Internal Revolt: The hardest of the hard right wing Republicans are in revolt over the debt and budget deal agreed to between Speaker Kevin McCarty and President Biden, threatening whether the deal can pass Congress. As many as 30 Republicans have vowed to vote against it.

  “Not one Republican should vote for this bill,” said Texas Rep. Chip Roy, an influential member of the ultra-right House Freedom Caucus who is rising in voice and power. Dan Bishop of North Carolina said of McCarthy’s deal making, “Nobody could have done a worse job,”  and that the deal might be grounds for ousting McCarthy from the Speaker’s seat.

  Nonetheless, McCarthy told reporters he’s “confident” the deal will pass. It needs 218 votes in the House, but even some Democrats have objections about new rules for nutrition programs and greenlighting of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Virginia, long a matter of contention with environmentalists.

  One of the big savings in the agreement is a so-called “clawback” of $30 billion in unspent money from six COVID pandemic programs. 

The Rich Are Different: Members of the Sackler family, the billionaire owners of Purdue Pharma, will get full immunity from all civil legal claims for their role in feeding the national opioid addiction crisis, a federal appeals court panel ruled yesterday.

  The family had demanded immunity in exchange for payment of up to $6 billion of their fortune for addiction treatment and prevention. The opioid epidemic was fed  by Purdue’s signature prescription painkiller, OxyContin.

  The Sacklers have not been involved with the company since 2018. Purdue will be re-named Knoa Pharma and will continue making OxyContin, as well drugs for addiction reversal and treatment.

Collapse: Authorities in Davenport, Iowa have put on hold plans to demolish a partially collapsed apartment building while five people remain missing. A center section of the six-story brick building collapsed on Monday, exposing the interior of apartment units. No deaths were reported.

  Residents are unconvinced that no one is left alive. Rescuers made the mistake of declaring the building cleared and ready for demolition late Monday, only  to see a woman waving for help from her window. 

  “The immediate question I know people are asking is, ‘How did she get there? And why wasn’t she found earlier?’” Mayor Mike Matson said yesterday. “I am totally transparent with you. I do not know. We do not know.”

The War Room: The Ukraine war is gradually moving into Russian territory. Russia says it shot down 10 drones launched to attack its Bryansk region, bordering Ukraine.

The Obit page: Retired Air Force Major Brian Shul, who survived being shot down over the jungles of Vietnam  and returned to fly the world’s fastest spy plane, died earlier this month in Reno, Nevada at age 75.

  Major Shul flew 212 combat missions over Vietnam before he was shot down and badly injured. It took a year to recover from disfiguring facial burns, but two days out of the hospital he was back in the cockpit.

  He spent his last four years in the Air Force flying the SR-71 Blackbird that could reach 85,000 feet and he once flew at 2,234 mph, faster than an anti-aircraft missile.

The Spin Rack: Theranos blood testing fraudster Elizabeth Holmes started her 11-year sentence yesterday in a Texas women’s prison camp at which she’ll be paid 12 cents an hour for her labor. She’s 39 and has two young children. — Nearly 90 percent of the Georgia peach crop was lost to a warm winter followed by a cold snap. — A 28-year-old Virginia man has been arrested in the February murder of New Jersey Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour, who was gunned down outside her home. The motive has not been revealed, but Rashid Ali Bynum matches the description of the shooter and his contact was in the councilwoman’s cellphone. — Roslynn Carter, the 95-year-old wife of former President Jimmy Carter has been diagnosed with dementia. She’s at home with her husband, who’s in hospice care. He’s 98. — A California appeals court ruled that Leslie Van Houten, who took part in two of the Charles Manson cult murders in 1969, should be paroled from her life sentence.  She has been recommended for parole five times since 2016 and rejected every time by Gov. Gavin  Newsom or former Gov. Jerry Brown. Van Houten was 19 at the time of the murders and the appeals court wrote that she has “shown extraordinary rehabilitative efforts, insight, remorse, realistic parole plans, support from family and friends, favorable institutional reports.” — Two thirds of the value of Twitter has disappeared since Elon Musk bought the company for $44 billion in October. — Tara Reade, the former Senate aide who accused President Biden of sexual assault as he ran for president in 2020, says she’s moving to Russia and seeking citizenship because that is where she feels “surrounded by protection and safety.”

Below the Fold: The beluga whale nicknamed Hvaldimir  known internationally as a Russian “spy” has been seen in Swedish waters. First discovered in 2019 after it was spotted wearing a harness with camera mounts, Hvaldimir was recently spotted in the waters of Norway’s capital Oslo, before he moved on to Sweden, where a bridge was closed to protect him.

  Rich German, President of the protection organization OneWhale, said, “Hvaldimir’s situation remains an extremely vulnerable one as Sweden is a highly populated country, but we are very grateful Swedish authorities have quickly taken action to care for the whale.”

  No word on whether the spy gear still works.

-30-