public Notice is supported by paid subscribers.  Become one ⬇️  —  🇨🇦 Subscribe to PN 🇺🇸  —  On Monday, the president took a break from ranting about Bad Bunny's “affront to the Greatness of America” …

CBS Evening News inverts its network's own reporting on ICE arrestees' low rates of violent criminal histories  —  CBS reported that less that 14% of people in ICE custody have charges or convictions for violent criminal conduct, but CBS Evening News distorted the data to suggest the opposite

FIRE sues Bondi, Noem for censoring Facebook group and app reporting ICE activity  — The First Amendment protects the right to discuss, record, and criticize what law enforcement does in public.  — The federal government strong-armed Apple and Facebook to remove ICE activity monitoring from company platforms.

What Is Kari Lake Trying to Achieve?  —  The Arizona politician has wasted millions of dollars while blocking U.S. efforts to bring reliable news to repressive countries.  —  she wanted to be governor of Arizona.  She wanted to be a senator from Arizona.  She wanted to run Voice of America, to be MAGA's broadcaster to the world.

Trump Posts Spectacular Self-Own in Bid to Claim He's Not Racist  —  OWN GOAL?  —  The president took to social media in an apparent effort to bolster his credentials with the Black community.  —  President Donald Trump has embarked on a bizarre posting spree touting his friendship …

STAT+: Prasad overruled FDA staff to reject Moderna's flu vaccine application  —  WASHINGTON — Top Food and Drug Administration official Vinay Prasad overruled the agency's reviewers when he refused to accept Moderna's application for a new influenza vaccine, STAT has learned.

Don's double defeat  —  With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco, Irie Sentner and Makayla Gray  —  Good Wednesday morning.  This is Jack Blanchard.  Get in touch.  —  LANDING SHORTLY: The delayed January jobs report, which could be a biggie.  Pro tip: Keep an eye out for possible downward revisions to previous months.

WELT: Without US backing, Europe would struggle to defend against a Russian invasion … “Russia could become even more dangerous to NATO after some sort of peace in Ukraine, especially if it's a bad peace, if it is a Ukrainian capitulation,” Lungescu told WELT.  She called the wargame “very realistic, unfortunately.”

The Banality of MAGA Evil  —  Instead of criminal masterminds we got amoral, stupid grifters like Howard Lutnick … There's a longstanding tradition in American politics of what Richard Hofstadter famously called the paranoid style - a way of thinking that sees conspiracies lurking everywhere.

IRS improperly disclosed confidential immigrant tax data to DHS  —  The tax agency only recently discovered the mistake and is working with other federal agencies on a response.  —  The Internal Revenue Service improperly shared confidential tax information of thousands of individuals …

Here's the latest.  —  Canada was reeling on Wednesday, a day after a shooter killed nine people and injured 25 others in a remote town in northeastern British Columbia, the third-deadliest shooting in the country's history.  —  Seven people were found dead in Tumbler Ridge Secondary School …

Johnson says he has urged Florida Republican to stay in Congress  —  Speaker Mike Johnson says he has asked retiring Rep. Neal Dunn to serve out his term amid concerns the Florida Republican might resign early.  An early exit from Dunn, 72, would deal Johnson another massive blow as he tries to maintain his narrow majority.

JD Vance vies for the gold medal in coarseness and flippancy  —  The vice president has a knack for late — very late — adolescent naughtiness.  —  Spurning the rich subtleties of the English language, JD Vance has a penchant for words that he perhaps thinks display manly vigor, and express a populist's rejection of refinement.

'DOJ doesn't have authority to run a state's elections': West Virginia's GOP election chief pushes back on voter roll grab  —  West Virginia's Republican chief election official denied the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) demand for full access to the state's voter roll …

The GOP's Voter Integrity Sham  —  Earlier today, House Republicans passed their SAVE Act, which they say is for voter integrity and not voter suppression.  But, despite the propaganda campaign by Elon Musk and congressional Republicans, this is not about simply requiring a photo ID to vote, which the majority of Americans support.

As ICE expands, an AP review of crimes committed by agents shows how their powers can be abused  —  Investigators said one immigration enforcement official got away with physically assaulting his girlfriend for years.  Another admitted he repeatedly sexually abused a woman in his custody.