The Least Free Countries In The World (photos)

Axios’ morning email thingie alerts us that about half of the states are increasing minimum wage: The 21 states are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Oregon and Florida will raise their minimum wage later in 2025. Millions of workers are getting a raise on Wednesday, when the minimum wage is set to rise across 21 states, and 48 cities and counties, Axios’ Emily Peck writes. Why it matters: The increases lift the pay of more than 9.2 million people, per the Economic Policy Institute’s tally.

Today it was announced that Pres. Biden will award the former Vice Chairwoman of a Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection Liz Cheney, with the Presidential Citizens Medal, which is one of the nations highest civilian honors. The recipients the president selected to be honored in his last medal ceremony have “performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens,” the White House said in a statement on Thursday. -- The selection of Ms.

Rep. Tim Burchett told Fox News that he likes Mike Johnson as a Christian man and finds him very appealing for not cheating on his wife. If anything, this is a humiliating stamp of approval for the Speaker. The idea that Mike Johnson doesn't cheat on his wife has become a valid issue to determine if he's qualified to be the Speaker by Republicans shine's a light on Trump's sexual proclivities as well as many of Trump's cabinet nominations who have faced criminal sexual behaviors including Matt Gaetz and Pete Hegseth.

A watchdog group that has sounded the alarm about various picks for U. S. President-elect Donald Trump's next administration released a Monday report focused on the consulting and nonprofit work of incoming immigration official Tom Homan. Homan, who was acting director of U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during Trump's first term, is set to serve as "border czar," a post that does not require Senate confirmation. The new analysis by Accountable.

LAS VEGAS — The highly decorated Army soldier inside a Tesla Cybertruck packed with fireworks that exploded outside Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas shot himself in the head just before detonation, authorities said Thursday. The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people but virtually no damage to the hotel. Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill said Matthew Livelsberger, a Green Beret, likely planned a more damaging attack but the steel-sided vehicle absorbed much of the force from the crudely built explosive. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Damage from the blast was mostly limited to the interior of the truck because the explosion “vented out and up” and didn’t hit the Trump hotel doors just a few feet away, the sheriff said. “The level of sophistication is not what we would expect from an individual with this type of military experience,” said Kenny Cooper, a special agent in charge for the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Authorities are still working to determine a motive. “It’s not lost on us that it’s in front of the Trump building, that it’s a Tesla vehicle, but we don’t have information at this point that definitively tells us or suggests it was because of this particular ideology,” said Spencer Evans, the Las Vegas FBI’s special agent in charge. A handgun was found at the feet of the man in the driver’s seat, who officials believe is Livelsberger, 37, of Colorado, McMahill said.

This article is part of The D. C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox. When Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at the Capitol on Friday to swear-in the new class of Senators, many of the smiling politicians handing her their family Bibles will be the same ones who for months have been telling crowds that she was a threat to the American way of life.