MIKE LEE

The Senate has passed legislation to reauthorize federal grants for local fire departments.

When President Joe Biden suggested that Republicans want to slash Medicare and Social Security it brought howls of protests from the GOP side of the aisle during the State of the Union address.

The Senate has passed a $1.7 trillion bill to finance federal agencies through September, aid Ukraine and provide assistance to communities recovering from hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters.

U.S. senators from both parties have expressed skepticism that a proposed merger between grocery giants Kroger and Albertsons will lower prices for consumers.

Since Utah Republican Mike Lee won his race comfortably against independent Evan McMullin, a debate has emerged over the Democrats’ strategy to back an independent rather than run their own candidate.

Tech companies and Democratic Party-aligned groups are among those funneling millions into Utah to support independent Evan McMullin’s bid to unseat Republican Sen. Mike Lee.

Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina is getting a reelection boost from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Democrats running for office this year in Republican-leaning areas or swing states are grappling with how much they should talk about the Jan. 6 insurrection, if at all.

President Joe Biden has signed an international agreement that compels the United States and other countries to limit use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigeration and air conditioning that are far more powerful than carbon dioxide.

Just weeks before the Nov. 8 election, Utah’s senior senator, Republican Mike Lee, is now acknowledging a real political threat from Evan McMullin.

U.S. Senator Mike Lee has used a debate with his challenger Monday evening to try to draw a distinction between his record and former President Donald Trump's.

The House has approved antitrust legislation targeting the dominance of Big Tech companies by giving states greater power in competition cases and increasing money for federal regulators.

Utah's Evan McMullin is emerging as the nation’s most competitive independent candidate running for U.S. Senate in the 2022 midterm elections.

A special House panel looking into the government's coronavirus response says the Trump White House tried to pressure U.S. health experts into reauthorizing the drug hydroxychloroquine that had been discredited as a COVID-19 treatment.

Major League Baseball told a Senate committee that the sport’s antitrust exemption prevents teams from moving without approval and allows the sport to maintain the minor leagues at a wide level.

A bill to boost semiconductor production in the United States has managed to do nearly the unthinkable — unite Sen. Bernie Sanders and the tea party.

Leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee have asked baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred to explain the impact of potential legislation stripping the sport’s antitrust exemption from covering the sport’s relationship with minor league players.

President Joe Biden hosted hundreds of lawmakers, their families and aides for the first congressional picnic at the White House in three years.

The executive director of the nonprofit Advocates for Minor Leaguers has recommended Congress enact legislation nullifying Major League Baseball’s antitrust exemption as it applies to minor league players.

The chairman and ranking minority member of the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to an advocacy group for minor leaguers asking questions about baseball’s antitrust exemption.

Colorado Republicans have rejected two prominent election deniers in primaries Tuesday night.

Sen. Mike Lee has won Utah’s Republican primary by brushing off attacks from two challengers who didn’t vote for former President Donald Trump in 2020.

Seven states are set to host primary elections Tuesday as the nation comes to terms with last week’s stunning Supreme Court ruling eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion.

Mitt Romney isn’t up for reelection this year, but his name is surfacing in Republican primaries throughout the nation.

Members of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol insurrection are holding their first prime-time hearing to share what they have uncovered about then-President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

A former lawmaker in Oregon is aiming to shake up state politics by running as an unaffiliated candidate for governor.

Less than a day after a gunman massacred 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas, a Wednesday Senate hearing for President Joe Biden’s pick to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reflected the deep political divisions over guns.

Red state officials are coming out swinging against growing Wall Street efforts to consider environmental risk in investment decisions.

The traditionally insular Supreme Court is about to face the full force of public pressure and abortion politics.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee has avoided serious challenge in deeply conservative Utah in the dozen years since he came to power in a tea party wave.

Orrin G.

Utah Democrats pulling hard to defeat Republican Sen. Mike Lee took the unusual step Saturday of spurning a party hopeful to instead get behind an independent, former presidential candidate Evan McMullin.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee worked on early efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, helping push legally dubious schemes to keep then-President Donald Trump in power, before he shifted course and quickly backed away.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is endorsing former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel in the heated Republican primary for the open U.S. Senate seat in the Midwestern battleground.

