November | 2020 | dovdiv

Even with vote tallying still underway, some House Republicans are already eyeing the next race, laying the groundwork for leadership positions on Congress’s environmentally-focused committees.

The retirements of House Natural Resources ranking member Rob BishopRobert (Rob) William BishopHillicon Valley: House votes to condemn QAnon | Americans worried about foreign election interference | DHS confirms request to tap protester phones House approves measure condemning QAnon, but 17 Republicans vote against it OVERNIGHT ENERGY: House passes sweeping clean energy bill | Pebble Mine CEO resigns over secretly recorded comments about government officials | Corporations roll out climate goals amid growing pressure to deliver MORE (Utah) and Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg WaldenGregory (Greg) Paul WaldenEnsuring more Americans have access to 5G technology Race heats up for top GOP post on powerful Energy and Commerce Committee Asbestos ban stalls in Congress amid partisan fight MORE (Ore.) have left open seats at a time where Democrats may only hold a slim majority.

The steering committee that selects committee leaders could be assembled by the middle of the month, with presentations from candidates slated for as early as the first week of December.

Reps. Bruce WestermanBruce Eugene WestermanRepublicans in campaign mode for top spots on House environmental committees COVID-19 complicates California’s record-setting wildfire season Cheap, at-home coronavirus tests exist — why aren’t we using them? MORE (Ark.) and Paul GosarPaul Anthony GosarFrankel defeats Loomer in Florida House race Why Maricopa County will choose the next president Hillicon Valley: House votes to condemn QAnon | Americans worried about foreign election interference | DHS confirms request to tap protester phones MORE (A.Z.) are actively campaigning to take over on Natural Resources, while a fiercely fought contest for the broad Energy and Commerce role is already underway between Reps. Cathy McMorris RodgersCathy McMorris RodgersConservatives seize on New York Post story to push Section 230 reform Race heats up for top GOP post on powerful Energy and Commerce Committee Hillicon Valley: Trump backs potential Microsoft, TikTok deal, sets September deadline | House Republicans request classified TikTok briefing | Facebook labels manipulated Pelosi video MORE (Ore.), Michael BurgessMichael Clifton BurgessRace heats up for top GOP post on powerful Energy and Commerce Committee Hillicon Valley: House votes to condemn QAnon | Americans worried about foreign election interference | DHS confirms request to tap protester phones House approves measure condemning QAnon, but 17 Republicans vote against it MORE (Texas) and Bob Latta (Ohio).

On the Natural Resources side, Westerman’s background — he is a Yale Forestry School graduate and the sponsor of the Trillion Trees Act— will be pitted against Gosar’s Western roots, a trait shared by most other Republicans that have led the committee.

“I think with my background and experience I can lead the committee to where we need to go,” Westerman said. “I think I’ve got a lot of practical experience with resources, the issue of how the policies the committee considers affects both public and private interests.”

His bill, which seeks to plant some 3.3 billion trees each year over the next 30 years as a way to store carbon, is one of the few legislative vehicles for a GOP focused on using tree planting as a core part of their environmental messaging.

He wants to help the party focus on its conservation message — an effort that largely took hold after a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Great American Outdoors Act, a massive conservation package now signed into law. President TrumpDonald John TrumpAides tried to get Trump to stop attacking McCain in hopes of clinching Arizona: report Officials warn delayed vote count could lead to flood of disinformation New Trump campaign lawsuit targets late-arriving Georgia mail ballots MORE and others have pointed to the act as a way to beef up an otherwise slim environmental record.

“I think we’ve got to retake the conservation narrative, something Republicans have been very strong on and can be stronger on in the future,” Westerman said.

The Hill previously reported Reps. Doug LambornDouglas (Doug) LambornRepublicans in campaign mode for top spots on House environmental committees Iran must free Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani House GOP urge Trump against supporting additional funding for state and local governments MORE (Colo.), Tom McClintockThomas (Tom) Milller McClintockRepublicans in campaign mode for top spots on House environmental committees House votes to condemn alleged hysterectomies on migrant women House to vote on removing cannabis from list of controlled substances MORE (Calif.) may have been interested in the role, but sources say race has since primarily whittled to the two.

