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?

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

WANNABE ‘JEOPARDY!’  HOST KEN JENNINGS IS A BRETT KAVANAUGH RAPE TRUTHER WHO HATES REPUBLICANS  —  “Jeopardy!” champion Ken Jennings is attempting to backtrack on years of insults hurled at conservatives and others on his Twitter feed in what some have speculated is a bid for the popular game show's open host position.

Trump boasts about his Covid response after largely ignoring crisis during deadliest month yet  — December was the deadliest month for America during the pandemic.  Yet President Donald Trump barely uttered a word about Covid-19's tragic toll.  — Instead, the president spent …