Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer is calling on the nation’s 74 inspectors general to protect government whistleblowers amid President Donald Trump’s ouster of key government officials in the impeachment probe. In a letter Monday to the Defense Department inspector general, Schumer said Army Lt. Col. Alex Vindman has been “viciously attacked” by the Republican president after “bravely stepping forward to tell the truth.” Vindman, a White House national security council official when he testified before the House impeachment inquiry, was removed Friday and reassigned. Vindman’s twin brother, Lt. Col. Yevgeny Vindman, also was asked to leave his job as a White House lawyer. Also out Friday was Gordon Sondland, who had been Trump’s ambassador to the European Union.

Presidential politics move fast. What we’re watching heading into a new week on the 2020 campaign: ___ Days to New Hampshire primary: 1 Days to general election: 267 ___ THE NARRATIVE Chaos in Iowa has sparked a deep sense of anxiety among Democrats, who hoped the kickoff contest would provide clarity and evidence of excitement at the official starting line of the 2020 primary season. Results were unclear, and turnout disappointed. Instead, New Hampshire voters on Tuesday are under the weight of deepening concerns about Democratic enthusiasm and glaring flaws in their leading presidential candidates.

Elizabeth Warren isn’t struggling like Joe Biden. But she isn’t soaring, like Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders. Instead, the Massachusetts senator enters a critical stretch of the campaign relegated to the murky middle. She has to convince voters she has a viable path to the nomination, even if that path is unclear. Her campaign has spent millions of dollars flexing organizational muscle throughout the country, but she’s lagging in her own backyard ahead of Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. “I think it’s going to be tough if she doesn’t do well,” said Neil Levesque, executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.

Two experimental drugs failed to prevent or slow mental decline in a study of people who are virtually destined to develop Alzheimer’s disease at a relatively young age because they inherited rare gene flaws. The results announced Monday are another disappointment for the approach that scientists have focused on for years — trying to remove a harmful protein that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s, the leading cause of dementia. “We actually don’t even know yet what the drugs did” in term of removing that protein because those results are still being analyzed, said study leader Dr. Randall Bateman at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

President Donald Trump unveiled a $4.8 trillion election year budget plan on Monday that recycles previously rejected cuts to domestic programs like food stamps and Medicaid to promise a balanced budget in 15 years — all while leaving Social Security and Medicare benefits untouched. Trump’s fiscal 2021 plan promises the government’s deficit will crest above $1 trillion only for the current budget year before steadily decreasing to more manageable levels, relying on optimistic economic projections, lower interest costs, scaled-back overseas military operations and proposed cuts to agency budgets that run counter to two previous budget deals signed by Trump.

Currently, in its 32nd year, Yad Batya L’Kallah has worked tirelessly to assist brides in need in the most dignified manner.  With your continued support, you allow us to continue this holy work.  We want to be able to keep on giving… giving kallahs, but also giving back to all our supporters and donors.

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This is your last chance! If you, or someone you know, is in search of a shidduch, sponsor a daf and be a part of this amazing mission!    Right now, hundreds of lomdim are at the Veitzener Cheder Yeshiva Ohr Boruch building on a 24-hour quest to complete Shas. Tu B’Shvat is a day of tremendous value and significance, but did you know that Tu B’Shvat is also a predetermined time for zivugim?   That’s why Chicago Chesed Fund created this yearly event, to help singles in our communities gain zchusim to find their bashert.    Help bring everyone closer to their perfect match! Sponsor a daf for $100, and you can submit the names of 5 singles who are looking for their bashert. Maaser money may be used! But hurry—the learning IS HAPPENING NOW!

The U.S. ambassador to Israel has cautioned Israel against “unilateral action” in annexing West Bank settlements, warning that such a move could endanger the Trump administration’s recently unveiled Mideast plan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had initially sought to move quickly to annex large swathes of the West Bank containing Jewish settlements, following the U.S. plan’s announcement on Jan. 28. Netanyahu called for his Cabinet to vote on such a measure, only to call it off a day later. The move would have risked provoking a harsh backlash from the Palestinians and the international community. U.S.

Iranian State Television reported on Sunday that the country launched an Iranian built satellite named Zafar 1 into space. The satellite, however, did not manage to make orbit and crashed back to earth without having enough speed to breach the earth’s atmosphere. “Stage-1 and stage-2 motors of the carrier functioned properly and the satellite was successfully detached from its carrier, but at the end of its path it did not reach the required speed for being put in the orbit,” a Defense Ministry space program spokesman by the name of Ahmad Hosseini told state TV. According to the Associated Press, “Sunday’s failure came after two failed launches of the Payam and Doosti satellites last year, as well as a launchpad rocket explosion in August.