John Barsa, the acting administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, told his senior staff that he has tested positive for coronavirus, Axios reports.
Staffers say Barsa rarely wears a mask in their office.


The Senate confirmed retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to lead Pentagon, making him nation’s first Black secretary of defense, the AP reports. Only two Senators voted against Austin’s nomination; 93 Senators…
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced that the House will deliver the article of impeachment against former President Trump for “incitement of insurrection” on Monday, Axios reports. The Senate…
Charlie Sykes: “Even without Trump, the GOP remains a deeply unserious party.” “A serious party, for example, does not number in its ranks someone like Marjorie Taylor Greene.” “She is,…
New York Times: “President Biden moved into the White House this week, replacing a leader whose constant need to command attention left millions of American exhausted by the nonstop spectacle…
Politico: “Even as McConnell has seen some of his power ebb away—losing his Senate majority on the clay fields of Georgia, breaking with Donald Trump in the final days of…
Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN that the lack of truthfulness from the Trump administration regarding the Covid-19 pandemic “very likely” cost American lives. Said Fauci: “Particularly when you’re in the…
President Biden’s renovation of the Oval Office included the removal of a red button that Trump would use to call a butler to serve him a Diet Coke. Save to…
Jack Shafer: “At a time when large portions of the country think mainstream media is a tool of the left, perhaps it’s time to tone down the Biden adulation.” Save…
Politico: “Put simply, the Senate GOP says Biden’s proposal spends too much money and comes too soon on the heels of Congress’ $900 billion stimulus package from last month. And…
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“Senate Republicans are coalescing around a long-shot bid to dismiss the impeachment trial of former President Trump before it even begins, relying on a disputed legal argument that says putting…
Politico: “The former president has hired Butch Bowers, a longtime Republican attorney with experience in election law, to represent him when the Senate considers an article of impeachment, likely in…
“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is proposing to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to delay the start of the impeachment trial of former President Trump until February,” CBS News reports. “This…
An NPR analysis has found that nearly 1 in 5 people charged over their alleged involvement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol appear to have a military history. Save…
“President Biden is using his first full day in office on Thursday to go on the offensive against the coronavirus, promising to make aggressive use of his executive authority to…
President Biden’s White House has renewed subscriptions to The New York Times and The Washington Post after former President Trump canceled them out of anger over how he was portrayed,…
“Another 900,000 people filed new unemployment claims last week, President Donald Trump’s last in office, a snapshot of the significant labor market challenges facing President Biden,” the Washington Post reports….
“Sen. Rick Scott was among former President Donald Trump’s closest allies the past two years. But the Florida Republican pledged on Thursday to back GOP incumbents, even if Trump or…
“Former President Donald Trump can be convicted in an impeachment trial for his role in inciting the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6 even though he is no longer in office,…
“Former President Donald Trump saw sharp revenue declines across his family businesses last year as the Covid-19 pandemic took a steep toll on the Trump Organization’s hotels and golf resorts,…
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
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