US Democratic presidential&nbsp;candidate&nbsp;Joe Biden is halting the travel of his running mate&nbsp;Kamala Harris after two people in campaigns orbit tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The decision is a precautionary measure although Harris was not in contact with communications director Liz Allen and another crew member who tested positive. She&nbsp;has conducted two PCR tests since then, both negative.

Biden's campaign manager&nbsp;Jen O'Malley Dillon said in a statement,&nbsp;"After being with Senator Harris, both individuals attended personal, non-campaign events in the past week. Under our campaign's strict health protocols, both individuals had to be tested before returning to their work with the campaign from these personal events."

The announcement is the latest blip in a presidential campaign that has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic, and comes two weeks to the day after President Donald Trump tested positive for the disease.

Also see:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/heres-who-has-tested-positive-and-negative-in-trumps-circle-332571">Here's who has tested positive and negative in Trump's circle</a>

Biden, 77, along with his wife&nbsp;Jill&nbsp;had tested negative for COVID-19 at the beginning of this month.

"I'm happy to report that Jill and I have tested negative for COVID-19," Biden said, adding, "I hope this serves as a reminder: wear a mask, keep social distance, and wash your hands."

Biden's doctor Kevin O'Connor in a statement said: "Vice President Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden underwent PCR testing for Covid-19 today and Covid-19 was not detected."

Both Biden and Harris have heavily criticised Trump's approach of downplaying the virus by calling it a ''hoax'' and comparing it with a flu.

US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is halting the travel of his running mate Kamala Harris after two people in campaigns orbit tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is halting the travel of his running mate Kamala Harris after two people in campaigns orbit tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The decision is a precautionary measure although Harris was not in contact with communications director Liz Allen and another crew member who tested positive. She has conducted two PCR tests since then, both negative. Biden's campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said in a statement, "After being with Senator Harris, both individuals attended personal, non-campaign events in the past week. Under our campaign's strict health protocols, both individuals had to be tested before returning to their work with the campaign from these personal events." The announcement is the latest blip in a presidential campaign that has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic, and comes two weeks to the day after President Donald Trump tested positive for the disease. Also see: Here's who has tested positive and negative in Trump's circle Biden, 77, along with his wife Jill had tested negative for COVID-19 at the beginning of this month. "I'm happy to report that Jill and I have tested negative for COVID-19," Biden said, adding, "I hope this serves as a reminder: wear a mask, keep social distance, and wash your hands." Biden's doctor Kevin O'Connor in a statement said: "Vice President Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden underwent PCR testing for Covid-19 today and Covid-19 was not detected." Both Biden and Harris have heavily criticised Trump's approach of downplaying the virus by calling it a ''hoax'' and comparing it with a flu.

US election 2020: Joe Biden halts Kamala Harris' travel after campaign staffers test positive

2020 US election's Key Issues -&nbsp;We are just days away from the presidential election of the world's most powerful country and the largest economy. On November 3, American voters will decide the fate of incumbent President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/donald-trump">Donald Trump </a>and Democratic nominee <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a>.&nbsp;

So, as Americans gear up to vote, let's take a closer look at the key issues that can dictate the voting and decoding the take of both the contenders on the issues.&nbsp;

<h2>Top Key Issues of&nbsp;US Presidential Elections 2020</h2>

Also read | <a href="wionews.com/world/us-election-2020-how-the-states-vote-for-the-presidential-elections-335430">US election 2020: How the States vote for the Presidential elections</a>

<h2>US Election's Key Issues -&nbsp;Economy</h2>

Before the pandemic hit the US, Trump was propagating low employment rates and a soaring stock market. The stock market took a great hit due to coronavirus outbreak but bounced back. However, not the same can be said about jobs.

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-fumes-as-facebook-twitter-limit-reach-of-smoking-gun-article-on-biden-and-his-son-335344">Trump fumes as Facebook, Twitter limit reach of 'smoking gun' article on Biden and his son</a>

As many as 10 million people have lost their jobs in the US during the pandemic.&nbsp;

Biden to ail US economy backs the idea of federal support to avoid extended recession and wealth inequality that is spread widely in the country.&nbsp;

His plans include a USD 2 trillion aid, four-year push to do away with carbon pollution and a new government's health insurance scheme to cover all the working-age people across the country.&nbsp;

On immigration, Biden wants to expand citizenship to several million people living in the country.&nbsp;

