CNN

Sen. Joe Manchin, the most pivotal Democratic swing vote in the Senate, threw a major wrench in his party’s carefully crafted plans to pass a massive $3.5 trillion bill by month’s end, demanding they take a “strategic pause” before considering a sweeping bill to implement much of President Joe Biden’s agenda.

The head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus is planning to send a letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy this week calling on him to change the rules in order to remove Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger from the Republican Conference for their roles on the January 6 select committee, CNN has learned.

Democratic Chairman of the January 6 Select Committee Bennie Thompson announced on Thursday that Republican Rep. Liz Cheney will become the panel’s vice chair, the latest sign that the Democrat-run committee is attempting to strike a bipartisan tone as it prepares to wade into politically contested waters.

As the United States-backed government in Afghanistan fell to the Taliban and US troops raced to leave the country, White supremacist and anti-government extremists have expressed admiration for what the Taliban accomplished, a worrying development for US officials who have been grappling with the threat of domestic violent extremism.

With the US withdrawal from Afghanistan officially complete, the White House is set to begin the difficult process of reviewing the chaotic and deadly evacuation operation that lurched into high gear after Kabul fell to the Taliban, forcing Biden officials to confront how they got things wrong in Afghanistan and ramping up the blame game inside the administration.

“The majority” of Afghans who worked for the United States during its two-decade military campaign were likely left behind in the chaotic and rushed evacuation from Afghanistan, a senior State Department official said Wednesday.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that “there isn’t going to be an impeachment” of President Joe Biden over the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, noting that Democrats control the House and Senate.

President Joe Biden tried twice last month to get to his beach house on the Delaware coast. He never made it.

President Joe Biden may have ended the “forever war” but the dangerous loose ends he left behind in Afghanistan could still thwart his attempt to throw everything at his top priority domestic goals.

A controversial Texas law that bars abortions at six weeks went into effect early Wednesday morning after the Supreme Court and a federal appeals court failed to rule on pending emergency requests brought by abortion providers.