Westerman might be considered a safer, more traditional pick over Gosar, who has made controversial comments about “climate hoax believers” and drew attention with a series of tweets whose first letters spelled out “Epstein didn’t kill himself,” a nod to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Gosar, who did not respond to request for comment, is chair of the Western Congressional Caucus.

“I think Congressman Gosar’s claim to fame is going to be what he’s done in the Western Caucus, taking a caucus with 30 members and growing it to now well over 60 members,” a Republican House aide told The Hill.

“That record is not really negotiable, and he’s had some really good success, and he will run with that,” they said. “Western caucus issues are the dominant issues within the Natural Resources Committee, and the jurisdiction of the committee largely lies in the West.”

Westerman said his background and hailing from a large rural district with a bounty of federal land should help him combat those arguments.

On the Energy and Commerce side, McMorris Rodgers’s pitch portrays her as a well-rounded choice to lead a large committee with broad jurisdiction.

“I believe that I’m proven, and as I talk to members of the steering committee, many have said that they believe I have earned it,” she said, noting her six years as House Republican Conference chairwoman.

“It’s the combination of having proven myself from a political perspective, the leadership experience, the policy leadership, the communications skills I bring having done the tough interviews — it’s a combination of all of those things that make me uniquely prepared.”

She’s also relying on her work as a solid fundraiser, more than doubling her fundraising requirement to the National Republican Congressional Committee and donating nearly $300,000 to other candidates.

“Over the years that I’ve been in Congress, I’ve been one of the top fundraisers and have dedicated time to traveling the country and raising money and helping candidates,” she said.

If McMorris Rodgers is selected, she would make history as the first top female leader for either party on the committee, she said, a detail she called “the cherry on top.”

But a former House leadership staffer told The Hill that while the scales may be tipped towards McMorris Rodgers right now, observers should not underestimate the strength of Burgess’s connections, both to the administration and his delegation.

Despite Democratic hopes of flipping Texas, Republicans there retained every seat while winning open ones.

“Texas strong, Texas big is a huge factor in how that plays out. It gives Dr. Burgess a good foundation if he’s able to mobilize that delegation, which you’d expect him to be able to do,” they said.

Burgess already serves as the Republican lead on the health subcommittee and argues his Texan status gives him the background he would need on the energy efforts that are also a large part of the committee’s domain.

“We all have our strengths,” Burgess said. “I will have the highest seniority. As far as leadership on subcommittees, I can put my credentials up against anybody. No, I haven’t been chairman of the conference, but on the other hand, I put my heart and soul into committee work and the policy literally every day since I first started here.”

Latta is campaigning on his policy chops and legislation he has already passed through the committee.

“As a member who has served on all six subcommittees and spearheaded legislation and initiatives from each of the five legislative subcommittees, I am intimately familiar with a broad span of policy issues,” he said in a statement to The Hill.

“As chairman of E&C, I will ensure that our colleagues can take home examples of how House Republicans are proposing tangible solutions to our nation’s challenges.”

The incoming legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says any proposal from President-elect Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE to create a registry for Muslims is unconstitutional.

“When executive action is challenged as targeting religion, the critical question is intent: If the government can be shown to have intentionally targeted a religious group, its actions violate the Free Exercise Clause,” David Cole wrote in a post on the ACLU website. “The law need not name the religion by name.”

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Trump made waves during the Republican primary campaign when he called for a temporary “shutdown” of all Muslim immigration to the United States. More recently, reports have indicated that the incoming administration would instead focus on people coming to the U.S. from specific regions.

Trump’s campaign has denied any plans for a Muslim registry.

“President-elect Trump has never advocated for any registry or system that tracks individuals based on their religion, and to imply otherwise is completely false, communications adviser Jason Miller told CNN last week.

