Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says he is standing by Graham Platner in the wake of media reports that the Maine Senate candidate previously exchanged sexually explicit text messages with several women.

A top aide to former President Joe Biden is denouncing a Republican investigation of his former boss.

Republicans can't stop talking about former President Joe Biden.

A former senior aide to first lady Jill Biden has declined to answer questions as part of a House Republican probe into former President Joe Biden's mental state.

Former President Joe Biden's physician has requested to delay his testimony to the House oversight committee.

House Republicans have subpoenaed a senior aide to former first lady Jill Biden.

President Donald Trump is alleging that officials in Joe Biden’s administration might have in effect forged their boss's signature and taken broad actions he wasn’t aware of.

President Donald Trump is directing his administration to investigate Joe Biden’s actions as president, alleging aides masked his predecessor’s “cognitive decline” and raising questions about his use of the autopen to sign pardons and other documents.

President Donald Trump has dismissed many of former President Joe Biden’s nominees to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, including Doug Emhoff, the husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris.

After major blows to his agenda by the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden is intent on making sure voters will have the final say.

The White House chief of staff is at the fulcrum of the federal government as gatekeeper to the most powerful leader on Earth.

Outgoing White House chief of staff Ron Klain burst into tears Wednesday as he talked about his boss, President Joe Biden, and his decades of work with him.

President Joe Biden has announced Jeff Zients as his next White House chief of staff, tapping an experienced technocrat who headed his administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Joe Biden is expected to name the man who ran his administration’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic as his next chief of staff.

White House chief of staff Ron Klain is preparing to leave his job in the coming weeks.

Newly empowered House Republicans are demanding the White House turn over all information related to its searches that have uncovered classified documents at President Joe Biden’s home and former office.

The White House and Senate Democrats are closing out the first two years of Joe Biden’s presidency having installed more federal judges than his two immediate predecessors.

When he ran for the White House, Joe Biden told voters his presidency would be a bridge to the next generation.

Even with their threadbare House majority, Republicans doubled down this week on using their new power to investigate the Biden administration and in particular the president’s son.

President Joe Biden is declaring that his Democratic Party “had a strong night” in the midterm elections.

Joe Biden wasn't the first choice of progressives for the White House in 2020.

An independent government watchdog says President Joe Biden’s chief of staff violated the law by retweeting a political message on his official Twitter account.

President Joe Biden will soon be signing into law a major bill to revive the U.S. computer chip sector.

COVID-19 symptoms left President Joe Biden with a deep, raspy voice and persistent cough as he met Friday via videoconference with his top economic team, but he tried to strike a reassuring tone, declaring, “I feel much better than I sound.”.

President Joe Biden’s top political advisers are bracing for big election losses in November.

Jen Psaki is leaving as White House press secretary on Friday after having answered reporters’ questions nearly every weekday of the almost 500 days that President Joe Biden has been in office.

Tearfully embracing a history-making moment, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said Friday her confirmation as the first Black woman to the Supreme Court shows the progress of America.

Addressing a concerned nation and anxious world, President Joe Biden has vowed in his first State of the Union address to check Russian aggression in Ukraine, tame soaring U.S. inflation and deal with the fading but still dangerous coronavirus.

Face coverings are now optional for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, set for Tuesday.

Walter E.

The White House says President Joe Biden will meet with Senate Judiciary Committee leaders on Tuesday to discuss the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court vacancy and the president’s promise to nominate a Black woman to the high court.

President Joe Biden is eyeing at least three judges for an expected vacancy on the Supreme Court.

President Joe Biden has strongly affirmed that he will nominate the first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court.

President Joe Biden came to office seeing two sicknesses in his country.

White House counsel Dana Remus made a lasting impression on her colleagues with her calm during the chaotic time after last year’s election when Donald Trump challenged the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s victory.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is on a mission to save American jobs — one computer chip at a time.

President Joe Biden is hoping to turn the page after a summer of unrelenting crises and refocus his presidency around his core economic agenda.

After a summer of unrelenting crises, President Joe Biden is hoping to turn the page and refocus his presidency this fall around his core economic agenda.

The resurgence of COVID-19 this summer and the national debate over vaccine requirements have created a fraught situation for the nation’s first responders, who are dying in larger numbers but pushing back against mandates.