<h2>2020 Presidential Election Key Issues - Health care</h2>

Trump has faced a lot of flak for his handling of Covid-19 crisis and many people fear the future of the Affordable Care Act, which Trump administration is demanding to be overturned.&nbsp;

He is again repeating his promises of the 2016 election, where he called for quality health services at affordable prices, lower costs for prescription drugs, among others.&nbsp;

Biden, on the other hand, wants to extend Barack Obama's law to a greater number of people and include in it a Medicare-like option that would compete with private insurance companies and be available to all working-age countrymen.&nbsp;

<h2>US Election 2020&nbsp;Key Issues -&nbsp;Abortion</h2>

Years before he ran for the presidency, Trump supported abortion rights, but things changed completely in recent times.&nbsp;

Trump has received a lot of praise from anti-abortion groups for his government's efforts to curb access to the procedure.&nbsp;

In his speech at the Republican Convention this year, Trump said all the children, whether born or not have a God-given right to live.&nbsp;

Biden has earlier spoken publicly on his personal dilemma over abortion as a personal issue.&nbsp;

However, he has changed his position due to pressure by women activists and Democrats and added that Republican legislatures across the country had restricted the access to abortion.&nbsp;

<h2>Key Issues of US Election 2020&nbsp;-&nbsp;Foreign Policy</h2>

Trump's first term was entirely based on a policy of 'America First'. &nbsp;To give him something to boast about, Trump was able to successfully negotiate with Bahrain and UAE to sign a peace deal with Israel.&nbsp;

Among the major achievements that the US president talks about a lot are peace deal with Taliban, building over 200 miles of the wall along the US-Mexico border, and making NATO members pay more on defence spending.&nbsp;

Early in his presidency, Trump also withdrew from Paris climate deal. However, as per the deal, no nation is allowed to leave the accord till four years of signing and those fours would be completed post the 2020 US election. This means Trump's victory or defeat will decide the fate of the deal.&nbsp;

He also considers his engagement with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as a major achievement, despite no substantiate developments on that front.&nbsp;

2020 US election's Key Issues - We are just days away from the presidential election of the world's most powerful country and the largest economy. On November 3, American voters will decide the fate of incumbent President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

2020 US election's Key Issues - We are just days away from the presidential election of the world's most powerful country and the largest economy. On November 3, American voters will decide the fate of incumbent President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden. So, as Americans gear up to vote, let's take a closer look at the key issues that can dictate the voting and decoding the take of both the contenders on the issues. Top Key Issues of US Presidential Elections 2020 Also read | US election 2020: How the States vote for the Presidential elections US Election's Key Issues - Economy Before the pandemic hit the US, Trump was propagating low employment rates and a soaring stock market. The stock market took a great hit due to coronavirus outbreak but bounced back. However, not the same can be said about jobs. Also read | Trump fumes as Facebook, Twitter limit reach of 'smoking gun' article on Biden and his son As many as 10 million people have lost their jobs in the US during the pandemic. Biden to ail US economy backs the idea of federal support to avoid extended recession and wealth inequality that is spread widely in the country. His plans include a USD 2 trillion aid, four-year push to do away with carbon pollution and a new government's health insurance scheme to cover all the working-age people across the country. On immigration, Biden wants to expand citizenship to several million people living in the country. 2020 Presidential Election Key Issues - Health care Trump has faced a lot of flak for his handling of Covid-19 crisis and many people fear the future of the Affordable Care Act, which Trump administration is demanding to be overturned. He is again repeating his promises of the 2016 election, where he called for quality health services at affordable prices, lower costs for prescription drugs, among others. Biden, on the other hand, wants to extend Barack Obama's law to a greater number of people and include in it a Medicare-like option that would compete with private insurance companies and be available to all working-age countrymen. US Election 2020 Key Issues - Abortion Years before he ran for the presidency, Trump supported abortion rights, but things changed completely in recent times. Trump has received a lot of praise from anti-abortion groups for his government's efforts to curb access to the procedure. In his speech at the Republican Convention this year, Trump said all the children, whether born or not have a God-given right to live. Biden has earlier spoken publicly on his personal dilemma over abortion as a personal issue. However, he has changed his position due to pressure by women activists and Democrats and added that Republican legislatures across the country had restricted the access to abortion. Key Issues of US Election 2020 - Foreign Policy Trump's first term was entirely based on a policy of 'America First'. To give him something to boast about, Trump was able to successfully negotiate with Bahrain and UAE to sign a peace deal with Israel. Among the major achievements that the US president talks about a lot are peace deal with Taliban, building over 200 miles of the wall along the US-Mexico border, and making NATO members pay more on defence spending. Early in his presidency, Trump also withdrew from Paris climate deal. However, as per the deal, no nation is allowed to leave the accord till four years of signing and those fours would be completed post the 2020 US election. This means Trump's victory or defeat will decide the fate of the deal. He also considers his engagement with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as a major achievement, despite no substantiate developments on that front.

