"There's a tradition in the White House: Every outgoing press secretary leaves a flak jacket in the office closet, along with a note to his or her successor. In fact, every note is still there, wrapped in a ribbon.

"It's worth wondering if Jen Psaki has read them.

"Psaki, 42, began her term as the 34th White House press secretary on Jan. 20. And while she hasn't yet worn the flak jacket into the briefing room, she might well want to try it on, just to see if it fits.

"In her first two weeks in office, Psaki, who served in the Obama White House as a deputy press secretary, has taken some heavy fire. She's been hit for reportedly soliciting journalists for the questions they'll be asking in the daily briefing, clashed with a couple reporters, been blasted for apparently using a homophobic slur, and been mocked for her repeated declaration that she'll 'circle back' with more information that she currently doesn't have."

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"There have been few other times in American history when the need for economic growth through strategic, responsible, pro-business policies has been as great as it is today. As our nation fights to overcome the horrendous health and economic consequences of COVID-19, we must balance our approach.

"We have to protect American families and individuals that have been hurt by this crisis while also keeping businesses open, incentivizing future growth of businesses large and small, and standing up to our economic adversaries, like Communist China, by reshoring our supply chain back home.

"The urgency with which we must act to correct course cannot be overstated. The United States government owes $27 trillion in debt, maintains a patchwork of federal regulations and policies that continue to make it more difficult for families and small businesses to chase their dreams, and is full of people who seem hell-bent on maintaining the wasteful and unaccountable status quo.

"The situation America finds itself in is undoubtedly challenging, but it's not insurmountable. Climbing out of this hole begins with opposing policies that will drive our nation further into debt, which will lead to increased inflation -- hurting those very families we are trying to help.

"Sadly, President Biden and his economic team think the solution to America's economic woes is for government to control the economy. That's wrong and it will only drive us more into debt, ruining the chances for our kids and grandkids to ever make it in our country. We have to remember that individuals and the private sector are the driving force of our nation's success. Not the government."

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"Joe Biden is off to the most left-wing start of any Democratic president in recent memory.

"The dulcet tones of Biden's inaugural address already seem an artifact of a bygone era. Republicans will hammer him for the rest of his presidency for failing to deliver on his unifying message, but the fact is that Biden is governing as he promised -- further to the left of his own record, further to the left of Barack Obama, and further to the left of any Democrat who made his career prior to the ascendency of the cultural left. ...

"The lesson is that the most important thing that any movement can do is influence the direction of a political party. If the center of gravity of a party moves, the entire establishment moves with it. So it is that Joe Biden, who has never been woke himself, is attempting to deliver victories to the left wing of his party that would have been almost unimaginable eight or twelve years ago -- and do it quickly.

"Despite Biden's moderate mood music, we can't say we weren't warned."

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"Jake Sullivan was one of the most prolific users of Hillary Clinton's forbidden email server. Now he's Joe Biden's national security adviser.

"Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland previously had ties to Christopher Steele in the Russia scandal.

"White House domestic adviser Susan Rice once falsely declared the Benghazi terror attack was provoked by an anti-Muslim video and later wrote the famously curious did-it-by-the-books email in the Russia scandal during her last minutes in he Obama administration.

"White House domestic adviser Susan Rice once falsely declared the Benghazi terror attack was provoked by an anti-Muslim video and later wrote the famously curious did-it-by-the-books email in the Russia scandal during her last minutes in he Obama administration.

"And top Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement official Melissa Hodgman is married to Peter Strzok, the fired FBI agent who supervised the discredited Crossfire Hurricane probe into Russia-Trump collusion."

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"In the flurry of President Joe Biden's executive orders was one that was almost entirely overlooked but could easily end up having the biggest impact.

"The order also seems harmless enough, going by the seemingly innocent title 'Modernizing Regulatory Review.' Except this order isn't about modernizing regulations. It's about unleashing the regulatory state with a ferocity never before seen in this country.

"Biden's order -- which didn't get released to the press until late in the evening of his first day -- aims to effectively toss the cost-benefit analysis that for many decades has served as at least a modest brake on the ambitions of regulators. In the past, regulations where the cost of compliance far exceeded the benefits could be stymied by the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

"Biden wants the review process instead to be 'a tool to affirmatively promote regulations' and 'to ensure swift and effective federal action' on everything from the pandemic, to the economy, to racial inequality, to the 'undeniable reality and accelerating threat of climate change.' In other words ... everything. ...

"Unfortunately, with this one executive order, Biden shows that he's intent on giving regulators carte blanch to impose massive new rules on businesses and households, on virtually anything and everything they do, regardless of costs. There's little else Biden has done so far that will have as wide-ranging an impact."

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"A coalition of six red states led by West Virginia sent a letter to the Biden administration Wednesday saying that they're watching its actions closely and willing to sue if they believe the new president is doing anything that runs afoul of individual rights, federal law or the Constitution.

"The group of Republican states was led by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey. The message comes after blue states for four years inundated the Trump administration with lawsuits. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is now President Biden's nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, filed more than 100 lawsuits against the Trump administration.

"'The President cannot cut constitutional corners or shirk statutory strictures without inevitably doing more harm to our country than good," the letter says. '[B]y this letter we respectfully urge you when pursuing your policy priorities to honor the core constitutional tenets which should be appreciated and respected by every person entrusted with the honor and burdens of the presidency.'

"The letter warns the Biden administration that the states are willing to pursue legal action if they believe the federal government is violating individual constitutional rights; exceeding limits on its powers; Biden is grabbing too much power for himself; or if the administrative state is not being held in check. ...

"The coalition of states also includes the state attorneys general of Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, Montana and Texas."

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"In Chicago, the teachers' union voted to reject the city's reopening schedule, demanding that its members continue to work remotely until all of the city's educators have been vaccinated, which might well mean that students would still be out of the classroom until the spring semester of 2022 or later. District leaders have described the union's position of militant noncompliance as an 'illegal strike,' which is what it amounts to and how it should be treated.

"The story is playing out much the same way in other cities ...

"Biden's nominee for education secretary, Miguel Cardona, reiterated the 100-day promise in an almost entirely content-free interview with NPR, offering such meaningless platitudes as: 'We can only safely reopen our schools while we are able to reduce spread and contain the virus,' and promising 'consistency in messaging,' as though messaging were the way to control a viral epidemic. Like the vaguely defined 'aid to state and local governments' in Democratic coronavirus-response plans, this has very much the look of a slush fund for demanding Democratic constituencies.

"Biden's $130 billion is basically a ransom payment. In a sane world, local officials and voters around the country would be wondering how exactly they allowed themselves to be put into the position of depending on a government-fortified monopoly for K-12 education, and considering what might be done about that situation."

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"The joke survives the test of time and, under the circumstances, deserves repeating. As the late journalist Mickey Carroll told it, a suburban town with a population 90 percent Irish and 10 percent Jewish held a mayoral election involving two candidates -- one Irish and one Jewish.

"The Irish candidate won with -- wouldn't you know it? -- 90 percent of the vote. Whereupon he immediately denounced the clannishness of the Jews!

"The story offers a useful way to view Joe Biden's calls for national unity. Let's just say our president is as sincere as the fictional Irish mayor.

"Biden won the right to pursue the leftist agenda he campaigned on. But his promise that he will also work for the Americans who didn' vote for him is more fig leaf than honest invitation."

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"Incoming Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has suggested taxing Americans for the number of miles they drive, a policy he endorsed as a Democratic presidential candidate.

"The Biden Administration is actively searching for ways to fund its ambitious $1 trillion infrastructure plan.

"Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., acknowledged 'privacy concerns' related to implementing a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) system but said it should be considered as a potential replacement for the gas tax. ...

"Buttigieg said tying the gas tax to inflation as well as the VMT model would be considered by the Biden Administration. ...

"To implement a VMT system, the federal government would likely have to establish a uniform in-car system for tracking the number of miles a driver travels similar to the EZ-Pass transponder that drivers put in their vehicles to pay tolls."

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"Republican strategist Karl Rove criticized President Joe Biden's inaugural address Thursday on Fox News, accusing Biden of delegitimizing his political opponents.

"'There was a point in there where he said we're divided as a country between the people who believe in the American ideal and racism, nativism and fear. No, we're divided as a country politically over questions of policy and direction and respect, but we're united as a country against racism and nativism,' Rove said on 'America's Newsroom.'"