The White House says President Joe Biden has filled about 56% of his senior White House staff positions with women, including about 36% coming from racially and-or ethnically diverse backgrounds.

President Joe Biden’s lone Cabinet choice who was rebuffed by Congress has landed a job as a White House senior adviser.

A flurry of diplomatic activity and reports of major progress suggest indirect talks between the United States and Iran may be nearing a conclusion.

Two White House officials say the U.S. trade representative will begin talks in the World Trade Organization on ways to overcome intellectual property issues that are keeping poorer countries from making their own generic version of critically needed COVID-19 vaccines.

Sixteen states are backing Alabama’s challenge to a new method the Census Bureau is using in an effort to protect the privacy of people who participated in the head count.

The Senate filibuster is coming under fresh scrutiny.

President Joe Biden says Republicans have talked for years about the need to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure and predicts GOP lawmakers will face pressure from their supporters if they don’t act.

President Joe Biden is setting about convincing America it needs his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan.

President Joe Biden's first Cabinet meeting looked and felt different from those held by his predecessor.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON – Joe Biden will convene his first Cabinet meeting on Thursday, a presidential rite of passage that will be used to promote his new infrastructure plan. Ad“The meetings can help align priorities, build morale, and allow Cabinet members to develop relationships with colleagues who they don’t normally see,” Lu said. The White House has highlighted that this Cabinet is the most diverse in history. In normal times, scheduling an in-person Cabinet meeting would require weeks, if not months, of planning to block off time in the travel schedules of the various principals. The Cabinet members will soon begin to fan out across the country to pitch both the COVID-19 relief and infrastructure plans, officials said.

Biden is taking the opposite approach of the Clinton administration to help the economy. White House aides are comparing the scope of Biden's policy ambitions to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's after the Great Depression. Biden was probably the best about this.”AdCelinda Lake conducted polling for both the Clinton and Biden campaigns. The Biden administration is now challenging China, which never embraced the values of democracy as trade advocates once believed it would. But he sees the Biden administration as pursuing new policies to help workers.

President Joe Biden listens to a question during a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, March 25, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)NEW YORK – Joe Biden's first presidential news conference was notable for what was missing after predecessor Donald Trump: no contentious exchanges with reporters, no Fox News and no questions about COVID-19. Before taking a question, Biden announced he was setting a new goal of having 200 million vaccine doses for the coronavirus administered during his first 100 days in office. Trump on Thursday accused the White House reporters of throwing “softballs” to Biden. AdThat quickly became an issue at Fox, where the chyron “Biden Snubs Fox News during First News Conf” was put onscreen.

WASHINGTON – At least one group in America is unlikely to get any money from President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan — his own top aides. Most of Biden’s senior West Wing advisers made far more than the threshold that would qualify them for direct payments from the president’s COVID-19 relief bill, according to White House financial disclosure forms released Saturday. Others in the West Wing — whose positions don't require Senate confirmation — have had deep ties to the business world. He was listed as having a salary of $1.8 million, according to his disclosure form. Brian Deese, head of the national economic council, was previously global head of sustainable investing at BlackRock, according to his disclosure.

President Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 pandemic during a prime-time address from the East Room of the White House, Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Washington. “While it was different for everyone, we all lost something," Biden said of the sacrifices of the yearlong-and-counting pandemic. In his Thursday night address, Biden said that as vaccine supplies continue to increase, he will direct states and territories to make all adults eligible for vaccination by May 1. Biden had originally planned to sign the bill on Friday, but it arrived at the White House more quickly than anticipated. Trump, it was later revealed, acknowledged that he had been deliberately “playing down” the threat of the virus.

President Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 pandemic during a prime-time address from the East Room of the White House, Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Washington. “While it was different for everyone, we all lost something," Biden said of the sacrifices of the yearlong-and-counting pandemic. In his Thursday night address, Biden said that as vaccine supplies continue to increase, he will direct states and territories to make all adults eligible for vaccination by May 1. Biden had originally planned to sign the bill on Friday, but it arrived at the White House more quickly than anticipated. Trump, it was later revealed, acknowledged that he had been deliberately “playing down” the threat of the virus.

