Sticking with the plan

President Biden does not plan to extend the Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawing all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, administration officials confirmed today. He will accept the Pentagon's recommendation that more time is not necessary to evacuate Americans and Afghan allies from the country, though he has reportedly requested contingency plans should the situation change. Biden previously indicated that U.S. forces would remain in Afghanistan into September if needed, but expressed optimism that an extension would not be necessary.

• — Not everyone is happy about it. Biden held a virtual call this morning with other G7 leaders, some of whom want the president to extend the mission into September so vulnerable Afghans can be safely evacuated. Some U.S. lawmakers also have suggested that sticking with the Aug. 31 timeline is likely overly ambitious, given how many Americans and Afghan allies still needed to be evacuated. —The Hill
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• — Republicans are split. Highlighting the divisions in the GOP over how best to handle Afghan refugee resettlement is a spat between Sen. Ben Sasse and Senate candidate J.D. Vance. Sasse said, "We're talking about men and women who risked their lives to protect Americans. They fought hand in hand with our troops, and we made promises to them. When you fought on behalf of Americans to protect our people, you're welcome in my neighborhood." Vance replied, "Yes, let's help Afghans that helped us, but let's ensure that we're properly vetting them, so that we don't get a bunch of people who would blow themselves up at a mall because somebody looked at their wife the wrong way." —National Review
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• — "One of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history." CIA Director William Burns held a secret meeting yesterday in Kabul with the Taliban's de facto leader, Abdul Ghani Baradar, in the highest-level face-to-face encounter between the Taliban and U.S. officials since the militants seized the Afghan capital. As evacuation efforts continue, there are growing questions as to why U.S. personnel didn't respond to multiple intelligence warnings, issued beginning in April, urging them to leave the country. —The Washington Post

Select committee to request communications

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol is poised to send notices to telecommunications companies requesting that they preserve phone records for potential witnesses, including members of Congress. While it is unclear which members' records the committee is interested in, several Republican lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Rep. Jim Jordan, spoke to Donald Trump by phone on Jan. 6. The notices are set to go out as soon as this week, providing the first window into the kinds of information the committee plans to pursue. Committee Chair Bennie Thompson says there are "several hundred people" on the list of individuals the panel plans to contact. Stay tuned. —CNN

MORE: Timeline: Rep. Jim Jordan, a systematic disinformation campaign, and Jan. 6 —Just Security

Sepkowitz: Fighting Covid on all fronts

"Given our current predicament of rising cases and political nonsense, it is time to re-introduce another effective strategy for pandemic control: rapid diagnostic tests. Research and funding were largely focused on the miracle jab, and the initial results were so successful that other crucial parts of the scientific response were seemingly abandoned. … More accessible and accurate tests could help tamp down the spread of COVID-19 and act as a useful stopgap before booster shots are rolled out." —Kent Sepkowitz on CNN

Kent Sepkowitz is a physician and infection control expert at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

MORE: Troubling kids Covid data turn tide in school mask debate —Bloomberg

NY has a new governor

Kathy Hochul became the 57th governor of New York this morning, making history as the first woman to ascend to the state's highest office. She succeeds Andrew Cuomo, who announced his resignation from office two weeks ago, after a state attorney general's investigation concluded that he sexually harassed multiple women. "I want people to believe in their government again," Hochul said during a news conference after her swearing-in. "Our strength comes from the faith and the confidence of the people who put us in these offices, and I take that very seriously." Good luck to Gov. Hochul. —The New York Times

MORE: Cuomo blames 'political pressure and media frenzy' in farewell speech —The New York Times

Tikhanovskaya: Belarus' future is democracy's future

"The past year has been hard. Belarusians learned that the road to democracy is long and arduous. But the struggle goes beyond Belarus: All democratic nations have a stake in the future of the country. Not only is there a moral imperative to support our cause, but there's a strategic one, too, as an autocratic regime threatens to spread chaos across Europe. For the good of the continent, it must be stopped. And Belarusians, who have already come so far, must be free." —Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in The New York Times

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was a candidate against Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus' presidential election last year. She is now in exile, leading opposition efforts for a democratic transition in the country.

MORE: Poland to build fence, double troop numbers on Belarus border —Al Jazeera

Focus on voting rights

House Democrats have officially introduced a voting rights bill named after the late Georgia congressman and voting rights activist John Lewis. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act earned a stamp of approval from the White House yesterday, as the House is set to pass the bill this week. What would the legislation do?

• — Known formally as H.R. 4, the legislation would reinstate the federal preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act, which the Supreme Court rendered moot in 2013. The preclearance requires states and jurisdictions with histories of racial discrimination to gain approval from the Department of Justice before implementing any change to voting procedure.
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• — While H.R. 4 can pass the House without bipartisan support, it will need 10 Republican votes in the Senate to overcome the filibuster. Moderate Sens. Lisa Murkowksi and Joe Manchin have urged bipartisanship, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has called the bill "unnecessary." The lack of GOP support has led many Democrats to call for the end to the filibuster, something that moderates like Manchin don't condone.

1. — A new exception to the filibuster that would allow voting rights legislation to bypass the procedural rule has been floated by House Majority Whip James Clyburn, but hasn't gained significant buy-in. President Biden, a longtime member of the Senate, has continued to stop short of supporting such a move, despite increasing pressure from fellow Democrats. —The Hill

Nguyen: From Vietnam to Afghanistan, dissidents deserve our support

"One of the few socialist republics left in the world, Vietnam is an authoritarian state run by a nominally communist party, ruling over a population that is among the most pro-capitalist and pro-American on Earth. The precipitous fall of Afghanistan reveals that the United States cannot simply impose liberal democracy on other countries, even if they share such affinities. The desire for rights and reform must come from the people themselves. And in Vietnam, it is. But in a police state powerful enough to crush dissent, … dissidents need our attention and assistance." —Will Nguyen in The Washington Post

Will Nguyen is a pro-democracy advocate who works with civil society groups in the Asia-Pacific region, North America, and Europe.

MORE: Harris blasts China, says U.S. won't push Asia to pick sides —Bloomberg

Loved Steven B. from Florida's bus analogy. So accurate. —Gerri P., Iowa

I, too, am saddened by the terror of the Afghans left to the rule of the Taliban. However, I read a horrifying account of what happened when the British withdrew...in 1842. Perhaps one nation can't build another, even with the participation of many of the citizens who want things to change. —Anna K., Washington

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