Why I Chose Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense  —  In late August of 2010, I traveled to Iraq for the fifth time as vice president.  While there, I participated in the change-of-command ceremony for United States Forces-Iraq.  President Barack Obama had charged me with overseeing the end …

Scoop: West Wing fears COVID spread after Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis attends WH party  —  President Trump's lawyer Jenna Ellis has informed associates she has coronavirus, multiple sources tell Axios, stirring West Wing fears after she attended a senior staff Christmas party on Friday.

In new lawsuit, Texas contests election results in Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania  —  Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block the battleground states from casting “unlawful and constitutionally tainted votes” in the Electoral College.

Presidential Transition Live Updates: Supreme Court Refuses G.O.P. Request to Challenge Pennsylvania Election Results  —  President-elect Joe Biden introduced his health team at an event in Wilmington, Del. Tuesday is the safe harbor deadline, when all state-level election challenges are supposed to be completed.

Pfizer's Vaccine Offers Strong Protection After First Dose  —  The Food and Drug Administration's first analysis of the clinical trial data also found that the coronavirus vaccine worked well regardless of a volunteer's race, weight or age.  —  WASHINGTON — The coronavirus vaccine …

FireEye, a Top Cybersecurity Firm, Says It Was Hacked by a Nation-State  —  The Silicon Valley company said hackers — almost certainly Russian — made off with tools that could be used to mount new attacks around the world.  —  WASHINGTON — For years, the cybersecurity firm FireEye …

Arizona GOP asks followers if they're willing to die in effort to overturn election results  —  The Arizona Republican Party has asked its followers if they are willing to die for the cause of overturning the presidential election results, eliciting alarm and criticism in response.

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey calls Trump's campaign to overturn Pennsylvania election ‘completely unacceptable’  —  Sen. Pat Toomey said Tuesday that it's “completely unacceptable” for President Donald Trump to pressure state lawmakers to overturn Pennsylvania's election result …

Michael Flynn judge says pardon doesn't mean ex-national security adviser is innocent  —  A federal judge dismissed Michael Flynn's prosecution Tuesday after President Trump's pardon, but said the act of clemency does not mean the former national security adviser is innocent of lying to FBI agents …

White House pushes Senate GOP to include $600 stimulus payment in relief package  —  Inclusion of these checks could grow the size of the bipartisan $900 billion package unless other elements are removed  —  White House officials are asking Senate Republican leadership to include stimulus checks worth $600 …

GOP leadership rejects resolution acknowledging Biden as President-elect  —  Georgia Lt. Gov says Biden won: ‘This is still America’  —  Washington (CNN)Congressional Republican leaders rejected a resolution that asserted that Joe Biden is president-elect, the latest effort by the Hill GOP …

Kellyanne Conway Signs Multi-Million Deal for White House Memoir: Report  —  CASHING OUT  —  Former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway has signed a multi-million dollar deal to write a book about her time in the White House, the Daily Mail reports.  The exact price tag is unknown …

Sen. Kelly Loeffler's Husband Bought Stock In Sectors Set To Benefit From Then-Secret Bill  —  While Republicans privately drafted the CARES Act, Loeffler's husband was buying shares in corporations that would reap millions, a HuffPost investigation found.  —  In mid-March, with the American economy …

Trump appointee who oversees Voice of America refuses to cooperate with Biden transition team  —  A Trump appointee with a short but controversial record of overseeing Voice of America and other federally funded news agencies has declined to cooperate with president-elect Joe Biden's representatives …

He Pretended to Be Trump's Family.  Then Trump Fell for It.  —  For months, a 21-year-old Trump supporter impersonated Trump family members on Twitter, spreading conspiracy theories, asking for money and eventually drawing the attention of the president.  —  Last month, between tweets disputing …

Exclusive: Suspected Chinese spy targeted California politicians  —  A suspected Chinese intelligence operative developed extensive ties with local and national politicians, including a U.S. congressman, in what U.S. officials believe was a political intelligence operation run …

Incognito Cops Roamed the Streets Amid Summer Protests.  The Defense Bill Will Put a Stop to It.  —  If the annual defense bill triumphs over President Trump's veto threat, one of its measures will enshrine a direct rejection of his response to this summer's mass protests for Black liberation.

The $124 billion Supreme Court case that could throw the housing market into turmoil, explained  —  Collins v. Mnuchin is an early test of just how much chaos the Supreme Court's new majority is willing to impose on the government.  —  SHARE All sharing options

Bipartisan fix for ‘surprise’ medical bills hits roadblock with powerful chairman  —  A broad bipartisan effort to pass legislation protecting patients from massive “surprise” medical bills is now on life support as House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) digs in on a separate proposal.

AstraZeneca Missteps Undermined U.S. Faith in Coronavirus Vaccine  —  The Oxford-AstraZeneca effort held great promise to help arrest the pandemic.  But a series of miscues caused it to fall behind in the U.S.  —  On the afternoon of Sept. 8, AstraZeneca officials had a conference call with the Food and Drug Administration.

Christopher Nolan Rips HBO Max as “Worst Streaming Service,” Denounces Warner Bros.' Plan  —  To many insiders, WarnerMedia's blindsiding of talent and their reps with news that it would send 17 films directly to HBO Max in 2021 felt like an insult.  —  For many in the movie business …

Don't allow ‘vaccine politics’ to delay saving lives  —  With nearly 3,000 people a day dying of COVID-19, our country faces a renewed, full-blown medical emergency.  And yet, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has fallen behind the United Kingdom in approving distribution …