2020 US election's key issues and Donald Trump, Joe Biden's stand on them

With less than three weeks to go until the final showdown between Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden&nbsp;for the United States election 2020,&nbsp;TV networks are facing greater pressure than ever to report election results accurately and without unwarranted speculation.

Top executives at five major news networks of the country are focussing on restraint instead of&nbsp;speed; on transparency about what remains unknown; and on a reassuring message that slow results don’t signify a crisis.

How to watch election day's counting?

CBS is using its “<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/2020-us-election-battleground-tracker/">Battleground Tracker</a>” that combines polling, files on voter participation, US&nbsp;Census data and historical patterns.

Walt Disney Co’s ABC News has&nbsp;voter integrity units dedicated to topics such as foreign election interference and how the vote is tallied, state by state.&nbsp;

Comcast-owned <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-elections/president-results">NBC News </a>has doubled the size of its “Vote Watch” team, which includes 24 correspondents, reporters and producers who specialize in issues such as voting rights and misinformation campaigns. For the past year, the news division has been reporting on voter sentiment in five “bellwether” counties in Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arizona.

This will be the first presidential election in which the major TV networks will get data from different providers, raising the potential for divergent perspectives on election night returns.

Fox Corp’s&nbsp;Fox News has partnered with the <a href="https://www.ap.org/en-gb/topics/politics/2020-us-election-services">Associated Press</a> to replace traditional in-person exit polls with online and telephone surveys that aim to reach early and Election Day voters.

The survey data will be combined with real-time results tabulated by the AP to help make projections.

Fox and the AP left the National Election Pool consortium, which includes the three broadcast news networks and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/politics/mail-in-voting">CNN</a>. The consortium will rely on the firm Edison Research for exit polls and results as they come in from each precinct. <a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/planning?search=all%3Ausa-election">Thompson Reuters</a> has a distribution deal with the NEP for 2020 election data.

According to the executives of the five big networks, slow-but-sure is the ''watchword'' for the US election 2020.

“We will project states’ [results] in the normal way. But getting to that point of confidence ... is a more complicated process, a longer process,” said ABC News President James Goldston. “And we just need to be transparent with the audience about what that looks like.”

<a href="https://ig.ft.com/us-election-2020/">Financial Times</a> is also running an online tracker for state-by-state poll with the title 'Biden vs Trump'.&nbsp;For viewing monthly recent developments in voter sentiment, they can also visit&nbsp;<a href="https://ig.ft.com/ft-peterson-poll/">FT-Peterson Economic Monitor</a>.

Voters can visit the website of the <a href="https://www.centerforvoterinformation.org/voting-information/">Center for Information</a> or <a href="https://www.vote.org/">Vote.org</a> for details on ballots.

With less than three weeks to go until the final showdown between Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden for the United States election 2020, TV networks are facing greater pressure than ever to report election results accurately and without unwarranted speculation.

