President Joe Biden's State of the Union address Tuesday night is widely expected to double as a kickoff to his 2024 reelection campaign. It's being called a "soft launch" because Biden will not actually announce his candidacy but will instead make it unmistakably clear that he is running.

The Chinese spy balloon matter has become far more serious in recent hours — and it was serious enough to begin with.

The new, Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee held its first hearing Wednesday. Under Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), the hearing's purpose was to begin what is expected to be a long and detailed investigation of the crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border and the Biden administration policies that brought it about.

Republicans have long said the Hunter Biden laptop scandal is really a Joe Biden story. Now, it looks like the Joe Biden classified documents scandal is also a Hunter Biden story. Two Biden scandals are merging into one.

Columbia, South Carolina — Former President Donald Trump did something unusual here in South Carolina Saturday night. He held a small event, or at least a relatively small event. Trump is known for holding massive rallies, with 8,000, 10,000, 15,000, or even more attending. His appearance in the main lobby of the state Capitol in Columbia was tiny by comparison, with perhaps 500 people in the room, and maybe a little less than that.

What is the most important similarity of the Joe Biden and Donald Trump classified documents investigations? Of course, there is the simple fact that both men, the current and former presidents, are accused of mishandling classified information. But just as critical, from the public's perspective, is this: We don't know what that information was. We don't know if the classified material each allegedly mishandled involved the nation's most sensitive and carefully guarded secrets, secrets that would do grave damage to national security if revealed, or whether it was minor stuff that should never have been classified in the first place.

The United States has shipped massive amounts of military aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022. There has been bipartisan support on Capitol Hill for the aid, although some Republicans have questioned the price tag — $27.5 billion so far in military aid, or "security assistance" alone, which does not include tens of billions in financial, humanitarian, and other types of aid. Some GOP lawmakers have also expressed concern about the lack of safeguards in sending so much money to a notoriously corrupt country.

Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in as a justice of the Supreme Court more than four years ago, on Oct. 6, 2018. His oath followed perhaps the ugliest Supreme Court Senate confirmation process in history — and that, given the previous examples of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas, is saying something. But when it was all over, Kavanaugh settled in to the court, where he has, by all accounts, performed admirably ever since.

In a new interview with Fox News's Bret Baier, former South Carolina governor and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley walked close to the line of declaring her candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. "I'm not going to make an announcement here," Haley said. "But when you're looking at a run for president, you look at two things. You first look at, does the current situation push for new leadership? The second question is, am I that person that could be that new leader?"

Here's a lesson from the polls in the last 16 months. When President Joe Biden is unpopular, when things are going badly, his job approval rating falls to about 36%. When he is doing better, when things are going well, his job approval rises to about 44%.