Piecing together the activities of President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, is no easy task.

The House panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol has previewed some of its findings in a federal court filing.

The Senate has sent President Joe Biden a bill averting a weekend government shutdown.

Utah Sen. Mike Lee is facing backlash from Japanese Americans and conservation groups after blocking a proposal to create a national historic site at a former internment camp in rural Colorado.

Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia is sounding a skeptical note about the prospects of easing the Senate’s filibuster rules to advance stalled voting legislation.

The Senate has rejected a bid to stop a U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia.

For months, President Joe Biden has taken it on the chin from Republicans over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Senate has passed a stopgap spending bill that avoids a short-term shutdown and funds the federal government through Feb. 18 after leaders defused a partisan standoff over federal vaccine mandates.

President Joe Biden has signed into law the stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government running through Feb. 18.

The federal government could be heading for a temporary shutdown.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says he will not again help Democrats extend the government’s borrowing authority.

A significant majority of Americans doubt that the war in Afghanistan was worthwhile, even as they are more divided over President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy and national security.

The senators who spent months stitching together a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure package are now trying to sell it to the American people.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell had vowed to be “100% focused” on stopping President Joe Biden’s agenda.

The Biden administration is encouraging Senate lawmakers to finally repeal an Iraq war authorization crafted when Saddam Hussein was still alive.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is looking to speed up consideration of a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan national infrastructure package.

A U.S. Senate panel has deadlocked on President Joe Biden’s pick to oversee vast government-owned lands in the West amid bitter opposition from Republicans.

The hanging death of a 21-year-old Black man three years ago is still haunting a county in Mississippi.

Correction: Congress-Antitrust storySen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks during a Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Senate Committee on Rules and Administration joint hearing Wednesday, March 3, 2021, examining the January 6, attack on the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (Greg Nash/Pool via AP) (The Hill)WASHINGTON – In a story March 16, 2021, about antitrust legislation in Congress, The Associated Press erroneously reported the title of a book by Sen. Amy Klobuchar. The correct title is “Antitrust: Taking on Monopoly Power from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age.”Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

(Senate Television via AP)WASHINGTON – The massive coronavirus relief plan making its way to President Joe Biden’s desk includes a plan to temporarily raise the child tax credit that could end up permanently changing the way the country deals with child poverty. The American Rescue Plan, expected to receive final approval this week, temporarily raises the child tax credit, now at a maximum of $2,000, to as much as $3,600 per child annually. Indeed, Biden himself told House Democrats during a private call last week that he supports legislation that would permanently increase the child tax credit to $3,000 per child. That's the case made by some Republican lawmakers in offering an alternative to the Biden proposal. Because the benefit currently expires after a year, the Biden plan essentially creates a potential fiscal cliff for child poverty.

(Senate Television via AP)WASHINGTON – The massive coronavirus relief plan making its way to President Joe Biden’s desk includes a plan to temporarily raise the child tax credit that could end up permanently changing the way the country deals with child poverty. The American Rescue Plan, expected to receive final approval this week, temporarily raises the child tax credit, now at a maximum of $2,000, to as much as $3,600 per child annually. Indeed, Biden himself told House Democrats during a private call last week that he supports legislation that would permanently increase the child tax credit to $3,000 per child. That's the case made by some Republican lawmakers in offering an alternative to the Biden proposal. Because the benefit currently expires after a year, the Biden plan essentially creates a potential fiscal cliff for child poverty.

Employees with the McKesson Corporation scan a box of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine while filling an order at their shipping facility in Shepherdsville, Ky., Monday, March 1, 2021. AdThe push to reopen comes as COVID-19 vaccine shipments to the states are ramping up. Johnson & Johnson shipped out nearly 4 million doses of its newly authorized, one-shot COVID-19 vaccine Sunday night to be delivered to states for use starting on Tuesday. The company will deliver about 16 million more doses by the end of March and a total of 100 million by the end of June. White House vaccination coordinator Jeff Zients also acknowledged that scheduling of vaccination appointments “ remains too difficult in too many places."

