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 …

Georgia Republicans Deliver Persistent Message: Fear the Democrats  —  Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are resting their re-election hopes on a strategy that calls more attention to what they're against than what they support.  —  NORCROSS, Ga. — The biggest applause lines …

‘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.

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.

Trump extends immigration and work visa restrictions through March  —  President Trump on Thursday extended pandemic-era bans on certain immigrant and work visas until March 31.  —  Why it matters: The bans — issued in April and June and set to expire on Thursday — go against the recommendations …

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 …

Trump's fight to overthrow election now falls to the guy who invented the CueCat  —  Fittingly, the CueCat is widely regarded as one of the worst gadgets ever made  —  In a hopeless attempt to overthrow or cast suspicion on an American election, a ridiculous cast of characters …

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 …

Meet the Trump saboteur in charge of undermining Biden — and America  —  If, in the new year, pandemic vaccines aren't available as promised, Americans can't return to work because economic relief isn't delivered or an adversary successfully attacks the United States because national security agencies …

Gibraltar Gets Its Own Last-Minute Brexit Deal on Borders  —  Spain and the European Union will share oversight over the flow of goods and people to the British territory, which worried about being left isolated and economically pinched outside the bloc.  —  MADRID — The recent Brexit trade …

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.

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.

US to move aircraft carrier out of Mideast amid Iran tension  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has decided to send home the only Navy aircraft carrier operating in the Middle East, a move that would reduce U.S. firepower in the region amid heightened tensions with Iran, officials said Thursday.