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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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


Senate sends $740.5 billion defense bill to Trump's desk with veto proof majority

The Senate voted to send the National Defense Authorization bill, the military's annual budget, to Trump's desk Friday afternoon by a veto-proof majority of 84-13.

While the bill received broad support from members on both sides of the aisle, it faced objections from each party's most off-center members. Progressive Democrats like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Jeff Merkley opposed the bill, as did conservative Republicans like Sen. Josh Hawley and Sen. Tom Cotton.

Trump has threatened as recently as Tuesday to veto the bill.

-ABC News' Trish Turner and Allison Pecorin


Trump team loses in Wisconsin as SCOTUS response looms

As the Trump campaign waits for smoke signals from the U.S. Supreme Court, it faced yet another courtroom defeat on Friday.

The Milwaukee County Circuit Court in Wisconsin has denied the Trump campaign's attempt to toss out 220,000 ballots it said should have been rejected following recounts in Dane and Milwaukee Counties. Judge Stephen Simanek noted the campaign made "no allegations of widespread fraud," nor did it submit any evidence that would support such claims.

The Trump campaign will now likely appeal the decision to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Since his Nov. 3 defeat, the president and his allies have mounted over 50 lawsuits in state and federal courts that have met with resounding and, at times, scathing defeats.

-ABC News' Alex Hosenball and Matthew Mosk


Biden campaign, DNC devote money and staffers to Georgia Senate runoffs

As the runoff elections for Georgia's two U.S. Senate seats that will decide which party controls the chamber enter their final weeks, Biden's presidential campaign is ramping up its investments to bolster the candidacies of Democrats Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock.

In coordination with the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Biden campaign has spent roughly $5 million thus far in the Georgia runoffs and are paying for "approximately 50 staffers" to help with organizing, voter outreach and other efforts, according to a Biden campaign official. Around a dozen of the campaign's data analytics staffers are also helping.

The Biden campaign and the DNC also have raised nearly $10 million for both Ossoff and Warnock combined, and earlier this week launched a "Flip Georgia Fund" to aid their campaigns.

Biden himself will travel to Georgia on Tuesday to campaign for Ossoff and Warnock and will emphasize his commitment to helping candidates win up and down the ballot and build a broad coalition that will support his agenda to "build back better," according to a Biden campaign official.

-ABC News' John Verhovek


'The legal theory put forward by his legal team and by the president is an absurdity': Chris Christie

Former New Jersey governor and ABC News political contributor Chris Christie, criticized President Donald Trump and his allies' efforts to overturn President-elect Joe Biden's election victory during "This Week"'s Powerhouse Players Roundtable discussion on Sunday.

"The legal theory put forward by his legal team and by the president is an absurdity," Christie said. "The reason why the Supreme Court didn't take it is because it's an absurd idea to think that any state or any number of states, no matter how good they are, can challenge another state's right to run the election as they see fit. And, also, there's no evidence," he added.

Christie also denounced what he called were "attacks" by the president on "decent Republican governors."

"What's gotten even worse ... is the attacks by the president on good, hardworking, decent Republican governors," he said. "He's calling them corrupt, and also telling people things that aren't true," Christie said, mentioning the president's recent comments about Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.

The president tweeted in November that Kemp was "hapless" and should "overrule his obstinate secretary of state," Brad Raffensperger -- also a Republican backer of Trump -- after the latter has refused to intervene to help Trump.

"The governor's done nothing," Trump also said in a Fox News interview. "He's done absolutely nothing. I'm ashamed that I endorsed him."

On Dec. 12, the president tweeted, "Who is a worse governor, @BrianKempGA of Georgia or @dougducey of Arizona???" as part of a series of tweets blasting both governors since the presidential election.