Good Thursday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.

_____________________

• R. Alexander Acosta, the secretary of labor, defended his role in Jeffrey Epstein’s prosecution on sex crimes charges in Florida over a decade ago, when he approved a lenient sentence for the financier. Rebuffing Democrats’ calls for his resignation, he said on Wednesday that he had faced a tough choice between accepting the plea deal and going to trial with witnesses who were scared to testify.

• Amy McGrath, who hopes to unseat Senator Mitch McConnell in 2020, set a record for money raised in the first 24 hours of a Senate campaign: $2.5 million, eclipsing the first-day totals for some heavyweight contenders in the presidential race.

• The results are in from the first big test of the Republican Party’s efforts to elect more women to Congress: Dr. Joan Perry, a newcomer seen by Republicans as a top recruit for 2020, was soundly defeated in a House primary race in North Carolina.