Cole argued that the Trump campaign’s denial of a potential registry is “semantics.”

“The transition team is reportedly planning just that, only under the guise of focusing on countries that happen to be majority Muslim,” Cole said.

He reasoned that Trump’s rhetoric on Muslim immigration demonstrated intent to target the Muslim faith, explaining that “the Supreme Court has ruled that circumstantial evidence can support a finding of unconstitutional intent.”

(11:54 AM EST):

Russia’s push for a brokered settlement over the crisis in Syria appears to be gaining traction in Washington.

The Obama administration—finding very little success in its aggressive push for war—announced on Tuesday it is now willing to entertain talks with Russia and other members of the UN Security Council over a plan (see below) that would see Syria hand over control of chemical weapons to international monitors in a bid to avoid military intervention.

According to a tweet by the Associated Press late Tuesday morning:

And The Hill reports:

None of this, however, indicates that there’s a done deal at the UN. In fact, the Russians are reportedly unimpressed so far with the language drafted for the resolution by the French delegation. According to Reuters:

In a related development, a group of U.S. senators are reported to be drafting a new resolution for Congress that would authorize the use of military force only if the Syrians fail to satisfy an international agreement to hand over their chemical weapons stockpiles.

As the New York Times reports:

Tuesday’s developments allowed those pushing for a negotiated settlement to experience hope for avoiding a rush for immediate military strikes, but the threat of war still lingers.

Indeed, as new developments in the international arena continued to play out Tuesday, key members of Obama’s foreign policy team were sitting before the House Armed Services Committee pushing the case for war as hard as ever.

And as reporting by Inter Press Service point outs, a path through the UN is not necessarily a path away from war.

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WASHINGTON – Member governments, security companies and civil society organisations on Thursday formally created the first international body to be tasked with the monitoring and oversight of private military contractors’ adherence to human rights standards and international law.

Advocates say the move is significant, formalising a sector whose actions – and for whom the potential for judicial repercussions – have often fallen into legal grey areas amidst the complexity of conflict and humanitarian emergency.

Yet critics warn that the voluntary agreement lacks sufficient enforcement mechanisms while potentially legitimising the privatisation of armed conflict, a process that has been on a steep climb over the past two decades.

In late 2011, under the guidance of the Swiss government, founding states, security companies and NGOs formally agreed upon the substance of what is known as the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICoC). The code offers guidance for security contractors on their responsibilities under international law, on resolving complaints of rights violations and on ongoing monitoring of adherence to the ICoC principles.

“The code is a limited voluntary mechanism, does nothing to change the culture of impunity that [private military and security companies] enjoy, and represents a licence for abuse … The code will be used by companies to legitimise the industry and by government to sidestep proper controls.” –Ruth Tanner, War on Want

Thursday saw the formal creation of the ICoC Association, at a summit in Geneva. The body will now be mandated with overseeing companies’ adherence to the ICoC guidelines.

“There have always been significant regulatory gaps when it comes to the activities of private military contractors,” Gabor Rona, international legal director for Human Rights First, an advocacy group that served as a founding ICoC civil society group, told IPS.

“Sometimes, for instance, they are registered in one country but are recruiting in another country while operating in a third country. So things get lost in the jurisdictional shuffle, particularly if any of their employees commit human rights violations.”

Rona mentions the so-called Nisour Square massacre, when 17 Iraqi civilians were killed in Baghdad in 2007 by military contractors with the U.S. company then known as Blackwater Worldwide (now renamed Academi), allegedly in self-defence. Despite official U.S. findings that those killed were innocent, jurisdictional confusion has dogged the prosecutions, and Rona says there has been “huge uncertainty” over whether the accused will be held accountable.

That case is ongoing. Last week, a judge directed the U.S. government to speed up the proceedings, giving a deadline of Oct. 21 for the U.S. Justice Department to decide on what charges it will file.

Broad buy-in

The use of private security contractors, particularly by the United States and Europe but also by global extractives companies, has increased substantially in recent years.

In 1990, for instance, military personnel outnumbered private contractors by 60 to 1, according to a report released last year by Jordi Palou Loverdos, a Spanish lawyer. By 2003, when the war began in Iraq, that ratio had dropped to 10 to 1, and by the 2010 these figures were essentially equal.

“By 2007, it is estimated that around 190,000 contractors were working in Iraq on U.S.-funded contracts,” the report states. “Furthermore, this shift to the private sector has created a highly prosperous industry, with revenues’ estimations ranging from 20 to 100 billion dollars annually. The rapid growth … clearly reflects the new business face of war.”

As of the beginning of this month, more than 700 security companies headquartered in dozens of countries worldwide have signed on to the ICoC. Primary government support for the process has come from the United States and United Kingdom, as well as Switzerland and Australia.

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Welcome to Hillicon Valley, The Hill’s newsletter detailing all you need to know about the tech and cyber news from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley. If you don’t already, be sure to sign up for our newsletter with this LINK.

Welcome! Follow our cyber reporter, Maggie Miller (@magmill95), and tech team, Chris Mills Rodrigo (@chrisismills) and Rebecca Klar (@rebeccaklar_), for more coverage.

UNMARKED MESSAGES TARGET PENNSYLVANIA: Unmarked texts that appear to be linked to a Republican firm urged President TrumpDonald John TrumpBiden claims a ‘mandate’ to govern, calls for end to ‘partisan warfare’ Mark Meadows tests positive for coronavirus Georgia Senate race between Perdue, Ossoff heads to runoff MORE’s supporters to protest in Philadelphia Thursday outside of a building where ballots were being counted, The Washington Post reported Friday.

The messages were sent from phone numbers that had been leased by Opn Sesame, a firm run by the Trump campaign’s digital director Gary Coby that offers texting services to GOP candidates and causes, a person familiar with the matter told the Post.

“ALERT: Radical Liberals & Dems are trying to steal this election from Trump!” the message reportedly stated. “We need YOU! Show your support at the corner of 12th St. & Arch St. in Philadelphia.”

The messages were sent in the hours before Democratic presidential nominee Joe BidenJoe BidenBiden claims a ‘mandate’ to govern, calls for end to ‘partisan warfare’ Mark Meadows tests positive for coronavirus Trump supporters scream at Telemundo reporter during live broadcast from Maricopa ballot center MORE took the lead in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, the Post reported. Ballots are still being counted in the state as of Friday morning.

Coby and a spokesman for the Trump campaign declined to comment to the Post. A spokesperson for the Trump campaign was not immediately available for comment when contacted by The Hill on Friday.

It is unclear which of Opn Sesame’s clients sent the message, and the company does not disclose its full list of users, the Post reported. The company has worked on behalf of Republican clients, including the Republican National Committee which has reported roughly $4 million to Opn Sesame over the course of this year’s election, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

The Trump campaign’s filings with the Federal Election Commission do not show payments to Opn Sesame, but a complaint filed this summer by ethics watchdog group Campaign Legal Center alleged that the campaign was using conduits set up and run by Brad ParscaleBradley (Brad) James ParscaleAides tried to get Trump to stop attacking McCain in hopes of clinching Arizona: report MORE, the former campaign manager, to pay subcontractors, the Post noted. Opn Sesame is among those subcontractors, according to the complaint.

The message in the unmarked texts echo the narrative Trump and his allies have been pushing this week as results are tabulated in Pennsylvania and other swing states.

Read more here.

FACEBOOK REMOVES FAKES: Facebook removed a network of fake accounts based in Iran that targeted protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuBenjamin (Bibi) NetanyahuMORE, the tech giant said in a monthly report released Friday.

Facebook removed 12 Facebook accounts, two pages and 307 Instagram accounts as part of the network for violating the company’s policy against foreign interference that is coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign entity.

