Apr 30, 2018

Former Bush lawyer drops GOP, seeks Senate seat vacated by Al Franken

Richard Painter, former ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush. Photo: Erika Goldring/Getty Images

Richard Painter, longtime Republican and former ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, announced on Twitter Monday that he's running for U.S. Senate as a Democrat in Minnesota.

Driving his decision: President Trump. Painter, a frequent critic of Trump on cable news and social media, said on Twitter that his decision to not only run for office but to run as a Democrat is attributable to Trump and "the broken system that got us where we are today." "Americans are fed up!" he added.

Go deeper

Axios

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3:30 p.m. ET: 838,061 — Total deaths: 41,261 — Total recoveries: 174,115.
U.S.: Leads the world in confirmed cases. Total confirmed cases as of 3:30 p.m. ET: 177,452 — Total deaths: 3,440 — Total recoveries: 6,038.
Public health updates: More than 400 long-term care facilities across the U.S. report patients with coronavirus — Older adults and people with other health conditions are more at risk, new data shows.
Federal government latest: The White House and other institutions are observing several models to better understand and prepare cities for when the coronavirus is expected to peak in the U.S.
In Congress: New York Rep. Max Rose deploys to National Guard to help coronavirus response.
🎧 Podcast: Misinformation in the coronavirus age.
What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk.
Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

Subscribe to Mike Allen's Axios AM to follow our coronavirus coverage each morning from your inbox.

Keep ReadingUpdated 34 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Rebecca Falconer, Orion Rummler, Marisa Fernandez

U.S. coronavirus updates: White House studies models projecting virus peak

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

The White House and other institutions are observing several models to better understand and prepare cities for when the coronavirus is expected to peak in the U.S.

The state of play: The coronavirus is expected to peak in the U.S. in two weeks, but many states like Virginia and Maryland will see their individual peaks well after that, according to a model by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Go deeperUpdated 2 hours ago - Health

Marisa Fernandez

FDA authorizes two-minute antibody testing kit to detect coronavirus

Currently, it takes days to produce results from testing kits. Photo: Sergei Malgavko\TASS via Getty Images

The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency approval Tuesday for a serological testing kit produced by Bodysphere Inc. that can detect a positive or negative result for COVID-19 in two minutes.

Why it matters: Access to testing has improved in the U.S. thanks to commercial labs, but the average wait time for a patient's results is four to five days — with some reports of it taking more than a week.

Go deeperUpdated 2 hours ago - Health