President Joe Biden participates in a roundtable discussion on a coronavirus relief package in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 5, 2021. It reflects a White House media strategy meant both to reserve major media set-pieces for the celebration of a legislative victory and to limit unforced errors from a historically gaffe-prone politician. In a sharp contrast with the previous administration, the White House is exerting extreme message discipline, empowering staff to speak but doing so with caution. The volume has been turned so low in the Biden White House that they need to worry about whether anyone is listening," said Frank Sesno, former head of George Washington University's school of media. “Presidential press conferences are not on the top of the agenda for Americans who are worried about COVID and the economic disaster that has befallen so many families,” he said.

President Joe Biden participates in a roundtable discussion on a coronavirus relief package in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 5, 2021. It reflects a White House media strategy meant both to reserve major media set-pieces for the celebration of a legislative victory and to limit unforced errors from a historically gaffe-prone politician. In a sharp contrast with the previous administration, the White House is exerting extreme message discipline, empowering staff to speak but doing so with caution. The volume has been turned so low in the Biden White House that they need to worry about whether anyone is listening," said Frank Sesno, former head of George Washington University's school of media. “Presidential press conferences are not on the top of the agenda for Americans who are worried about COVID and the economic disaster that has befallen so many families,” he said.

But lawmakers and advocates are racing to capitalize on House rules that allow any bill to bypass lengthy committee hearings if brought forward by April 1. Senate Republicans are now threatening similar delays. Ad“We’ll be fighting this in every way that we can,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said about the COVID-19 package. McConnell wants Senate Republicans to vote in lockstep against the virus aid, calling it a bloated liberal wish list, following the lead of House Republicans who gave it zero support. That leaves Democrats negotiating with themselves on the COVID-19 package, with Biden warning they won’t like every aspect as he courts centrists.

Neera Tanden, President Joe Biden's nominee for Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), appears beofre a Senate Committee on the Budget hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, Pool)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden's pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, has withdrawn her nomination after she faced opposition from key Democratic and Republican senators for her controversial tweets. Thirteen of the 23 Cabinet nominees requiring Senate approval have been confirmed, most with strong bipartisan support. But without Manchin’s support, the White House was left scrambling to find a Republican to support her. White House chief of staff Ron Klain initially insisted the administration was “fighting our guts out” for her.

In this Feb. 9, 2021 photo, White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo listens as press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)WASHINGTON – White House deputy press secretary T.J. Ducklo has resigned, the day after he was suspended for issuing a sexist and profane threat to a journalist seeking to cover his relationship with another reporter. In a statement Saturday, Ducklo said he was “devastated to have embarrassed and disappointed my White House colleagues and President Biden.”Ad“No words can express my regret, my embarrassment and my disgust for my behavior,” he said. White House press secretary Jen Psaki faced a flurry of questions about the controversy Friday, with reporters highlighting Biden's comments and questioning the decision to merely suspend Ducklo for a week. She pointed to apologies made by top members of the White House communications team and Ducklo himself to the Politico reporter as ample moves reflecting the seriousness of the situation.

With vaccine supplies running tight, they want assurances that the doses will come from a separate federal supply and not their own. Eager to protect more people against the coronavirus, health officials in Oklahoma jumped at the chance to add large, federally supported vaccination sites. The Biden administration's virus response plan calls for opening 100 federally supported vaccination sites by the end of February. “We just opened our first two federal vaccination centers, in California this week," Klain told NBC News. Officials in New York and Texas said the federal government told them that the vaccines distributed in the federal sites there would not count against the states’ allocations.

In this Feb. 9, 2021 photo, White House deputy press secretary TJ Ducklo listens as press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington. Ducklo has been suspended for a week without pay after he reportedly issued a sexist and profane threat to a journalist seeking to cover his relationship with another reporter. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)WASHINGTON – White House deputy press secretary T.J. Ducklo has been suspended for a week without pay after he reportedly issued a sexist and profane threat to a journalist seeking to cover his relationship with another reporter. Psaki said in a statement earlier Friday that Ducklo had been suspended without pay with the approval of White House chief of staff Ron Klain. But the Biden White House sought to strike a more cordial and professional tone with the Washington press corps from the start, installing a cadre of seasoned Washington communicators led by Psaki.