Facebook said the network was “early in its audience building” and had about 10,000 followers when it was removed. It used fake accounts created around the same time to develop “fictitious personas who purported to be based in Israel and Iraq.”

The fake accounts posted memes, images and other content in Hebrew and Arabic targeting anti-Netanyahu protests in Israel and criticism of the prime minister and his response to the coronavirus pandemic. The accounts primarily targeted Israel, as well as Iraq, according to Facebook.

Facebook said the “people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities,” but the company’s investigation found links to individuals associated with a Tehran-based IT company.

Read more here.

BANNING BANNON: Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon‘s Twitter account was suspended Thursday after allegedly calling for the nation’s leading infectious diseases expert Anthony FauciAnthony FauciHillicon Valley: Unmarked messages target Pennsylvania voters | Facebook removes fake Iran-based accounts | Twitter permanently suspend Bannon OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Trump replaces head of energy regulatory commission | Biden climate agenda would slam into Senate GOP roadblocks | Emails show Park Police reliance on pepper balls, outside police forces during Lafayette protests Bannon’s lawyers move to withdraw from criminal case following comments about Fauci MORE‘s head “on pikes” on his podcast.

His podcast Twitter account @WarRoomPandemic was suspended after the statement went live.

In an email sent to The Hill, Twitter said Bannon’s account was suspended for violating “our policy on the glorification of violence.”

Twitter added that it has policies in place to address explicit threats of violence and other forms of online abuse or harassment and hateful conduct.

Bannon’s allegedly violent comments on his “War Room” YouTube podcast Thursday come as the nation has yet to see a decided victor in the presidential race against President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

TWITTER TAKES DOWN FAKE AP ACCOUNTS: Twitter suspended a fake account masquerading as The Associated Press on Friday. The account sent out a tweet announcing Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election before it was disbanded.

The account, @APMyWrist, garnered hundreds of likes and retweets on the post before the social media giant shut it down.

Ken Sweet, a real reporter for the AP, urged his followers to stay up to date on the election by following the legitimate account for The Associated Press.

“Fake @AP accounts are saying we called the election for Biden. We have not. Follow @AP_Politics,” he wrote.

The election has not yet been called for either candidate as more ballots are continuing to be counted.

Read more here.

Lighter click: Jim Carrey, call your agent

An op-ed to chew on: Americans must put aside bitter divisions to defend against foreign threats

NOTABLE LINKS FROM AROUND THE WEB:

How claims of dead Michigan voters spread faster than the facts (The New York Times / Jack Nicas)

Trump’s power on Twitter, Facebook will outlive his presidency (The Washington Post / Craig Timberg and Elizabeth Dwoskin)

Vietnamese hackers ran ‘fake news’ websites to target visitors (Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai)

French officials said Friday that seven people have been charged with selling fraudulent coronavirus test results to passengers at Charles de Gaulle airport.

Authorities said six men and one woman were charged with forgery, use of forgery and complicity in fraud, The Associated Press reported.

Prosecutors said the testing certificates, which showed negative test results, were being sold to travelers for between $180 and $360.

The arrests stemmed from an investigation after authorities discovered a passenger on a September flight to Addis Ababa with a fake document claiming negative COVID-19 test results.

The suspects could face up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $445,000 if convicted.

France allows airline travelers to use Charles De Gaulle as long as they have an approved COVID-19 certificate showing they tested negative.

In late October, France imposed its second lockdown amid rising COVID-19 cases. Unlike the first lockdown, the government will allow schools to remain open and permit travel for work in some situations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin NetanyahuBenjamin (Bibi) NetanyahuMORE became the latest world leader to congratulate President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenMary Trump celebrates Biden-Harris victory: ‘To America. Thanks, guys’ Biden gives shoutout to Black Americans in victory speech: ‘You always have my back, and I’ll have yours’ Biden vows to heal divided nation MORE, hailing their relationship in a tweet Sunday.

