Ted Cruz’s Cancún Trip: Family Texts Detail His Political Blunder (New York Times) – The Texas senator faced fierce blowback for fleeing his state as a disaster unfolded. Text messages sent by his wife on Wednesday revealed a hastily planned trip away from their “FREEZING” family home.
Biden repudiates Trump on Iran, ready for talks on nuke deal (Associated Press) – In addition to signaling a willingness to talk with Iran, the administration also reversed Trump’s determination that all U.N. sanctions against Iran had been restored. And, it eased stringent restrictions on the domestic travel of Iranian diplomats posted to the United Nations.
Gavel in hand, Bernie Sanders lays out an unabashedly liberal economic agenda (Washington Post) – As the new chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, Sanders has already played a key role in advancing President Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package, and he is now scheduling high-profile hearings on some of the nation’s most pressing challenges.
Massive breach fuels calls for US action on cybersecurity (AP) – A sweeping hack that may have revealed government and corporate secrets to Russia and which hijacked widely used software from Texas-based SolarWinds Inc., has exposed the profound vulnerability of civilian government networks and the limitations of efforts to detect threats.