| Welcome to The Daily 202! Tell your friends to sign up here. Via the Associated Press: On this day in 1933, the German Reichstag adopted the Enabling Act, effectively granting Adolf Hitler dictatorial powers. | | |  | The big idea | | Putin has escalated his efforts to smother dissent |  Russian police detain a participant of an unauthorized protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the Red Square in St. Petersburg, Russia on March 8. (Photo by Anatoly Maltsev/EPA-EFE) | | | Since ordering the invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has waged a domestic war on dissent that raises questions about whether he's acting on authoritarian reflex or he actually harbors concerns about the firmness of what has been his stranglehold on power. On Tuesday, the most prominent dissident voice against Putin, jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, was sentenced to nine more years in prison. His organizations were designated "extremist," on a par with ISIS, meaning anyone who supports them could be incarcerated. The new blow against Navalny — who now appears set to be imprisoned until Putin is in his late 70s — drew accusations of political manipulation from the West. But the sentence was just the latest in a remarkable string of actions Putin has taken to silence dissent at home against his war in Ukraine, which has pulled thousands of Russians to protest in the streets and drawn overwhelming international condemnation abroad. Even China hasn't endorsed Moscow's actions. Putin has: | | In an escalation of his threats against domestic critics, Putin warned last week he would wipe out "scum and traitors" he accused of secretly working with the United States and its allies and undermining the war effort. "Any people, and particularly the Russian people, will always be able to tell the patriots from the scum and traitors and spit them out like a midge that accidentally flew into their mouths," Putin said. "I am convinced that this natural and necessary self-cleansing of society will only strengthen our country, our solidarity, cohesion and readiness to meet any challenge." | Putin's frustration has fed off the war inside Ukraine, which has not gone according to Moscow's plan. | | "Now Putin's back is against the wall," President Biden said Monday. "He wasn't anticipating the extent or the strength of our unity. And the more his back is against the wall, the greater the severity of the tactics he may employ." Biden was talking about Russia's tactics inside Ukraine. But one longtime student of Putin's thinking told The Daily 202 that the former KGB officer worries — as he always has in his two decades in power — about popular or palace uprisings. "He remains, as he should be now, very concerned about whether there will be a popular revolt," former intelligence officer Angela Stent, the author of the prizewinning "Putin's World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest," said in an interview. The answer to whether Putin is acting on authoritarian instinct or because he's worried about fissures in his power is "yes." You can't separate one from the other. "It's an authoritarian instinct that's been there all along. But it's certainly been exacerbated. The war isn't going well," said Stent, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "He has to be concerned about the possibility of a palace coup." Two experiences shape Putin's worldview. He was a mid-level KGB officer in Dresden when the U.S.S.R. fell and East Germans surrounded the fearsome secret police's headquarters there, forcing people inside to burn the files. "He's afraid of the street," Stent said. | | And there was the 1996 St. Petersburg mayoral election in which the incumbent lost. Putin, then a deputy mayor, concluded "it's not very good to have an election where you don't know the outcome beforehand," she said. | Officially, the White House isn't offering a diagnosis of the Russian leader's political health. | | On Tuesday, Biden national security adviser Jake Sullivan sidestepped the question of whether Putin's days in power are numbered. "From our perspective, what happens with respect to the Russian political system is something that will be worked out inside Russia," Sullivan told reporters. | | |  | What's happening now | | Day 3 of Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court confirmation hearings |  Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson testifies on the third day of the Senate judiciary committee confirmation hearing on her nomination to be the first black female judge on the Supreme Court. (Michael Reynolds-EPA-EFE-Shutterstock) | | Poland to expel 45 Russians 'pretending to be diplomats' | (Limited) Capitol tours to start back up next week | Putin plans to attend G-20 summit despite calls to exclude him | | "Putin plans to attend the Group of 20 summit that is being hosted by Indonesia this year, Russia's ambassador to the Southeast Asian country said Wednesday. Western nations are reportedly trying to exclude Moscow from the G-20, a group of the world's largest economies," Amy Cheng and Adela Suliman report. | Taliban reopens Afghan schools — except for girls after sixth grade | | "The Taliban reopened schools across Afghanistan on Wednesday but issued a last-minute ruling banning classes for girls beyond the sixth grade, citing space constraints and 'technical issues,' according to the acting deputy minister for education, Sakhaullah Saeed," Susannah George reports. | | |  | Lunchtime reads from The Post | |  Supporters of former president Donald Trump have continued to demand mass arrests over alleged wrongdoing in the 2020 elections. But prosecutors have filed only a handful of charges in swing states. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg) | | As GOP lawmakers push for more election fraud charges, prosecutors find few cases | | "Across the country, officials are openly resisting calls from allies of former president Donald Trump for mass arrests of people they claim stole the presidential election for Joe Biden. In fact, in swing states targeted by Trump, officials have so far brought only a handful of fraud prosecutions," Rosalind S. Helderman and Amy Gardner report. What the numbers show: "There is no national tracking of voter fraud cases, and comprehensive surveys are difficult, given that cases are often undertaken by local prosecutors. But a Washington Post survey of attorneys general and large district attorney offices in the six swing states turned up just 39 cases of people charged with illegal activity related to the November 2020 election." The allegations: "Most were felons who are alleged to have registered to vote or cast ballots despite having lost the right to vote because of their criminal conviction. A few allegedly voted in the name of dead relatives." | Where's Putin's cyberwar? |  Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a government meeting via a video link in Moscow on Wednesday. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputknik/AFP via Getty Images) | | | "The escalating warnings of a Russian cyberattack on the U.S. cut against one of the war's most perplexing mysteries: Why has the Kremlin held back from unleashing its full hacking might against Ukraine?" Politico's Maggie Miller reports. "Before Vladimir Putin launched his invasion a month ago, security experts warned that the coming conflict could redefine cyber warfare — both for Ukraine and for the United States. But so far, cyberattacks have been of limited importance in a war that Russia has waged using tanks, rockets, missiles and bombardments of civilians." | Dissent is brewing in Russia | | "In Russia, the slow going and the heavy toll of President Vladimir V. Putin's war on Ukraine are setting off questions about his military's planning capability, his confidence in his top spies and loyal defense minister, and the quality of the intelligence that reaches him. It also shows the pitfalls of Mr. Putin's top-down governance, in which officials and military officers have little leeway to make their own decisions and adapt to developments in real time," the New York Times's Anton Troianovski and Michael Schwirtz report. | | Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, former commanding general of the U.S. Army Europe | "I'm one of those people who over the years has been saying [the next war] would be so much cyber. Instead it's been almost medieval what we have seen, not just sort of a cyber juggernaut that I had expected." | | | | | | | | |  | The latest on covid | | Moderna: Our coronavirus vaccine for young children is safe. Efficacy is more complicated. | | "Vaccine maker Moderna announced Wednesday its two-dose pediatric coronavirus vaccine was safe in young children, toddlers and babies in a study," Carolyn Y. Johnson reports. "But the effectiveness of the shot in children 6 months to 5 years old was more of a mixed picture because of the challenge presented by the highly transmissible omicron variant." | | |  | Investor activity in the home market, visualized | | | |  | The Biden agenda | | What we're watching for as Biden heads to Europe: | More sanctions on hundreds of Russian lawmakers |  President Biden waves before boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on Wednesday. (Evan Vucci/AP) | | A possible announcement to maintain increased number of U.S. troops in NATO countries near Ukraine | Continuing pressure on China | | "Biden, who during a videoconference Friday threatened President Xi Jinping with unspecified consequences should Beijing help Russia while it wages war in Ukraine, will discuss messaging on China during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit and also during a European Council meeting, [national security adviser Jake Sullivan] said Tuesday," the WSJ's Alex Leary reports. | A potential announcement expediting resettlement of some vulnerable Ukrainian refugees in U.S. | | "The plan would allow vulnerable Ukrainians, specifically activists, journalists and those who are part of the LGBTQ community, to safely enter the U.S. at least temporarily. It would also expedite the reunification of Ukrainians with U.S.-based family members," NBC News's Julia Ainsley reports. | Biden promised billions for climate and equity initiatives. But that's not his call. | | "Biden's inability to control how a large portion of the infrastructure money gets spent is largely due to legal constraints. About 75 percent of the infrastructure law will be distributed to states via a complicated formula set by existing statute, including the bulk of federal highway dollars," Politico's Zack Colman reports. | The president's unappetizing options to tamp down gas prices | | "Publicly, White House officials have said all options are on the table: a gasoline tax holiday or gas cards that would provide rebates to consumers; potential deals to remove sanctions on Iranian and Venezuelan crude exports; and possible relaxation of the Jones Act, a law requiring domestic cargo to be carried on American-made tankers using union labor," Reuters's Jarrett Renshaw reports. But in private: "Officials say all the options are politically complicated and none of them may actually lower gas prices much, according to two sources familiar with the administration's thinking." | Reuters/Ipsos poll: Biden's approval rating drops to new low | | "Biden's public approval rating fell to a new low of 40% this week, a clear warning sign for his Democratic Party as it seeks to retain control of Congress in the Nov. 8 election," Reuters's Andy Sullivan reports. | | |  | Hot on the left | | Some states are moving toward legalizing magic mushrooms |  Magic mushrooms are being weighed and packaged at the Procare farm in Hazerswoude, central Netherlands, in 2007. (Peter Dejong/AP) | | | "For decades, psilocybin has been at the forefront of the movement to decriminalize psychedelic drugs. A growing body of research into the therapeutic potential of mushrooms and other psychedelics, particularly in treating depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, and end-of-life distress, has helped destigmatize this class of drugs and bring them further into the scientific and cultural mainstream," the Nation's Aída Chávez reports. Striking a balance: "After more than 50 years of the War on Drugs, the politics of psychedelic reform are evolving at a remarkable speed, with many cities and states actively considering decriminalization or reform. But altered states of consciousness are no safe harbor from the pursuit of profit." | | |  | Hot on the right | | Cruz, Hawley, Cotton and Blackburn are grilling Ketanji Brown Jackson. Are they running? | | "In a Senate where committee meetings often go unattended and unnoticed, a Supreme Court hearing is still one of politicians' biggest platforms. And the quartet of potential 2024 hopefuls knows it, all of them sitting together on a national stage more than a year before the presidential primaries begin," Politico's Burgess Everett reports. The lines of questioning: "Although most of the Republicans on the judicial panel considered future White House candidates warmly began questioning Jackson, they quickly descended into the usual antagonism that accompanies most questioning of a prospective Supreme Court justice by senators in the minority party." | | |  | Today in Washington | | | Biden is scheduled to arrive in Brussels at 3:50 p.m. and meet with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo at 4 p.m. (All times EST.) | | |  | In closing | | HRC needs movie recommendations for isolation | | Hillary Clinton announced via Twitter Tuesday that she has covid-19 but is "feeling fine." (She said Bill is testing negative and quarantining elsewhere.) But Hillary wants to hear your movie recs. (White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested the Netflix miniseries "Inventing Anna.") | | Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow. | | |
