Now that former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial is over, President Joe Biden is working this week to shift attention back to his ambitious agenda, with COVID-19 and his $2 trillion relief package taking center stage.

As Biden continues to work to get at least some Senate Republicans on board, he’ll also take his message outside of Washington and directly to the American people while making his first official trips as president.

On Tuesday, Biden will take part in a televised CNN town hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, before heading to Kalamazoo, Michigan Thursday, where he is expected to tour a Pfizer manufacturing facility currently producing the COVID-19 vaccine and meet with workers.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Nearly 60 percent of Americans believe former President Donald Trump should have been convicted in his second impeachment trial, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Monday.

While 58 percent of Americans overall believe the former president should have been convicted, the poll split largely along party lines. Eighty-eight percent of Democrats believe Trump should have been convicted, while 64 percent of independents and just 14 percent of Republicans agree.

Read the rest of the story at Politico

Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have been on a major decline since their peak numbers from the middle of January, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

There were 71,844 new cases reported on Sunday, a nearly 19,000 drop from the number of cases reported on Saturday, according to the tracking project. In January, the number of new daily cases reached higher than 225,000, the health data showed.

Since Jan. 12, the seven-day average of new cases has decreased by nearly 64%, according to the tracking project.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

On the third anniversary of the Parkland school shooting, President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass stricter gun laws, including banning assault weapons. In a statement from the White House, Mr. Biden on Sunday asked Congress to pass laws requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers. 

“Today, as we mourn with the Parkland community, we mourn for all who have lost loved ones to gun violence,” Mr. Biden said. 

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

President Biden’s allies say that with the distraction of the impeachment trial of his predecessor now over, he will quickly press for passage of his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan before moving on to an even bigger agenda in Congress that includes infrastructure, immigration, criminal justice reform, climate change and health care.

Mr. Biden has so far succeeded in pushing his agenda forward even amid the swirl of the impeachment, trial and acquittal of former President Donald J. Trump. House committees are already debating parts of the coronavirus relief legislation he calls the American Rescue Plan. Several of the president’s cabinet members have been confirmed despite the Trump drama. And Mr. Biden’s team is pressing lawmakers for quick action when senators return from a weeklong recess.

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

President Biden announced Thursday his administration has finalized an order for 200 million more doses of COVID-19 vaccine to be delivered by July 2021, adding to the 400 million doses that the Trump administration had already ordered from Pfizer and Moderna by that date. The two drug companies both produce a two-shot regimen, so the total 600 million doses will vaccinate 300 million people — most of the U.S. population.

“Within three weeks, round-the-clock work of so many people, people standing behind me and in front of me, we’ve now purchased enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all Americans and now we’re working to get those vaccines in the arms of millions of people,” Mr. Biden said in remarks at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

The Biden administration is withdrawing the federal government’s support for a challenge to Obamacare, telling the Supreme Court that the law should remain on the books.

The move by the Justice Department follows speculation on whether Biden would try to withdraw from the high-profile red state lawsuit — fully supported by the Trump administration — to strike down the entirety of the Affordable Care Act.

Read the rest of the story at Politico

Wearing a mask — any mask — reduces the risk of infection with the coronavirus, but wearing a more tightly fitted surgical mask, or layering a cloth mask atop a surgical mask, can vastly increase protections to the wearer and others, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Wednesday.

New research by the agency shows that transmission of the virus can be reduced by up to 96.5 percent if both an infected individual and an uninfected individual wear tightly fitted surgical masks or a cloth-and-surgical-mask combination.

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

Lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) plays a video montage of the riots at the US Capitol on January 6 and argues that former President Trump’s words inspired the attack.

See the video at CNN

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office has opened an investigation into former President Donald Trump’s Jan. 2 phone callurging Raffensperger to overturn the state’s election results.

“All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state,” Trump told Raffensperger in the phone call, which is expected to play a prominent role in Trump’s impeachment trial this week.

Raffensperger’s office confirmed that it had opened the inquiry after it received a complaint about Trump’s conduct.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that officials are considering a requirement that passengers provide a negative COVID-19 test ahead of domestic flights, according to an interview published on Sunday.

One of President Biden‘s first confirmed Cabinet members told “Axios on HBO” that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is engaged in “an active conversation” on whether to implement the requirement.

“What I can tell you is it’s going to be guided by data, by science, by medicine and by the input of the people who are actually gonna have to carry this out,” he said. “But here’s the thing: The safer we can make air travel in terms of perception as well as reality, the more people are gonna be ready to get back in the air.”

Read the rest of the story at The Hill

The Biden administration will begin removing all Senate-confirmed U.S. attorneys appointed during the Trump administration, with two exceptions, a senior Justice Department official said.

The process, which is not uncommon, could start as early as Tuesday. They will be asked to resign.

John Durham will remain in place to investigate the origins of the Russia probe, but not as U.S. attorney for the district of Connecticut, the official said. He was appointed as a special counsel and given extra protections for the inquiry by Attorney General William Barr last fall.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

The demand for Covid-19 vaccine doses may outpace supply at the moment, but availability is already looking better for the months ahead, Anthony Fauci said Sunday morning.

“The demand clearly outstrips the supply right now,” Fauci told NBC’s Chuck Todd. “If you look at the escalation of availability of doses purely on the ability and the capability of manufacturing, it’s going to escalate and will continue to escalate as we go from February to March to April and beyond.”

Read the rest of the story at Politico

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers capped the strangest season in pro football history Sunday night by staging a familiar scene: Tom Brady hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Brady threw three touchdown passes, two to longtime teammate Rob Gronkowski, as Tampa Bay defeated the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs, 31-9, in Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, the first modern title game ever played on the home field of one of the two finalists.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

A woman arrested in connection with the attack on the U.S. Capitol will be able to go on a prepaid trip to Mexico this month, after a judge granted her request Friday.

Jenny Cudd, a flower shop owner in Midland, Texas, initially faced two misdemeanor charges — entering a restricted building and violent or disorderly conduct — after allegedly posting a social media video in which she boasted about participating in last month’s Capitol riot, according to the FBI affidavit.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

House Democrats asked Donald Trump to testify under oath for his Senate impeachment trial, challenging him to respond to their charge that he incited a violent mob to storm the Capitol. A Trump adviser said the former president won’t testify.

Although Democrats might not have the power to force Trump’s testimony, the request from House impeachment managers is part of their overall effort to put the violent events of Jan. 6 on the record for history and hold him accountable for his words. Democrats will look to use his refusal to testify against him as they argue that the ex-president has avoided responsibility for his actions.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Smartmatic, one of the voting systems companies subjected to a torrent of conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 election, has filed a massive $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, top Fox stars Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro, as well as pro-Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.

The suit accuses Fox News, its hosts, and guests of running a “disinformation campaign” against the company.

That disinformation campaign, which included false statements about Smartmatic and another voting systems company, Dominion, was waged in service of the conspiracy theory that Donald Trump did not lose the 2020 election.

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

Johnson & Johnson applied to the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday for emergency use authorization for its experimental Covid-19 vaccine. The FDA could grant the authorization within weeks.

If it is authorized, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine would be the third approved in the U.S., joining the vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

“Today’s submission for emergency use authorization of our investigational single-shot Covid-19 vaccine is a pivotal step toward reducing the burden of disease for people globally and putting an end to the pandemic,” Dr. Paul Stoffels, Johnson & Johnson’s chief scientific officer, said in a news release.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

President Biden told House Democrats in a phone call Wednesday that he’s still committed to pursuing a large COVID relief package even as Senate Republicans are pushing him for a much smaller, more targeted relief bill, but he also expressed a willingness to negotiate.

“You have my back, I’ll have yours,” the president said, according to sources on the call.  

Mr. Biden met with Republican senators on Monday to hear their proposal for a $600 COVID relief package, roughly a third of the size of the $1.9 trillion package the White House crafted. While the two plans have similar dollar figures allocated for a national vaccination program, testing, and disaster relief, the administration wants to spend more on unemployment insurance, stimulus checks, and aid to state and local governments, among other things.  

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

Liz Cheney, the third-highest-ranking Republican in the House, held on to her title as House GOP conference chair during a secret ballot Wednesday.

Three sources said the vote among Republican House members was 145-61.

Cheney refused to apologize for voting to impeach former President Donald Trump during the closed-door meeting with her GOP conference Wednesday evening, according to a source in the room. Cheney was among the 10 House Republicans who voted for the article of impeachment accusing Trump of inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol, which led to the deaths of five people.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden paid respects Tuesday night to Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died from injuries suffered during last month’s violent siege on the U.S. Capitol, as he lies in honor at the Capitol Rotunda.

The first couple walked up to the memorial to Sicknick, and the president placed a hand on Sicknick’s urn. The two paused and placed their hands on their heart to pay their respects, before moving to flowers placed in the room in his honor.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Top House Democrats are moving to force Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene off multiple committees this week — with or without Kevin McCarthy’s help.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer delivered an ultimatum to McCarthy on Monday: Either Republicans move on their own to strip Greene (R-Ga.) of her committee assignments within 72 hours, or Democrats will bring the issue to the House floor.

The Democrats’ move, while highly unusual, comes amid intense fury within the Democratic Caucus over Greene’s long record of incendiary rhetoric, including peddling conspiracy theories that the nation’s deadliest mass shootings were staged. Greene also endorsed violence against Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats before she was elected to Congress.

Read the rest of the story at Politico

Look up in the sky. What do you see? A former Wisconsin pharmacist allegedly believed the sky was a shield to stop people from seeing God. The recently released FBI search warrant application on defendant Steven R. Brandenburg, 46, reveals more context around the alleged motivations and mindset that fueled him sabotaging 570 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.

His pharmacy technician at Advocate Aurora Health Systems told investigators the defendant was big on conspiracy theories, according to documents (h/t The Daily Beast). For example, he would tell her the earth was flat, and the sky was not real. Instead, what we see up there is “a shield put up by the Government to prevent individuals from seeing God.” Also, “Judgment Day” was coming.

His attorney of record did not immediately respond to a Law&Crime request for comment.

Read the rest of the story at Law & Crime

President Joe Biden has agreed to meet a group of 10 Republican senators who have proposed a slimmed-down coronavirus relief plan that they say can win bipartisan support.

The Republicans’ proposed package is much smaller than Biden’s $1.9 trillion proposal, and includes $160 billion for vaccines, $4 billion for health and substance abuse services, the continuation of current unemployment aid and unspecified “targeted” economic assistance and help for schools.

The invitation came late Sunday after the senators requested the meeting.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Two men identified as members of the Proud Boys have been indicted on federal conspiracy and other charges in the Capitol riot as prosecutors raise the stakes in some of the slew of cases stemming from the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Dominic Pezzola, a former Marine who authorities say was seen on video smashing a Capitol window with a stolen Capitol Police riot shield, and William Pepe, who authorities said was photographed inside the building, were arrested earlier in the month on federal charges that included illegally entering a restricted building. The two, both from New York state, have now been indicted in Washington on charges that newly include conspiracy.

Read the rest of the story at Politico

Today’s guests were Glenn Kirschner, John Fugelsang, and Frangela

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Dominion Voting Systems spokesperson Michael Steel offered a thorough rebuttal to former president’s “big lie” about its machines engaging in election fraud and confirmed his company had drafted a demand letter to Trump in case it pursues a lawsuit against him.

Steel, who was previously the chief press secretary for GOP House Speaker John Boehner, told Deadline: White House host Nicolle Wallace that those pushing conspiracy theories about Dominion “have attacked a great American company” and “undermined the American people’s confidence in the democratic system.”

Steel then walked viewers through a few examples from a Washington Post debunking of the false claims made by Trump and his legal advocates Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, both of whom have now been named as defendants in separate $1.3 billion defamation lawsuits.

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

The first two U.S. cases of the emerging Covid-19 variant first identified in South Africa were detected in South Carolina, state public health officials said Thursday.

Although no evidence suggests it causes more severe disease, the variant first identified in South Africa is known to be more resistant to current vaccines and may spread more easily and quickly than other variants.

There is no known travel history of the infected, and no connection between the two cases, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said in a release.

Read the rest of the story at Politico

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., on Thursday accused Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, of “trying to get me killed” by challenging the election results in the lead up to the Capitol riot and demanded that he resign.

The progressive lawmaker criticized Cruz after he said he agreed with her call for an investigation into why personal trading app Robinhood stopped allowing users to buy stocks including GameStop.

“I am happy to work with Republicans on this issue where there’s common ground, but you almost had me murdered 3 weeks ago so you can sit this one out. Happy to work w/ almost any other GOP that aren’t trying to get me killed. In the meantime if you want to help, you can resign,” she told Cruz in a tweet.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to the White House Covid-19 Response Team, said it will “be months” before all Americans who want a Covid-19 vaccine can get one. 

“I want to level with the public that we’re facing two constraining factors. The first is getting enough supply quickly enough, and the second is the ability to administer the vaccines quickly once they’re produced and sent out to the sites,” Slavitt said.

Read the rest of the story at CNN

Department of Homeland Security Secretary David Pekoske has issued a National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS) bulletin warning the public of a “heightened threat environment” across the United States following last week’s presidential inauguration. The advisory, which comes after the violent assault on the Capitol on January 6, runs through the end of April. 

“Information suggests that some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence,” DHS said in issuing the bulletin. 

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

In a letter to all U.S. attorneys Tuesday, President Joe Biden‘s acting attorney general, Monty Wilkinson, officially rescinded the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” program, which led to the separation of over 3,000 migrant families, according to a copy of the letter obtained by NBC News.

Although it is largely symbolic, the move officially removes the policy from the Justice Department’s guidance to federal prosecutors and instructs prosecutors to use discretion when prosecuting misdemeanor border offenses.

Former President Donald Trump ended the practice of separating migrant children when their parents were prosecuted in an executive order in June 2018, but the policy of zero tolerance, which directs U.S. attorneys to prosecute anyone who crosses the border illegally, even for misdemeanors, was never officially rescinded.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

The Biden administration is planning to purchase an additional 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, marking a stepped-up effort to vaccinate the vast majority of Americans this year.

Federal officials negotiating for the new supply expect to receive 100 million doses each from Moderna and Pfizer, in deals set to boost the nation’s total vaccine capacity to 600 million.

That would give the U.S. the ability to eventually vaccinate up to 300 million Americans, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday.

Read the rest of the story at Politico

President Joe Biden said he expects anyone who wants a coronavirus vaccination to be able to get one by the spring, and he upped his vaccination goal for his first 100 days in office.

Biden said Monday that he now believes the country can administer 1.5 million shots a day in the coming weeks and give 150 million vaccinations over the next 100 days, “with the grace of God.”

In December, Biden set a goal of 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days, and at the time, no vaccine had been cleared for use. But with states ramping up their vaccination efforts in recent weeks, the country is already averaging Biden’s goal of around 1 million shots a day.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen was confirmed as treasury secretary Monday, with the Senate voting 84-15 to make her the first woman to lead the department.

Yellen steps into the role with some advantages: She is well known and well respected among lawmakers of both parties, and she has experience with enormous economic challenges. Yellen had been expected to be confirmed easily after her nomination passed the Senate Banking Committee on a 26-0 vote Friday.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday said Senate Democrats would pass a Covid-19 relief bill as soon as possible through budget reconciliation, which would allow the package to pass with a simple majority vote rather than with the support of 60 senators.

“We are going to use reconciliation, that is 50 votes in the Senate plus the vice president, to pass legislation desperately needed by working families in this country right now,” the Vermont senator told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” on Sunday. The new Senate stands on 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tiebreaking vote when needed.

Read the rest of the story at Politico

President Joe Biden is set to sign a “Made in America” executive order Monday, fulfilling a long-time campaign promise to increase the amount of federal spending that goes to American companies.

The announcement comes at a time when the government is set to spend expansively on efforts to defeat COVID-19, and after a period during which vulnerabilities in the U.S. supply chain were exposed as state and local governments resorted to foreign manufacturers to obtain desperately-needed personal protective equipment.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Garrett Miller, a Texas man who participated in the insurrection at the Capitol, is facing serious federal charges for allegedly threatening to assassinate Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and a Capitol Police officer.

CNN’s Jessica Schneider told anchor Ana Cabrera that Miller was facing five charges related to his actions during the riot and for the online threats be posted on social media, including “assassinate AOC,” and, regarding a Capitol Police officer who shot a Trump supporter, “she deserves to die” and “won’t survive long” because it was “hunting season.”

According to prosecutors, Miller also wrote posts talking about a potential civil war and “next time we bring guns.”

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

Then-President Donald Trump considered replacing acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen in January with Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Clark, who was willing to help Trump push his claims of widespread voter fraud in order to overturn the election results, according to a Justice Department official.

Trump ultimately decided against firing Rosen out of fear that it would lead to mass resignations from Justice Department staff, which he worried could undermine his goal of staying in power.

Trump’s unsuccessful efforts to use the Justice Department to stay in office were first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by NBC News.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

President Joe Biden plans to sign a pair of executive orders Friday aimed at expanding food assistance for tens of millions of Americans and launching a process that will require federal contractors to pay their workers a $15 minimum wage and provide emergency paid leave.

The moves come on Biden’s second full day in office, and continue a string of executive actions he’s taken to jumpstart his agenda and set the tone for his administration amid a COVID-19 pandemic that has left families struggling economically.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the government’s top public health experts, signaled that he feels free to speak honestly about Covid-19 now that former President Donald Trump is out of office.

In his first news briefing since President Joe Biden was sworn in, Fauci said that the new administration was committed to being “completely transparent, open and honest,” a sharp break from the Trump White House, when Fauci said he often felt there would be repercussions for speaking honestly about the pandemic.

“It was very clear that there were things said, be it regarding things like hydroxychloroquine and other things like that, that really was uncomfortable because they were not based in scientific fact,” Fauci told reporters, speaking about the Trump administration.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has proposed to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial should start in mid-February, timing he laid out during a conference call with Republican colleagues Thursday, multiple sources on the call said.

Included in McConnell’s proposal is a deal to begin the Senate proceedings in February so both sides can properly prepare for Trump’s second impeachment trial, multiple people on the call said. Schumer could be open to the proposal, giving him more time to confirm President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Every four years, thousands throng to Washington for a whirl of Inauguration Day balls and concerts. But as the coronavirus pandemic continues to force most big-ticket national events to scale down, President Joe Biden’s inaugural committee decided to take the festivities to TV screens.

“Celebrating America,” a 90-minute special that aired across several networks Wednesday night, brought together a mix of A-list talent — Justin Timberlake, John Legend, Demi Lovato — and average Americans from all walks of life, including teachers and nurses on the front lines of the Covid-19 crisis.

The special, which moved swiftly (more or less) between genre-spanning live performances and recorded video segments, was as much a celebration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ ascent to the White House as it was a reflection of the new president’s political persona.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Twelve National Guard members were removed from inauguration duty, including two for “inappropriate” comments or texts, a Pentagon spokesman told reporters in a phone briefing Tuesday.

“We have two individuals that were identified as making inappropriate comments or texts,” said spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman.

One was removed after fellow troops brought the member’s comments to the attention of guard officers. Another was pulled out after an anonymous tip, he said.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security will pledge on Tuesday to do everything in his power to prevent attacks like the one that targeted the Capitol earlier this month, according to prepared remarks obtained by POLITICO.

Alejandro Mayorkas, who will appear before the Senate Homeland Security Committee for his confirmation hearing later Tuesday, plans to address the recent insurrection head-on, less than two weeks after a pro-Donald Trump mob stormed the Capitol in a series of violent riots that left five people dead and resulted in the president’s second impeachment.

Read the rest of the story at Politico

President Trump on Monday ordered an end to the ban on travelers from Europe and Brazil that had been aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus to the United States, a move quickly rejected by aides to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who said Mr. Biden will maintain the ban when he takes office on Wednesday.

In a proclamation issued late Monday, Mr. Trump said that the travel restrictions, which apply to noncitizens trying to come to the United States after spending time in those areas, would no longer be needed on Jan. 26, the date on which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will start requiring all passengers from abroad to present proof of a negative coronavirus test before boarding a flight.

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

The New Yorker on Sunday published 12 minutes of new, surreal footage from inside the Capitol during the mob rampage that left five people dead earlier this month.

See the video at Yahoo News

President Donald Trump is planning to issue a massive pile of pardons on Tuesday, his last full day in office, according to a report by CNN.

White House reporter Jeremy Diamond told The Situation Room anchor Wolf Blitzer that three sources familiar with Trump’s plans told him that the president intended to pardon about 100 people.

“The pardons, we’re told,” Diamond said, “are expected to include a mixture of more controversial pardons to white collar criminals, high profile rappers, as well as potentially some of the president’s political allies, but also in this batch several pardons that are more criminal justice reform minded,” like his commutation of Alice Marie Johnson’s sentence in 2018.

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

Seeking an end-run around an investigation by the New York attorney general, the National Rifle Association said Friday that it was declaring bankruptcy and would reincorporate in Texas. The gun group was set up in New York after the Civil War.

The group’s effort to circumvent New York’s legal jurisdiction raised immediate questions from Letitia James, the New York attorney general and a Democrat, who is seeking to use her regulatory authority to dissolve the N.R.A. She has been conducting an investigation into corruption at the gun group since 2019.

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

A Pennsylvania man accused of hurling a fire extinguisher at a group of police officers during last week’s Capitol riot has been arrested, authorities said.

Robert Sanford, 55, a retired firefighter from the Chester Fire Department, has been charged with four federal counts, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia in Washington said.

The fire extinguisher struck an officer who was wearing a helmet in the head, then ricocheted and hit two other officers, one of whom was not wearing a helmet, in the head, prosecutors said.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

President Donald Trump on Tuesday lashed out at the impeachment effort by House Democrats, claiming “it’s causing tremendous anger” and “danger to our country.”

“As far as this is concerned, we want no violence — never violence,” Trump said outside the White House before departing for Texas, facing reporters for the first time since his supporters rioted last Wednesday after he urged them to march on the Capitol. “On the impeachment, it’s really a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics. It’s ridiculous. It’s absolutely ridiculous. This impeachment is causing tremendous anger, and you’re doing it, and it’s really a terrible thing that they’re doing.”

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Several Republican members of Congress on Tuesday complained about — or outright bypassed — the metal detectors to enter the House floor, which were ordered put in place by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after last week’s deadly riot at the Capitol.

Ahead of a House vote Tuesday evening calling for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office, the Republican members expressed anger and frustration in accessing the chamber.

Republican Reps. Louie Gohmert of Texas, Steve Stivers of Ohio, Van Taylor of Texas, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Debbie Lesko of Arizona and Larry Bucshon of Indiana, among others, were seen not complying with police at checkpoints or complained about the measure’s implementation, according to press pool and media reports.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

America has reported its deadliest week yet in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. More than 22,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 just last week — setting the record for the second week in a row. California is the nation’s hot spot.

In Los Angeles, COVID deaths have risen 1,125% in the last two months, according to county health officials.

Dr. Brad Spellberg of the L.A. County-USC Medical Center — the region’s largest hospital — said the state is getting crushed.

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

The FBI has sent a memo to law enforcement agencies across the country warning about possible armed protests at all 50 state capitols starting Saturday and saying an armed group has threatened to travel to Washington, D.C., the same day to stage an uprising if Congress removes President Donald Trump from office, according to a senior law enforcement official.

The memo includes information provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Defense Department; U.S. Park Police; and the U.S. Marshals Service, among other agencies, according to the official. Some of the information came from social media, some from open sources and some from other sources of information.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Two men allegedly seen in viral photographs of the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol have been arrested, the Washington, D.C., attorney general announced Sunday. Larry Rendell Brock and Eric Gavelek Munchel were both allegedly seen in pictures of the riot occupying the chambers of Congress while wearing tactical gear and holding plastic zip ties.

Munchel was arrested in Tennessee on Sunday, the Justice Department said. He was charged with one count of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds. A law enforcement source told CBS News that “a load of weapons” was found at Munchel’s residence and they are assessing whether they were legally owned.

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

House members may have been exposed to Covid-19 when they went into hiding during Wednesday riots at the U.S. Capitol, Congress’ attending physician wrote in a letter to members and staffers Sunday.

“Many members of the House community were in protective isolation in [a] room located in a large committee hearing space,” Dr. Brian Monahan said, adding, “During this time, individuals may have been exposed to another occupant with coronavirus infection.”

He advised members to keep up their “usual daily coronavirus risk reduction measures,” such as social distancing and symptoms checks. He said they should also get tested for the virus as a precaution.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced their resignations Thursday, citing the pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday.

“Yesterday, our country experienced a traumatic and entirely avoidable event as supporters of the president stormed the Capitol building following a rally he addressed,” Chao said in a statement she posted on Twitter. “As I’m sure is the case with many of you, it has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside.”

Chao said her last day would be Monday, and she suggested that she would use some of her final days to help President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for her job, Pete Buttigieg, “with taking on the responsibility of running this wonderful department.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

A U.S. Capitol Police officer has died a day after clashing with a pro-Trump mob at the U.S. Capitol.

Officer Brian D. Sicknick was injured while engaging with protesters Wednesday and returned to his division office, where he collapsed, Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki said. He was taken to a hospital, where he died about 9:30 p.m. Thursday.

Sicknick, who joined the U.S. Capitol Police in 2008, is the fifth person to die from Wednesday’s violent clash in Washington.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

There have been discussions among some members of the Trump Cabinet and allies of President Donald Trump about the 25th Amendment, which would be a vehicle for members of the cabinet to remove Trump from office, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the discussions tell ABC News.

It is unclear how extensive these conversations have been or if Vice President Mike Pence is supportive of such action. Many have been horrified by Wednesday’s events and Trump’s encouragement and lack of engagement to call in resources to stop the protesters, the sources said.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Vice President Mike Pence announced just after 3:40 a.m. Thursday that President-elect Joe Biden had won the presidency after Congress completed the counting of the Electoral College votes. What was largely seen as a perfunctory last step before Mr. Biden’s inauguration had turned into a day of chaos after an angry mob of rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an effort to halt the process. 

Congress had to recess for nearly six hours after the angry mob of President Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, leaving four people dead in the melee and sending members of Congress fleeing from the floor during what Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had earlier branded “the most important vote I’ve ever cast.”

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

The police officers involved in the shooting of Jacob Blake, which touched off days of civil unrest last summer in Wisconsin, will not face any criminal charges, authorities said Tuesday.

Blake, who is Black, was struck by seven bullets at close range Aug. 23 as he walked away from Kenosha police Officer Rusten Sheskey, who had answered a domestic disturbance call.

Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley told reporters that Sheskey and other officers would have had a strong case for self-defense.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Several people were arrested in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday in connection to protests ahead of Congress’ certification of the Electoral College votes on Wednesday.

Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police said six arrests were made as of 9 p.m. ET, including some involving multiple charges. Those charges included a handful that were weapons-related, including carrying firearms without a license, possession of unregistered ammunition and possession of an unregistered firearm. Protesters were also charged with assaulting a police officer and simple assault.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

President Donald Trump turned up the pressure Tuesday to enlist Vice President Mike Pence in a futile effort to reverse the presidential election and keep them in office for four more years.

With a president who has excelled at remaining the focus of Washington, Pence has largely played the role of quiet support character, never publicly rebuking his boss and sticking to his script with unwavering consistency.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

During his speech at a Georgia senate campaign rally, President Donald Trump issued a not-so-veiled threat to his own vice president, implicitly encouraging Mike Pence to “come through for us” and somehow overturn the counting of the Electoral College vote in Congress on January 6th.

In a stilted and rambling speech, Trump suddenly went off-script and veered away from attacking the Democratic candidates running against GOP incumbent Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. His tangent took him back to his own fruitless fight to remain in office and the increasingly desperate gambit of Pence throwing out the certified votes in swing states won by Biden and anoint Trump the victor, in what would amount to an administrative coup.

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that he did not anticipate the COVID-19pandemic death toll in the United States would reach current levels, lamenting that indoor activity and holiday travel has facilitated virus transmission and calling for Americans to take the necessary public safety precautions to slow the ongoing surge.

“To have 300,000 cases in a given day, and between two and 3,000 deaths a day is just terrible,” the nation’s top infectious disease expert told ABC’s “This Week” Co-anchor Martha Raddatz Sunday. “There’s no running away from the numbers, Martha. It’s something that we absolutely got to grasp and get our arms around and turn that inflection down by very intensive adherence to the public health measures, uniformly, throughout the country, with no exception.”

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

The U.S. military must not become entangled in any election disputes in the coming days, all 10 living former Defense secretaries wrote in an op-ed published on Sunday.

“American elections and the peaceful transfers of power that result are hallmarks of our democracy,” they wrote in The Washington Post, adding that everyone in the American defense establishment must “refrain from any political actions that undermine the results of the election or hinder the success of the new team.”

Read the rest of the story at Politico

Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was re-elected speaker of the House on Sunday despite a shrinking Democratic majority in the House.

With Democrats holding a smaller majority than in the previous Congress, Pelosi could afford to have only a handful of lawmakers peel off and opt to write in someone else. The final count was 216 to 209, with just two Democrats — Jared Golden of Maine and Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania — choosing someone other than Pelosi and three others voting present.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy got 209 votes from his own party. Pelosi won the previous vote for speaker by 220-192 over McCarthy.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Many Americans are waking up this week to at least $600 more in their bank accounts as the federal government begins to disburse the newest round of Covid-19 relief funds.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that direct deposit payments could appear any time from that night to next week. Paper checks were mailed out beginning Wednesday, Mnuchin said, for qualifying Americans who have not registered their banking information with the IRS.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Documented Covid-19 cases in the United States surged past 20 million on Friday amid record hospitalizations and staggering numbers of daily deaths, according to a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University.

The 20 millionth case comes less than two months after the country tallied its 10 millionth. The U.S. leads the globe in Covid-19 deaths, with the disease claiming the lives of nearly 336,000 people.

Read the rest of the story at Politico

​Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, said he believes a “bipartisan, bicameral agreement appears to be close at hand” on a COVID-19 relief deal.

“I’m encouraged that our Democratic colleagues have now embraced this framework, that’s been the right solution for our country all this time,” he said.

Lawmakers are working furiously to announce a $900 billion deal ahead of a government funding deadline at midnight Friday, but McConnell warned senators that a short-term funding bill is expected and that it is “highly likely” senators will have to work through the weekend to finish both bills: one for COVID-19 relief and the other a massive $1.4 trillion spending bill.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Congressional leaders and the White House are nearing agreement on a roughly $900 billion coronavirus relief dealthat will likely include a new round of direct payments, three sources familiar with the negotiations said Wednesday.

The emerging package will include enhanced federal jobless benefits, small-business funding, and money to distribute Covid-19 vaccines. The dollar amount of the stimulus payments has not yet been determined — some say it will probably be $600 per person while others said it may be higher.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

A Republican Senate committee chairman on Wednesday used his panel to keep pressing allegations of what he called “election irregularities” as President Donald Trump appeared to watch from the White House, as Democrats decried the hearing as lending credence to Trump’s baseless claims of fraud.

While Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, a strong Trump supporter who chairs the Senate Homeland Security Committee, has now said he accepts Joe Biden as the president-elect and that he will not challenge the Electoral College results when Congress meets to certify them next month, he insisted the hearing should “not be controversial.”

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19, the presidential Elysee Palace announced on Thursday.

It said the president took a test “as soon as the first symptoms appeared.” The brief statement did not say what symptoms Macron experienced.

It said he would isolate himself for seven days. “He will continue to work and take care of his activities at a distance,” it added.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tuesday urged Georgia voters to cast ballots for two Democratic Senate candidates in a pair of critical runoffs early next month that he hopes will give his party control of the Senate and help Democrats advance the agenda he promised during his campaign.

“You all did something extraordinary in November,” Mr. Biden said to cheers and honks at a drive-in campaign rally intended to minimize the spread of the coronavirus. “You voted in record numbers in order to improve the lives of every Georgian. And you voted as if your life depended on it.”

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to name former 2020 rival and South Bend Mayor, Pete Buttigieg to head the Department of Transportation, sources familiar with the transition told ABC News Tuesday.

If confirmed, Buttigieg would bring new diversity to the administration Biden has promised will “look like America,” as the first openly gay Cabinet secretary approved by the U.S. Senate to serve in U.S. history.

Buttigieg, at age 38, would also be the youngest person nominated to Biden’s Cabinet — bringing the average age of Biden’s Cabinet and Cabinet-level appointees down from 61 to 59.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

The rollout of the first coronavirus vaccine began Monday morning and marked a major turning point in the U.S.’s battle against surging case numbers as the first doses of the Pfizer medication was administered to health care workers and nursing home staffers.

Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse from Northwell Long Island Jewish Medical Center was the first vaccinated in New York at 9:23 a.m. during a livestreamed event with Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Presidential electors are meeting across the United States on Monday to formally choose Joe Biden as the nation’s next president.

Monday is the day set by law for the meeting of the Electoral College. In reality, electors meet in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to cast their ballots. The results will be sent to Washington and tallied in a Jan. 6 joint session of Congress over which Vice President Mike Pence will preside.

The electors’ votes have drawn more attention than usual this year because President Donald Trump has refused to concede the election and continued to make baseless allegations of fraud.

Read the rest of the story at The Associated Press

Hackers who targeted the federal government appear to be part of a Russian intelligence campaign aimed at multiple U.S. agencies and companies, including the cybersecurity company FireEye, officials said Sunday.

A Commerce Department spokesman confirmed a breach, saying it occurred at an unidentified bureau.

Department officials alerted the FBI and a cybersecurity agency within the Department of Homeland Security, the spokesman said, declining to comment further.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Four states sued by Texas in a bid to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election asked the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to swiftly reject the case and avoid legitimizing “a cacophony of bogus claims” that would upend the will of millions of American voters.

In court filings Thursday afternoon, the attorneys general of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and Georgia each offered scathing rebuttals to the Texas suit targeting their states.

“The Court should not abide this seditious abuse of the judicial process,” wrote Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro in court documents.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Sources on both sides of the aisle in the Senate told ABC News that chances for a grand compromise on a COVID-19 relief package are growing dimmer, though some aides to negotiators insist there is still hope.

The major sticking point? A shield against lawsuits for businesses, health care facilities, and schools — a top GOP issue.

Making a compromise even less likely, particularly for Republicans, ABC News has confirmed that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has signaled through staff that he is not in favor of a $908 billion bipartisan proposal, saying it would not be supported by most in his conference. The news was first reported by Politico.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Hunter Biden, the president-elect’s embattled son, announced Wednesday that federal prosecutors in Delaware are investigating his “tax affairs,” a development that marks the latest controversy surrounding the Biden family’s private business endeavors.

In his statement, Hunter Biden, 50, said he and his attorney learned of the investigation on Tuesday, and that he remains “confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors.”

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Authorities in Florida on Monday raided the home of Rebekah Jones, a former state official who has said she was ousted this year for refusing to censor the state’s coronavirus data.

In a search warrant, an investigator with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said a person at Jones’ home who was using her email address illegally gained access to a state-run communications platform and sent a group text Nov. 10 telling people that it was “time to speak up before another 17,000 people are dead.”

“You know this is wrong,” the text said, according to the warrant. “You don’t have to be part of this. Be a hero. Speak out before it’s too late.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to be defense secretary, according to three people familiar with the decision.

If confirmed, Austin, 67, a retired four-star general and former head of U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, would be the first African American to lead the Defense Department. He was also the first Black American to lead Central Command, which oversees the U.S. military in the Middle East and parts of Africa, Central Asia and South Asia.

Austin was offered the job Sunday. He became the front-runner over the past week, but his relationship with Biden goes back years. The two spent many hours working together when Austin was running CENTCOM.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) declined multiple times to answer whether President Donald Trump lost the November election while repeatedly attacking her opponent, Rev. Raphael Warnock, as a radical during the sole debate of their special election runoff next month.

Warnock, the pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, countered Loeffler’s attacks by repeatedly criticizing her stock trades made in office and her handling of the coronavirus pandemic, saying she had no proactive case for her election to the seat to which she was appointed earlier this year.

Read the rest of the story at Politico

President-elect Joe Biden will nominate California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, three sources familiar with the decision said.

Becerra, 62, served 12 terms in the House of Representatives and was a vigorous defender of the Affordable Care Act who led the defense of the law in the Supreme Court last month.

If he is confirmed, he would be the first Latino to lead the massive department as the incoming administration tries to elevate more diverse candidates to front-line positions. Biden offered Becerra the position in a phone call Friday.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

President Donald Trump emphatically called on Georgia voters to cast ballots for Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in next month’s runoff Senate elections but spent much of his first rally since losing the presidency denying the new reality.

The president several times falsely claimed he had won Georgia and the presidency, lambasted top Georgia Republicans like Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and pushed for wholesale changes to the election system.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, defying President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to reverse the results.

“To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election,” Barr said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Barr’s comments are some of the sharpest rejections yet from a Cabinet member of Trump’s false and baseless claims of a “rigged” election.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

The United Kingdom became the first country Wednesday to formally approve the Pfizer and BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, a huge symbolic milestone in the fight against the pandemic.

The first inoculations are set to be rolled out next week, the government said, although the initial batch of 800,000 will cover a relatively small number of healthcare workers, care home staff and residents, and people over the age of 80.

The vaccine has been authorized far more quickly than any other in history, its lightning development outpacing the 15 to 20 years it usually takes to develop these types of medicines.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

President Donald Trump seemed to demand a “call off” for the upcoming Senate runoff election in Georgia, are race that is set to determine control of the Senate.

“Do something Brian Kemp,” Trump tweeted at the Republican governor of the state. “You allowed your state to be scammed. We must check signatures and count signed envelopes against ballots. Then call off election. It won’t be needed. We will all WIN!

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

Read the rest of the story at HuffPost.

Wisconsin finished a recount of its presidential results on Sunday, confirming Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump in the key battleground state. Trump vowed to challenge the outcome in court even before the recount concluded.

Dane County was the second and last county to finish its recount, reporting a 45-vote gain for Trump. Milwaukee County, the state’s other big and overwhelmingly liberal county targeted in a recount that Trump paid $3 million for, reported its results Friday, a 132-vote gain for Biden.

Taken together, the two counties barely budged Biden’s winning margin of about 20,600 votes, giving the winner a net gain of 87 votes.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris announced an all-female communications team Sunday aimed at bringing “diverse perspectives” to the White House.

Jen Psaki, a top member of the transition team who served in the Obama-Biden administration, was chosen as White House press secretary. Kate Bedingfield, who was deputy Biden-Harris campaign manager, will be White House communications director.

In a statement, Biden said the team was made up of “qualified, experienced communicators” who will “bring diverse perspectives to their work and a shared commitment to building this country back better.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News