FILE - In this Jan. 29, 2021, file photo, Sri Lankan nursing staff administer COVID-19 vaccines to front-line health workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Reynolds issued the earlier restrictions in November when hospitals were struggling to care for a surge of coronavirus patients. Officials say it could help up to four COVID-19 patients. ___LISBON, Portugal — Portugal has set a new daily record for COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care with 904 patients on Friday. AdThe Austrian government offered to take in five COVID-19 patients and five non-COVID patients to relieve Portuguese hospitals.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin listens as President Joe Biden speaks before signing an Executive Order reversing the Trump era ban on transgender individuals serving in military, in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden signed an order Monday reversing a Trump-era Pentagon policy that largely barred transgender individuals from serving in the military. And the military set July 1, 2017, as the date when transgender individuals would be allowed to enlist. A few weeks later, Trump caught military leaders by surprise, tweeting that the government wouldn't accept or allow transgender individuals to serve “in any capacity” in the military. But they also acknowledged that some commanders were spending a lot of time with transgender individuals who were working through medical requirements and other transition issues.

Biden has been widely expected to overturn the Trump policy in his early days in office. The White House could announce the move as early as Monday, according to the person briefed on the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the order. “I support the president’s plan or plan to overturn the ban,” Austin said. The move to overturn the transgender ban is also the latest example of Biden using executive authority in his first days as president to dismantle Trump's legacy. Biden is also scheduled to hold a ceremonial swearing-in ceremony on Monday at the White House for Austin, who became the nation's first Black defense secretary.

The district has been at the center of a worsening coronavirus outbreak, with over 160 cases reported over the first three weeks in January. As of Sunday, Hong Kong has reported 10,086 cases of the coronavirus, with 169 deaths recorded. The nation of 26 million people has reported fewer than 30,000 virus cases and a little over 900 deaths. There have been 373,090 total virus cases and a death toll of 3,279 since the pandemic began, according to the health department. The U.S. accounts for roughly one of every four cases reported worldwide and one of every five deaths.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden predicted he would take office amid a “dark winter,” and the outlook is only getting bleaker. “The virus is going to get worse before it gets better,” he warned. “The virus is the virus. But the biggest challenge, in their view, was years in the making by the Trump administration: declining confidence in government and institutions. “At least (Biden) has surrounded himself with excellent people and he’s doing it on the basis of science,” said Offit.

___HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE BIDEN’S INAUGURATION:President-elect Joe Biden appeared at a memorial for COVID-19 victims at the Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday evening. ___4:45 p.m.President Donald Trump does not mention his successor, Democrat Joe Biden, by name in his farewell address. A person familiar with Pence’s schedule cited “logistical challenges” in getting from the air base to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremonies on Wednesday. The information was passed from the National Guard Bureau to the D.C. National Guard. ___10:45 a.m.Three new Democratic senators are set to be sworn into office after President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration Wednesday.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)BALTIMORE – When Joe Biden entered the White House as vice president, the economy was cratering. Biden returns to the White House as president a dozen years later with the economy battered and shaken by a pandemic. The investment bank Goldman Sachs estimates that growth this year could be 6.6% if part of Biden's stimulus plan passes. That would be the strongest gain since 1984, when a 7.2% increase in the gross domestic product helped carry Republican President Ronald Reagan to a second term in a landslide. For now, the Biden team is hoping to push through its stimulus with Republican support in the Senate.

He added that Biden in many ways is ”the perfect president for the moment, because he is not hyperbolic, he’s not a bomb thrower, he’s surrounded himself with policy wonks who already have all these plans. I think what we are going to hear him talk about is ‘Here’s where we are, here’s what we have to get done.' I think that’s going to go a long way just to making people feel better." His speechwriting team is led by longtime Biden collaborator Vinay Reddy. “There really is no parallel to what Biden faces.”___Associated Press writer Alexandra Jaffe contributed reporting.

