With COVID-19 mandates rolling out, what to know about religious exemptions

With COVID-19 vaccine mandates proliferating across the country in the public and private sectors as well as some school districts, the pushback from those unwilling or hesitant to get their shots is heating up.

The vaccination effort has raised new questions about exemptions because mandates for adults are generally rare…

Democrats expected to take short-term debt ceiling increase, reject GOP reconciliation offer

Senate Democrats emerged from a closed door special caucus meeting on the debt ceiling on Wednesday and said they intend to take GOP Minority Leader Mitch McConnell up on his short-term debt ceiling increase.

Multiple senators and aides told ABC News Democrats are…

Supreme Court takes up secret CIA black sites in 9/11 detainee’s case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will wrestle with the limits of the government state secrets privilege in a high-stakes case brought by the first al-Qaida suspect detained and harshly interrogated at a CIA “black site” after Sept. 11, 2001.

Abu Zubaydah, who was captured in Pakistan in 2002, was waterboarded 83 times, spent…

Florida trying to block money Biden sent to school districts fined for mask mandates

Days after the Biden administration reimbursed two Florida school districts whose board members lost their salaries for mandating masks for students, the state’s top education official is trying to strip the districts of the money.

In a series of memoranda, Florida Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran…

Facebook reckoning comes as Jan. 6 inquiry heats up: The Note

It might almost look like bipartisanship is back on Tuesday, when a Senate subcommittee convenes a hearing with a former Facebook employee, as Democrats and Republicans are almost equally eager to use the hearing to blast the social media giant.

They’re coming at their outrage from decidedly different angles, which could stifle efforts…

Fauci notes COVID-19 progress but warns more surges are possible

As the U.S. sees its first notable decline in COVID-19 metrics in more than three months, with coronavirus-related hospital admissions and average daily new cases dropping by more than 30% over the last month, Dr. Anthony Fauci says the country is making progress against the current surge, but warned we’re not out of the woods yet during an interview on ABC’s…

Biden says he’ll ‘work like hell’ to get infrastructure agenda across finish line

After multiple delays to a House vote on his infrastructure deal this week, President Joe Biden says he still believes his party can overcome disagreements to move the plan forward.

Speaking with reporters Saturday, Biden pledged to “work like hell” to get both the bipartisan and reconciliation infrastructure bills…

Body believed to be missing 19-year-old Miya Marcano found: Police

A body believed to be 19-year-old college student Miya Marcano, who has been missing for just over a week, was discovered Saturday morning, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office announced.

Authorities searched around the Tymber Skan apartments in Orange County, Florida, on Saturday and discovered a body in a wooded area nearby “that…

Biden heads to Capitol Hill to meet with House Democrats amid infighting

President Joe Biden went to Capitol Hill Friday afternoon to meet with House Democrats, White House officials said, amid party infighting that has put his legislative agenda in jeopardy.

Biden, who has kept a low public profile most of the week while negotiating behind the scenes trying to break the impasse, spoke behind…

White House promises more rapid COVID-19 tests amid supply shortage

With at-home rapid COVID-19 tests hard to come by and many stores limiting purchases, the White House on Friday acknowledged the current supply crunch, promising to double the number of rapid tests available for sale within the next two months.

“You’re right that…

Ohio health care workers warn of ‘astronomical’ COVID-19 pediatric surge

Although coronavirus-related hospitalizations are beginning to trend down nationally among all age groups, the rate of pediatric infections remains at an “exceptionally high” level, according to experts.

Across the country, federal data shows that nearly 2,000 children are currently hospitalized with confirmed or suspected…

US says ivory-billed woodpecker, 22 other species extinct

BILLINGS, Mont. — Death’s come knocking a last time for the splendid ivory-billed woodpecker and 22 more birds, fish and other species: The U.S. government is declaring them extinct.

It’s a rare move for wildlife officials to give up hope on a plant or animal, but government scientists say they’ve…

Key takeaways from US military leaders on Afghanistan withdrawal

In their first appearance before Congress since the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Afghanistan, the nation’s top military leaders candidly admitted to lawmakers that they had recommended to President Joe Biden that the U.S. should keep a troop presence there, appearing to contradict his assertions.…

Nancy Pelosi reiterates infrastructure vote plans as some Democrats continue to push back

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi privately rallied Democrats in a caucus meeting Monday evening as the House began debate over the bipartisan infrastructure package.

Pelosi signaled she plans to push forward with a Thursday vote on the Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure bill, regardless of the status of…

School districts struggle to establish COVID-19 testing, frustrating parents

Angela McCray left her job as a pharmacist to homeschool her three children as pandemic lockdowns closed public schools in Monroe, North Carolina. So when public schools in the region announced reopening plans, she was excited to return her daughter for in-class instruction.

But McCray became concerned when her school…

Pelosi may delay vote on Senate bipartisan infrastructure bill

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., may not bring the bipartisan infrastructure bill to the House floor Monday as she had previously committed to, she said Sunday.

“I’m never bringing to the floor a bill that doesn’t have the votes,” Pelosi told ABC “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos, adding it could…

Panel OKs Dems’ $3.5T bill, crunch time for Biden agenda

Democrats have pushed a $3.5 trillion, 10-year bill strengthening social safety net and climate programs through the House Budget Committee

WASHINGTON — Democrats pushed a $3.5 trillion, 10-year bill strengthening social safety net and climate programs through the House Budget Committee on Saturday,…

GOP-led review of Arizona ballots reaffirms Biden’s win

Nearly 11 months after Joe Biden was elected president, the GOP-led review of Arizona’s Maricopa County ballots has found no substantial deviation from the vote count reported by the county that helped clinch the win for Biden.

The review’s count was within a “few hundred” of the county’s total,…

Haitian migrants cleared from camp at Texas border but controversy continues

After more than a week of growing controversy, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed Friday that the migrant camp formed in Del Rio, Texas, has been cleared out — but he said that more than 17,400 migrants — mostly Haitians — remain in the United States.…

Americans to get a booster shot of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has endorsed an independent advisory panel’s recommendation for seniors and other medically vulnerable Americans to get a booster shot of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, six months after their second dose.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, also partially overruled her agency’s advisory…