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., walks on Capitol Hill after the Senate acquitted former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. Trump was accused of inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and the acquittal gives him a historic second victory in the court of impeachment. Investigations into the riot were already planned, with Senate hearings scheduled later this month in the Senate Rules Committee. We needed more senators with spines.”AdMcConnell told Republican senators shortly before the vote that he would vote to acquit Trump. Beutler's statement late Friday that Trump rebuffed a plea from House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to call off the rioters was ultimately entered into the trial record.

Reporters vie for a response from Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, as Senators take a dinner break while arguments continue in former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. Scott Applewhite)WASHINGTON – For 90 tense minutes, members of the Senate relived the horror. The rioters were “58 steps” from senators at one point, impeachment manager Eric Swalwell told them. Senators were silent afterward, some sitting quietly and alone, as if to process it all. He walked out of the room in the middle of the presentation, as impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett detailed the threats to Pence’s life.

(Senate Television via AP)WASHINGTON – The Latest on former President Donald Trump's second Senate impeachment trial (all times local):8:20 p.m.House Democrats have wrapped up their first full day of arguments at the historic second impeachment trial of Donald Trump. The impeachment trial is set to resume at noon Thursday. Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney say they are deeply disturbed by the evidence shown by Democrats against former President Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial. Prosecutors at Trump’s impeachment trial on Wednesday played security footage from inside the Capitol on Jan. 6. ___2:20 p.m.Democrats are arguing that former President Donald Trump “built” the mob that attacked the Capitol.

In this image from video, David Schoen, an attorney for former President Donald Trump, speaks during the second impeachment trial of Trump in the Senate at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. Though the trial now proceeds, that’s a legal issue that could resonate with Republicans eager to acquit Trump without being seen as condoning his behavior. Trump attorney David Schoen turned the trial toward starkly partisan tones, saying the Democrats were fueled by a “base hatred” of the former president. On the vote, six Republicans joined with Democrats pursue the trial, just one more than on a similar vote last week. Trump's second impeachment trial is expected to diverge from the lengthy, complicated affair of a year ago.

SALT LAKE CITY – Supporters of President Donald Trump heckled Republican U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah in an airport, illustrating divisions in the Republican Party between Trump loyalists and those ready to accept the results of the presidential election. Romney has been considered Trump’s sharpest GOP critic and is among a group of senators who called for an end to an effort to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s win. Video of the airport confrontation posted online Tuesday night came as Trump backers around the U.S. traveled to Washington, D.C., for demonstrations as Congress meets to accept the Electoral College vote. It's being contested by some GOP lawmakers, but the effort is all but certain to fail. His counterpart, Sen. Mike Lee, is a staunch Trump supporter but called for civility after the video made the rounds.

Eleven Republican senators saying they will not be voting Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, to confirm President-elect Joe Biden's victory include Wyoming's newly sworn in Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Cheyenne-area rancher and former congresswoman. It is unclear just what the Republican senators will do, but the process could drag into the night as the two chambers will have to consider each objection individually. And more than a dozen Republican senators have said they will not support the effort. Facing the criticism from many in his own party, Cruz has attempted to put a finer point on his challenge. The commission remains his focus, he has said, not to undo the election results, even though that would be the practical effect of a successful objection.

On Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020, President Donald Trump pardoned 15 people, including Collins. Papadopoulos was the first Trump aide to plead guilty as part of Mueller’s investigation – pleading guilty to lying to the FBI – and served a nearly two-week sentence in federal prison. The White House said Stockman had contracted coronavirus while in federal prison and has served more than two years of his 10-year sentence. Esformes’ prison sentence was commuted by the president on Tuesday, but other aspects of his sentence, including supervised release and millions in restitution, remained intact. The White House said the commutation was supported by a number of former attorneys general and said Esformes is in declining health.

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)WASHINGTON – Congress passed a $900 billion pandemic relief package that would finally deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and resources to vaccinate a nation confronting a frightening surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. The bill approved Monday night went to President Donald Trump for his signature, which was expected in the coming days. The relief package, unveiled Monday afternoon, sped through the House and Senate in a matter of hours. The bill combines coronavirus-fighting funds with financial relief for individuals and businesses. Democrats and Senate Republicans prevailed in a bid to use bookkeeping maneuvers to squeeze $12.5 billion more for domestic programs into the legislation.