With less than three weeks to go until the final showdown between Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden for the United States election 2020, TV networks are facing greater pressure than ever to report election results accurately and without unwarranted speculation. Top executives at five major news networks of the country are focussing on restraint instead of speed; on transparency about what remains unknown; and on a reassuring message that slow results don’t signify a crisis. How to watch election day's counting? CBS is using its “Battleground Tracker” that combines polling, files on voter participation, US Census data and historical patterns. Walt Disney Co’s ABC News has voter integrity units dedicated to topics such as foreign election interference and how the vote is tallied, state by state. Comcast-owned NBC News has doubled the size of its “Vote Watch” team, which includes 24 correspondents, reporters and producers who specialize in issues such as voting rights and misinformation campaigns. For the past year, the news division has been reporting on voter sentiment in five “bellwether” counties in Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arizona. This will be the first presidential election in which the major TV networks will get data from different providers, raising the potential for divergent perspectives on election night returns. Fox Corp’s Fox News has partnered with the Associated Press to replace traditional in-person exit polls with online and telephone surveys that aim to reach early and Election Day voters. The survey data will be combined with real-time results tabulated by the AP to help make projections. Fox and the AP left the National Election Pool consortium, which includes the three broadcast news networks and CNN. The consortium will rely on the firm Edison Research for exit polls and results as they come in from each precinct. Thompson Reuters has a distribution deal with the NEP for 2020 election data. According to the executives of the five big networks, slow-but-sure is the ''watchword'' for the US election 2020. “We will project states’ [results] in the normal way. But getting to that point of confidence ... is a more complicated process, a longer process,” said ABC News President James Goldston. “And we just need to be transparent with the audience about what that looks like.” Financial Times is also running an online tracker for state-by-state poll with the title 'Biden vs Trump'. For viewing monthly recent developments in voter sentiment, they can also visit FT-Peterson Economic Monitor. Voters can visit the website of the Center for Information or Vote.org for details on ballots.

US election 2020: When and where to watch presidential voting

Scientific journal Nature condemned Donald Trump for 'disastrous' handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch this video to know more.

Scientific journal Nature condemns Trump for 'disastrous' handling of pandemic

&nbsp;

<meta charset="utf-8" />

The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/us-election">elections</a> for the post of the President of the United States are due in a few weeks, and the voting has already started in some states.

In the US, the Presidential elections take place every four years and the congressional elections are held every two years.

While the process of nominee selection for one of the most important positions of this world is quite similar to the rest of the developing and developed countries, what is different than the rest is the US’ voting process.

The electoral process involves the selection of candidates, registration of voters and casting the vote.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-2020-how-are-votes-counted-in-the-presidential-election-335422">Also read|&nbsp;US election 2020: How are votes counted in the presidential election?</a>

Unlike other countries, some states in the US have the power to establish their own rules for voting. However, the reason the majority of the states follow the same rules is due to the various restrictions imposed by the federal agencies.

American voters, earlier, were supposed to be of the age of 21 and older. However, later the 26th Amendment to the Constitution changed the legal voting age to 18, and now therefore everyone who is 18-years-old and older is considered to be an adult and eligible to vote. Another very important condition for being an eligible voter is that the person should be a registered US citizen. Anybody who does not hold the US passport and is not a legally registered citizen is not allowed to cast vote, including any other visa holders such as study and work visa.

After being eligible to vote, a citizen has to register with the required authorities. In some states, people have to register through the mail — usually on forms available from the local registrar of voters — and in others, they can go meet the locally appointed officers to finish the process.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-2020-republicans-clash-with-california-officials-over-ballot-boxes-335425">Also read|&nbsp;US election 2020: Republicans clash with California officials over ballot boxes</a>

The registration rules, too, vary from state to state, some allowing citizens to register till a week before the election, while others closing it a few weeks ago.

Every state has different dates for voting, which is very different from the majority of the countries. All states, cities, counties, districts are divided into something labelled as ‘voting districts’, which are basically local precinct where people can go and cast their votes.

On the decided date(s) of the voting, the registered people can go and cast their vote either at the voting booths or drop their mail-in votes at the fixed drop-in points or mail it at the provided address.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-2020-indian-americans-overwhelmingly-support-joe-biden-new-poll-shows-335285">Also read|&nbsp;US election 2020: Indian-Americans overwhelmingly support Joe Biden, new poll shows</a>

When all states close voting, the counting of the votes begins, which includes the poll and the mail-in votes. The counting of the votes does not take a very long time. However, that was when majority of the voters were casting votes at the nearest voting booth. This year, however, due to the pandemic, a major increase is being anticipated in the mail-in votes, which can also down the vote-counting process, further leading to a delay in the announcement and swearing-in ceremony.&nbsp;

A delay in the result announcement is something that even the current US President Donald Trump — who is rerunning for the post — has also warned the authorities again. Trump has claimed that the United States Postal Service is not capable of conducting operations on such a high level. However, he has often faced harsh criticism and wrath from his opponents and voters for the lack of trust he has shown in the USPS — often considered to be a pride of the US.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-says-this-will-end-badly-for-us-elections-result-331339">Experts, and Trump, also believe that the increase in mail-in voting can also increase the manipulation of the voters and their casted votes.</a>

The elections, this year, are scheduled for November 03 and will see the US President Donald Trump and the Democratic candidate and the former Vice President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a> fight for the White House.&nbsp;

This year, on December 14, the members of the Electoral College will cast their ballots for president. As per the system, the winner of the each state’s popular vote will earn that state’s electoral votes, which are apportioned by population. The candidate who receives a majority of either 583 (or 270) will inch closer to the finish line.&nbsp;

Then on January 06, 2021, the Congress will meet past noon in Washington to count the electoral votes and declare a winner who will be sworn in for the position along with his running mate at the US Capitol in Washington on January 20.

