Politics

ABC News reports: Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), a key leader among centrist House Democrats, announced Monday that she won’t seek reelection next year as her party faces increasingly tough odds for keeping its majorities in Congress. Murphy, a co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition, said in a video announcement that she wanted to spend more time with her family, including …

The Washington Post reports: Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) vowed Monday to hold a vote early next year on a roughly $2 trillion bill to overhaul the country’s health-care, education, climate, immigration and tax laws, despite Sunday’s announcement by Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) that he could not support President Biden’s signature legislation. Although the Build Back Better …

CNN reports: Sen. Elizabeth Warren tested positive Sunday for the coronavirus, according to a tweet from her official account. The Massachusetts Democrat, who is vaccinated and boosted, said she is experiencing mild symptoms. Warren was on the Senate floor last week before the chamber went on recess. The announcement came as the emergence of the Omicron variant has thrust the …

Law & Crime reports: A then-Catholic school student who was recorded on video standing in front of a Native American protester in Washington, D.C. has announced a settlement with NBC more than two years after filing a multi-million-dollar defamation claim. Nicholas Sandmann wrote on Twitter Friday night that the “terms are confidential.” NBC was one of several broadcast networks and …

The Daily Beast reports: In a blistering statement, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Manchin’s comments on Fox were “at odds with his discussions this week with the President, with White House staff, and with his own public utterances.” She said Manchin had personally delivered President Biden a written outline for the bill this week, of “the same …

Atlanta’s CBS News affiliate reports: Statesman, guardsman and even Bulldog are just a few of the titles former Senator Johnny Isakson has held throughout his life of service to our country. Isakson passed away Sunday morning at age 76 after battling Parkinson’s disease. When then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich announced in 1998 that he was resigning from the U.S. House of …

The Hill reports: Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said on Sunday that a reelection bid by former President Trump would be “bad” for the GOP and the nation. “Fox News Sunday” host Bret Baier asked Hogan if he believed that the Republican Party could win in 2024 with Trump as its nominee. “I think that’d be bad for the party …

The Washington Post reports: Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) on Sunday said that he could not support Democrats’ roughly $2 trillion bill to overhaul the country’s health care, education, immigration, climate and tax laws, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the final piece of President Biden’s economic agenda. “I can’t move forward. I cannot vote to continue with this piece …

Politico reports: Former President Donald Trump has hit a wall in his efforts to oust Mitch McConnell as GOP leader. Despite months of attacks, the Trump-led campaign to depose the Senate minority leader has resulted in firm pledges from just two Republican candidates and no senators, and it has failed to turn up a formidable challenger to run against McConnell. …

The New York Times reports: The federal government on Thursday permanently lifted a major restriction on access to abortion pills. It will allow patients to receive the medication by mail instead of requiring them to obtain the pills in person from specially certified health providers. The decision, by the Food and Drug Administration, comes as the Supreme Court is considering …

Florida Politics reports: DeSantis is the choice of 30% of those surveyed in a field not including the 45th President, up four points from the same survey in November. Other candidates were far behind. Former Vice President Mike Pence is in an increasingly distant second place, down three points to 12%. Donald Trump Jr. and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of …

Politico reports: Rep. Alan Lowenthal will not run for reelection, adding to a generational changing of the guard in California politics. The Long Beach Democrat said in a statement that he would not seek a sixth term in Congress, choosing instead to “pass the baton” and spend time with family. Lowenthal’s current seat is safely Democratic and will likely remain …

YouGov reports: Barack Obama retains his position as world’s most admired man in YouGov’s international survey this year, having wrested the position from long-time incumbent Bill Gates last year. Michelle Obama likewise holds on to her position as world’s most admired woman for the third year running. In fact, the top three spots for each sex are unchanged since last …

The Insider reports: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday rejected the idea of banning members of Congress and their spouses from holding and trading individual stocks while in office. “This is a free market, and people — we are a free market economy. They should be able to participate in that,” Pelosi said when asked by Insider at her weekly …

The New York Daily News reports: Mayor-elect Eric Adams has selected a Long Island police chief to become the first female commissioner of the NYPD — opting for a backyard pick after an extensive national search for his first top cop, four sources told the Daily News late Tuesday. Keechant Sewell, the chief of detectives for the Nassau County Police …

CNN reports: The Biden administration faces a Wednesday deadline to publicly release a tranche of secret documents that some historians — and conspiracy theorists — hope might shed light on the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The release is expected to prolong the bitter debate between the federal government and JFK researchers, who have argued that the CIA, …

Roll Call reports: The Senate unanimously passed a measure Monday evening that would allow the Capitol Police to request assistance from the National Guard without approval from the Capitol Police Board, removing a bureaucratic step that critics say could hinder the police force’s ability to react quickly in an emergency. The bill reflects one of several recommendations made by the …

CNBC reports: Congressional Democrats moved toward raising the debt ceiling Tuesday, one day before the Dec. 15 deadline that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned could mark the start of the first-ever U.S. default. The effort began in the Senate, which passed a debt limit hike late Tuesday afternoon in a 50-49 party-line vote. The bill will go to the House, …

The Texas Tribune reports: Rick Perry is running for governor — but not that Rick Perry. The Republican Party of Texas updated its list of candidate filings Monday — hours before the deadline for the March primary election — to include a Rick Perry running against Gov. Greg Abbott. Neither Perry could be immediately reached for comment. The candidate Perry’s …

Gothamist reports: New York’s busiest airport is in line to receive a $9.5 billion facelift. Governor Kathy Hochul and Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton on Monday unveiled the latest plan to overhaul John F. Kennedy International Airport, replacing a pair of existing terminals with a 2.4 million sq. ft. Terminal 1 that will have 23 gates catering to international …