Political IQ

In a new book, “The Luckiest Man: Life with John McCain,” longtime Senate aide Mark Salter alleged that soon after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the president called the Arizona senator and demanded he apologize for taking back his endorsement during the 2016 election campaign.

A PoliticalIQ.com national survey found that 55% of voters now believe the worst of the pandemic is still to come.  That’s...

Kim Potter was a 26-year veteran of the Brooklyn Center Police Department before she resigned Tuesday. Charges could be brought Wednesday.      

On the record, the Afghan government appears to have accepted President Biden's decision to withdraw American troops from the country by or before Sept. 11, 2021. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Wednesday that he spoke with Biden and "respects" the decision, adding that the government's security forces are "fully capable" of defending the country in a post-U.S. era. But other reports are suggesting the decision stings. "You cannot achieve a political settlement if you don't have a military presence," an Afghan government security official told The Wall Street Journal, referring to efforts to reach an agreement with the Taliban to end the country's decades-long conflict. "The only leverage the U.S. has over the Taliban is the presence of U.S. forces." An Afghan official briefed on the specifics of Biden's withdrawal plan told The Washington Post that the exit will "embolden" the Taliban. "It gives them a win, and neither the Afghan government or the Americans get anything in return," he said, though he did concede that the new timeline at least provides Kabul some "clarity" and a few extra months to prepare for the U.S. departure. The Taliban, meanwhile, had expected the U.S. to stick to the May 1 withdrawal deadline agreed upon by the Trump administration, and the group has issued a warning to the Biden administration. If "foreign forces fail to exit our country on the specified date, problems will certainly be compounded and those [who] failed to comply with the agreement will be held liable," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid tweeted Wednesday, per the Post. On Tuesday, the Taliban said it would not participate in any peace negotiations until U.S. and other foreign forces are gone. Read more at The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

Ashli Babbitt, 35, was shot attempting to climb through a barricaded door near the House chamber. The officer was firing in defense, DOJ found.      

The trip would be her first foreign visit as vice president and won't include a stop at the U.S.-Mexico border.

And what does this mean for your appointment? The rollout of the coronavirus vaccine took a big turn Tuesday when the Centers for Disease Control...

The Senate is poised to start debate on legislation confronting the rise of potential hate crimes against Asian Americans, testing whether the chamber can...