New York Times: “While few Democrats are willing to publicly say so, the details of the more than 800-page bill — which would radically reshape the way elections are run and make far-reaching changes to campaign finance laws and redistricting — have become a point of simmering contention. Some proponents argue that Democrats should break off a narrower bill dealing strictly with protecting voting rights to prevent the legislation, known as the For the People Act, from collapsing amid divisions over other issues.”

“A broad coalition of Democrats and liberal advocacy groups insist that the measure should not be broken apart, arguing that now is the time for an ambitious overhaul. But with Senator Joe Manchin, a conservative West Virginia Democrat, opposed to the measure in its current form, Democratic leaders and Mr. Biden face tough decisions in the coming weeks about whether they can wrangle all their members behind it more or less as is, or must consider striking a narrower compromise.”

First Read: “President Biden and the Democrats have bet big on the coronavirus and the economy, ramping up vaccine distribution, passing the Covid relief law, and getting $1,400 checks in the hands of most Americans.”

“Republicans, meanwhile, are no longer even trying to message on the coronavirus and the Covid relief law – and they’re instead focused on immigration and the influx of migrants at the border.”

“These different messages have exposed political vulnerabilities for the other side.”

“Republicans have taken their eye off a pandemic that’s killed more than 500,000 Americans, and when it comes to the economy, they’re arguing that a boom was coming even before Biden’s stimulus.”

The Louisville Courier Journal reports that former Kentucky Rep. Charles Booker (D)–who ran for Senate in 2020 and lost to Democratic nominee Amy McGrath–says he’s “strongly considering” challenging Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in 2022.

A new Emerson College poll in New York finds that Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) currently has a 38% approval rating from registered voters.

In April, Emerson found Cuomo at a sky-high 71% approval.

President Biden released a video in support of workers in Alabama — an apparent message of support for a union organization effort happening at Amazon.

Vox: “The Golden Calf is one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament. The Israelites, newly freed from Egyptian slavery, have a crisis of faith while God is speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai. They melt down the golden jewelry to construct a physical god — a statue in the shape of a calf — to worship in place of their abstract, invisible deity. It’s a story about the allure of idolatry, how easy it is to abandon one’s commitments to principle in favor of shiny, easy falsehoods.”

“This biblical tale trended on Twitter in the US Friday morning because of the following video, filmed on the first day of the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference. Someone involved in the conference constructed a golden statue — not of a calf, but of Trump — and wheeled it out to cheers from conference attendees.”

“What the fuck, man? Is this America? What the fuck just happened? I’m so sick and tired of this shit.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) quoting a police officer who faced racist insults while protecting the Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“Donald Trump’s legal team is scrambling to collect and produce more videos to bolster their impeachment trial arguments after a rambling debut performance that enraged the former president and dismayed Republicans,” CNN reports.

“The move to use more videotape — and lean away from in-person arguments — amounts to a tacit acknowledgment that the lawyers Trump has enlisted to defend him during his second impeachment trial are failing to inspire confidence.”

“President Trump won’t get his coveted $2,000 stimulus checks — and he’s blaming the very Senate Republican leaders he’s trying to protect in the closing days of Georgia’s runoffs,” Politico reports.

“Though he is actively campaigning for the state’s two incumbent GOP senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, holding a Monday night rally to drive turnout to help save the Republican majority, Trump is continuing to run roughshod all over the party’s message for Tuesday’s must-win runoffs and, some Republicans worry, giving Democrats a perfect opening.”

The Guardian: Georgia runoffs will help define much of Biden’s first term.

“President Trump is torching his own party and its leaders on his way out of power — and tossing gas on the fire with a public call for mass protest next week and a vote to overturn his defeat,” Axios reports.

“Trump is demanding Republicans fully and unequivocally embrace him — or face his wrath. This is self-inflicted, self-focused — and dangerous for a Republican Party clinging to waning Washington power.”

CBS News: Are congressional Republicans breaking away from Trump?

“Jared Kushner approved the creation of a campaign shell company that secretly paid the president’s family members and spent almost half of the campaign’s $1.26 billion war chest,” Business Insider reports.

“The operation acted almost like a campaign within a campaign. It paid some of Trump’s top advisors and family members while shielding financial and operational details from public scrutiny.”

“Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, once viewed as a long-shot candidate to be President-elect Joe Biden’s defense secretary, is now considered a leading contender for the position,” Politico reports.

CNN: Biden’s delay in picking a defense secretary opens top contenders to uncomfortable scrutiny.

ABC News has confirmed Rudy Giuliani was admitted to Georgetown Hospital Sunday after testing positive for the novel coronavirus.

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), one of President-elect Joe Biden’s most influential allies, is pushing hard for Jaime Harrison to be the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Politico reports.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris tweets:

“The Trump campaign says it will seek recounts in several key states, but that’s highly unlikely to change the outcome,” Axios reports.

“Statewide recounts have historically only changed electoral margins by an average 430 votes, according to the nonpartisan election reform group FairVote. Joe Biden’s lead in several states is thin, but it’s not that thin.”

The New York Times has a very good tracker showing which media outlets have called the winner of each state.

“A federal judge in Texas scheduled an emergency hearing for Monday on whether Houston officials unlawfully allowed drive-through voting and should toss more than 100,000 votes in the Democratic-leaning area,” Reuters reports.

“In a brief order, U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Houston on Friday agreed to hear arguments by a Republican state legislator and others that votes already cast at drive-through voting sites in the Houston area should be rejected.”