“Congratulations @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris,” Netanyahu tweeted. “Joe, we’ve had a long & warm personal relationship for nearly 40 years, and I know you as a great friend of Israel. I look forward to working with both of you to further strengthen the special alliance between the U.S. and Israel.”

Netanyahu, one of the world leaders most closely aligned with President TrumpDonald John TrumpMary Trump celebrates Biden-Harris victory: ‘To America. Thanks, guys’ Biden gives shoutout to Black Americans in victory speech: ‘You always have my back, and I’ll have yours’ Biden vows to heal divided nation MORE, also thanked the incumbent president “for the friendship you have shown the state of Israel and me personally, for recognizing Jerusalem and the Golan, for standing up to Iran, for the historic peace accords and for bringing the American-Israeli alliance to unprecedented heights.”

The prime minister congratulated Biden several hours after numerous other world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin TrudeauJustin Pierre James TrudeauJeb Bush congratulates Biden: It’s ‘time to heal deep wounds’ World leaders congratulate Biden, Harris The Hill’s Morning Report – Too close to call MORE and French President Emanuel Macron.

Dani Dayan, the former Israeli consul to New York, said Netanyahu’s delay was likely an attempt to avoid alienating Trump before he leaves office in January.

“There is a president in the White House who has not yet acknowledged his defeat and whose whims definitely play a major role in his decision making process and he will be sitting in the White House for another two and a half months,” Dayan told Army Radio, according to Reuters.

The prime minister had a fraught relationship with Trump’s predecessor, Barack ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaSunday shows preview: Joe Biden wins the 2020 election Obama congratulates Biden, Harris after race is called, urges Americans to ‘stay engaged’ On The Trail: Biden’s bet pays off MORE, particularly in regard to the Iran nuclear deal and settlements in the West Bank.

The Trump campaign on Wednesday filed a lawsuit that seeks to require election officials in Chatham County, Ga., to identify and separate allegedly late-arriving mail ballots, presumably so the votes can be more easily tossed if the campaign ultimately prevails in its legal challenge.

Included with the lawsuit is an affidavit from a registered poll watcher who says he witnessed 53 mail ballots that arrived after the state’s 7 p.m. Election Day deadline being mixed in with timely ballots.

“We will not allow Democrat election officials to steal this election from President TrumpDonald John TrumpAides tried to get Trump to stop attacking McCain in hopes of clinching Arizona: report Officials warn delayed vote count could lead to flood of disinformation New Trump campaign lawsuit targets late-arriving Georgia mail ballots MORE with late, illegal ballots,” deputy campaign manager Justin Clark said in a statement. “President Trump and the Georgia Republican Party have filed suit to require all Georgia counties to separate any and all late-arriving ballots from all legally cast ballots to ensure a free, fair election in which only legal, valid ballots count.”

President Trump leads Democratic nominee Joe BidenJoe BidenAides tried to get Trump to stop attacking McCain in hopes of clinching Arizona: report New Trump campaign lawsuit targets late-arriving Georgia mail ballots Rihanna calls on officials to ‘count every vote’ following Election Day: ‘We’ll wait’ MORE by 1 percentage point in Georgia with an estimated 95 percent of the vote counted there, according to The New York Times.

The Trump campaign has filed a flurry of litigation in several states as Biden’s projected lead in the Electoral College has widened.

Several Trump campaign lawsuits in Pennsylvania, which holds the most electoral votes of the states that remain in play, also seek to invalidate certain mail ballots, a voting method that Biden supporters favored over Trump’s backers.

The U.S. trade deficit dropped 4.7 percentage points in September after reaching its highest level since 2006 just a month earlier, according to data from the Census Bureau.

A report released by the agency on Wednesday found that the total deficit between the value of U.S. goods and services sold around the world and foreign goods and services sold in the U.S. was $63.9 billion in September, a drop of $3.2 billion from its peak of $67 billion in August.

