
The left defies Pelosi as Biden's big hopes are in limbo
CNN
An extraordinary day and night of wrenching tension, failed 11th hour deal making and festering mistrust between liberal and moderate Democrats left President Joe Biden's vast domestic agenda in a dangerous limbo.
Progressive Democrats on Thursday defied fierce pressure from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and refused to pass a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, flexing new leverage in a bid to guarantee trillions more in the most sweeping social spending plan in a generation.
It is a rare day when Pelosi fails to control her caucus. But the veteran speaker, viewed with awe by many members for her vote-counting abilities, adopted a high-risk strategy of trying to force a vote on the first leg of Biden's forward-looking agenda. The infrastructure bill, which is the centerpiece of Biden's outreach to Republicans and his call for national unity, pours tens of billions of dollars into railroads, roads, airports and bridges.

White House officials are heaping blame on DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro over her office’s criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell, faulting her for blindsiding them with an inquiry that has forced the administration into a dayslong damage control campaign, four people familiar with the matter told CNN.

The aircraft used in the US military’s first strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a strike which has drawn intense scrutiny and resulted in numerous Congressional briefings, was painted as a civilian aircraft and was part of a closely guarded classified program, sources familiar with the program told CNN. Its use “immediately drew scrutiny and real concerns” from lawmakers, one of the sources familiar said, and legislators began asking questions about the aircraft during briefings in September.

DOJ pleads with lawyers to get through ‘grind’ of Epstein files as criticism of redactions continues
“It is a grind,” the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division said in an email. “While we certainly encourage aggressive overachievers, we need reviewers to hit the 1,000-page mark each day.”

A new classified legal opinion produced by the Justice Department argues that President Donald Trump was not limited by domestic law when approving the US operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro because of his constitutional authority as commander-in-chief and that he is not constrained by international law when it comes to carrying out law enforcement operations overseas, according to sources who have read the memo.