A Chinese province grappling with a spike in coronavirus cases is reinstating tight restrictions on weddings, funerals and other family gatherings, threatening violators with criminal charges. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)BEIJING — China is now dealing with coronavirus outbreaks across its frigid northeast, prompting additional lockdowns and travel bans. ___WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming White House press secretary says his administration does not intend to lift coronavirus travel restrictions for Europe, the U.K., Ireland and Brazil. ___MADRID — Spain’s Health Ministry has confirmed 84,287 new known coronavirus cases since Friday amid a post-Christmas virus surge. He said 21 people had died from the virus in the past three days, bringing the colony's total virus deaths to 45 since the start of the pandemic.

Now Biden’s central political identity faces the ultimate trial. Biden's answer follows two tracks: defending the fabric of society and institutions of government that Trump’s tenure has stressed and calling for sweeping legislative action. The outcome will determine the reach of Biden’s presidency and further test the lifetime politician’s ability to evolve and meet events. Biden’s longtime friend, California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, is the House speaker, but presides over a diminished Democratic majority and slim margin for error. “They believe in his compassion and they believe in, quite frankly, his leadership skills.”Anzalone loosely compared Biden's appeal to Ronald Reagan's.

A Senate trial could begin as soon as this week, just as Democrat Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president. Yet it's clear that Democrats do not want the Senate trial to dominate Biden's opening days. No president has ever been convicted in the Senate, and it would take a two-thirds vote against Trump, a high hurdle. Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, was spotted at the White House Saturday and told ABC he was likely going to join Trump’s impeachment defense team. Ten Republicans joined all Democrats in the 232-197 impeachment vote on Wednesday, the most bipartisan modern presidential impeachment.

Biden has set a goal of injecting 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine in his first 100 days in office, a goal Klain said they were on pace to meet. At his inauguration Wednesday, Biden will also deliver an appeal to national unity, expected to be a central theme of his speech, Klain told CNN’s “State of the Union" on Sunday. — In West Virginia, small businesses are being hailed for helping the state to emerge as an early success story in the nation’s otherwise chaotic vaccine rollout. Now more shots have gone into people’s arms per capita across West Virginia than in any other state. ___Find AP’s full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic: https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

Klain told CNN's “State of the Union” that Biden, in his inaugural address to the nation, will deliver "a message of moving this country forward. “These executive actions will deliver relief to the millions of Americans that are struggling in the face of these crises,” Klain said in the memo. Klain said that Biden would also propose a comprehensive immigration bill to lawmakers on his first day in office. Ali Noorani, president of the National Immigration Forum and among those briefed, said immigrants would be put on an eight-year path. Incoming presidents traditionally move swiftly to sign an array of executive actions when they take office.

(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Slovakia is launching a project to test almost all citizens for the coronavirus in nine days. Brazil currently has 6 million doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine ready to distribute in the next few days, and is awaiting the arrival of another 2 million doses of the vaccine made by AstraZeneca and partner Oxford University. Friends and family described their deep connection and said they had been planning to get the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible. That dilemma faces nations in southeastern Europe, where coronavirus vaccination campaigns are off to a slow start — overshadowed by heated political debates and conspiracy theories. ___BEIJING — China on Sunday reported 109 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, two-thirds of them in a northern province that abuts Beijing, and no deaths.

Biden will announce legislation his first day in office to provide a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants in the United States illegally, according to four people briefed on his plans. If successful, the legislation would be the biggest move toward granting status to people in the country illegally since President Ronald Reagan bestowed amnesty on nearly 3 million people in 1986. Ali Noorani, president of the National Immigration Forum and among those briefed Thursday night, said immigrants would be put on an eight-year path to citizenship. The survey found 77% felt immigration was good for the country on the whole, up slightly from 72% in 2016. The Homeland Security Department estimates there were 12 million people in the country illegally in 2015, nearly 80% of them for more than 10 years.

The opening salvo would herald a 10-day blitz of executive actions as Biden seeks to act swiftly to redirect the country in the wake of Donald Trump's presidency without waiting for Congress. “These executive actions will deliver relief to the millions of Americans that are struggling in the face of these crises,” Klain said in the memo. Klain said that Biden would also propose a comprehensive immigration reform bill to lawmakers on his first day in office. The following day, Friday, will see action on providing economic relief to those suffering the economic costs of the pandemic. Incoming presidents traditionally move swiftly to sign an array of executive actions when they take office.

