POLITICO Tech

In a televised address on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two breakaway territories in eastern Ukraine as independent, amounting to a dramatic escalation of a crisis that Western leaders have warned is a pretext for a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Alex Ward reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Miranda Ollstein reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 insurance. Megan Messerly reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 himself. Andy Blatchford reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices