Jan 5, 2018

Another Republican calling for Sessions to step aside

Attorney General Jeff Sessions before the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill. Alex Brandon / AP

GOP Rep. Chris Stewart told CNN on Friday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should resign, joining two other conservative lawmakers who said a day before that the former Alabama Senator should step aside.

"We have been weakened in our investigation into very important concerns at the Department of Justice and the FBI because Jeff Sessions isn't able to take the reins and direct that investigation. ... We need a director there who can take the reins and be assertive in that. He can't do that when he is recused. I believe it may be time for him to step aside," Stewart told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.

The backdrop: Republican Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan, the chairman and former chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, respectively, wrote a Washington Examiner op-ed that Sessions should step down, citing intelligence leaks to the media from the Justice Department and the agency's handling of the probe into President Trump's campaign ties to Russian operatives.

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Axios
Updated 1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 8 p.m. ET: 20,188,678 — Total deaths: 738,668 — Total recoveries: 12,452,126 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 8 p.m. ET: 5,138,850 — Total deaths: 164,480 — Total recoveries: 1,714,960 — Total tests: 63,252,257 — Map.
  3. States: Georgia reports 137 coronavirus deaths, setting new daily record — Florida reports another daily record for deaths.
  4. Health care: Trump administration buys 100 million doses of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine.
  5. Business: Moderna reveals it may not hold patent rights for vaccine.
  6. Sports: Big Ten scraps fall football season.
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Rashaan Ayesh
3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Voters cast ballots in Minnesota, Georgia, Connecticut, Wisconsin and Vermont

Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Primary elections are being held on Tuesday in Minnesota, Georgia, Connecticut, Vermont and Wisconsin.

The big picture: Georgia and Wisconsin both struggled to hold primaries during the coronavirus pandemic, but are doing so again — testing their voting systems ahead of the general election. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) is facing a strong challenger as she fights for her political career. In Georgia, a Republican primary runoff pits a QAnon supporter against a hardline conservative.

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Bob Herman
3 hours ago - Health

Trump administration buys 100 million doses of Moderna's vaccine

A volunteer in Moderna's vaccine clinical trial receives a shot. Photo: Paul Hennessy/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The U.S. government has agreed to buy 100 million doses of Moderna's experimental coronavirus vaccine for $1.5 billion, or $15 per dose.

Why it matters: The Trump administration, through Operation Warp Speed, has now bought initial batches of vaccines from Moderna, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi, Pfizer, Novavax, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca before knowing whether they are safe and effective. The federal government also appears to own some of the patent rights associated with Moderna's vaccine.