Trump Administration

The Hill reports: White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Thursday referred questions back to the White House during a Fox News interview where she appeared as a campaign adviser. McEnany, who has taken on an increased role as a campaign surrogate in recent weeks, would not answer a question about whether President Trump has considered allowing President-elect Joe Biden …

Politico reports: On Monday, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows gathered senior aides on a call. One of his goals: to plot the conservative policy moves they could push through in their final 10 weeks on immigration, trade, health care, China and school choice. Even as President Donald Trump refused to concede to President-elect Joe Biden, Meadows was asking …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump is lashing out at the Food and Drug Administration following a disclosure Monday that an experimental coronavirus vaccine from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is more than 90 percent effective, convinced the timing — six days after Election Day — proves the “medical deep state” deliberately tried to sabotage his electoral prospects by delaying the results. …

CNN reports: A stack of messages from foreign leaders to President-elect Joe Biden are sitting at the State Department but the Trump administration is preventing him from accessing them, according to State Department officials familiar with the messages. Traditionally, the State Department supports all communications for the President-elect, which is why many countries began sending messages to State over the …

Bloomberg News reports: At least three more people in President Donald Trump’s orbit — including White House political director Brian Jack — have tested positive for coronavirus, widening the latest outbreak to ravage the West Wing. Jack, who attended Trump’s election night event in the East Room of the White House, and one of his aides both tested positive for …

The Associated Press reports: Vice President Pence is no longer going to Florida on vacation as planned this week, administration officials say. Pence is instead staying back in Washington as the president seeks to overturn results in a number of states with unproven allegations of widespread voter fraud, officials say. Pence argued to senators Tuesday they should stick with the …

The Washington Post reports: Even some of the president’s most publicly pugilistic aides, including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and informal adviser Corey Lewandowski, have said privately that they are concerned about the lawsuits’ chances for success unless more evidence surfaces, according to people familiar with their views. Trump met with advisers …

Vice News reports: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just became the latest high-ranking Republican official to insist, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, that President Trump didn’t actually lose the 2020 election. “There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration,” Pompeo said in a briefing on Tuesday. Pompeo’s wild-eyed departure from reality comes as Trump continues …

The Wall Street Journal reports: President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team is considering legal action if the Trump administration doesn’t formalize Mr. Biden’s win and give him access to crucial government resources. The General Services Administration, a little-known government agency, is tasked with “ascertaining” the results of the presidential election, a technical designation that would trigger the flow of government resources …

The Miami Herald reports: Being vice president is a tough job. Especially one who has just been voted out of office and is fighting to stay in it. So we can’t blame Mike Pence for wanting a little R&R. Where is he going? Florida, of course. VPOTUS isn’t heading to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach or Disney World near Orlando. …

Politico reports: The Pentagon’s acting policy chief resigned on Tuesday after falling out of favor with the White House, raising fears of a post-election purge at the Defense Department. The departure of James Anderson, the acting undersecretary of defense for policy, potentially paves the way for Anthony Tata, President Donald Trump’s controversial nominee for the top policy job who was …

NPR reports: Obamacare is back before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, with opponents challenging it for a third time. The first attempts to derail the law failed in the high court by votes of 5-to-4 and 6-to-3. But the makeup of the court is very different now, with three justices appointed by President Trump – among them new Justice Amy …

The Washington Post reports: The Trump White House on Monday instructed senior government leaders to block cooperation with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team, escalating a standoff that threatens to impede the transfer of power and prompting the Biden team to consider legal action. Officials at agencies across the government who had prepared briefing books and carved out office space for …

Reuters reports: There were just over 59,000 COVID-19 patients in hospitals across the United States on Monday, the country’s highest number ever of in-patients being treated for the disease, as new infections at record levels for the sixth consecutive day. The harsh statistics tallied by Reuters cemented the United States’ position as the nation worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic, …

NBC News reports: The head of the branch of the Justice Department that prosecutes election crimes resigned Monday hours after Attorney General William Barr issued a memo to federal prosecutors to investigate “specific allegations” of voter fraud before the results of the presidential race are certified. Richard Pilger, who was director of the Election Crimes Branch of the DOJ, sent …

The New York Times reports: The White House has removed the scientist responsible for the National Climate Assessment, the federal government’s premier contribution to climate knowledge and the foundation for regulations to combat global warming, in what critics interpreted as the latest sign that the Trump administration intends to use its remaining months in office to continue impeding climate science …

CNBC reports: Attorney General William Barr has authorized federal prosecutors across the U.S. to pursue “substantial allegations” of voting irregularities before the 2020 presidential election is certified, despite little evidence of fraud. Barr’s action comes days after Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump and raises the prospect that Trump will use the Justice Department to try to challenge the …

Mediaite reports: Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto abruptly cut away from a Trump campaign press conference led by Kayleigh McEnany Monday afternoon. Shortly after her baseless allegation that the Democratic party was “welcoming fraud and you are welcoming illegal voting,” Cavuto cut in abruptly by saying “whoa, whoa, whoa, I just think we have to be very clear.” “She’s charging …

The Washington Post reports: Trump erupted in anger, telling others in the White House to “get that result changed,” a senior administration official said. His chief of staff Mark Meadows phoned Fox News’s decision desk repeatedly. Top aide Hope Hicks, who had returned to the White House earlier this year after a stint at Fox Corp., messaged Raj Shah, a …

The Independent reports: Ben Carson has become the latest Trump administration official to test positive for Covid-19. The secretary of housing and urban development attended the election night party at the White House on Tuesday. Mr Carson’s deputy chief of staff says he is “in good spirits and feels fortunate to have access to effective therapeutics which aid and markedly …