Klain is preparing to serve as President-elect Joe Bidens chief of staff, a job often referred to as the nations chief operating officer. “Those who are responsible are going to face consequences for it,” said Biden chief of staff Ron Klain. On Sunday, Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, blasted Trump for putting the U.S. at continuing risk. Christopher Krebs, former director of CISA, highlighted the challenges ahead as Trump dismisses the threat and Biden prepares for his Jan. 20 inauguration. “The federal civilian agencies, the 101 civilian agencies, are not really optimized for defense right now,” Krebs said.

FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2020, file photo, House Majority Whip James Clyburn, of S.C., speaks during a news conference about COVID-19, on Capitol Hill in Washington. President-elect Joe Biden brings more Capitol Hill experience than any president in decades. Biden's team swiftly adjusted, introducing Black, Latino and Asian American nominees as the president-elect vows to build the most diverse administration in history. Biden’s team incensed Hispanic and Asian and Pacific American lawmakers with its handling of Cabinet choices from their communities. “Democrats are always lecturing Republican senators about approving future Biden Cabinet nominees even if we don’t agree with them,” Grassley said.

FILE - In this April 22, 2020, file photo, President Donald Trump listens as Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. Less than 10 months later, as Trump’s time in office nears its end, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator’s reputation is frayed. And after serving every president since Ronald Reagan, her future in the incoming Joe Biden administration is uncertain. Biden has already appointed transition co-chair and Obama administration alumnus Jeffrey Zients to serve as White House coronavirus coordinator. Birx certainly had fans in Biden’s orbit before and immediately after she was tapped to serve as coronavirus coordinator in the Trump White House.

WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden is facing increasing pressure to expand the racial and ideological diversity in his choices for Cabinet and other top jobs. Of the nine major picks Biden has made so far, only two — Secretary of State choice Antony Blinken and chief of staff Ron Klain — are white men. Today’s Senate is more bare-knuckled and hyper-partisan than when Biden was vice president, including GOP senators eyeing their own 2024 White House runs. During his decades in the Senate and even while serving as Obama's vice president, Biden relied on a small group of close advisers who were largely white. King said he hoped Biden would appoint an African American to one of the “big four” posts, especially attorney general.

WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden is facing increasing pressure to expand the racial and ideological diversity in his choices for Cabinet and other top jobs. Of the nine major picks Biden has made so far, only two — Secretary of State choice Antony Blinken and chief of staff Ron Klain — are white men. Today’s Senate is more bare-knuckled and hyper-partisan than when Biden was vice president, including GOP senators eyeing their own 2024 White House runs. During his decades in the Senate and even while serving as Obama's vice president, Biden relied on a small group of close advisers who were largely white. King said he hoped Biden would appoint an African American to one of the “big four” posts, especially attorney general.

FILE - In this Feb. 16, 2011, file photo Jen Psaki is seen in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington. Much of that work will fall to Jen Psaki, Biden's pick for White House press secretary. “This job becomes one of the most recognizable people representing both the administration and the government writ large,” said Robert Gibbs, a former Obama press secretary. Both the president and his media team were frequently at odds with White House reporters while routinely spreading falsehoods. A native of Stamford, Connecticut, and a graduate of William & Mary, Psaki is part of an all-female senior communications team for the Biden White House.

WASHINGTON – The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):5:40 p.m.President-elect Joe Biden has issued a dire warning about the spread of the coronavirus over the next two months, predicting as many as 250,000 deaths. Biden made the remarks Wednesday in a livestreamed roundtable with workers affected by the pandemic, making an appeal to Americans to take the virus seriously. Biden says he wants to maximize his leverage in future talks with the United States’ geopolitical rival. Biden tells Friedman an early priority after his January swearing-in will be to restore relationships with allies to strengthen his negotiating position with China. Biden says key to talks with China is “leverage” and in his view “we don’t have it yet.”

