WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden has selected Merrick Garland, a federal appeals court judge, as his attorney general, two people familiar with the selection process said Wednesday. Garland, a federal appeals court judge, in 2016 was snubbed by Republicans for a seat on the Supreme Court, Biden is expected to announce Garland’s appointment on…
ATLANTA (AP) — Democrat Raphael Warnock has won one of Georgia’s two Senate runoffs, becoming the first Black senator in his state’s history and putting the Senate majority within the party’s reach. Warnock, a pastor who spent the past 15 years leading the Atlanta church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached, defeated Republican incumbent Kelly…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence has been President Donald Trump’s most loyal soldier, dutifully backing the unpredictable leader through one chaotic situation after another. Now Pence is facing the most precarious position of his tenure when he presides over Wednesday’s congressional tally of Electoral College votes. It’s the last front in Trump’s attempts…
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia voters are set to decide the balance of power in Congress in a pair of high-stakes Senate runoff elections. Tuesday’s voting will help determine President-elect Joe Biden’s capacity to enact what may be the most progressive governing agenda in generations. Democrats must win both of the state’s elections to gain the…
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a new national lockdown for England until at least mid-February to combat a fast-spreading new version of the coronavirus. Johnson said people must stay at home again, as they were ordered to do so in the first wave of the pandemic in March, this time…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is heard on tape pleading with Georgia’s election chief to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state. Trump suggests in a telephone call that the official “find” enough votes to hand Trump the victory. The conversation was the latest step in an unprecedented effort by a sitting American president…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is ending a chaotic session with a rare rebuff by Republicans of President Donald Trump. GOP senators are ignoring the outgoing president’s demand to increase the $600 COVID-19 aid checks to $2,000. They are poised to override his veto of a major defense bill. Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham of South…
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 2020 at more record highs Thursday, closing out one of the most tumultuous years in recent memory. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and ended the year up 16%, or roughly 18% including dividends. 2020 saw a breathtaking nosedive in markets in the spring as the…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has all but shut the door on President Donald Trump’s push for $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks. The Republican leader says Congress has provided enough pandemic aid and he’s blocked another attempt by Democrats to force a vote. McConnell is unwilling to budge, despite political pressure from Trump…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican senator says he’ll object when Congress meets next week to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the election. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri says he’ll protest the Electoral College certification because “some states, including notably Pennsylvania” didn’t follow their election laws. A Biden spokeswoman is dismissing Hawley’s move as “antics”…