Michigan state legislature closes offices due to 'credible threats of violence'

Law enforcement recommended the Michigan legislature close its offices.

President Donald Trump is slated to hand over control of the White House to President-elect Joe Biden in 39 days.


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House Democrat calls on Pelosi to refuse to seat House Republicans supporting Texas lawsuit

Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., has called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to refuse to seat those Republicans who signed on to a brief supporting the Texas lawsuit seeking to throw out millions of votes when the next Congress is sworn in next year.

"Stated simply, men and women who would act to tear the United States government apart cannot serve as Members of the Congress," he said. "These lawsuits seeking to obliterate public confidence in our democratic system by invalidating the clear results of the 2020 presidential election undoubtedly attack the text and spirit of the Constitution, which each Members swears to defend."

“The House still retains the right to decide who is seated,” Pelosi said in 2018, amid concerns of fraud impacting the election in North Carolina's Ninth Congressional District. “Any member-elect can object to the seating or the swearing in of another member-elect, and we’ll see how that goes.”

-ABC News' Benjamin Siegel


Biden introduces more Cabinet nominees and admin appointees 

Biden is introducing more nominees and picks for the incoming administration from Wilmington, Delaware, and while the resurgence of Obama-era officials has some Democrats worried the president-elect is relying so heavily on his longtime allies, Biden argued the choice behind each of his picks Friday.

"Vice President-Elect Harris and I knew we’d have our work cut out for us when we got elected, but we also knew we could build a team that would meet this unique and challenging moment in American history. Some are familiar faces. Some are new in their roles," Biden said. "Above all, they know how government should and can work for all Americans."

For secretary of agriculture, Biden’s nominating Tom Vilsack, who served in the same post throughout the Obama administration. Vilsack previously served two-terms as governor of Iowa.

For secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Biden chose Rep. Marcia Fudge, who has represented Ohio's 11th Congressional District for the last 12 years. If confirmed, she will be the first woman to lead the department in more than four decades.

For secretary of veterans affairs, Biden is nominating former President Barack Obama’s former chief of staff, Denis McDonough. McDonough also served as deputy national security adviser and chief of staff of the National Security Council during the Obama administration.

Biden picked Katherine Tai for U.S. trade representative. Tai currently serves as the chief lawyer on trade for the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives and previously was chief counsel for China trade enforcement in the office of the U.S. trade representative.

For director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, Biden has appointed Susan Rice. Rice served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and later as national security adviser in the Obama administration.


Biden says there’s no political influence on COVID-19 vaccine as White House pushes FDA to authorize use by end of day

Before introducing more Cabinet nominees and administration picks to the public on Friday, Biden opened with a statement on Pfizer and BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine, which the Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve for emergency use at any time.

"I want to make it clear to the public: You should have confidence in this. There is no political influence,” Biden said.

Biden’s remarks come as sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News White House chief of staff Mark Meadows in a phone call on Friday suggested to FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn that his job could be on the line if his agency doesn't authorize the emergency use for the vaccine by the end of the day.

-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and John Santucci


Government shutdown averted for now

The Senate has approved a one-week continuing resolution extension of government funding -- buying themselves seven days to come up with a grand deal on government funding and COVID-19 relief.

In a dramatic fashion, both Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., indicated that next week, they must get a vote on their amendment to provide working class Americans with another round of $1,200 stimulus checks -- or they will block government funding, in effect, forcing a government shutdown.

-ABC News' Trish Turner and Allison Pecorin


Georgia secretary of state to recertify Biden's win Monday

Up against Tuesday's "safe harbor" deadline, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that he will recertify that Biden won Georgia's election sometime Monday following the state's third recount of the presidential vote there which has Biden ahead by nearly 12,000 votes.

"It's been a long 34 days since the election on Nov. 3. We have now counted legally cast ballots, three times, and the results remain unchanged," Raffensperger told reporters.

As he did in his WSJ op-ed this morning, the secretary equated how former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams acted after her 2018 loss and Trump's behavior in 2020.

"Whether it's the president of the United States or a failed gubernatorial candidate ... disinformation regarding election administration should be condemned and rejected," he said. "All this talk of a stolen election, whether it's Stacey Abrams, or the president of the United States is hurting our state."

Raffensperger also said that "the focus on Nov. 3 is drawing energy away from" the state's goals of job growth, efficient COVID-19 vaccine distribution and "getting back to normal."

"I know there are people that are convinced the election was fraught with problems, but the evidence -- the actual evidence, the facts -- tell us a different story," he said.

Gabriel Sterling, the voting system implementation manager in Raffensperger's office, came to the podium afterward to fact check some of the misinformation that the president has helped spread. In one example, he directly called out the president's legal team for how they've tried to "mislead" people about a video from counting occurring in State Farm Arena in Fulton County that Trump played at his rally in Valdosta on Saturday night.

"What's really frustrating is the president's attorneys had this same videotape. They saw the exact same things the rest of us could see, and they chose to mislead state senators and the public about what was on that video," he said, debunking the notion that there were "magic ballots" that showed up in the state's largest county.

"They knew it was untrue and they continue to do things like this," Sterling said. "We continue to see people who are put in positions of responsibility, sending out this disinformation and undermining the electoral system," he added later.Minutes after Raffensperger told reporters he would receritfy the vote Monday, Trump continued his attacks on election officials in the state on Twitter, targeting GOP Gov. Brian Kemp for signature verification saying he'd have an "easy win" were it conducted -- but signature verification was already done twice for absentee ballots in the state, and the vote was recounted three times affirming Biden's win.

-ABC News' Quinn Scanlan