The New York Times reports: On Wednesday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia is scheduled to meet with donors and other influential figures in the city. Among them will be John Catsimatidis, a grocery store magnate who has historically been a politically ambidextrous donor, but who had a long history with Mr. Trump. People familiar with his thinking had said he …

The Detroit Free Press reports: U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing, told the Free Press on Monday morning that she has made the decision to run next year for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Debbie Stabenow, giving the campaign its first widely known candidate. Slotkin, a former intelligence officer under former President Barack Obama, has proven herself a formidable …

The Hill reports: Attorney General Merrick Garland is scheduled to appear on Capitol Hill this week for the first time in the 118th Congress, testifying before a Senate panel as the Justice Department continues its investigations into the current and former presidents. The Senate Judiciary Committee has released little information regarding the hearing, which is titled “Oversight of the Department …

Huddle reports: Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) is doubling down on his attacks on Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) based on her Chinese heritage. After being called out by colleagues on both sides of the aisle for previous comments against Chu, Gooden tweeted Sunday night that “It’s not ‘xenophobic’ to question where her loyalty lies.” Speaking last week on Fox News, Gooden …

USA Today reports: Mexico’s president posted a photo on his social media accounts Saturday showing what he said appeared to be a mythological woodland spirit similar to an elf. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador did not seem to be joking when he posted the photo of an “Aluxe,” a mischievous woodland spirit in Mayan folklore. López Obrador wrote the photo …

The New York Times reports: Twitter laid off at least 200 of its employees on Saturday night, three people familiar with the matter said, or about 10 percent of the roughly 2,000 who were still working for the company. Elon Musk has steadily pared back its work force from about 7,500 employees as he has sought to reduce costs. The …

The Associated Press reports: DeSantis spent the weekend huddled behind closed doors at a south Florida luxury hotel for a “Freedom Blueprint” retreat with more than 100 donors, elected officials and conservative influencers. The attendees included former Trump chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and Texas-based donor Roy Bailey, a former member of …

Bloomberg News reports: President Joe Biden instructed federal agents responding to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, to go door-to-door to conduct health surveys with impacted families, a White House official said Monday. Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention visited approximately 350 household over the weekend, according to …

Axios reports: A new U.S. government assessment that COVID-19 likely originated from a lab leak in China has ignited yet another round of political furor around the issue, adding to many Republicans’ anger over how the pandemic was handled even as many scientists remain convinced the virus most likely originated naturally. Department of Energy scientists concluded in a “low confidence” …

The Daily Beast reports: Days ahead of this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, it remains to be seen if and how Fox News will cover the annual right-wing confab amid CPAC boss Matt Schlapp’s alleged groping scandal. As of publication, Schlapp and his annual convention have all but disappeared from the Fox News universe. None of Fox News Media’s outlets …

Variety reports: Universal’s horror-comedy “Cocaine Bear” blew past box office projections, earning an impressive $23 million from 3,534 North American theaters in its opening weekend. The blood-splattered animal adventure landed in second place on domestic charts behind Disney’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” which all but collapsed in its sophomore outing. “Ant-Man 3” managed to remain in first place given …

“The great thing about this country is we can have political dialogue, discourse. We are a democracy. We have differences of opinions. I will say, divisive rhetoric I think polarizes this nation. And I think it hurts this nation. “I think what we need today is a voice that can unify the nation on things that really matter. Like the …

The New York Times reports: The city’s overnight drop-in centers for homeless and runaway youth, which are serving a rising number of young people, received a jarring message last month: “Effective immediately, providers are required to discontinue the practice of allowing youth and young adults to sleep overnight.” At least one of the centers has responded in turn: no. Alexander …

Fox News reports: One year out from the 2024 primaries, here is the debut Fox News national survey on the presidential nomination races. Spoiler alert, former President Donald Trump looks formidable. Republican primary voters were read a list of 15 announced and potential candidates for the 2024 nomination. Trump tops the list with 43%, followed by Ron DeSantis at 28%, …

Axios reports: Defense attorneys for former President Trump said that they have “lost 100% confidence” in the Georgia investigation into efforts by Trump to overturn the results of the 2020 election. “We feel this process has been compromised,” Drew Findling, a defense attorney for Trump told CBS News’ Face the Nation on Sunday. Findling’s remarks come after Emily Kohrs, the foreperson …

“Some of you have been asking why I’m not covering the Dominion voting machines lawsuit against Fox involving the unproven claims of election fraud in 2020. And it’s absolutely a fair question. I believe I should be covering it. It’s a major media story given my role here at Fox, but the company has decided that as part of the …

The Hill reports: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) deflected answering a question about whether he still identifies as a Democrat as questions mount over his political future. “I identify as an American,” Manchin said when asked if he was still a Democrat on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.” “I’m an American through and through.” Manchin, whose Senate term is up in …

Yahoo News reports: Woody Harrelson’s opening monologue during “Saturday Night Live,” where he referenced the COVID-19 pandemic and collaboration between the medical industry and the government to push vaccines, has sparked backlash online and Twitter CEO Elon Musk chimed in on the discussion. The comments were widely covered by media outlets, who called them “anti-vax” or “vax conspiracies.” People on …

Rolling Stone reports: The then-president, according to two former Trump administration officials, was so upset by Jimmy Kimmel’s comedic jabs that he directed his White House staff to call up one of Disney’s top executives in Washington, D.C., to complain and demand action. (ABC, on which Jimmy Kimmel Live! has long aired, is owned by Disney.) In at least two …

The Associated Press reports: In a basement event space in the Denver suburb of Parker, Tina Peters surveyed a crowd of Colorado Republicans last week and made an unusual pitch for why she should become Chair of their beleaguered party: “There’s no way a jury of 12 people is going to put me in prison.” Peters was referring to her …