
Moderate Republicans float counteroffer to Biden's infrastructure proposal
CBSN
Several moderate Senate Republicans are discussing a potential counteroffer to President Biden's $2 trillion infrastructure proposal, which they consider to be too big and containing too many provisions unrelated to traditional infrastructure projects, such as highways, bridges and trains.
Senator Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday that the "sweet spot" for an infrastructure proposal would be between $600 and $800 billion and would focus on "roads, bridges, ports, airports including broadband into that, [and] water infrastructure." Senator Bill Cassidy, of Louisiana, told reporters on Wednesday that Republicans were working with a bipartisan group including Republican Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland, the president of the National Governors Association, and other members of Congress.
William "Rick" Singer, the mastermind behind the nationwide college admissions bribery scheme, can operate a new college counseling service as long as he discloses his criminal past to new clients, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled Monday. "In March 2019, Rick Singer pled guilty to federal charges-including racketeering conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and obstruction of justice-for his role in what was widely-publicized as the "Varsity Blues" college admissions scheme. Specifically, Mr. Singer admitted to, among other things: bribing standardized test proctors and administrators to engage in cheating on college entrance exams (i.e., the SAT and ACT); falsifying students' academic transcripts by paying third parties to take classes in their names; falsifying students' college applications with fake awards, athletic activities, and fabricated essays; and bribing college athletic coaches and administrators, through purported donations to their programs and personal bribes, to designate students as athletic recruits based on falsified athletic credentials.

Russia has rejected President Trump's "ultimatum" for Moscow to sign a ceasefire deal to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days on Tuesday as "unacceptable," calling for continued negotiations and insisting that the invasion ordered by President Vladimir Putin would continue until its goals are achieved.

Washington — President Trump's pick to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, is set to testify Tuesday at his Senate confirmation hearing, the first time he'll publicly face questions from lawmakers about his role in a Signal chat in which top administration officials inadvertently disclosed sensitive details about a military strike in Yemen.

Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. — A wildfire that tore through a historic Grand Canyon lodge and raged out of control Monday had been allowed to burn for days before erupting over the weekend, raising scrutiny over the National Park Service's decision not to aggressively attack the fire right away.