Republicans won their 218th seat, in California, on Wednesday, reported the The New York Times, giving them control of the chamber. In a statement posted by the White House, Biden said that he congratulates “Leader McCarthy on Republicans winning the House majority” and added that he was “ready to work with House Republicans to deliver results for working families.” “In this election, voters spoke clearly about their concerns: the need to lower costs, protect the right to choose, and preserve our democracy,” Biden wrote....

Austin, 67, has been described as a safe pair of hands that will dutifully carry out instructions from Biden, who he knows well from his time commanding American forces in Iraq and elsewhere during President Barack Obama’s terms. Four sources told The Associated Press that Biden had chosen to nominate Austin for the role, and that the official announcement could come as soon as Monday. Austin would make history as the first Black leader of the Pentagon, assuming he is approved and receives an additional Congressional waiver exempting him from a law stating that former military members must be out of uniform at least seven years before serving as secretary of defense....

While speaking on Bannon’s War Room, Clark said, “Is Obama friend or foe here? I think it’s an important question because I haven’t seen anything from Obama defending his former number two. And certainly, you would think one of the go-to defenses if they could pull it out was that somehow Obama had de-classified this stuff. And yet I’m just hearing radio silence on that.” Biden is facing allegations that he may have misplaced or mishandled multiple classified documents while he was vice president under former President Barack Obama....

In 2016, Iowa voters flipped 31 counties from blue to red. And one, Howard County, was the sole county in America to vote for both Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump by at least 20 points. Accounting for about 26 percent of the state’s total population, the 31 pivot counties helped give Trump the 10-point victory over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, who only won five counties. Looking toward election night, Dennis Goldford, a professor of Political Science at Drake University, told Newsweek that if Trump retained his margin in the swing counties, he’d win the state....

Biden said the most damaging thing the president has done in office is the crippling of U.S. “moral authority” across the globe. The Democrat urged all Americans to vote during Friday’s Pod Save America episode and downplayed comments Trump has made that cast doubt on his intention to uphold a peaceful transfer of power. “There won’t be a transfer, frankly. There’ll be a continuation,” Trump has repeatedly told reporters asking if he’ll offer any commitment to a peaceful transfer of power....

The poll put Biden at 51 percent among respondents with the president at 45 percent. The poll’s margin of error was 3.3 percent. Florida is always an important bellwether state, indicating which way the election is heading. For Republicans, the state has often been key to victory; in two of the GOP’s last three election wins, the party could not have prevailed without taking the Sunshine State. Both the Trump and Biden campaigns have lavished attention and funds on Florida, hoping to secure its 29 electoral college votes....

According to the new poll, conducted by Lansing-based Glengariff Group for The Detroit News and WDIV-TV, Biden is supported by 49.3 percent of likely Michigan voters while the incumbent Republican president is backed by just 41.6 percent. The survey was conducted from October 23 to 25, with responses from 600 Michiganders and a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Although Biden’s lead looks promising for Democrats, Glengariff Group carried out a similar poll for The Detroit News and WDIV-TV in October 2016....

President Xi Jinping says he sees China taking over control of Taiwan as a “historic mission” and officials warned adversaries not to meddle in its goal or underestimate its power. Should China mount an invasion, a Japanese official called for the country to work with the United States to defend Taiwan. During a conversation with the Asia Society, Kurt Campbell, White House coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, said the U.S. fully recognizes and understands the “sensitivities” that come with Taiwan....

According to memorandum by the White House, the funds are meant to be used for military education and training in order to “provide assistance to Ukraine and to make the determinations required.” The memo didn’t break down how the funds will be allocated; however, Reuters reported that the financial assistance would go into additional small arms and anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine. The U.S. defense assistance comes after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Saturday warned Western countries that shipments of weapons to Ukraine are considered “legitimate targets” and could be hit by Russian forces....

At the conclusion of his speech in Warsaw on Saturday, Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” after his country’s invasion of Ukraine and continued attacks. “We will have a different future—a brighter future rooted in democracy and principle; hope and light, decency and dignity; of freedom of possibilities,” Biden told about 1,000 people, which included some Ukrainian refugees. “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power....

