My Call With Ron Johnson: He Knows Biden Won But Won't Admit It  —  The Wisconsin senator says it would be “political suicide.”  —  November 14, 8:37 a.m. my phone rings.  I do a double take on my caller ID and realize who is calling.  I take a deep breath and answer the phone.

Biden: 'We're Going to Fight Like Hell by Investing in America First'  —  My talk with Joe Biden on his first few months, and his next four years.  —  President-elect Joe Biden was in a good mood as we talked on the phone Tuesday evening for an hour — he in Delaware and me in Bethesda, Md. He apologized, though, for being late.

Release of PPP loan recipients data reveals troubling patterns  —  Following months of litigation between the Small Business Administration and news organizations seeking data about who benefited from pandemic relief programs, the agency on Tuesday night released a sweeping dataset …

MAGA-ite in Manhattan?:  Ivanka Trump's political ambitions seek new home after the White House  —  Friends and former associates say they expect the first daughter to think about running for office, or at least get involved in some way in Republican politics.

Congress shoots down Trump's threat to veto defense bill  —  Congress is moving forward on a must-pass defense policy bill without repealing a legal shield for social media companies, rejecting a last-minute veto threat from President Donald Trump.  —  The final version of the National …

Confessions of a Clintonworld Exile  —  Doug Band worked alongside Bill Clinton every day for nearly two decades, first as a body man and then as one of the primary architects of his lucrative and often-fraught post-presidency.  Then came a seismic falling out with accusations of self-dealing and soap-opera-level psychodrama.

Covid-19: Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine judged safe for use in UK from next week  —  The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, paving the way for mass vaccination.  —  Britain's medicines regulator, the MHRA, says the jab …

GOP leader McDaniel to run for 3rd term with Trump's backing  —  Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chairwoman, is launching her bid for a third two-year term heading the GOP's governing organization after the party's stronger-than-anticipated showing in November's election, even though President Donald Trump lost.

The GOP's electoral mischief  —  MO PROBLEMS — Scooplet: Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) has been telling colleagues and allies that he plans to challenge the Electoral College votes when Congress officially certifies Joe Biden's victory on Jan. 6, as long as a Senate Republican joins him in the long-shot effort, sources tell your Huddle host.

Trump likely to announce 2024 bid, but GOP rivals say power will fade post-White House  —  President Trump is likely to announce he'll run again in 2024, perhaps before this term even ends, sources tell Axios.  —  Why it matters: Trump has already set in motion two important strategies …

Presidential Transition Live Updates: Biden to Discuss Virus-Weakened Economy Amid Stalemate Over Aid  —  President-elect Joe Biden is set to meet virtually with small-business owners and workers hurt by the pandemic.  The Justice Department is investigating a potential bribery scheme for a Trump pardon.

The Kelly Loeffler, Raphael Warnock runoff crosses a line  —  One of Kelly Loeffler's first public appearances as a U.S. senator came last January at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.  —  “I am so humbled to be here with you today in this sacred place …

Hey Obama... Some People Actually Do Want to Defund the Police  —  During an interview on the Snapchat political show “Good Luck America” (because apparently that's a thing?), former President Barack Obama decided to stick his foot in his mouth once again by telling host Peter Hamby …

Roger Stone, Who Had His Ass Saved by Barr, Turns on ‘Deep State’ Attorney General  —  SNAKE PIT  —  Remember in February when Attorney General Bill Barr trashed his department's reputation to override the recommended prison term for Roger Stone and push for a much shorter sentence?

Michael Flynn's Call for ‘Martial Law’ Comes Amid Violent Threats Over Trump Election Defeat  —  Former national security adviser Michael Flynn—controversially pardoned by President Donald Trump last week—on Tuesday retweeted a call for the White House to declare martial law and re-run last month's presidential election.

RNC blasts Politico over Michigan election story  —  Politico chief political correspondent Tim Alberta packed a lot into his sizzling Nov. 24 feature, “The Inside Story of Michigan's Fake Voter Fraud Scandal.”  There's a tight narration of the Trump campaign's destructive effort to undo the Michigan vote …

1 In Every 800 North Dakota Residents Now Dead From Covid  —  Just two weeks after joining the growing list of states where at least one in every 1,000 residents has died from coronavirus-linked causes, North Dakota's grim statistic has escalated: as of Tuesday, one in every 800 North Dakotans has been claimed by Covid-19.

This Election Stinks  —  Is something rotten in Denmark?  —  W  —  ashington  —  I have been on the fence.  Ever since the election on November 3, I have been on the fence.  I am prepared to accept the will of the people, and only in the election of 1960 was there evidence of a presidential election being stolen by either party.

There Wasn't That Much Split-Ticket Voting In 2020  —  The narrative of the 2020 election is that Joe Biden did pretty well ... but down-ballot Democrats, not so much.  And while this is true if you look simply at the results — Republicans defended most of their vulnerable Senate seats …

No-kill, lab-grown meat to go on sale for first time  —  Singapore's approval of chicken cells grown in bioreactors is seen as landmark moment across industry  —  Cultured meat, produced in bioreactors without the slaughter of an animal, has been approved for sale by a regulatory authority for the first time.

Walter Williams, R.I.P.  —  The great economist and freedom fighter Walter Williams has died.  This is an incredibly sad news.  Walter was a great communicator of ideas and a prolific, provocative and uncompromising writer.  He was the John M. Olin distinguished professor of economics at George Mason University.

U.N. Reclassifies Cannabis as a Less Dangerous Drug  —  A United Nations commission voted to remove marijuana for medical use from a list of the most risky narcotics, such as heroin.  —  A United Nations commission voted on Wednesday to remove cannabis for medicinal purposes from a category …