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Biden will reverse Trump's attempt to lift COVID related travel restrictions
42 mins ago - Politics & PolicyTrump's Last Stand Part One: Where It Starts
3 hours ago - PodcastsEpisode 5: The secret CIA plan
5 hours ago - Politics & PolicyCoronavirus dashboard
6 hours ago - Politics & PolicyEmpire State Building among hundreds to light up in Biden inauguration tribute
10 hours ago - Politics & PolicyBiden picks Warren allies to lead SEC, CFPB
12 hours ago - Politics & PolicyThe perils of organizing underground
12 hours ago - TechnologyResurrecting Martin Luther King's office
13 hours ago - Politics & PolicyEpisode 4: Trump turns on Barr
15 hours ago - Politics & PolicyMLK's legacy in the Senate
15 hours ago - PodcastsToday’s top stories
Biden will reverse Trump's attempt to lift COVID related travel restrictions
Photo: Tasos Katopodis via Getty
The incoming Biden administration will reverse President Trump's last-minute order to lift COVID-19 related travel restrictions, Jen Psaki, the incoming White House press secretary, tweeted.
Why it matters: President Trump ordered entry bans lifted for travelers from the U.K., Ireland, Brazil and much of Europe to go into effect Jan. 26, but the Biden administration will "strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19," Jen Psaki said. Biden will be inaugurated on Wednesday, Jan. 20 and Trump will no longer be president by the time the order is set to go into effect.
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Dominion sends cease and desist letter to My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell
Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Dominion Voting Systems on Monday sent a cease and desist letter to My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell over his spread of misinformation related to the 2020 election.
Why it matters: Trump and several of his allies have pushed false conspiracy theories about the company, leading Dominion to take legal action. It's suing pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell for defamation and $1.3 billion in damages, and a Dominion employee has sued Trump himself, OANN and Newsmax.
Episode 5: The secret CIA plan
Photo illustration: Aïda Amer, Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Zach Gibson/Getty Images
Beginning on election night 2020 and continuing through his final days in office, Donald Trump unraveled and dragged America with him, to the point that his followers sacked the U.S. Capitol with two weeks left in his term. This Axios series takes you inside the collapse of a president.
Episode 5: Trump vs. Gina — The president becomes increasingly rash and devises a plan to tamper with the nation's intelligence command.
In his final weeks in office, after losing the election to Joe Biden, President Donald Trump embarked on a vengeful exit strategy that included a hasty and ill-thought-out plan to jam up CIA Director Gina Haspel by firing her top deputy and replacing him with a protege of Republican Congressman Devin Nunes.
Coronavirus dashboard
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
- Health: CDC director defends agency's response to pandemic — CDC warns highly transmissible coronavirus variant could become dominant in U.S. in March.
- Politics: Empire State Building among hundreds to light up in Biden inauguration coronavirus tribute.
- Vaccine: Fauci: 100 million doses in 100 days is "absolutely" doable.
- Economy: Unemployment filings explode again.
- Tech: Kids' screen time sees a big increase.
Biden Cabinet confirmation schedule: When to watch hearings
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Jan. 16 in Wilmington, Delaware. Photo: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
The first hearings for President-elect Joe Biden's Cabinet nominations begin on Tuesday, with testimony from his picks to lead the departments of State, Homeland and Defense.
Why it matters: It's been a slow start for a process that usually takes place days or weeks earlier for incoming presidents. The first slate of nominees will appear on Tuesday before a Republican-controlled Senate, but that will change once the new Democratic senators-elect from Georgia are sworn in.
Kamala Harris resigns from Senate seat ahead of inauguration
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Photo: Mason Trinca/Getty Images
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris submitted her resignation from her seat in the U.S. Senate on Monday, two days before she will be sworn into her new role.
What's next: California Gov. Gavin Newsom has selected California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to serve out the rest of Harris' term, which ends in 2022.
Putin foe Navalny to be detained for 30 days after returning to Moscow
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Photo: Oleg Nikishin/Epsilon/Getty Images
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has been ordered to remain in pre-trial detention for 30 days, following his arrest upon returning to Russia on Sunday for the first time since a failed assassination attempt last year.
Why it matters: The detention of Navalny, an anti-corruption activist and the most prominent domestic critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has already set off a chorus of condemnations from leaders in Europe and the U.S.
Biden picks Warren allies to lead SEC, CFPB
Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
President-elect Joe Biden has selected FTC commissioner Rohit Chopra to be the next director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Obama-era Wall Street regulator Gary Gensler to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Why it matters: Both picks are progressive allies of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and viewed as likely to take aggressive steps to regulate big business.
The perils of organizing underground
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Researchers see one bright spot as far-right extremists turn to private and encrypted online platforms: Friction.
Between the lines: For fringe organizers, those platforms may provide more security than open social networks, but they make it harder to recruit new members.
Resurrecting Martin Luther King's office
King points to Selma, Alabama on a map at his Southern Christian Leadership Conference office in Atlanta in January 1965. Photo: Bettmann/Getty Contributor
Efforts to save the office where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., planned some of the most important moments of the civil rights movement are hitting roadblocks amid a political stalemate.
Why it matters: The U.S. Park Service needs to OK agreements so a developer restoring the historic Prince Hall Masonic Lodge in Atlanta — which once housed King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference — can tap into private funding and begin work.
Episode 4: Trump turns on Barr
Photo illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios. Photos: Drew Angerer, Pool/Getty Images
Beginning on election night 2020 and continuing through his final days in office, Donald Trump unraveled and dragged America with him, to the point that his followers sacked the U.S. Capitol with two weeks left in his term. Axios takes you inside the collapse of a president with a special series.
Episode 4: Trump torches what is arguably the most consequential relationship in his Cabinet.
Attorney General Bill Barr stood behind a chair in the private dining room next to the Oval Office, looming over Donald Trump. The president sat at the head of the table. It was Dec. 1, nearly a month after the election, and Barr had some sharp advice to get off his chest. The president's theories about a stolen election, Barr told Trump, were "bullshit."
In photos: Protests outside fortified capitols draw only small groups
Armed members of the far-right extremist group the Boogaloo Bois near the Michigan Capitol Building in Lansing on Jan. 17. About 20 protesters showed up, AP notes. Photo: Seth Herald/AFP via Getty Images
Small groups of protesters gathered outside fortified statehouses across the U.S. over the weekend ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration Wednesday.
The big picture: Some protests attracted armed members of far-right extremist groups but there were no reports of clashes, as had been feared. The National Guard and law enforcement outnumbered demonstrators, as security was heightened around the U.S. to avoid a repeat of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riots, per AP.
China's economy grows 6.5% in Q4 as country rebounds from coronavirus
A technician installs and checks service robots to be be used for food and medicine delivery in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, China, on Sunday. Photo: Hu Xuejun/VCG via Getty Images
China's economy grew at a 6.5% pace in the final quarter of 2020, the national statistics bureau announced Monday local time, topping off a year in which it grew in three of four quarters and by 2.3% in total.
Why it matters: No other major economy managed positive growth in 2020. Although the COVID-19 pandemic was first detected in China, the country got the virus under control and became one of the main positive drivers of the global economy even as the rest of the world was largely under lockdown.
Trump to issue at least 100 pardons and commutations before leaving office
Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump plans to issue at least 100 pardons and commutations on his final full day in office Tuesday, an administration official told Axios.
Why it matters: This is a continuation of the president's controversial December spree that saw full pardons granted to more than two dozen people — including former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, longtime associate Roger Stone and Charles Kushner, the father of Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Schumer's m(aj)ority checklist
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Photo: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Capitalizing on the Georgia runoffs, achieving a 50-50 Senate and launching an impeachment trial are weighty to-dos for getting Joe Biden's administration up and running on Day One.
What to watch: A blend of ceremonies, hearings and legal timelines will come into play on Tuesday and Wednesday so Chuck Schumer can actually claim the Senate majority and propel the new president's agenda.