1/ Biden directed the Pentagon to deploy more than 3,000 American troops to Eastern Europe to reinforce NATO allies as Russia continues its military buildup near Ukraine’s borders. Roughly 2,000 troops will be going to Poland, while another 1,000 already based in Germany will be deployed to Romania. “These forces are not going to fight in Ukraine,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said. “We are making it clear that we’re going to be prepared to defend our NATO allies if it comes to that.” The administration, however, did not rule out sending additional troops to Europe, and still has 8,500 American troops on “high alert” for possible deployment if NATO activates its military response force. (Politico / New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / USA Today / CNN / NBC News)

2/ The EPA urged Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to reconsider his plan to spend up to $11.3 billion on as many as 165,000 new mostly gas-powered delivery vehicles, citing the damage the polluting vehicles could inflict on the environment and public health. DeJoy oversaw the agency’s decision to award the contract and signed off on a plan for limiting just 10% of the new trucks to be electric. The new, gas-powered trucks are expected average 8.6 miles per gallon – a 0.4 mpg improvement over the current fleet, which is nearly 30 years old and well below the industry standard for new service vehicles. DeJoy, however, justified the plan, claiming that the Postal Service couldn’t afford to buy more electric vehicles and that the current charging infrastructure was insufficient despite the Postal Service’s own analysis showing that 95% of mail routes could be electrified. Postal Service vehicles make up a third of the government’s fleet. (Washington Post)

3/ Biden relaunched the White House’s “Cancer Moonshot” initiative, which aims to reduce the death rate from the disease by 50% over the next 25 years. Biden called the goal “ambitious but doable,” noting that the death rate has fallen by about 25% in the past 20 years. The initiative promises improvements in prevention, detection, and treatment, but does not contain new money for the effort. In 2016, Congress authorized $1.8 billion for the program, which still has two years of funding left. Biden called on Congress to fund the effort, as well as his 2021 proposal to create a new health research agency, dubbed the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. (Washington Post / CNN)

4/ A member of the House Jan. 6 committee accused Trump of tampering with witnesses by promising to pardon those involved in the attack if reelected in 2024. “Absolutely,” Rep. Pete Aguilar said when asked if Trump was tampering with witnesses by discussing potential pardons. “And I think the question is more...