The elections for the post of the President of the United States are due in a few weeks, and the voting has already started in some states. In the US, the Presidential elections take place every four years and the congressional elections are held every two years.

The elections for the post of the President of the United States are due in a few weeks, and the voting has already started in some states. In the US, the Presidential elections take place every four years and the congressional elections are held every two years. While the process of nominee selection for one of the most important positions of this world is quite similar to the rest of the developing and developed countries, what is different than the rest is the US’ voting process. The electoral process involves the selection of candidates, registration of voters and casting the vote. Also read| US election 2020: How are votes counted in the presidential election? Unlike other countries, some states in the US have the power to establish their own rules for voting. However, the reason the majority of the states follow the same rules is due to the various restrictions imposed by the federal agencies. American voters, earlier, were supposed to be of the age of 21 and older. However, later the 26th Amendment to the Constitution changed the legal voting age to 18, and now therefore everyone who is 18-years-old and older is considered to be an adult and eligible to vote. Another very important condition for being an eligible voter is that the person should be a registered US citizen. Anybody who does not hold the US passport and is not a legally registered citizen is not allowed to cast vote, including any other visa holders such as study and work visa. After being eligible to vote, a citizen has to register with the required authorities. In some states, people have to register through the mail — usually on forms available from the local registrar of voters — and in others, they can go meet the locally appointed officers to finish the process. Also read| US election 2020: Republicans clash with California officials over ballot boxes The registration rules, too, vary from state to state, some allowing citizens to register till a week before the election, while others closing it a few weeks ago. Every state has different dates for voting, which is very different from the majority of the countries. All states, cities, counties, districts are divided into something labelled as ‘voting districts’, which are basically local precinct where people can go and cast their votes. On the decided date(s) of the voting, the registered people can go and cast their vote either at the voting booths or drop their mail-in votes at the fixed drop-in points or mail it at the provided address. Also read| US election 2020: Indian-Americans overwhelmingly support Joe Biden, new poll shows When all states close voting, the counting of the votes begins, which includes the poll and the mail-in votes. The counting of the votes does not take a very long time. However, that was when majority of the voters were casting votes at the nearest voting booth. This year, however, due to the pandemic, a major increase is being anticipated in the mail-in votes, which can also down the vote-counting process, further leading to a delay in the announcement and swearing-in ceremony. A delay in the result announcement is something that even the current US President Donald Trump — who is rerunning for the post — has also warned the authorities again. Trump has claimed that the United States Postal Service is not capable of conducting operations on such a high level. However, he has often faced harsh criticism and wrath from his opponents and voters for the lack of trust he has shown in the USPS — often considered to be a pride of the US. Experts, and Trump, also believe that the increase in mail-in voting can also increase the manipulation of the voters and their casted votes. The elections, this year, are scheduled for November 03 and will see the US President Donald Trump and the Democratic candidate and the former Vice President Joe Biden fight for the White House. This year, on December 14, the members of the Electoral College will cast their ballots for president. As per the system, the winner of the each state’s popular vote will earn that state’s electoral votes, which are apportioned by population. The candidate who receives a majority of either 583 (or 270) will inch closer to the finish line. Then on January 06, 2021, the Congress will meet past noon in Washington to count the electoral votes and declare a winner who will be sworn in for the position along with his running mate at the US Capitol in Washington on January 20.

US election 2020: How the States vote for the Presidential elections

The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/republican-party">Republican Party </a>clashed with California authorities after it placed ballot boxes at conservative churches, gun shops and other areas of the state.&nbsp;

A spokesperson of the party claimed that the boxes are kept simply for "ballot harvesting," which let third parties collect and deliver ballots in a few US states.