WASHINGTON – A lone senator from Utah has singlehandedly blocked the bipartisan approval of two new national museums to honor American Latinos and women, arguing that “last thing we need is to further divide an already divided nation.”Republican Sen. Mike Lee objected Thursday to the creation of the two proposed Smithsonian museums, stalling two projects that have been in the making for decades and enjoy broad bipartisan support. Senate approval would have sent the legislation approving the Latino museum to President Donald Trump for his signature. The Senate was attempting to pass the measures by voice vote, which requires every senator's consent. Lee said he sees an exception for museums dedicated to American Indians and African Americans that already sit on the National Mall. “We have been systematically excluded, not because this senator said so but because the Smithsonian itself said so,” Menendez said.

Trump did not back up his claims with any details or evidence, and state and federal officials have not reported any instances of widespread voter fraud. Counting votes is often “long” and “frustrating,” Romney said. Most in the GOP take pains to avoid directly criticizing Trump, even when they find his conduct unhelpful or offensive to their values and goals. But one of Trump’s top congressional supporters said he supports efforts to question the vote counting process and is donating money to shore up legal challenges. Chris Christie, a Trump ally who is an analyst for ABC News, said there was no basis for Trump's argument.

Barrett was confirmed to be a Supreme Court justice by the Senate earlier in the evening. It's been only a month since President Donald Trump's Rose Garden event to announce he was nominating Amy Coney Barrett to serve on the Supreme Court. Mike Lee and Thom Tillis — tested positive after attending the earlier White House celebration. Indiana Sen. Todd Young told reporters that he had told the White House he would attend, but was reconsidering. She said people need to be careful about gatherings as illnesses have been rising, but stopped short of calling the White House event a mistake.

(Caroline Brehman/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans powered past a Democratic boycott Thursday to advance Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate, keeping President Donald Trump's pick on track for confirmation before the Nov. 3 election. Never has the Senate confirmed a Supreme Court nominee so close to a presidential election. Republicans have bristled at Democrats’ claim that the Obama-era health law, known as “Obamacare,” is in jeopardy if Barrett joins the court. As the Senate committee met, protesters, some shouting “Stop the confirmation!” demonstrated outside the Capitol across the street from the Supreme Court. Unable to stop the confirmation, Democrats have been trying unsuccessfully to stall the process so the winner of the White House race could name the new nominee.

– Law enforcement officers who pulled a driver over for a traffic violation in Mississippi allegedly discovered about 37 pounds of methamphetamine hidden inside a spare tire stashed in the vehicle. The Scott County Sheriff’s Office and the Flowood Police Department stopped a pickup truck along an interstate near Flowood early this month after spotting it driving in a “careless manner," according to the agencies. An officer conducting the stop discovered a tire in the bed of the truck, and inside it, an assisting deputy found 37.5 pounds (17 kilograms) of methamphetamine worth an estimated street value of $350,000, WLBT-TV reported, citing the authorities. The driver was charged with aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine, Scott County Sheriff Mike Lee said. The suspect was not immediately identified and it was unclear whether they were being held in custody.

(Leah Millis/Pool via AP)WASHINGTON – Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett will face senators' questions over her approach to health care, legal precedent and even the presidential election during a second day of confirmation hearings on track to lock in a conservative court majority for years to come. Americans “deserve an independent Supreme Court that interprets our Constitution and laws as they are written,” Barrett told the committee. Republicans also hope to seat Barrett quickly enough to hear any legal challenges after the election. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut was among several Democrats demanding that Barrett pledge not to take part in any election case. One after another, Democrats sought Monday to tie her nomination to the upcoming Obama-era health care case.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut was among several Democrats demanding that Barrett pledge not to take part in any election case. Barrett also praised the liberal icon, saying she was “forever grateful" for Ginsburg's trailblazing path as a woman on the court. “Health care coverage for millions of Americans is at stake with this nomination,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the committee’s senior Democrat. In one message, he tweeted that he’d have a “FAR BETTER” health care plan, with lower costs and protections for preexisting conditions. But he has not, as yet, discussed an actual health care plan.

