Politics A.M.: Simone Biles, FBI director to testify at Senate hearing on Larry Nassar investigation

Top general was so fearful Trump might spark war that he made secret calls to his Chinese counterpart, new book says; White House considered requiring vaccines for international air travelers; Gavin Newsom is projected to prevail in his effort to remain in office; New details undermine Pence's supposed 'hero' turn on Jan. 6; Democrats target cigarettes and vaping as potential sources to pay for $3.5 trillion economic package; Three Democrats say they'll oppose party's drug-price plan, creating roadblock for larger package; Justice Department asks federal judge to block enforcement of Texas abortion law; Hawley threatens to block national security nominees unless Austin and Blinken resign over Afghanistan; All of this to keep Trump from getting upset; On stop in Colorado, Biden makes the economic case for his climate-focused agenda; No, the White House did not 'silence' Biden with a mute 'button' ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Introductory offer: Get one year of digital access for just $40.  Sign up for this newsletter Read online The most important politics stories today.     (Mike Blake/Reuters) Simone Biles, FBI director to testify at Senate hearing on Larry Nassar investigation Also, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols will speak about failed FBI investigation of USA Gymnastics doctor. By Devlin Barrett ●  Read more »   Top general was so fearful Trump might spark war that he made secret calls to his Chinese counterpart, new book says "Peril," by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, reveals how Gen. Mark A. Milley, the Joint Chiefs chairman, called his Chinese counterpart before the election and after Jan. 6 in a bid to avert armed conflict. By Isaac Stanley-Becker ●  Read more »   White House considered requiring vaccines for international air travelers The idea was shelved after some aides worried it would be impractical to require proof of vaccination every time a passenger boards a plane. The debate reflects the pressure on Biden to weigh practical, political and economic factors in setting covid strategy. By Annie Linskey and Yasmeen Abutaleb ●  Read more »   Gavin Newsom is projected to prevail in his effort to remain in office Larry Elder, the Republican front-runner, conceded By Scott Wilson and David Weigel ●  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   New details undermine Pence's supposed 'hero' turn on Jan. 6 A new book reports that Pence was entertaining Trump's effort to get him to overturn the election results more than we previously knew. Analysis ●  By Aaron Blake ●  Read more »   Democrats target cigarettes and vaping as potential sources to pay for $3.5 trillion economic package The new proposal put forward in the House targets a wide array of products, raising existing federal taxes on cigarettes and cigars while introducing the first fee on vaping products. By Tony Romm ●  Read more »   Three Democrats say they'll oppose party's drug-price plan, creating roadblock for larger package Lawmakers' opposition creates a new challenge for Democrats' $3.5 trillion tax and spending package. By Dan Diamond, Rachel Roubein and Amy Goldstein ●  Read more »   Justice Department asks federal judge to block enforcement of Texas abortion law The request to a federal judge comes less than a week after the Biden administration sued Texas over the restrictive abortion law. By Rachel Pannett ●  Read more »   Hawley threatens to block national security nominees unless Austin and Blinken resign over Afghanistan Because Democrats control the Senate, Hawley can effectively only delay President Biden's nominations. By Andrew Jeong ●  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   All of this to keep Trump from getting upset Nothing we've learned since Nov. 3 has eroded the understanding that Donald Trump's insecurity was the root of everything. Analysis ●  By Philip Bump ●  Read more »   On stop in Colorado, Biden makes the economic case for his climate-focused agenda The president argued that investments in green infrastructure were key to economic growth and noted that the country is on track to suffer more than $100 billion in damage this year from extreme-weather events. By Tyler Pager and Tony Romm ●  Read more »   No, the White House did not 'silence' Biden with a mute 'button' The president is a self-described "gaffe machine," but contrary to a right-wing narrative promoted by the RNC and Sen. James Risch, his staff did not cut the feed to prevent him from embarrassment. Analysis ●  By Glenn Kessler ●  Read more »     We think you'll like this newsletter Check out Coronavirus Updates for news to help you stay safe and informed during the pandemic. Access to all stories in the newsletter is free. Sign up »

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