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-election-2020-how-are-votes-counted-in-the-presidential-election-335422">US election 2020: How are votes counted in the presidential election?</a>

"We're going to continue our ballot harvesting programs," said California Republican Party spokesperson Hector Barajas to local CBS station on Monday, as quoted by news agency AFP.&nbsp;

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-fumes-as-facebook-twitter-limit-reach-of-smoking-gun-article-on-biden-and-his-son-335344">Trump fumes as Facebook, Twitter limit reach of 'smoking gun' article on Biden and his son</a>

Californian authorities argue that the boxes are "misleading" voters and have given an ultimatum to the party to remove them by Thursday.&nbsp;

"Misleading voters is wrong, regardless of who is doing it," said California Secretary of State Alex Padilla.&nbsp;

"Political parties and campaigns can engage in get out the vote efforts, but they cannot violate state law," Padilla added in a statement.&nbsp;

"The unofficial, unauthorized drop boxes in question violate state law and jeopardize the security of voters' ballots."

State Attorney General Xavier Becerra warned Republicans of civil or criminal punishment if they fail to remove the ballots.&nbsp;

The Republicans, however, are looking in no mood to remove the boxes as its spokesperson said they would erase the word "official", but they would themselves not remove the boxes.&nbsp;

"Show us within the law, where we should stop," Barajas said.&nbsp;

"Tell us within the law, where we’re breaking the law." 
&nbsp;

The Republican Party clashed with California authorities after it placed ballot boxes at conservative churches, gun shops and other areas of the state. A spokesperson of the party claimed that the boxes are kept simply for "ballot harvesting," which let third parties collect and deliver ballots in a few US states.

The Republican Party clashed with California authorities after it placed ballot boxes at conservative churches, gun shops and other areas of the state. A spokesperson of the party claimed that the boxes are kept simply for "ballot harvesting," which let third parties collect and deliver ballots in a few US states. Also read | US election 2020: How are votes counted in the presidential election? "We're going to continue our ballot harvesting programs," said California Republican Party spokesperson Hector Barajas to local CBS station on Monday, as quoted by news agency AFP. Also read | Trump fumes as Facebook, Twitter limit reach of 'smoking gun' article on Biden and his son Californian authorities argue that the boxes are "misleading" voters and have given an ultimatum to the party to remove them by Thursday. "Misleading voters is wrong, regardless of who is doing it," said California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. "Political parties and campaigns can engage in get out the vote efforts, but they cannot violate state law," Padilla added in a statement. "The unofficial, unauthorized drop boxes in question violate state law and jeopardize the security of voters' ballots." State Attorney General Xavier Becerra warned Republicans of civil or criminal punishment if they fail to remove the ballots. The Republicans, however, are looking in no mood to remove the boxes as its spokesperson said they would erase the word "official", but they would themselves not remove the boxes. "Show us within the law, where we should stop," Barajas said. "Tell us within the law, where we’re breaking the law."

US election 2020: Republicans clash with California officials over ballot boxes

Day 3 of the confirmation hearing for Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, is underway in Washington. Watch report.

US Supreme Court Nominee: Day 3 of Barrett's conformation hearing

As US President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden duel in town halls, over 16 million votes have already been cast for the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/us-election">US elections</a> ahead of election day on November 3 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Watch:&nbsp;

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/trumps-politically-incorrect-address-us-election-2020-new-york-direct-335318/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The votes include in-person and mail-in ballots as US states opened locations for voting ahead of the main polling day. According to reports, over one million people have already voted in California followed by nearly two million in Florida.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-fumes-as-facebook-twitter-limit-reach-of-smoking-gun-article-on-biden-and-his-son-335344">Also Read:&nbsp;Trump fumes as Facebook, Twitter limit reach of 'smoking gun' article on Biden</a>

Voters in Michigan and Virginia have also voted heavily with over a million ballots cast so far with just 18 days to go for polling in the US elections. In<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/give-you-a-big-fat-kiss-donald-trump-dances-at-florida-rally-post-virus-treatment-335141"> Florida</a>, nearly 2 million voters have already exercised their franchise.

In New Jersey over a million voters have voted with voters having chosen their candidates in &nbsp;Illinois, Penslysivania and Ohio which have reported less than a million votes being cast so far.

In Texas, 907,504 votes have been cast with several million more to follow.

Long queues are already being seen in Georgia with in-person early voting open in Kentucky and Texas where people reportedly waited in long lines outside the polling stations.

Until last Monday, 10 million people had already voted in the presidential election which outpaced early voting pattern compared to 2016 which was won by President <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trump-resumes-campaign-with-florida-rally-10-days-after-covid-19-disclosure-334800">Trump</a>.

