Nuclear weapons agency breached amid massive cyber onslaught  —  The Energy Department and National Nuclear Security Administration, which maintains the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, have evidence that hackers accessed their networks as part of an extensive espionage operation that has affected …

Top Biden aide walks back expletive description of Republicans  —  Jen O'Malley Dillon, President-elect Joe Biden's campaign manager and incoming White House deputy chief of staff, walked back comments she made in a recent interview suggesting that congressional Republicans were “a bunch of f—ers.”

Democrats fret about Garland for attorney general  —  If Joe Biden picks Merrick Garland to be his attorney general, he could cost his party control of one of the most important judicial appointments in America — and many Democrats do not want the president-elect to take that chance.

An outraged Kemp blasts pro-Trump conspiracy theorists harassing his family  —  Gov. Brian Kemp is fed up with the unrelenting attacks from conspiracy theorists calling on him to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's victory in Georgia.  But he's even more enraged that some of those peddlers …

Trump's New Brand Is Loser  —  His post-election tantrum is forcing conservatives to affirm, again and again, that he lost the election fair and square.  —  In the six weeks since the Presidential election, various theories—many of them persuasive—have been advanced to explain President Trump's refusal to accept Joe Biden's victory.

White House aides talked Trump out of last-minute demand for stimulus checks as big as $2,000  —  Chaotic chain of events at White House illustrates why stimulus bill remains in flux  —  White House aides intervened Thursday to prevent President Trump from issuing a statement calling …

States report confusion as feds reduce vaccine shipments, even as Pfizer says it has ‘millions’ of unclaimed doses  —  Officials in multiple states said they were alerted late Wednesday that their second shipments of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine next week had been reduced, sparking widespread confusion …

ICU availability in Southern California at 0%, and it's going to get worse, officials warn  —  The availability of intensive care unit beds throughout Southern California reached critical mass Thursday with 0% open, and officials warned that conditions in hospitals are expected to erode further COVID-19 continues to spread unchecked.

Trump Bows to Reality, Asks Confidants: Should I Do ‘The Apprentice’ Again?  —  And the show's creator Mark Burnett is intrigued by the money-making potential of a post-presidency reboot, too. … As he begins his final weeks in office, amid a winter surge in coronavirus deaths …

Biden picks Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) to be first Native American interior secretary  —  Tribal and progressive activists lobbied hard to put an indigenous leader in charge of a department that helps oversee Indian County  —  President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Democratic Rep. Deb Haaland …

Kelly Loeffler Keeps Posing For Photos With White Supremacists And Other Extremists  —  The senator recently disavowed a photo of her with a former KKK leader, but she's repeatedly aligned herself with racists and far-right supporters.  —  Earlier this week a photo of Georgia GOP …

US inmate scheduled to be executed tests positive for virus  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal prisoner scheduled to be executed just days before President-elect Joe Biden takes office has tested positive for coronavirus, his lawyer said Thursday.  —  The Bureau of Prisons notified attorneys …

Trump's recognition of Western Sahara is a serious blow to diplomacy and international law  —  James Baker served as the 61st U.S. secretary of state from 1989 to 1992 and as the U.N. secretary-general's personal envoy for Western Sahara from 1997 to 2004.  —  President Trump's recent …

Congress to receive first batch of Covid-19 vaccines, but uncertainty lingers  —  Top congressional leaders will receive the coronavirus vaccine in the coming days with dozens of lawmakers planning to quickly follow suit — an effort designed to maintain a continuity of government while also instilling public confidence in the shot.

Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon dies of complications from COVID-19  —  Darcie Moran Omar Abdel-Baqui John WiselyDetroit Free Press  —  Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon, a man who dedicated decades to public service and became a household name to metro Detroiters …

Exclusive: U.S. to blacklist dozens of Chinese firms including SMIC, sources say  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is set to add dozens of Chinese companies, including the country's top chipmaker SMIC, to a trade blacklist on Friday, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

Kathleen Rice beats out AOC for spot on coveted House committee  —  Rep. Kathleen Rice has captured a prized seat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee after a contentious showdown with fellow New Yorker, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  —  Rice and Ocasio-Cortez have been battling behind …

Misinformation fatigue sets in  —  “Misinformation isn't going away, but it seems inevitable that people will stop caring.”  —  I expect 2021 will be the year misinformation fatigue sets in — a condition from which I will undeniably suffer and for which I will be partly to blame.

How Offshore Oddsmakers Made a Killing off Gullible Trump Supporters  —  On Dec. 9, Donald Trump tweeted something incorrect but at least closer to the ballpark of the truth than most of what he's posted since losing his reelection campaign.  —  “At 10 p.m. on Election Evening, we were at 97% …

It's time for the ‘Deplorables’ to become the Unconquerables  —  Democrats won the election, but they don't seem very happy about it.  And with reason: The election failed in its main purpose, which was to shut down the Deplorables.  —  The Deplorables, in Hillary Clinton's infamous term …

O Rahm, where art thou?  —  Welcome to POLITICO's 2020 Transition Playbook, your guide to one of the most consequential transfers of power in American history.  —  RAHM EMANUEL had never lost a political campaign.  Until this week.  —  Over the past few weeks, the former Chicago mayor …