Hearings before the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee will begin Monday, Oct. 12, for President Donald Trumps Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett. SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, D-CALIF.Harris, Joe Biden's running mate in the presidential election, will again be in the spotlight as Democrats question a Trump nominee for the Supreme Court. Harris and other key Democrats said the hearings should not move forward without plans to test people attending, including senators, for coronavirus. In a sign of the heightened scrutiny, Vice President Mike Pence tried to get Harris to reveal whether she and Biden support expanding the Supreme Court, as many liberals advocate. In just three years on the 7th Circuit, Barrett has twice argued for approval of abortion restrictions that violated Supreme Court precedent, Hirono said.

The Democrat from Santa Barbara said in a statement that he sought a test “after discovering I was exposed to an individual who tested positive for COVID-19." But a second test administered Tuesday was positive. He said he has “mild symptoms.”“I hope this serves as a reminder of how easily this virus can spread,” Carbajal said. Lee and Carbajal live next door to each other in the same building, said Conn Carroll, a spokesman for Lee. Lee, who attended the Sept. 26 White House Rose Garden announcement for President Donald Trump's nominee for U.S. Supreme Court, disclosed last week that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, soon after Trump said he and the first lady had tested positive.

And variations on that message were the White House ready response any time critics questioned the president's lax approach to following guidelines for avoiding the novel coronavirus. Trump demonstrated in dramatic fashion that relying on testing alone isn’t enough to create a safe bubble. Mask wearing and social distancing are other key ingredients for preventing the spread of COVID-19, and both have often been in short supply at the White House. The White House says the president is also tested regularly, as are his most senior aides. There were also several indoor receptions, where Barrett, her family, senators and others gathered in the close quarters inside the White House.

FILE - Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trumps nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, meets with Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. Many alumni have posted a letter on social media expressing their opposition to Barrett's nomination to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court after Ginsburg's death last month. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via AP, Pool)WASHINGTON – Shuttered by COVID-19 infections, the Republican-led Senate is refusing to delay confirmation of President Donald Trump's pick for the Supreme Court. The Judiciary Committee is planning four days of hearings ahead of a final Senate vote by Oct. 29. However, McConnell could have the full Senate vote to force the committee to discharge the nomination to the floor for final voting.

Doctors say that Trump will continue to receive his treatments from the White House. WHAT WE DON’T KNOWWe don’t know how sick Trump got. With treatment still evolving in the pandemic, Trump’s doctors concede they themselves don’t know everything about the interplay of the medications he is taking. The White House also is withholding details on what steps it is taking to stop the spread of the outbreak underway in Trump’s circle. Trump on Sunday insisted on a drive outside Walter Reed to wave to supporters, heightening risk of infection for those guarding and driving him.

Conley was evasive when asked whether Trump’s blood oxygen level had dropped below 90%: “We don’t have any recordings here on that.” The level currently stands at 98%, Trump’s medical team said. WHAT WE DON’T KNOW: TRUMP’S MEDICAL CONDITIONTrump's medical team continued to dodge many questions Sunday, such as the specific timing of the president’s dip in oxygen and the impact of the disease on his lungs. WHAT WE DON’T KNOW: WHEN TRUMP FELL ILLConley declined to say when Trump had last been tested before Thursday’s test confirmed COVID-19. WHAT WE DON’T KNOW: HOW TRUMP WAS INFECTEDThere's no way to know for sure if the Rose Garden event was where Trump — who typically shuns a mask and has kept holding big public gatherings during the pandemic — was exposed. The administration says a White House medical team is tracing contacts.

Still, the doctors said Trump’s health is improving and that he could be discharged as early as Monday. In a short video released by the White House on Sunday, Trump insisted he understood the gravity of the moment. It was the second straight day of obfuscation from a White House already suffering from a credibility crisis. At the time of the briefing, Trump’s blood oxygen level was 98% — within normal rage, Trump’s medical team said. They were particularly upset by the whiplash between Conley’s upbeat assessment Saturday and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows’ more concerned outlook.

ORLANDO, Fla. – U.S. Sen. Rick Scott said he misspoke Saturday when he said on national television that he had tested positive for COVID-19. The Republican from Florida tweeted: “I misspoke this morning in my @FoxNews interview. I was tested yesterday for COVID and tested NEGATIVE." A few moments before he misspoke, Scott had said that senators were still doing their jobs. A short time later, Scott’s spokesman, Chris Hartline, tweeted, “For everyone calling and texting right now, Senator Scott misspoke on tv this morning.

