White House

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Friday five White House staffers were "no longer employed" over their use of marijuana as part of a vetting process for security clearance, as the Biden administration comes under fire over reports that numerous young staffers have been penalized for past marijuana use (including in states where it’s legal) even though they were told they wouldn’t be.

President Joe Biden said in a brief speech at the White House on Tuesday, that the United States is "on track" to offer a Covid-19 vaccine to "every adult in America by the end of May", two months earlier than previously expected.

The report, expected to be released later on Thursday, will say that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved "and likely ordered" Khashoggi's killing, four US officials told Reuters news agency.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Wednesday that Mr Biden would communicate with King Salman, and not directly with the crown prince, who is his son and is considered the de facto ruler in Saudi Arabia. Also, Psaki said, "We've made clear from the beginning that we are going to recalibrate our relationship with Saudi Arabia."

The Department of Education has extended "the pause on federal student loan payments and collections and keep the interest rate at 0%." Federal student loan payments have been suspended since March, an extension had previously been drafted in December's stimulus package but was ultimately cut.

"Too many Americans are struggling to pay for basic necessities and to provide for their families. They should not be forced to choose between paying their student loans and putting food on the table," so the statement by the White House.

Donald Trump has left the White House for the last time of his presidency, hours before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration. Trump boarded Marine One accompanied by Melania Trump and left for the Joint Base Andrews where he's attending his departure ceremony.

Immediately after his inauguration, future U.S. President Joe Biden plans to implement about a dozen measures that also represent his promised departure from Donald Trump's course. Among other things, Biden will reverse Trump's entry ban on citizens from several predominantly Muslim countries on Wednesday and lead the U.S. back into the Paris climate agreement, future White House chief of staff Ronald Klain said Saturday.

Various Trump administration staffers resigned following the violent protests of Pro-Trump supporters at the US Capitol Wednesday.

Among those who resigned are President Donald Trump's former acting chief of staff and U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland Mick Mulvaney, deputy national security adviser Matthew Pottinger, White House social secretary Anna Cristina "Rickie" Niceta, White House Council of Economic Advisers Tyler Goodspeed and First Lady Melania Trump's chief of staff and a former press secretary to the president Stephanie Grisham.

Together with his wife Karen, Mike Pence has been vaccinated against the corona virus. It is a "medical miracle" that the first vaccine is now being administered in states across the country, said the US Vice President.

He said that by vaccinating themselves, he and his wife wanted to reassure the American people that the vaccine was safe and effective despite its rapid development. "Karen and I hope that this step today will be a source of confidence and comfort to the American people," Pence said.

The US government's top health official, Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, also got vaccinated at the White House event.

Attorney General William Barr will resign next week, President Donald Trump announced on Twitter shortly after the Electoral College confirmed Joe Biden as the next president of the United States. Barr has been one of Trump's closet allies, advancing the president's political agenda and carried the administration's "law and order" message, but later lost his standing with Trump after declaring that the claims that the election was littered with fraud were unfounded.

"Just had a very nice meeting with Attorney General Bill Barr at the White House. Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job! As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family," so Trump on Twitter, adding that Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen will become Acting Attorney General.

Hackers believed to be working for Russia have been monitoring internal email traffic at the U.S. Treasury and Commerce departments. The hack is so serious it led to a National Security Council meeting at the White House on Saturday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency approval Friday evening to the vaccine made by Mainz-based biotech company Biontech and its partner Pfizer.

The Washington Post reported that White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Hahn on Friday to resign if the vaccine, made by Mainz-based Biontech and its U.S. partner Pfizer, is not approved before the end of the day (local time).

President-elect Joe Biden has introduced his health team alongside his three Covid-19 priorities for his first 100 days in office: urging Americans to wear masks, committing to administer 100 million Covid-19 vaccines and reopening a majority of schools by the end of that timeframe – a plan that was developed with Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Biden has nominated California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the Health and Human Services Department and, if elected, would be the first Latino to serve as the head of the department and Dr Vivek Murthy as surgeon general. Jeff Zients, a veteran of the Obama administration, will be the White House coordinator of the Covid-19 response.

Alongside Fauci, the other medical doctors selected are infectious-disease specialist Rochelle Walensky to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Yale epidemiologist Marcella Nunez-Smith to head a working group to ensure fair and equitable distribution of vaccines and treatments.

President Donald Trump has said he would leave the White House on January 20 if the Electoral College declares President-elect Joe Biden the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

When asked whether he would leave the White House, Trump responded: "Certainly I will. And you know that. If they do, they made a mistake." He added that it would be "a very hard thing to concede" under the current circumstances and again claimed that the "election was a fraud" without giving concrete evidence.

The White House has formally approved for President-elect Joe Biden to receive the President's Daily Brief. The classified intelligence briefing typically contains information about pressing national security issues. It's unclear when Biden will receive his first briefing.

Reuters reports that the White House is considering lifting travel bans for Brazil, UK, Ireland and numerous European countries. Even though President Trump has not made a final decision on the matter, the White House coronavirus task-force, as well as public health and federal agencies, back the plan to reopen the borders for international travel.

Emily Murphy, head of the General Services Administration, informed President-elect Joe Biden and his team in a letter on Monday that her office is ready to begin the formal presidential transition.

"Please know that I came to my decision independently, based on the law and available facts. I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official -- including those who work at the White House or GSA -- with regard to the substance or timing of my decision. To be clear, I did not receive any direction to delay my determination," so Murphy, adding she did not make a decision "out of fear or favoritism."

President-elect Joe Biden is set to announce his first cabinet appointments on Tuesday, his incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said Sunday in an interview on ABC’s “This Week".

Klain further added that the inauguration events on January 20 would be downsized due to Covid-19 and involve virtual aspects similar to the Democratic National Convention in August.

"Obviously this is not going to be the same kind of inauguration we had in the past. We know people want to celebrate. There is something here to celebrate. We just want to find a way to do that as safely as possible," so Klain.

According to three people familiar with agency staffing, over 130 officers of the Secret Service that are tasked with protecting the White House and President Donald Trump have been ordered to quarantine. An undisclosed number of these officers have tested positive for Covid-19 or been in contact with co-workers who are infected.

President-elect Joe Biden has named Ron Klain, a veteran Democratic operative, a lawyer and a decades-long confidant, as his White House chief of staff. Klain has served as a top aide to Biden since the 1980s, was a senior White House aide to Barack Obama and also VP Al Gore's chief of staff.

US President Donald Trump claimed that the available results of the election are a "major fraud" on the American public as he addressed his supporters early Wednesday morning at the White House.

His cushioned remarks fell short, however, of an outright declaration of victory — a prospect that raised concern in the days leading up to Tuesday's election. Trump pledged to involve the US Supreme Court in evaluating unfavourable election results, and called for "all voting to stop" although polls had already closed.