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Monday showed the president with an approval rating of 48 percent, an improvement of four points when compared to a similar poll taken in mid-September. Nearly the same proportion of respondents—47 percent—disapproved of Biden, although 3 percent more disapproved of the president in last month’s poll. New COVID-19 cases and deaths have dipped during the same period after experiencing a significant surge over the summer as the highly contagious Delta variant became the dominant strain of the virus and new vaccinations slowed....

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale assault on Ukraine on February 24 after weeks of warnings from the U.S. and Western European leaders that an attack was imminent. The U.S., Canada and European allies have been united in implementing substantial sanctions targeting the Russian economy, as well as Putin and other Moscow elite. “As Putin continues his merciless assault, the United States and our allies and partners continue to work in lockstep to ramp up the economic pressure on Putin and to further isolate Russia on the global stage,” Biden said in his Friday remarks....

Lina al-Hathloul and Abdullah Alaoudh, whose family members have been detained in Saudi Arabia, spoke to Newsweek after a Saudi woman studying in Britain was sentenced this week to 34 years in prison for her activity on Twitter. Salma al-Shehab, was initially handed a six-year prison sentence after being detained in January 2021, but an appeals court raised it to 34 years followed by a 34-year travel ban. Shehab was charged with “assisting those who seek to cause public unrest and destabilise civil and national security by following their Twitter accounts” and by re-tweeting their tweets....

“As of this moment, I’m convinced he’s made the decision. We have reason to believe that,” Biden said during an address from the Roosevelt Room of the White House. The president added that diplomacy is “always a possibility” until Putin makes a decision. “The West is united and resolved,” Biden said. “We’re ready to impose severe sanctions on Russia if it further invades Ukraine. But I say again, Russia can still choose diplomacy....

Biden made the remarks during a fundraiser event Friday night, telling approximately 200 attendees that he is now receiving intelligence briefings again. “The Russians are still engaged in trying to delegitimize our electoral process. Fact,” Biden said. “China and others are engaged as well in activities that are designed for us to lose confidence in the outcome.” Biden did not provide details on what he had seen in the briefings, which are now provided to him by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)....

During a speech in Philadelphia, Biden spotlighted his presidential plans amid the recent social unrest over the death of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis police custody on May 25. He acknowledged that the change that’s necessary for America could not be completed during his term as president but said “economic justice” begins with health care. The coronavirus pandemic has reignited talk about universal health care and disparities in access, and Biden said the “quickest route” is to expand Obamacare....

As president, if Biden was open about his previous struggles with issues that impact one’s mental health (from his childhood stammer to the sudden loss of his first wife and two children), he could lead us to have more open conversations about our struggles, with better resources set up in schools and workplaces. As the COVID pandemic threatens to unleash a mental health pandemic, this could exactly be the kind of authentic, vulnerable leadership America needs—and one very different from his predecessors....

The Native American communities’ violent crimes rate is more than double the national average, according to The Associated Press. The executive order, signed at a White House summit of tribal nations, the first since 2016, tasks the Justice, Homeland Security, and Interior Departments with working together to combat the issues. The summit is a two-day event with leaders from over 570 tribes in the U.S. attending, ABC News reported....

“Here’s the truth: a former president of the United States of America has created and spread a web of lies about the 2020 election,” Biden said while standing in Statuary Hall at the Capitol. “He’s done so because he values power over principle, because he sees his own interest as more important than his country’s interest, than America’s interest, because his bruised ego matters more to him than our democracy or our Constitution....

Biden and his team have reportedly raised $18 million to aid Ossoff and Warnock in their efforts to unseat Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. The money included nearly $6 million in staff and voting data support alongside $12 million in fundraising for both campaigns. “We’re not having any conversations about whether there’s a value-add to have the president-elect be a part of this. There is,” Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s campaign manager and incoming White House chief of staff, said in an interview, as reported by ABC News....