August’s trade deficit was the highest the U.S. has faced since August 2006, and came as President TrumpDonald John TrumpAides tried to get Trump to stop attacking McCain in hopes of clinching Arizona: report Officials warn delayed vote count could lead to flood of disinformation New Trump campaign lawsuit targets late-arriving Georgia mail ballots MORE has vowed repeatedly to reduce the U.S. trade deficit and singled out countries such as China for allegedly unfair trade practices. The administration has pursued a new trade deal with China for years without success so far.

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Imports and exports both rose in September, by $1.2 billion and $4.4 billion respectively, and the overall drop in the deficit was attributed to a $3.1 billion drop in the U.S. goods deficit and a $0.1 billion rise in the U.S. services surplus.

While September’s numbers represented a drop from the 14-year high reached in August, the goods and services deficit remains 8.6 percent higher than it sat in September of 2019.

“The trade recovery will continue in the coming months, with leading indicators pointing to decent growth in September. However, we still see total trade volumes falling a record average of over 12 percent in 2020,” James Watson, an economist with Oxford Economics, wrote last month.

President-elect Joe BidenJoe BidenMary Trump celebrates Biden-Harris victory: ‘To America. Thanks, guys’ Biden gives shoutout to Black Americans in victory speech: ‘You always have my back, and I’ll have yours’ Biden vows to heal divided nation MORE on Saturday night said he would announce his COVID-19 task force next week.

“Our work begins with getting COVID under control,” Biden said during a prime-time speech.

“On Monday, I will name a group of leading scientists and experts as transition advisers to help take the Biden-Harris COVID plan and convert it into an action blue print that will start on Jan. 20,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Axios reported that the 12-member group will be co-led by former Surgeon General Vivek MurthyVivek Hallegere MurthyBiden plans to issue orders reversing Trump policies immediately upon taking office: report Biden to announce COVID-19 task force Monday Biden team eyes transition plans as states tally votes MORE, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner David Kessler and Yale University professor Marcella Nunez-Smith.

Murthy, who was surgeon general from 2014 to 2017, is expected to play a key role in the Biden administration. He has advised Biden for months on the coronavirus pandemic.

Kessler served as FDA commissioner from 1990 to 1997 and is now the board chair at the Centers for Science in the Public Interest.

Other members of the task force were advisers to Biden during the campaign, according to Axios.

The Hill has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment.

During remarks on Friday, a day before news networks projected he would defeat President TrumpDonald John TrumpMary Trump celebrates Biden-Harris victory: ‘To America. Thanks, guys’ Biden gives shoutout to Black Americans in victory speech: ‘You always have my back, and I’ll have yours’ Biden vows to heal divided nation MORE, Biden said voters have “given us a mandate for action on COVID, the economy, on climate change and systemic racism. They made it clear they want the country to come together not continue to pull apart.”

The U.S. on Thursday set a new record for daily coronavirus cases, topping 118,000 infections. Experts predicted the number of cases will increase in the coming months as colder temperatures push more people inside, where the virus can spread more easily.

More than 9.8 million people in the U.S. have contracted the virus since the pandemic began, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. More than 237,000 have died.

Updated at 8:52 p.m.

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Monthly Archives: November 2020

Republicans in campaign mode for top spots on House environmental committees

ACLU previews potential lawsuit against Trump's Muslim registry

Failing To Convince on War, US Agrees to Follow Russia's Path To UN

Putting Leash on World's Private Armies No Easy Task

Hillicon Valley: Unmarked messages target Pennsylvania voters | Facebook removes fake Iran-based accounts | Twitter permanently suspend Bannon

French authorities charge 7 with selling fake COVID-19 test results at airport

Netanyahu notes 'long & warm personal relationship' with Biden in congratulatory tweet

New Trump campaign lawsuit targets late-arriving Georgia mail ballots

Trade deficit falls from 14-year high

Biden to announce COVID-19 task force Monday