Biden Picks Xavier Becerra to Lead Health and Human Services  —  The selection of Mr. Becerra, the California attorney general, is a surprise.  If confirmed, he will face a daunting challenge in leading the department at a critical moment in the pandemic.  —  WASHINGTON — President-elect …

Barr Is Said to Be Weighing Whether to Leave Before Trump's Term Ends  —  The attorney general's future came into doubt after he acknowledged that the Justice Department had not found evidence of widespread voter fraud in the president's election loss.  —  WASHINGTON — Attorney General William P. Barr …

Doctor: Giuliani potentially exposed hundreds to virus  —  Responding to President Donald Trump's tweet that Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for coronavirus, Dr. Megan Ranney says that Giuliani could have potentially exposed “hundreds and hundreds” of people to the virus during a recent trip to Atlanta.

A Powerful Reporter Got Away With Sexual Misconduct for Decades.  His Paper, and His Union, Looked the Other Way.  —  Michael Fuoco was a bigfoot reporter with a fiery personality and a reputation for harassing young women.  No one seemed to want to rein him in.

To rebuild CDC, Biden picks Rochelle Walensky  —  President-elect Joe Biden has selected Rochelle Walensky, the chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital, to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.

Trump mulls dramatic flight to Florida rally on Biden's Inauguration Day  —  President Trump is considering a made-for-TV grand finale: a White House departure on Marine One and final Air Force One flight to Florida for a political rally opposite Joe Biden's inauguration, sources familiar with the discussions tell Axios.

Warnock and Loeffler argue over coronavirus relief, police funding  —  Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) and the Rev. Raphael Warnock (D) faced off in a debate a month before the runoff election that will help determine control of the Senate.  Earlier, Republican Sen. David Perdue declined to participate …

Anti-Vaccine Doctor Has Been Invited to Testify Before Senate Committee  —  The selection of Dr. Jane M. Orient as federal health officials are trying to promote a vaccine to end the coronavirus pandemic prompted harsh criticism from Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York.

Biden's already more popular than Trump's ever been  —  (CNN)Poll of the week: A new Gallup poll finds that President-elect Joe Biden has a 55% favorable rating and a 41% unfavorable rating.  —  The same poll gives President Donald Trump a 42% favorable rating and a 57% unfavorable rating.

Long a Holdout From Covid-19 Restrictions, Sweden Ends Its Pandemic Experiment  —  Government imposes mandatory measures after failing to contain new surge in infections  —  Sweden's Covid-19 experiment is over.  —  After a late autumn surge in infections led to rising hospitalizations and deaths …

Trump burned to the ground by GOP advisor for throwing 'world's biggest hissy fit' at Georgia rally  —  A Republican Party consultant leveled Donald Trump on Sunday morning for his performance before a rally crowd in Georgia on Saturday night that she labeled the “world's biggest hissy fit.”

The Death of Zappos's Tony Hsieh: A Spiral of Alcohol, Drugs and Extreme Behavior  —  The inspirational executive seemed to lose his way after giving up his corporate role, including a starvation diet and fascination with fire  —  About two weeks before Zappos.com Inc. co-founder Tony Hsieh died …

Exclusive: U.S. preparing new sanctions on Chinese officials over Hong Kong crackdown - sources  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is preparing to impose sanctions on at least a dozen Chinese officials over their alleged role in Beijing's disqualification of elected opposition legislators …

Biden weighs taking an inaugural Amtrak ride from Delaware to D.C.  —  There's talk within Bidenworld of the president-elect ditching the typical flourish of arriving in Washington on an Air Force plane, pulling in instead on the same Amtrak train he rode to and from Delaware for 30 years as a senator.

The Burden of Proof  —  The faith in fairness has been shattered beyond recovery, and the assumption of anything like a shared consensus seems more and more like a naïve pretense when it isn't just a cynical hustings gambit.  —  Many people, including some good friends …

Two cheers for the Never Trump conservatives  —  The shameful complicity of Republican leaders in President Trump's torrent of deceit about our election tells us there is little hope for a more reasonable post-Trump GOP.  But what about conservatism as a philosophy?  Is it equally discredited?

2020 meltdown leaves Iowa Democrats on edge  —  Aside from ousting Donald Trump from the White House, the story of the 2020 election has an unhappy ending for Democrats.  They failed to win back the Senate, nearly lost the House and fell short in statehouses all across the country.

Black Michigan lawmaker posts voicemails saying she should be lynched  —  One caller told state Rep. Cynthia A. Johnson, D-Detroit, that she should be “swinging from a ... rope.”  —  That echoed another call received by Johnson, who is Black, that predicted the lawmaker would be lynched …

Students have already lost too much time.  They need to be back in classrooms.  —  SINCE THE outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, teachers, principals, administrators and parents across the United States have worked mightily to help students keep learning.  Schools developed new curriculums …

Pete Davidson rips Staten Island's anti-COVID-19 lockdown ‘babies’ on ‘SNL’  —  Staten-Island born “SNL” star Pete Davidson said the anti-COVID lockdown protests there make the borough's residents look like “babies” — but quipped that he's glad that he's no longer the “worst thing about Staten Island.”

Saying Goodbye to Hanukkah  —  I lit the menorah as a child, but my kids are growing up in a different type of household.  —  Growing up, my sister and I ate our Hanukkah latkes next to stockings our mother had cross-stitched with depictions of Santa.  The white flickering light …

Saudi Prince Blasts Israel at Bahrain Summit, Says Normalization Must Help Palestinians  —  Prince Turki al-Faisal, who served as Saudi ambassador to the U.S. and U.K., says Israel is a ‘Western colonizing power’ incarcerating Palestinians in ‘concentration camps’

Pompeo to Head Home to Kansas With Plenty of Alternatives  —  After championing Trump's worldview, secretary of state is described by supporters as being well positioned for domestic political pursuits  —  WASHINGTON—Mike Pompeo, who spent four years overseeing the Trump administration's …

Chris Wallace corrects HHS secretary for not calling Biden the president-elect  —  Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace made it clear to a top Trump administration official that Joe Biden is indeed the president-elect, following his declared victory in November.

Chicago Teachers Union: ‘The Push To Reopen Schools Is Rooted in Sexism, Racism, and Misogyny’  —  The Chicago Teachers Union, which represents more than 28,000 educators in the nation's third largest city, tweeted on Sunday: “The push to reopen schools is rooted in sexism, racism and misogyny.”