POLITICO Tech

In a Ohio Senate GOP primary that holds five candidates, Josh Mandel has broken through as an early front-runner with brazen tweets and campaign trail provocations. But what makes him stand out is the length of his political arc: he's ubiquitous in Ohio politics and has been working on becoming a Senator for the past two decades — before turning 45. Michael Kruse reports. Learn more about your ad...

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told congressional appropriators in charge of supplemental pandemic funding that at least $30 billion is needed to keep Covid-19 response work going, arguing that while the Biden administration may have enough vaccines and therapeutics to ride out the Omicron surge, it doesn’t currently have enough money to respond to another variant. Alice Mirand...

Journalist Kenneth Rosen visited front lines across the Donbas region to witness Putin’s digital war with Ukraine, and questions whether the West is prepared for cyberattacks and the future of warfare. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A pair of looming state court cases in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin could significantly curtail mail voting ahead of the midterms — one of Republicans’ major goals since former President Donald Trump went to war against the practice in 2020. Zach Montellaro reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joe Biden entered the White House last year with the most ambitious climate agenda in history, but he's struggling to logmajor wins and setbacks keep mounting. Josh Siegel reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

An anonymously run Instagram account known as “Dear White Staffers” has exploded in popularity, spilling tea and dragging longstanding workplace issues on the Hill into the light. It has also accelerated congressional staffers’ talk of unionizing. The problem? Well, it's complicated. Katherine Tully-McManus reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the pandemic began, Congress barred states from kicking people off Medicaid in exchange for additional federal funding, Enrollment surged nearly 20 percent over the next 16 months to 76.7 million, an all-time high. But state audits that will be triggered when the health crisis is declared "over" could lead to as many as 15 million people, including 6 million children, losing their health insu...

An internal White House investigation recently concluded that President Joe Biden’s top science adviser, Eric Lander, bullied and demeaned his subordinates and violated the White House’s workplace policy. On Monday, Lander resigned. Reporter Alex Thompson — who had the original scoop — shares the story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With trucks and protesters occupying streets around Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, Ottawa's mayor Jim Watson has declared a state of emergency. The “Freedom Convoy” — a collection of semis and other large trucks — began as a rallying point for Canadians opposed to vaccine mandates. But it has snowballed into an increasingly organized fight against Covid-19 public health measures and Trudeau hi...

Russia now has an estimated 70% of the forces it needs for a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in place, according to Biden administration officials. A group of bipartisan Senators continue to work on a sanctions bill, and Europe and the U.S. are on alert. Alex Ward reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

China's human rights abuses — leading to diplomatic boycotts of the Beijing 2022 Games by the US, UK, Australia and more — have put athletes in a difficult spot. Phelim Kine reports Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Tuesday, Pfizer and BioNTech announced they’re seeking authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for the first two doses of a planned three-dose Covid-19 vaccine regimen for children under 5 — the last age bracket remaining witout a Covid-19 vaccine. The agency said that it would convene its independent panel of vaccine experts on Feb. 15 to consider the data. While many welcomed the...

President Joe Biden delivered a massive economic stimulus that sparked historic job growth — but is also a factor in why inflation is the highest it's been since the 80s. Now, he’s counting on the Federal Reserve to come to the rescue as inflation eats up people’s paychecks and feeds anxiety about the future. Victoria Guida reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Investigators for the Jan. 6 select committee have won a string of victories in court, obtaining testimony and records from Trump World. Now, they're preparing for their next battle, making those findings tangible — and understandable — to the public. Kyle Cheney reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement, setting off a flurry of anticipation about who his successor would be and how the confirmation process would play out. Josh Gerstein reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Climate change is eroding Hawaii’s most popular attraction. But, even in a deep-blue state, no one can agree on how to save it. Melanie Warner reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Republicans are accusing the Biden administration of racism — against white people. The FDA  recommended that race and ethnicity be considered when deciding who gets the limited supply of monoclonal antibody treatments — including the only antibody treatment to effectively work against the Omicron variant. But, it's now become the latest political talking point for Republicans, looking to energize...

For the third time in 10 years, California is in the middle of the national vaccine wars. On Monday, State Sen. Richard Pan unveiled legislation to eliminate the personal belief exemption for the impending Covid-19 vaccine mandate for K-12 students in California. California Playbook co-author Jeremy B. White reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two weeks ago, the first round of diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Russia took place. Last week, another round of diplomatic talks took place. And now, Russia has mobilized about 100,000 troops near its border with Ukraine. Alex Ward reports on the U.S.'s strategy to contain Russian aggression and possible outcomes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After failures to advance two high profile bills — the Build Back Better spending plan and voting rights — Democrats return to the drawing board.  Anthony Adragna reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Four big companies dominate the meat processing market — but the Biden administration has considered breaking them up for a long time. Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has been on a multi-state tour talking about new cash programs from the Biden administration and strengthening local meat supply chains — but it could take billions of dollars and years of building up for smaller produce...

After more than a month of surging case numbers due to the Omicron variant, the Biden administration is responding with more testing and masking. On Wednesday, it launched covidtests.gov, a website that allows users to request four free at-home covid test and this week also unveiled a plan to distribute hundreds of millions of free N-95 masks through pharmacies and community sites. Adam Cancryn re...

5G, more like 5 o-m-g! Amid concerns that AT&T's and Verizon's 5G rollout could cause thousands of flight cancellations and disruptions, the wireless companies agreed to heed the warnings of the aviation industry and scale back their rollout. How'd this get to be such a mess in the first place? Oriana Pawlyk reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, voting rights legislation hit a brick wall when Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) announced they would not support changing Senate rules to get around a potential filibuster. Today, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer still plans to allow debate on voting rights — despite its almost certain failure. Playbook’s Eugene Daniels looks at what's next for the Biden administratio...

There’s a saying that Southern Oregon has more trees than people, but recently, the area has been overrun by international cartels and gun-toting outlaw farmers. What’s happening there represents one of the paradoxes of the legalized marijuana movement: states with large legal markets are also dealing with rampant illegal production. Natalie Fertig reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...