According to reports, as of October 16, 2016, some 1.4 million Americans had cast their early vote compared to over 16 million who have already voted so far in the US elections.

The Elections Project said the number of ballots cast in Wisconsin, Virginia, Vermont, Vermont, South Dakota and &nbsp;Minnesota already exceeds 20 per cent of total 2016 turnout.

As US President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden duel in town halls, over 16 million votes have already been cast for the US elections ahead of election day on November 3 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

As US President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden duel in town halls, over 16 million votes have already been cast for the US elections ahead of election day on November 3 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Watch: The votes include in-person and mail-in ballots as US states opened locations for voting ahead of the main polling day. According to reports, over one million people have already voted in California followed by nearly two million in Florida. Also Read: Trump fumes as Facebook, Twitter limit reach of 'smoking gun' article on Biden Voters in Michigan and Virginia have also voted heavily with over a million ballots cast so far with just 18 days to go for polling in the US elections. In Florida, nearly 2 million voters have already exercised their franchise. In New Jersey over a million voters have voted with voters having chosen their candidates in Illinois, Penslysivania and Ohio which have reported less than a million votes being cast so far. In Texas, 907,504 votes have been cast with several million more to follow. Long queues are already being seen in Georgia with in-person early voting open in Kentucky and Texas where people reportedly waited in long lines outside the polling stations. Until last Monday, 10 million people had already voted in the presidential election which outpaced early voting pattern compared to 2016 which was won by President Trump. According to reports, as of October 16, 2016, some 1.4 million Americans had cast their early vote compared to over 16 million who have already voted so far in the US elections. The Elections Project said the number of ballots cast in Wisconsin, Virginia, Vermont, Vermont, South Dakota and Minnesota already exceeds 20 per cent of total 2016 turnout.

In record turnout, over 16 million Americans vote ahead of election day on November 3

The high-profile hearing for #SCOTUS is underway as senators grill Judge Amy Coney Barrett. The Senate Democrats struggle to challenge the course of action as GOP senators race for a final victory ahead of polls.

GOP senators race for a final victory | U.S. Election 2020 New York Direct

Determined & energised American voters are descending on the polling sites in record numbers. A large portion of the ballots will have already been cast by the time election day rolls out next month. Now, the projections predict a historic voter turnout on election day. WION reports.

Over 10 million Americans cast votes | U.S. Election 2020 New York Direct

In an attempt to expand his battleground map & keep Donald Trump on the defensive, Joe Biden took his campaign to Ohio. Now that Trump has returned, Can Biden maintain his lead in the red state? WION reports.

Who will Ohio vote for in 2020? | U.S. Election 2020 New York Direct

Eager to prove himself healthy & lively, Donald Trump returns to his campaign trail in Florida. A largely MASKLESS & jampacked crowd welcomed the 'immune' President with cheers. Donald Trump spoke for over an hour with a hoarse & course voice. WION reports.

An 'immune' president returns to rallies | U.S. Election 2020 New York Direct

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/were-going-to-crush-the-virus-very-quickly-its-happening-already-says-trump-in-pennsylvania-rally-335096">We're going to crush the virus very quickly, it's happening already, says Trump in Pennsylvania rally</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2020/10/14/164793-donaldtt.jpg?itok=kLz94b6J" />

Donald Trump said Biden was "choking like a dog" during the televised debate.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/russia-behind-cyberattack-on-norwegian-parliament-ministry-335097">Russia behind cyberattack on Norwegian parliament: Ministry</a>

<img src="https://cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2018/09/12/22584-cyberattacks-20170513083637-20170518065505.JPG?itok=erVdy7Ky" />

Norway had revealed on September 01 that they had sustained an attack on their parliamentary system in the last week of August during which email accounts of several members of the parliament and employees were hacked.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/armenia-azerbaijan-continue-fighting-amid-rising-death-toll-335094">Armenia, Azerbaijan continue fighting amid rising death toll</a>

<img src="https://www.wionews.com/sites/default/files/styles/story_page/public/2020/09/30/162462-armenia-azerbaijan-clashes2.jpg?itok=gD83ZDTG" />

Azerbaijan and Armenian troops had accused each other of breaking the ceasefire as heavy shelling was reported in several areas in Nagorno-Karabakh despite the ceasefire.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/unacceptable-proposition-says-russia-over-new-nuclear-agreement-with-us-335093">Unacceptable proposition, says Russia over new nuclear agreement with US</a>

