GOP Senate wins wreak havoc on Biden transition plans  —  Republicans' likely hold on the Senate is forcing Joe Biden's transition team to consider limiting its prospective Cabinet nominees to those who Mitch McConnell can live with, according to people familiar with the matter.

LIVE UPDATES: Judge dismisses President Trump's lawsuit in Georgia  —  ATLANTA — The country is watching Georgia as it remains one of the key battleground states that has not been called in the presidential election.  —  Georgia, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, Arizona and Alaska races have not been called by ABC News.

Biden Appears to Hold Edge in the Key Votes Left to Be Counted  —  The tabulations continue in the states too close to call, but some things are becoming clearer.  —  Joe Biden looks to be on the cusp of winning the election.  Here's a look at where the vote count stands in the key states.

N.Y.P.D. Anti-Harassment Official Accused of Racist Rants  —  The official was relieved of his command after City Council investigators amassed evidence that he posted vitriolic messages online under the name “Clouseau.”  —  For more than 20 years, an online chat board called the Rant …

Yes, Democrats Are Trying To Steal The Election In Michigan, Wisconsin, And Pennsylvania  —  In the three Midwest battleground states, vote counting irregularities persist in an election that will be decided on razor-thin margins.  —  As of this writing, it appears that Democratic Party machines …

Biden slightly expands lead over Trump as Nevada releases first results in 24 hours  —  Joe Biden slightly expanded his narrow lead over President Donald Trump in Nevada on Thursday, though the number of outstanding ballots in urban Clark County suggests that the race in the Silver State is still the former vice president's to lose.

Long at odds with Trump, Defense Secretary Esper has prepared a resignation letter, say officials  —  WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Mark Esper has prepared a letter of resignation, according to three current defense officials.  —  It's not uncommon for Cabinet secretaries to prepare undated letters …

Trump's Tweeting Isn't Crazy.  It's Strategic, Typos and All.  —  A network of right-wing operatives and activists — and the president himself — spread disinformation about Joe Biden with one simple hashtag.  —  Ms. Dreyfuss is a journalist at the Harvard Shorenstein Center's Technology and Social Change project.

Republicans Fend off Democrats in Statehouse Fights  —  Democrats failed to break the GOP's grip on state legislatures Tuesday, bolstering conservative policy priorities and giving Republicans increased power leading into the crucial redistricting process in 2021.

French bulldog named Wilbur elected mayor of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky  —  The Kentucky hamlet of Rabbit Hash has a new mayor — Wilbur, a 6-month-old French bulldog.  —  “Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, has never had an actual person or human as a mayor,” Amy Noland, Wilbur's human, told NBC News.

Where Presidential Election Votes Are Still Being Counted … Loading...  With both President Trump and Joe Biden still short of the 270 electoral votes needed to claim victory, anxious Americans are left with little to do but be patient and wait as election officials in key swing states furiously work …

The Repudiation  —  The 2020 election, it appears, was a staggering repudiation of Donald Trump.  Of him.  Personally.  —  You're not hearing this right now because the right is in denial about the results as it works through the stages of Kubler-Ross grief.

Trump campaign wins legal battle in Pennsylvania to oversee vote counting  —  President Trump's legal team won a battle in Pennsylvania that will grant them closer access to vote counting in the state.  —  On Thursday, appellate Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon overturned a previous ruling …

The final implosion of Trump's Fox News propagandists  —  With President Trump mounting a frantic, last-ditch effort to stop the counting of votes that could doom his reelection, his Fox News propagandists are wheeling into action: One after another, they are raging that the election …

POLITICO Playbook PM: Has anyone seen Donald Trump?  —  IS ANYONE ELSE SURPRISED the president has not done a news conference or interview in the last 24 hours?  As his campaign aides and lawyers fan across the country, President DONALD TRUMP has been uncharacteristically quiet.  (Except on Twitter, of course.)

Late-night TV hosts express shock at close election: ‘I feel like I overestimated the American people’  —  Most of the late-night TV hosts had a critical caveat when they delivered their monologues Wednesday night.  —  “There's never been a more important time to mention that we tape this show …

A Massive “Stop the Count” Facebook Group Has Ties to Republican Operatives  —  For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis, the election, and more, subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.  —  A rapidly growing Facebook group falsely accusing Democrats of “scheming” …

Trump will run for presidency again if he loses, says former chief of staff  —  President could mount challenge again in 2024 or 2028, says Northern Ireland envoy  —  Donald Trump would “absolutely” run for the US presidency again if he loses this election to Joe Biden …

Biden Had No Election Coattails  —  In this wild year of challenge and disruption, nobody should have expected a simple and easy finish to the presidential contest.  Despite press declarations that President Trump (who led in none of the 80 national polls conducted since Labor Day) …

Video falsely claims possible voter fraud in Detroit.  It actually shows a WXYZ photographer loading camera gear.  —  (WXYZ) — A video making the rounds on social media and other platforms that claims to show voter fraud and a wagon being loaded outside of the TCF Center in Detroit …

Hong Kong: People invited to snitch on their neighbours  —  Police in Hong Kong have launched a hotline where residents can report breaches of the national security law imposed by Beijing earlier this year.  —  The law criminalises secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces.