McConnell calls Jan. 6 certification his “most consequential vote”  —  In an extraordinary conference call this morning with fellow Senate Republicans, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his Jan. 6 vote certifying Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election will be “the most consequential I have ever cast …

Axios' Mike Allen: Some Republicans think Trump is trying to sabotage GOP in Georgia Senate races  — “There's a big strain of thought among Republicans that President Trump is sabotaging” the Georgia Senate runoffs, Axios co-founder Mike Allen told CNBC.  — Allen said Trump has …

‘Covid, Covid, Covid’: In Trump's Final Chapter, a Failure to Rise to the Moment  —  As the U.S. confronted a new wave of infection and death through the summer and fall, the president's approach to the pandemic came down to a single question: What would it mean for him?

Wisconsin hospital worker arrested for spoiled vaccine doses  —  MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Authorities arrested a suburban Milwaukee pharmacist Thursday suspected of deliberately ruining hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine by removing them from refrigeration for two nights.

Some healthcare workers refuse to take COVID-19 vaccine, even with priority access  —  They are front-line workers with top priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine, but they are refusing to take it.  —  At St. Elizabeth Community Hospital in Tehama County, fewer than half …

Microsoft says Russians hacked its network, viewing source code  —  Russian government hackers engaged in a sweeping series of breaches of government and private-sector networks have been able to penetrate deeper into Microsoft's systems than previously known, gaining access …

The Mutated Virus Is a Ticking Time Bomb  —  Editor's Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers.  Find the collection here.  —  A new variant of the coronavirus is spreading across the globe.  It was first identified in the United Kingdom …

Biden's Incoming Press Secretary: Briefings Won't Be A Platform For Right-Wing Spin  —  Toggle more options  —  President-elect Joe Biden's choice for White House press secretary says she will restore a tradition.  Unlike her immediate predecessors in the Trump administration …

Pence Seeks to Dismiss GOP Lawsuit Aiming to Let Him Overturn Election  —  Justice Department called Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert's suit a ‘walking legal contradiction’  —  Vice President Mike Pence asked a federal judge in Texas on Thursday to dismiss a Republican congressman's attempt to give …

Congressman Raskin Announces Loss of Son Tommy Raskin  —  TAKOMA PARK, M.D. - With profound sorrow, Congressman Jamie Raskin (MD-08) and Sarah Bloom Raskin today announced the loss of their son Thomas (Tommy) Bloom Raskin, 25, who was a second-year student at Harvard Law School and a graduate of Amherst College.

British PM Johnson's father applying for French citizenship  —  PARIS (Reuters) - The father of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday he was in the process of applying for a French passport to maintain his ties with the European Union after Brexit.

Lin Wood's Ex-Law Partners Claim He Was Taped Admitting to Assaults, Asserting He May Be ‘Christ Coming Back for Second Time’  —  Attorney L. Lin Wood may believe himself to be a vessel of the second coming, and he's not referring to another Donald Trump presidential term.

Security firms say suspicious object on oil tanker off Iraq  —  DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Sailors involved in transferring fuel oil from an Iraqi tanker in the Persian Gulf to another vessel owned by a shipping company traded in the U.S. discovered a “suspicious object” they fear could be a mine, authorities said Thursday.

West Virginia clinic gave 42 people an antibody treatment instead of the coronavirus vaccine  —  Forty-two people in West Virginia received an antibody treatment rather than Moderna's coronavirus vaccine in an error Wednesday at a vaccination clinic hosted by a county health department.

Judge rolls back order on Georgia runoff voter challenges  —  A federal judge has agreed to allow a Georgia county to require that certain voters cast provisional ballots, just days before two runoff elections in the state that will decide control of the U.S. Senate.

5 Female NY1 Anchors Exit as Part of Age, Gender Discrimination Lawsuit Settlement  —  Five Spectrum NY1 anchors who sued Charter Communications for age and gender discrimination last year will leave the news station as part of a settlement agreement.  —  “We are pleased to announce …

Trump Budget Chief Hampers Biden Transition With Ban on Meetings  — Agency director Russ Vought wants focus on last-minute rules  — Biden has complained OMB, Pentagon are hampering transition  —  President Donald Trump's budget office is blocking Joe Biden's transition team …

Biden asks nation for bell ringings, light shows to remember those lost to COVID  —  To set the tone for his inauguration the next day, President-elect Biden will lead a memorial to remember and honor lives lost to COVID-19, with church-bell ringings and light shows across the country on Tue., Jan. 19, at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Republicans Don't Know Anything About Their Party.  That's Very Bad for American Democracy.  —  By Ethan Winter  —  While the packaging of Republican Party politics has evolved since 2000, what remains unaltered is a bedrock commitment to regressive tax cuts, a sharp curtailment of worker power …

Federal agency knew Garda was “really bad” at safety.  It took little action.  —  Three more people have died since the Times revealed safety problems at the Florida-based armored truck company.  —  By the time Johnathon Lue burned alive in the back of a GardaWorld armored truck in May …