Kevin McCarthy. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has defeated Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), 159 to 43, in the election to lead the Republican minority.
What's next: McCarthy, who played a key role as chief deputy whip in flipping the House in 2010, will replace Paul Ryan as House Republican leader in January. McCarthy was widely expected to win.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Sen. Mitt Romney. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Saturday tweeted a scathing response to President Trump's Friday night commutation of former associate Roger Stone's prison sentence, calling the move "[u]nprecedented, historic corruption."
Why it matters: Romney has emerged as the party's most prominent Trump critic. He sent shockwaves through Washington after announcing he would vote to convict Trump in the impeachment trial — becoming the only Senate Republican to break ranks and vote for the president's removal from office. Now he is the first major GOP lawmaker to condemn Trump's Friday night call regarding Stone.
Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios
By any standard, no matter how you look at it, the U.S. is losing its war against the coronavirus.
Why it matters: The pandemic is not an abstraction, and it is not something that’s simmering in the background. It is an ongoing emergency ravaging nearly the entire country, with a loss of life equivalent to a Sept. 11 every three days — for four months and counting.