House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell both said Thursday that they will get vaccinated in the next few days.

President Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn has suggested the outgoing US president should use military force to “rerun” the election in the key swing states he lost in November.

Read the full report here from Joe Sommerlad: 

A former FBI deputy has alleged that President Trump has been diverting money from cybersecurity resources to build a wall at a time when the “nation is under attack”.

Read the story here by Stuti Mishra:

President-elect Joe Biden says he had chosen North Carolina regulator Michael S. Regan as his nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as his pick for interior secretary.

Mr Biden said Thursday that the selections round out what he said would be an experienced climate team ready from their first day in office to tackle the “undeniable, accelerating, punishing reality of climate change.” Biden is proposing a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s transportation and electrical systems to cut the oil, gas and coal emissions behind worsening global warming.

The picks also help Mr Biden fulfil his promise to put together a Cabinet that reflects the diversity of America. Mr Regan is Black, while Ms Haaland would be the first Native American Cabinet member in U.S. history. Mr Biden will introduce Mr Regan, Ms Haaland and other newly named nominees at an event Saturday.

Mr Regan became environmental chief in North Carolina in 2017 and made a name for himself by pursuing cleanups of industrial toxins and helping the low-income and minority communities hit hardest by pollution. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who hired Mr Regan, told The Associated Press this week that Mr Regan was “a consensus builder and a fierce protector of the environment.”

If confirmed by the Senate, Mr Regan would take over the EPA after four years that have seen the Trump administration weaken or eliminate key public health and environmental protections. President Donald Trump had made the agency a special target for his drive to cut regulation, saying early on that he would leave only “bits” of the environmental agency behind.

Mr Trump rollbacks and proposed rollbacks include weakening air pollution rules for industries, slashing protection for wetlands and waterways and eliminating Obama-era efforts to halt climate change by curbing exhaust and smokestack emissions from autos and factories. Opponents say some of many other rollbacks in the agency will make it harder for regulators to adopt new limits based on threats highlighted in public health studies.

In North Carolina, Mr Regan led the negotiations that resulted in the cleanup of the Cape Fear River, which has been dangerously contaminated by PFAS industrial compounds from a chemical plant. PFAS have been associated with increased risk of cancer and other health problems. With Duke Energy, he negotiated what North Carolina says was the largest cleanup agreement for toxic coal ash.

President Donald Trump’s administration helped deliver vaccinations against the coronavirus earlier than even some in his administration thought possible, but the president has been largely absent from the effort to sell the American public on what aides hope will be a key part of his legacy.

President Donald Trump took to his favoured social media app on Friday with the US Supreme Court firmly in his sights.

He tweeted: “I am very disappointed in the United States Supreme Court, and so is our great country!”

It comes just days after the Supreme Court rejected Mr Trump’s audacious bid to throw out election results in four key battleground states.

Mr Trump has racked up numerous federal and state court defeats in recent months trying to overturn the November election results, alleging voter fraud took place.

Lawmaker Joe Cunningham celebrated his time in Washington DC by opening the DC Brau “Joint Resolution” pale ale – but did not take a sip as alcohol is banned on the floor.

Read all about the slightly unconventional departure here:

Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez praised president-elect Joe Biden’s decision to nominate Congresswoman Deb Haaland to be his secretary of the interior.

Ms Haaland will be the first Native American to serve in the position that oversees all federal lands — including tribal lands — and conservation efforts in the US. 

Read the whole story here by Griffin Connolly: 

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez clashed with Marco Rubio after he hit out at one of Joe Biden’s top officials for calling Republicans “f*****s”.

The New York lawmaker came to the defence of Mr Biden’s incoming deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon, who had branded GOP politicians “a bunch of f*****s” in an interview with Glamour magazine.

“Biden talks about unity and healing, but you want to know what they really think? Read how the person he wants as the next WH deputy chief of staff called Republicans in Congress a bunch of f*****s,” Senator Rubio wrote on Twitter.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez was quick to point out to the Florida politician that a Republican congressman had accosted her on the steps of the Capitol and called her a “f***ing b***h”.

Donald Trump is more concerned about making money than taking care of his presidential legacy, former campaign staffer Anthony Scaramucci has said.

Mr Scaramucci, ex-White House communications director, said the president would use his final days in office to think about how he can benefit financially from his enhanced profile.

Speaking to CNN on Wednesday, he said Mr Trump “does not care about his legacy”.

“So the president wants to transact. He wants to make money. He has told people privately, ‘Why do I care about my legacy? I’ll be dead.’”