U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Sunday there are "no indications" that a new strain of COVID-19, said to be identified in England, will slow U.S. vaccination efforts.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that the Republican Party "has taken a different course" from its core values in recent years.
Why it matters: Romney has emerged as the party's most prominent critic of President Trump. He was the only Republican to vote to convict the president during the impeachment trial in the Senate earlier this year.
There were "raised voice levels and animated conversation" during a chaotic Friday night meeting with President Trump in the Oval Office, a source familiar with the meeting tells Axios.
Driving the news: As the N.Y. Timesfirst reported yesterday, the meeting included — at various times — Rudy Giuliani, Gen. Michael Flynn and conspiracy-minded election lawyer Sidney Powell.
President Trump's closest confidants no longer expect him to imminently announce he's running in 2024, three sources who've recently discussed the matter with the president tell Axios.
Driving the news: Trump doesn’t want to announce a run before Jan. 20 — an idea he had initially toyed with — because it would show his base he’s given up his fight to overturn the election.
It's a fitting end to a crappy year: White House officials are calling us in a panic about President Trump’s erratic behavior. England is panicking about a possible super-spreading virus strain. And vaccine distribution is hitting bumps.
Why it matters: Incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain was right when he warned of a "very, very, very dark winter."
States are the new battleground in the growing national movement to protect people of color from hairstyle discrimination.
Driving the news: Advocates are taking the fight local as legislation in Congress has stalled, gaining state-by-state workplace and school rights for people who wear Afros, braids, cornrows, dreadlocks and headwraps.
The latest "Saturday Night Live" cold open skewered the moment Vice President Mike Pence received Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine live on TV this week.
The big picture: In the "SNL" version, Maya Rudolph's Kamala Harris gatecrashes the moment as Beck Bennett's Pence prepares to pull down his pants, prompting him to stop and exclaim: "You can't see my bare forearms like this." After he asked her how she got into the White House, she replies: "I won more votes."
Alex Moffat took over the role of President-elect Joe Biden, after Jim Carrey stepped down.
"SNL" alum Kristen Wiig hosted the show, while Dua Lipa was the musical guest.
President-elect Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador discussed in a phone call Saturday working together on a "new approach" to migration that "offers alternatives to undertaking the dangerous journey" to the U.S.
Why it matters: The statement from Biden's transition team on the call details represents a key part of the president-elect's plans to overhaul President Trump's aggressive border policy.
Rudy Giuliani called Ken Cuccinelli, second in command at the Department of Homeland Security, on Thursday night and asked him whether DHS could seize voting machines, a source familiar with the call confirmed to Axios.
The state of play: Cuccinelli responded that DHS does not have that authority, the source said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) received their first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine from the attending physician of Congress on Friday.
The latest: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) received the first dose of the vaccine on Saturday, saying afterwards, "[a]s the vaccine is being distributed, we must all continue wearing masks and engage in social distancing. That is how we will beat this virus and end this terrible pandemic.”
Senior Trump administration officials are increasingly alarmed that President Trump might unleash — and abuse — the power of government in an effort to overturn the clear result of the election.
Why it matters: These officials tell me that Trump is spending too much time with people they consider crackpots or conspiracy theorists and flirting with blatant abuses of power.
Joe Biden implored Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to accept a job heading the Small Business Administration earlier this week, a lesser position she rejected after he characterized it as “only the first step” for her during his presidency, according to people familiar with the discussion.
Why it matters: Biden has pledged to build a Cabinet reflecting America's diversity, but as the number of marquee slots has dwindled — and various constituencies keep clamoring for their own representatives — he is having trouble threading the political needle.
The U.S. government, and America’s largest companies, are scrambling to understand and protect against the "grave risk" to American security from a massive hack that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo now says was a Kremlin op. President Trump's public response: Mostly silence.
Why it matters: People across the government say we've seen the mere tip of this international intrusion — a stunning, dangerous breach that requires infliction of real pain on the perpetrator, now confirmed as Russia.
President Trump responded to the massive cyberattack on U.S. government departments and agencies and private companies on Twitter Saturday, claiming the "Fake News Media" is exaggerating the extent of the hack.
Why it matters: Trump, who had been silent on the attack until now, claimed that China may be responsible, contradicting Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other governmental officials who have said that the breach was carried out by Russia.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a Friday evening interview that "we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians" behind a massive cyber attack that breached dozens of government agencies, think tanks and companies.
Driving the news: Pompeo's comments on "The Mark Levin Show" are the first from a Trump administration official publicly linking Russia to the hack. President Trump has yet to address the issue.
A new tool lets voters in Georgia sign up for automatic notifications of any sudden changes to their voting status that could prevent them from casting ballots in the pivotal Jan. 5 runoffs that will determine party control of the Senate.
Driving the news: VoteFlare.org, a site created by Harvard University's Public Interest Tech Lab, went live Friday.
President Trump late Friday night signed the continuing resolution that will fund the federal government through Dec. 21 and temporarily avert a partial shutdown.
Why it matters: The 48-hour stopgap will also give lawmakers the weekend to resolve outstanding issues with a $900 billion coronavirus relief package and $1.4 trillion long-term spending deal.
Why it matters: The authorization of a second coronavirus vaccine, coming exactly one week after the FDA cleared Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine for emergency use, increases vaccine access for millions of Americans and marks another milestone on the country’s path to curbing the pandemic.
Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) lawmakers are pushing for President-elect Biden to nominate California Labor Secretary Julie Su to head the U.S. Department of Labor.
Why it matters: Biden has been pulled in multiple directions by different stakeholders as he looks to follow through on appointing the “single-most diverse” Cabinet in U.S. history. AAPI lawmakers have escalated their calls in recent weeks, with Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) on Friday urging Biden to include an AAPI Cabinet secretary.
