Hagel Swears In As Defense Chief After Bruising Confirmation Battle

“Outgoing North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R), who lost his bid for governor this month, said he is still deciding what his next step will be,” WRAL reports. “But the Republican said another run for office — including the U. S. Senate in 2026 — is unlikely.” Said Robinson: “That is not on my radar at all.

Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Hawaii this week with her husband Doug Emhoff for a nearly weeklong stay, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reports.

“Antiabortion advocates are moving aggressively in the wake of the election to devise new measures to punish people and organizations that help women get abortions, feeling emboldened to crack down on the flow of abortion pills into states with bans and no longer burdened by fear of political backlash,” the Washington Post reports. “Antiabortion leaders are particularly energized by the prospect of their allies filling key posts in a Trump administration.”

Despite the drop off in turnout, Vice President Kamala Harris’ vote total in the 2024 election is the third-highest of all time, Axios reports.

“President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday instructed congressional Republicans to block the passage of a bipartisan federal shield bill intended to strengthen the ability of reporters to protect confidential sources, dealing a potentially fatal political blow to the measure — even though the Republican-controlled House had already passed it unanimously,” the New York Times reports.

“A Tennessee man who was among the first wave of rioters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was convicted on Wednesday of separate charges of plotting to kill the FBI agents who investigated his role in the attack,” the New York Times reports.