President-elect Joe Bidens first wave of Cabinet picks and choices for his White House staff have prized staying power over star power, with a premium placed on government experience and proficiency as he looks to rebuild a depleted and demoralized federal bureaucracy. President-elect Joe Biden has prized staying power over star power when making his first wave of Cabinet picks and choices for White House staff, with a premium placed on government experience and proficiency as he looks to rebuild a depleted and demoralized federal bureaucracy. “Collectively, this team has secured some of the most defining national security and diplomatic achievements in recent memory — made possible through decades of experience working with our partners,” Biden said Tuesday as he unveiled his national security team. His choice for national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, was the deputy to that post under President Barack Obama. ___EDITOR'S NOTE — Jonathan Lemire has covered the White House and national politics for The Associated Press since 2013.

The picks include former Secretary of State John Kerry to take the lead on combating climate change. “America will soon have a government that treats the climate crisis as the urgent national security threat it is,” Kerry said. At 43, he will be one of the youngest national security advisers in history. Blinken, 58, served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration and has close ties with Biden. Blinken recently participated in a national security briefing with Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and weighed in publicly just last week on notable foreign policy issues in Egypt and Ethiopia.

FILE - In this Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016, file photo, Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Syria. Blinken is the leading contender to become President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for secretary of state, according to multiple people familiar with the Biden team's planning. – President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate Antony Blinken as secretary of state, according to multiple people familiar with the Biden team's planning. Blinken, 58, served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration and has close ties with Biden. Biden's secretary of state would inherit a deeply demoralized and depleted career workforce at the State Department.

Denied the briefings, access to agencies and funding that are part of a traditional transition, Biden has nonetheless tried to move forward. Just about two hours' drive away, in Delaware, Biden focused on the business of governing rather than social media or baseless claims of voter fraud. By Friday, he had announced more than a dozen senior White House hires. But even in his criticism, Biden focused on the challenge of governing. Asked what he would say to people concerned about Trump’s push to undermine the election, Biden had a simple message: “Hang on.

WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden is adding four Obama-Biden administration veterans to his top ranks as he continues to build out his White House team. Cathy Russell, who was Jill Biden’s chief of staff during the Obama administration, will serve as director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, evaluating applicants for administration roles. Louisa Terrell, who served as a legislative adviser to the president in the Obama administration and worked as deputy chief of staff for Biden in the Senate, will be director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. Carlos Elizondo, who was social secretary for Jill Biden during the Obama administration, will reprise his role and serve as social secretary for the incoming first lady. Her role hints at what Biden may focus on as first lady — Adiga previously worked as a director for higher education and military families at the Biden Foundation, and also advised Jill Biden on policy during the Obama administration.

President-elect Joe Biden, accompanied by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, speaks about economic recovery at The Queen theater, Monday, Nov. 16, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON – The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):5:25 p.m.President-elect Joe Biden is congratulating Nancy Pelosi for her nomination to serve as House speaker for another term. Biden's transition team says the incoming president and Pelosi spoke on Wednesday following House Democrats’ vote. Vaccine maker Pfizer says it’s already in regular communication with President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team as part of ongoing efforts to keep all interested parties updated on its coronavirus vaccine and its distribution. The Biden team is part of that effort.

President-elect Joe Biden has announced top White House staff positions, drawing from the senior ranks of his campaign and some of his closest confidants. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)ATLANTA – President-elect Joe Biden announced a raft of top White House staff positions on Tuesday, drawing from the senior ranks of his campaign and some of his closest confidants to fill out an increasingly diverse White House leadership team. Richmond will leave his Louisiana congressional seat to fill the White House job. Late last week, Biden tapped former senior campaign adviser Ron Klain to serve as his chief of staff. She is a veteran political operative who worked on both of Barack Obama’s White House bids.

Yet in Congress, where talks over economic relief bills stalled out months ago, lame-duck approval of aid is hardly front-of-mind. “Another Vaccine just announced,” Trump tweeted Monday morning after Moderna announced that its candidate appeared in early testing to be 95% effective against the virus. COVID relief could be an add-on to either bill. “Frankly, our best chance to get some COVID relief might be to get a regular funding bill and put the most critical pieces of COVID relief on that,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. Trump has urged supporters to push Whitmer to reopen the state following virus restrictions, though many rules had been lifted previously.