WASHINGTON – The coroniavirus reached further into Republican ranks on Saturday, forcing the Senate to call off lawmaking as a third GOP senator tested positive for COVID-19. “The Senate’s floor schedule will not interrupt the thorough, fair and historically supported confirmation process,” McConnell wrote Saturday. Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who like McConnell is running for reelection, added that senators can attend the hearings remotely. Republicans in the Senate who had attended GOP events began announcing that they too had tested positive. The news about Covid's march into the White House didn't let up and wasn't flattering after months of complaints that Republicans weren't approaching the pandemic in a serious or organized way.

President Donald Trump has been hospitalized with the virus and Biden was potentially exposed during Tuesday night’s presidential debate in Cleveland. ___6 p.m.President Donald Trump has told his longtime friend and sometimes lawyer Rudy Giuliani that he’s “going to beat” the coronavirus. ___5:30 p.m.With President Donald Trump in the hospital, his campaign is launching an effort it’s calling “Operation MAGA” to maintain momentum. ___1 p.m.White House doctors said President Donald Trump began exhibiting “clinical indications” of COVID-19 on Thursday afternoon, earlier than previously known. One by one, President Donald Trump and a series of GOP lawmakers have fallen ill with the virus that has killed more than 208,000 Americans.

And yesterday with the team, while we were all here, he was not on oxygen,” Conley said. Meadows himself had insisted Friday morning that Trump had only “mild symptoms" as the White House tried to project an image of normalcy. “President Trump remains in good spirits, has mild symptoms and has been working throughout the day,” press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said late in the day on Friday. The first word that a close aide to Trump had been infected came from the media, not the White House. At the same time, the White House has been working to trace a flurry of new infections of close Trump aides and allies.

___BEIRUT — Lebanon has registered a new record 1,321 daily cases of coronavirus amid a sharp increase around the country. ___MILAN — New coronavirus cases in Italy maintained a trajectory above 2,500 on Saturday, with about 119,000 people tested. ___SKOPJE, North Macedonia — North Macedonia has recorded 243 new coronavirus cases, the highest daily number since the pandemic began. Facing a recent spike in cases, health authorities are considering imposing new restrictions, including banning public gatherings and limiting working hours for bars. ___ATHENS, Greece — Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis says authorities would use local lockdowns to keep a recent surge in coronavirus cases under control.

Lee, who did not wear a mask at the White House event, said he had “symptoms consistent with longtime allergies." "We now have two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who have tested positive for COVID, and there may be more," tweeted Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Blackburn said she tested negative after the event. Graham was not at the White House on Saturday but sees Trump frequently. He feels healthy, hasn’t exhibited any COVID-19 symptoms, and has tested negative.

Chris Christie, seen in an AP photo with his arm around another guest while chatting up several face to face, announced his positive virus test this weekend. Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, who attended the debate and helped him prepare with Christie, has tested positive for COVID-19. White House officials said they began learning of Hicks’ positive test after Trump boarded Marine One to start his journey to New Jersey. Despite the abject failure to keep the president protected from the virus, White House officials defended their current protocols as well thought out. And masks still won't be required on the White House grounds for all West Wing employees.

Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., became the latest members of Congress to test positive for the virus that has killed more than 205,000 Americans. All three attended the White House Rose Garden introduction Saturday of Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett. Nationally and on Capitol Hill, there are no comprehensive plans requiring testing or wearing masks. House members can vote by proxy through their colleagues, to cut down on the number of people milling around. Lee, Tillis and other Republican members of the panel were among those who attended the Rose Garden event on Saturday.

Hours after President Donald Trump announced he had tested positive for the coronavirus, Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee revealed he too had been infected with the disease. Trump disclosed that he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive overnight; Lee tweeted his own diagnosis mid-morning Friday. It's unclear when and how the Utah Republican caught the virus, but Lee said he had tested negative ahead of the Saturday visit to the White House. Lee previously self-quarantined for two weeks in late March and April, after his colleague Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky tested positive for the coronavirus. Lee rode back to Utah then with fellow Utah Sen. Mitt Romney on a plane chartered by the former presidential candidate.

