China watchers know Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz as “the Florida faction” in foreign policy — two Florida lawmakers who share especially tough positions on China.

The hours and days immediately after Election Day are likely to pose the greatest opportunity for anyone looking to mislead and deceive U.S. voters.

A judge is freeing from prison a Colorado paramedic convicted in the death of Elijah McClain, a Black man whose name became part of the rallying cries for social justice that swept the U.S. in 2020.

When the Russian government hacked into Hillary Clinton's campaign emails and leaked them to the press in 2016, intelligence officials agonized for weeks about the correct response.

Top U.S. intelligence officials say Russia, China and Iran are continuing to target voters in the U.S. with disinformation and propaganda related to the upcoming presidential election.

After meeting for around two hours to discuss whether President Joe Biden should remain at the top of their presidential ticket, Senate Democrats almost unanimously have agreed on one thing — not to say anything about it.

Text, photos, videos and audio created using artificial intelligence are increasingly making their way into campaigns for state and local office.

The Justice Department says it's concerned that releasing audio of President Joe Biden’s interview with a special counsel about his handling of classified documents could lead to deepfakes that trick Americans.

The leader of the Senate Intelligence Committee says the U.S. may be less prepared for the threat of foreign disinformation ahead of this year's election than it was four years ago.

A leadership shake-up at Boeing is highlighting the difficult path facing the iconic aircraft manufacturer as it tries to navigate through another safety crisis.

TikTok’s extensive lobbying campaign is the latest tech industry push since the House passed legislation that would ban the popular app if its China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake.

The U.S. Senate is slogging past far-right Republican opposition to helping Ukraine fight Russia.

Federal officials are clearing the ways for grounded Boeing planes to resume flying.

A former Colorado officer has been sentenced to 14 months in jail in the death of Elijah McClain.

Senate Democrats have moved to temporarily change Senate rules and confirm hundreds of military nominees.

The Biden administration has chosen a location for a new FBI headquarters in Maryland, selecting the site over one in Virginia following a sharp competition between the two states.

A jury has acquitted another Denver-area police officer who put Elijah McClain in a neck hold before the Black man was injected with the powerful sedative ketamine by paramedics and died.

At a closed-door Senate forum, tech leaders loosely endorsed the regulation of artificial intelligence.

A judge in Colorado has agreed to delay the first criminal trial in the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who was stopped by police, forcibly restrained and injected with a powerful sedative nearly four years ago.

A bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation that would require the National Archives to screen documents leaving the White House for classified material.

A proposed Drug Enforcement Administration rule aimed at cracking down on prescriptions for dangerous drugs has spurred a backlash from dying patients and those who care for them.

The Biden administration has begun sharing with a bipartisan group of lawmakers known as the Gang of Eight classified documents found in the possession of former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence.

A handful of red-state Democrats were instrumental in helping Republicans secure a rollback of banking regulations sought by then-President Donald Trump in 2018.

Members of the Senate intelligence committee say they should have access to classified documents that were discovered in the homes of President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.

The discovery of classified documents at the home of former Vice President Mike Pence is scrambling the blame game in Washington.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has banned the use of several Chinese-owned apps including TikTok and WeChat on state government devices and wireless networks.

Congressman A.

As TikTok's popularity has exploded, it's become more than just a place for viral dance challenges.

On the same day the Federal Reserve gave a sobering report on the U.S. economy’s trajectory, administration officials highlighted how they have kept some of the nation’s smallest businesses afloat through the pandemic.

A new Senate study warns that U.S. spy agencies’ efforts to stop China and other adversaries from stealing secrets are hampered by miscommunication and a lack of money and staff at the agency intended to coordinate those efforts.

Security-sealed rooms and lock bags are some of the ways Capitol Hill keeps classified documents secured.

While the FBI affidavit justifying the search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is highly redacted, it includes new details about the classified information that was stored at the former president's home.

Sen. Joe Manchin sealed the deal reviving President Joe Biden’s big economic, health care and climate bill.

Some federal lawmakers urged Google last month to limit the appearance of anti-abortion pregnancy centers in certain abortion-related search results.

China is the foremost challenge for U.S. national security agencies, a so-called “hard target” that is America’s chief rival for global dominance.

Top U.S. intelligence officials admit that they underestimated Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia’s invasion.

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order on government oversight of cryptocurrency that urges the Federal Reserve to explore whether the central bank should create its own digital currency.

A firm that tracks cryptocurrency transactions says $33.8 million in the digital currency has been donated to Ukraine’s government and non-governmental organizations there since the start of Russia’s invasion.

Vladimir Putin is raising fears that he has become more reckless, more committed to restoring the USSR, perhaps more likely to set off a world-altering war.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is forcing big tech companies to decide how to handle Russian state media that spread propaganda and misinformation.

Russia has some of the best hackers in the world, but in the early days of the war in Ukraine, its ability to create mayhem through malware hasn’t had much of a noticeable impact.

For months, the White House repeatedly released its intelligence findings about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans to attack Ukraine.

At a time when calls to the IRS have reached record levels, a private company lets those who are willing to pay jump to the front of the line to get their phone calls answered.

A key part of President Joe Biden’s plans to fight major ransomware attacks and digital espionage campaigns has been languishing for more than eight months.

U.S. Capitol Police were ill-prepared for the thousands of protesters who descended on Capitol Hill during last year's insurrection.

In a story published December 23, 2021, about delays in creating a U.S. foreign malign influence center, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Iran sponsored an email campaign intended to intimidate Democratic-leaning voters into supporting former President Donald Trump during the 2020 presidential election.

Thousands of intelligence officers could soon face dismissal for failing to comply with the U.S. government’s vaccine mandate, leading to concerns from Republican lawmakers about potentially hurting agencies considered critical to national security.

The CIA says it will create a top-level working group on China as part of a broad U.S. government effort focused on countering Beijing’s influence.

It would be the token of all tokens: a $1 trillion coin, minted by the U.S. government, then cashed in to flood the treasury with cash and solve a political impasse over suspending the debt limit.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration has received notification that the Department of Defense has authorized the use of Marine Corps Base Quantico to house Afghan refugees, as well as a national guard installation in central Virginia.

Democratic-led congressional committees are vowing to press President Joe Biden’s administration on what went wrong as the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan.

President Joe Biden set out to build back more than roads and bridges in his big infrastructure bill.

The Senate has moved closer to passing a $1 trillion infrastructure package after lawmakers from both parties voted to clear a key procedural hurdle.

Senate Democrats from across the party's political spectrum seem near the unanimity they’ll need for the crucial first step toward their $3.5 trillion infrastructure vision.

President Joe Biden is praising the Senate for edging the bipartisan infrastructure plan closer to passage.

After much delay, senators have unveiled their $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Senators and the White House are locked in intense negotiations to salvage a bipartisan infrastructure deal.

Lawmakers racing to seal a bipartisan infrastructure deal early this coming week are hitting a major roadblock over how much money should go to public transit.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is pressuring lawmakers to reach agreement by next week on a pair of massive domestic spending measures.

President Joe Biden visited the U.S. Capitol in search of Democratic support for his multitrillion-dollar domestic agenda.

President Joe Biden has announced a bipartisan agreement on a pared-down but still huge infrastructure plan.

President Joe Biden and a bipartisan group of senators have reached an agreement to significantly boost infrastructure spending, though considerable hurdles remain before the blueprint unveiled Thursday becomes reality.

The dilemma surrounding ransomware payments has left U.S. officials fumbling about how to respond to such demands.

Congressional Democrats are eyeing a $6 trillion infrastructure package that goes far beyond roads and bridges.

A bipartisan senators’ group working on a $1 trillion infrastructure compromise has now doubled in size, expanding to 21 members.

While President Joe Biden pitches his infrastructure plan to the American public, the real work of delivering his legislative agenda takes place behind the scenes.

President Joe Biden is promoting his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan directly to Americans with an appeal to think big.

The short answer for many security experts and federal officials is that it can’t — at least not without some significant changes. Ad“The SolarWinds hack was a victory for our foreign adversaries, and a failure for DHS,” said Sen. The FAA initially told the AP in mid-February that it had not been affected by the SolarWinds hack, only to issue a second statement a few days later that it was continuing to investigate. Federal officials said that amount is only a down payment on much bigger planned spending to improve threat detection. The hosting services of Amazon Web Services and GoDaddy were used by the SolarWinds hackers to evade detection, officials said recently.

The effort showed how social media and other technology can be leveraged to spread misinformation so quickly that those trying to stop it cannot keep up. Straka said via email that nothing from the #WalkAway Campaign ”encourages people not to vote.” He declined further comment. Democrats blame misinformation efforts for helping Trump win larger-than-expected shares of Latino support in normally reliably blue areas. AdNow researchers will be watching to see if misinformation — especially that meant to discredit COVID-19 vaccines — spreads among congressional districts. So far, Congress isn't investigating Spanish-language misinformation to see if its origins spread beyond Latin America.

Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – Many questions remain unanswered about the failure to prevent the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The Capitol Police also did its own intelligence assessment warning that Congress could be targeted on Jan. 6. Four House committees are probing what went wrong with that data collection, including the House intelligence committee. “I don’t want our committee’s examination to be about Trump or about Jan. 6,” Warner, D-Va., said in an interview. Thousands of National Guard troops still guard the Capitol, which is now surrounded by fencing and barbed wire and closed off to the public.

But the North Carolina Republican’s vote to convict former President Donald Trump should not have come as a shock. AdWith Burr retiring at the end of his term in 2022, it’s a vote that could end up defining his career. Exactly a year later, as the Russia investigation was wrapping up, Burr’s time leading the committee came to an abrupt end. He sided with most Republicans in a vote to dismiss the trial, creating an expectation he’d also vote to acquit. AdSo when Burr stood up to vote for Trump's conviction, many in the chamber wondered if there would be other surprises.

AdThe reaction reflects the severity of a hack that was disclosed only in December. The administration has also proposed expanding by 30% the budget of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, or CISA, a little-known entity now under intense scrutiny because of the SolarWinds breach. The breach was discovered in early December by the private security firm FireEye, a cause of concern for some officials. AdRight after the hack was announced, the Treasury Department bypassed its normal competitive contracting process to hire the private security firm CrowdStrike, U.S. contract records show. “In practical terms, what that meant is they weren’t invited in because no department or agency wants to look bad,” he said.

Ad“This is a sophisticated actor who did their best to hide their tracks,” she told reporters at the White House. It will take us some time to uncover this layer by layer.”U.S. authorities have said the breach, disclosed in December, appeared to be the work of Russian hackers. “This isn’t the only case of malicious cyber activity of likely Russian origin, either for us or for our allies and partners,” Neuberger added. Intelligence agencies did not detect the breach because they largely have "no visibility into private-sector networks," and it was launched within the U.S., Neuberger said. The Biden administration supports changes to “culture and authorities” that prevented the hack from being detected on the federal civilian systems, she added.

The White House says a senior national security official is leading the U.S. response to a massive breach of government departments and private corporations discovered late last year. The announcement that the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emergency technology, Anne Neuberger, has been in charge of the response to the SolarWinds hack follows congressional criticism of the government effort so far as disorganized. Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emergency technology, was in charge of remediating the hack, identifying issues with the federal government's response and launching a study aimed at preventing similar incidents, the White House said. In a letter released Tuesday, leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee blasted the Biden administration for what they said was a lackluster reaction to the SolarWinds hack. Also on Wednesday, the House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing with cybersecurity experts to discuss the SolarWinds hack and other issues.

President-elect Joe Bidens pick for national intelligence director Avril Haines speaks during a confirmation hearing before the Senate intelligence committee on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington. (Joe Raedle/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Avril Haines as director of national intelligence, giving President Joe Biden the first member of his Cabinet and placing the first woman in charge of the nearly two-decade old agency. In her confirmation hearing Tuesday, Haines made clear she intends to end the Trump administration's practice of pressuring officials to shape their analysis to the president’s liking. “When it comes to intelligence, there is simply no place for politics — ever,” she told the Senate Intelligence Committee. “The last four years have been hard on the intelligence community,” said Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the new chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee after Democrats took the majority on Wednesday.

Now Biden will have to do it with President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial beginning potentially as soon as his first day in office. “We’re going to have to move simultaneously in a whole bunch of areas.”Biden has so far stayed largely out of public deliberations over Trump's impeachment for inciting a riot. So let him do his job — and let the Senate do their work,” said California Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat. And there’s the prospect they could further exacerbate the already fraught atmosphere on Capitol Hill, politicizing Biden’s agenda and making it tougher for him to get support from winnable Republican senators. And Democrats on Capitol Hill are barreling ahead as well, refusing to accept the prospect that impeachment will deter them from their legislative goals.

FILE - In this Nov. 24, 2020, file photo President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines speaks at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)WASHINGTON – A confirmation hearing for President-elect Joe Biden's pick for national intelligence director has been postponed until next week, according to leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Avril Haines, a former CIA deputy director and former deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration, was to have appeared Friday before the Senate Intelligence Committee. The hearing was announced Wednesday, setting Haines up to be the first of Biden's picks to face a Senate committee for confirmation. “We are disappointed the hearing was delayed, particularly given the urgency to have national security leaders in place in this time of crisis.

Now Biden will have to do it with President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial beginning potentially as soon as his first day in office. “We’re going to have to move simultaneously in a whole bunch of areas.”Biden has so far stayed largely out of public deliberations over Trump's impeachment for inciting a riot. So let him do his job — and let the Senate do their work,” said California Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat. And there’s the prospect they could further exacerbate the already fraught atmosphere on Capitol Hill, politicizing Biden’s agenda and making it tougher for him to get support from winnable Republican senators. And Democrats on Capitol Hill are barreling ahead as well, refusing to accept the prospect that impeachment will deter them from their legislative goals.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., holds a news conference on the day after violent protesters loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Congress, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021. “It has been an epiphany for the world to see that there are people in our country led by this president, for the moment, who have chosen their whiteness over democracy,” Pelosi said. Pelosi says, “The complicity, not only the complicity, the instigation of the president of United States, must and will be addressed.”___1:25 p.m. Flight attendants have expressed concern that their flights could be carrying supporters of President Donald Trump who took part in Wednesday’s violent protest and siege of the U.S. Capitol. ___2:25 a.m.Democrats in Congress are laying the groundwork to impeach President Donald Trump.

The U.S. government on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021, said a devastating hack of federal agencies is likely Russian in origin and said the operation appeared to be an intelligence gathering effort. The assessment was disclosed in a rare public statement from the FBI and other investigative agencies. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)WASHINGTON – Top national security agencies confirmed Tuesday that Russia was likely responsible for a massive hack of U.S. government departments and corporations, rejecting President Donald Trump's claim that China might be to blame. The agencies made clear the Russian operation was “ongoing” and indicated the hunt for threats was not over. Even so, the announcement puts the imprimatur of national security agencies, albeit belatedly, on information that members of Congress had clamored for the White House to make public.

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)WASHINGTON – A proposed COVID-19 relief bill is expected to get backing from President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell but it won’t include $1,200 in direct payments to most Americans, a Republican senator involved in the bipartisan talks says. “President Trump has indicated that he would sign a $908 billion package — there’s only one $908 billion package out there and it’s ours,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., said Sunday. While favoring the $1,200 checks, Biden said the emerging compromise was “immediately needed” and that additional assistance could follow later. On Sunday, lawmakers involved in the negotiations said the direct payments would have to wait until after Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. The direct payments, he said, will be a task for Biden.

The $908 billion aid package to be released Monday would be attached to a larger year-end spending bill needed to avert a government shutdown this coming weekend. “This is not a stimulus bill, it’s a relief bill,” he said. While favoring the $1,200 checks, Biden said the emerging compromise was "immediately needed” and that additional assistance could follow later. On Sunday, lawmakers involved in the negotiations said the direct payments would have to wait until after Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. The direct payments, he said, will be a task for Biden.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi resumed talks with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about a year-end spending package that could include COVID relief provisions. But lawmakers across the spectrum are beginning to act as though they fear adjourning for the year without approving some COVID aid. Lawmakers' bipartisan effort comes after a split-decision election delivered the White House to Democrats and gave Republicans down-ballot success. “This is an important time to step up if we can.”Pelosi and Mnuchin were discussing COVID relief and other end-of-session items, including a $1.4 trillion catchall government funding bill. Pelosi and Mnuchin grappled over a relief bill for weeks before the November election, discussing legislation of up to $2 trillion.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Democrats once dominated Koochiching County in the blue-collar Iron Range of northern Minnesota. But in this month's presidential election, President Donald Trump won it with 60% of the vote. Though Democrats’ rural woes aren’t new, they now heap pressure on Biden to begin reversing the trend. In clinging to their majority, House Democrats lost rural seats, notably the one held for 30 years by Rep. Collin Peterson in western Minnesota. For now, Democrats' future in rural America rests largely on how Biden is viewed there, Heitkamp said.

The former astronaut defeated Republican Sen. Martha McSally, who was appointed to the seat after McCain’s death in 2018. Daines’ first election in 2014 broke a Democratic lock on the Senate seat that had lasted more than 100 years. The six-term congressman from northern New Mexico defeated Republican Mark Ronchetti, a former television meteorologist, and Libertarian Bob Walsh. Reed cruised to victory over Waters, an investment consultant who mounted earlier unsuccessful campaigns for state Senate and U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. Warner defeated Republican challenger Daniel Gade in a low-key race in which the incumbent had a massive cash advantage.

Iran used the information to push out spoofed emails, officials said, and also created a video that Ratcliffe said falsely suggested that voters could cast fraudulent ballots from overseas. The emails falsely purported to be from the far-right group Proud Boys and warned that “we will come after you” if the recipients didn’t vote for Trump. Though Democratic voters were targeted, Ratcliffe said the spoofed emails were intended to hurt Trump, though he did not elaborate on how. The Herald spoke to a student at the University of Florida who received one of the emails. The FBI has set up a page with helpful information to keep voters away from scams and election-related crimes.

In a state where Confederate monuments have stood for more than a century and have recently become a flashpoint in the national debate over racial injustice, Virginians remain about evenly divided on whether the statues should stay or go, according to a new poll. The poll conducted this month by Hampton University and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 46% support removal of Confederate statues and 42% oppose removal. The poll conducted this month by Hampton University and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 46% support removal of Confederate statues and 42% oppose removal. The 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that left a counterprotester dead had its origins in a city debate over whether to remove Confederate statues. On another topic, the poll found only about 1 in 4 Virginians support keeping schools in the state completely closed to in-person learning.

It was the first that Schiff, then the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, had ever heard of it. Two years later, Schiff says that breakdown is still emblematic of the disjointed effort among government agencies, Congress and private companies as they try to identify and address foreign election interference. Most of the hacking attempts by Russian, Chinese and Iranian agents were halted by Microsoft security software and the targets notified. The current director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, a close Trump ally, tried to end most in-person election security briefings — a decision he later reversed after criticism from lawmakers from both parties. Lawmakers say that in restricting what's given to Congress, the administration is effectively restricting what it tells the public about election security and misinformation.

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has agreed to provide in-person briefings on threats to the November election to key members of Congress, backing down from a decision last month to provide that information only in writing. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe has agreed to provide briefings to the Senate and House intelligence committees, according to the heads of those panels. A person familiar with the briefing said Ratcliffe’s office had accepted an invitation to brief the panel behind closed doors. Democrats said that would prevent members from asking followup questions and allow the administration to limit what information it allows. He said in the statement that he had shared with them his proposal on how the intelligence community will share election updates in the future.

The goal, part of the Russian playbook for decades, was to sow chaos by posting content on both sides of the racial divide. Indeed, no single group of Americans was targeted by IRA information operatives more than African-Americans, concluded a report from the Senate intelligence committee. They fear the Trump administration's decision to limit what it tells Congress and by extension the American people about election threats will allow the propaganda to spread. The intelligence statement did not offer specifics about what tactics Russia is using, but the past provides important clues. What people need to be looking for is stuff that is seemingly trying to get a rise out of them, Jankowicz said.

NEW YORK As the Nov. 3 presidential vote nears, there are fresh signs that the nations electoral system is again under attack from foreign adversaries. There is no evidence that America's enemies have yet succeeded in penetrating campaigns or state election systems, but Democrat Joe Biden's presidential campaign confirmed this week that it has faced multiple related threats. When asked directly, the Trump campaign refused to say whether it had accepted materials related to Biden from any foreign nationals. Contrary to their narrative, the Democrats efforts to tear these safeguards apart as they sue in 18 states across the nation would open our election system up to foreign interference, Morgan said. Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, a Republican, described Trump's warnings about mail voting absurd and ridiculous.He should be far more forceful and far more direct in condemning foreign interference, Ridge said in an interview.

The Democrats did not detail exactly what they want the administration to say. The Democrats' letter Friday was in response to a statement earlier in the day by William Evanina, the government's chief counterintelligence official. The statement said adversaries such as China, Russia and Iran are seeking to compromise U.S. private communications and infrastructure in campaigns. The statement was from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence panel. Democrats, including members of the Senate intelligence panel, have voiced concerns that an ongoing Republican probe into Bidens son, Hunter Biden, and his work in Ukraine would amplify Russian disinformation.

WASHINGTON Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said he is putting Russia and other foreign governments on notice that he would act aggressively as president to counter any interference in U.S. elections. The statement came hours after Democratic leaders issued a new warning that Congress appears to be the target of a foreign interference campaign. Biden said last week that he had begun receiving intelligence briefings and warned that Russia, China and other adversaries were attempting to undermine the presidential election. In the end, former special counsel Robert Mueller charged 25 Russian nationals for their roles in foreign interference and influence during the campaign. Hillary Clinton, who lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump, said Monday she was glad Biden was speaking up.

WASHINGTON Democratic leaders said Monday they are concerned that Congress appears to be the target of a concerted foreign interference campaign to influence the 2020 presidential election and have asked FBI Director Christopher Wray for a classified counterintelligence briefing. The letter to Wray from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and the top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees contains no details about the threats, though they describe them as serious and specific. They requested the briefing for all members before lawmakers leave Washington for their August recess. Democrats, including members of the Senate intelligence panel, have also voiced concerns that an ongoing probe into Bidens son, Hunter Biden, and his work in Ukraine would amplify Russian disinformation. That probe is being led by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson, R-Wis.___Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

(Patrick Sebastian/Cawthorn Campaign via AP)LOUISVILLE, Ky. Voters rebuffed President Donald Trump and nominated two Republicans he opposed to House seats from North Carolina and Kentucky on Tuesday. Kentucky usually has 2% of its returns come from mail ballots. This year officials expect that figure to exceed 50%, and over 400,000 mail ballots were returned by Sunday. New York officials expect the vast majority of votes to be mail ballots this year, compared to their typical 5% share. Counties have until eight days after Election Day to count and release the results of mail ballots, with 1.7 million requested by voters.

FILE - In this Sept. 30, 2019, file photo, former national security adviser John Bolton gestures while speakings at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)WASHINGTON Congress seems largely done with John Bolton. President Trump is clearly ethically unfit and intellectually unprepared to be the president of the United States. I dont have anything to say about it," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. Idaho Sen. James Risch, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters that Im not doing any interviews on John Bolton."

WASHINGTON Sen. Marco Rubio, the new Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is warning that foreign actors will seek to amplify conspiracy theories about the coronavirus and find new ways to interfere in the 2020 presidential election. Rubio is taking over the chairmanship just as the committee wraps up a three-year investigation into the Russian interference. The panel has publicly released its endorsement of a 2017 assessment by intelligence agencies that Russia interfered and favored Trump, a conclusion that Trump has disputed. I think our report will be one of now several inquiries or investigative efforts that have led to the same conclusion, Rubio said. Rubio has shown little interest in criticizing Trumps response to the coronavirus, including his refusal to wear a mask in public.

WASHINGTON A sharply divided Senate confirmed John Ratcliffe as director of national intelligence on Thursday, with Democrats refusing to support the nomination over fears that he will politicize the intelligence community's work under President Donald Trump. At the same time, Trump has viewed the intelligence agencies with distrust and ousted or fired multiple officials. When he was first nominated, senators questioned whether he had enough intelligence experience and whether he was picked because of his willingness to defend Trump. Still, the position carries unique challenges, given the presidents seeming inclinations to politicize intelligence and bend intelligence agencies to his will. Last week, for instance, Senate Republicans released a newly declassified list of former intelligence officials who requested the identity of an American from intelligence reports.

WASHINGTON The Senate is poised to vote Thursday on the nomination of Texas GOP Rep. John Ratcliffe to be Director of National Intelligence, potentially confirming him sooner than expected, as senators are eager to quickly fill the post. Democrats have been opposed to Ratcliffe's nomination, and most are expected to vote against it. Democrats usually force procedural votes that slow the nomination process, but are allowing a quick vote Thursday before the Senate leaves town for the next week. Since then, Trump, who has long been skeptical of the nations intelligence community, has installed acting heads and ousted and fired multiple intelligence officials. He said he would communicate to Trump the intelligence communitys findings even if he knew Trump disagreed with them and might fire him.

WASHINGTON Florida Sen. Marco Rubio will temporarily become chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican leaders announced, taking charge of the panel at a time of turnover and tension in the nation's intelligence community. Rubio has focused much of his Senate career on foreign policy, particularly Russia and China, and he is a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations panel. He is also the chairman of the Senate small-business committee, where he has been negotiating relief measures during the coronavirus pandemic. In announcing Rubio's appointment to head the intelligence panel, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not say whether he would keep the small-business gavel. "I am grateful to Leader McConnell for his confidence in me to lead the Senate Intelligence Committee during Senator Burrs absence from the chairmanship, he said.