Yet in Congress, where talks over economic relief bills stalled out months ago, lame-duck approval of aid is hardly front-of-mind. “Another Vaccine just announced,” Trump tweeted Monday morning after Moderna announced that its candidate appeared in early testing to be 95% effective against the virus. COVID relief could be an add-on to either bill. “Frankly, our best chance to get some COVID relief might be to get a regular funding bill and put the most critical pieces of COVID relief on that,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. Trump has urged supporters to push Whitmer to reopen the state following virus restrictions, though many rules had been lifted previously.

“More people may die if we don’t coordinate,” Biden told reporters during a news conference in Wilmington, Delaware. The Trump administration is working on its own distribution plan, while Biden’s chief of staff indicated his transition team will proceed with their own planning separately because of the obstruction. Last week, a larger group of Republicans in Congress called on the Trump administration to allow Biden to begin receiving national security briefings. Since defeating Trump, Biden has devoted most of his public remarks to encouraging Americans to wear masks and embrace social distancing measures. But on whether Biden should receive coronavirus briefings, many of Trump's allies on Capitol Hill remained dug in.

“We now have the possibility ... of a vaccine starting perhaps in December or January,” Klain said. “We need to be talking to them as quickly as possible,” Klain said. “It’s great to have a vaccine, but vaccines don’t save lives: vaccinations save lives. Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant HHS secretary, seconded Fauci's admonition that Americans must keep following basic public health precautions such as wearing masks. This is an issue of public health and saving American lives.

President Donald Trump, left, gesturing while playing golf at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va., as seen from the other side of the Potomac River in Darnestown, Md., Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump worked to take back an apparent acknowledgment that Joe Biden won the White House and was making clear he would keep trying to overturn the election result. Trump, without using Biden's name, said that “He won" as part of a tweet that made baseless claims about a “rigged" election. The American people did that.”A Republican governor, Arkansas’ Asa Hutchinson, said “it was good, actually” to see Trump's tweet that Biden won. Donald Trump lost what by any evidence we have so far was a free and fair election."

A bus stop ad for COVID-19 testing is shown outside Pfizer world headquarters in New York on Monday Nov. 9, 2020. Pfizer says an early peek at its vaccine data suggests the shots may be 90% effective at preventing COVID-19, but it doesn't mean a vaccine is imminent. That delayed handoff to the next administration is especially problematic during a public health crisis, the government's top infectious disease expert said. Initial access to the vaccine will be limited to high-priority groups such as hospital and nursing home workers. Fauci was on CNN's “State of the Union” and Klain appeared on NBC's “Meet the Press.”___Weissert reported from Wilmington, Delaware.

– Leading progressives are pressuring President-elect Joe Biden to embrace their policy agenda even as more centrist Democrats argue such proposals prevented the party from retaking full control of Congress. The left-leaning think tank Progressive Change Institute partnered with more than 40 activist groups and on Friday released a detailed list of 400 progressive policy experts they want Biden to bring on. Additionally, the groups sent a similar letter to Senate Democrats instructing them to hold Biden accountable to those demands. The policy clashes will begin to take more defined shape as Biden makes more choices for his new administration. Klain served as czar to the Obama administration's response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in the U.S., and the pick was cheered by moderate and progressive Democrats alike.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, meanwhile, said Trump is “not even at that point yet” when it comes to conceding to Biden. Trump spoke with conservative media on Friday, including Fox News' Geraldo Rivera, suggesting he would acknowledge the loss only after exhausting his legal options. “While we are not there yet, we are close to the objective” to having a vaccine ready for deployment by the end of the year, he said. “The governor will let us know when he’s ready," Trump said. Others at the party also have tested positive, including White House political director Brian Jack, former White House aide Healy Baumgardner and Trump campaign advisers David Bossie and Corey Lewandowski.

– Leading progressives are pressuring President-elect Joe Biden to embrace their policy agenda even as more centrist Democrats argue such proposals prevented the party from retaking full control of Congress. The left-leaning think tank Progressive Change Institute partnered with more than 40 activist groups and on Friday released a detailed list of 400 progressive policy experts they want Biden to bring on. Additionally, the groups sent a similar letter to Senate Democrats instructing them to hold Biden accountable to those demands. The policy clashes will begin to take more defined shape as Biden makes more choices for his new administration. Klain served as czar to the Obama administration's response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in the U.S., and the pick was cheered by moderate and progressive Democrats alike.