On Saturday, another Republican senator, Ron Johnson on Wisconsin, announced he has tested positive for the virus, the third GOP senator this past week. With Trump in Walter Reed military hospital for treatment and quarantine, the virus seemed to spill into every corner of the party. The pandemic even spread to a subject the GOP hoped to be its safe harbor in the campaign's closing weeks — the looming confirmation of Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in a GOP case seeking to overturn the health care law shortly after the election. In fact, Goeas argued that Trump’s belligerent performance during Tuesday’s debate did more to hurt his chances of recouping wayward Republicans and hesitant independents, a development that could hurt GOP Senate candidates in tight contests.

President Donald Trump revealed Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus. He issued the statement as President Donald Trump was being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for the same illness. Trump was to depart the White House by helicopter late Friday for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, a White House official said. 11:55 a.m.First lady Melania Trump says she is experiencing “mild symptoms” after she and President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19. He made brief remarks to update reporters on the health of President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump who have contracted COVID-19.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)WASHINGTON – The Latest on President Donald Trump testing positive for the coronavirus and being hospitalized (all times EDT):12:10 a.m.President Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Bill Stepien, has tested positive for the coronavirus. Conway attended the Rose Garden announcement Saturday where President Donald Trump announced his nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. He issued the statement as President Donald Trump was being treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for the same illness. ___6 p.m.Joe Biden’s campaign is taking down its attack ads in the wake of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus infection. ___11:55 a.m.First lady Melania Trump says she is experiencing “mild symptoms” after she and President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis and Utah Sen. Mike Lee both said Friday that they had tested positive for the virus. Michelle Lujan Grisham is taking a cautious approach to lifting health restrictions and reopening the economy. Parson and his wife, Teresa, tested positive on Sept. 23. Wim Rungwattanachinda said Thaksin tested positive again when he went to a hospital, and he was treated for about two weeks before being released. ___DES MOINES — Iowa posted more than 1,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day.

The department is reportedly readying a major case accusing Google of abusing its dominance in online search and advertising to stifle competition and boost its profits. Harrison said that Google shares the majority of its “ad tech” revenue with publishers. He reeled off names of competitors in “ad tech” business: Adobe, Amazon, AT&T, Comcast, Facebook, News Corp., Oracle and Verizon. Harrison noted that online advertising prices in the U.S. have fallen more than 40% since 2010, according to Federal Reserve data. Last year, Google’s search and advertising tools generated $385 billion in economic activity for U.S. businesses, he said.

The bill, set for a Senate vote this coming week, would spend about $2.8 billion per year on conservation, outdoor recreation and park maintenance. McConnell told the two senators, who are both seeking reelection this year, that he would not consider the bill unless Trump was on board. Cantwell credited Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., for forcing attention on the conservation fund by blocking a 2018 spending bill that did not renew the program. While widely supported, the outdoors bill faces sharp opposition, mainly from Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and other Gulf Coast senators pushing to ensure it includes revenue-sharing for their states from offshore drilling. Calling Trump's record on the environment "the worst one in history,'' Cantwell said Gardner, Daines and other Republicans will be forced to defend the president as they go before voters.

WASHINGTON A sweeping overhaul of police oversight and procedures is being proposed by Democrats in response to the deaths of black Americans at the hands of law enforcement, according to a draft outline obtained by The Associated Press. It is the most ambitious changes to law enforcement sought by Congress in years. Bass said the package from House and Senate Democrats will be bolder than any law enforcement changes of the past decade. It is unclear if law enforcement and the powerful police unions will back any of the proposed changes or if congressional Republicans will join the effort. Booker and fellow one-time presidential hopeful, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, are co-authors of the package in the Senate.

She said t he package from House and Senate Democrats will be bolder than any law enforcement changes of the past decade. The package would also change qualified immunity protections for police to enable individuals to recover damages when law enforcement officers violate their constitutional rights, it says. The legislation would seek to provide greater oversight and transparency of police behavior in several ways. It is unclear if law enforcement and the powerful police unions will back any of the proposed changes or if congressional Republicans will join the effort. At least one Republican, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, who has long pushed for a criminal justice overhaul, has said he'd like to review the package coming from Democrats.