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The US has tried to rope in China into the agreement as the Trump administration has demanded that Russia should stop its nuclear activities during the extension period.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-malaysias-political-turmoil-anwar-ibrahim-meets-king-in-a-push-to-become-prime-minister-335090">Gravitas: Malaysia's political turmoil: Anwar Ibrahim meets King in a push to become Prime Minister</a>

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We're going to crush the virus very quickly, it's happening already, says Trump in Pennsylvania rally Donald Trump said Biden was "choking like a dog" during the televised debate.

We're going to crush the virus very quickly, it's happening already, says Trump in Pennsylvania rally Donald Trump said Biden was "choking like a dog" during the televised debate. Russia behind cyberattack on Norwegian parliament: Ministry Norway had revealed on September 01 that they had sustained an attack on their parliamentary system in the last week of August during which email accounts of several members of the parliament and employees were hacked. Armenia, Azerbaijan continue fighting amid rising death toll Azerbaijan and Armenian troops had accused each other of breaking the ceasefire as heavy shelling was reported in several areas in Nagorno-Karabakh despite the ceasefire. Unacceptable proposition, says Russia over new nuclear agreement with US The US has tried to rope in China into the agreement as the Trump administration has demanded that Russia should stop its nuclear activities during the extension period. Gravitas: Malaysia's political turmoil: Anwar Ibrahim meets King in a push to become Prime Minister ×

Morning news brief: Trump in Pennsylvania rally, Russia accused of cyber attack and more

A large majority of Indian Americans plan to cast ballots for the Democratic ticket of former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris, according to a survey released Wednesday, despite elaborate overtures by the Trump White House to win their support.

The survey, by the polling firm YouGov, found that 72% of Indian American voters planned to vote for Biden, with just 22% planning to go for President Donald Trump.

While Indian Americans hold a wide variety of political views, the presence on the Democratic ticket of Harris, whose mother immigrated from Chennai, India, has had a galvanizing effect on a voting bloc that could help Biden in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Florida and Michigan.

Their potential impact on the presidential election highlights the growing importance of Indian Americans in U.S. politics: As the second-largest immigrant group in the country, Indian Americans are gaining influence, making political donations, vocally supporting candidates and causes and, most notably, running for office, from the school board to Congress.

“We have arrived,” said Ramesh Kapur, a Democratic Party fundraiser.

Kapur, 72, who owns a gas processing and distributing company in Medford, Massachusetts, and supported Harris’ 2016 Senate race and her run for the 2020 presidential nomination, said that Indian Americans donated $3.3 million to the Biden Victory Fund at a single fundraising event he organized in September.

But Harris isn’t the only reason many Indian Americans support the Democratic ticket this year, Kapur said. They are also turned off by the president’s frequent attacks on immigrants and people of color, despite standing to gain from Trump’s economic policies.

“Even though they are supposedly saving taxes, to the Indian American community, when you get the president of the United States saying to an elected official, ‘Go home,’ that scares the hell out of us,” he said, referring to Trump’s tweet in July 2019 about a group of four minority congresswomen.

While the approximately 2 million Indian American voters comprise less than 1% of the electorate, they are voters who both parties seek to attract. The larger Indian American population is twice as rich as the rest of the country as a whole, and two times as likely to hold a bachelor’s degree or higher.

And at the rate the community is growing — doubling in size every decade since the 1980s — they represent an increasingly formidable force in U.S. politics.

The apparently wide support among Indian Americans for Biden comes despite high-profile efforts by Trump and the Republicans to win their votes.

A year ago, Trump drew 50,000 people to a rally in Houston with India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, an event that organizers called “Howdy, Modi.” The prime minister, a right-wing populist whose bellicose views on two of India’s rivals, Pakistan and China, helped win his party a landslide reelection in 2019, and who has generally received support from the Indian diaspora, lauded Trump’s name as “familiar to every person on the planet.” He returned the favor in February with an even larger spectacle for Trump in India.

The rallies did win Trump some support, said M.R. Rangaswami, the founder of Indiaspora, a nonpartisan group that promotes the interests of Indians in the United States.

“Trump has invested in India, has invested in Indian Americans with the ‘Howdy, Modi’ visit and with going to India, and it has shown results,” Rangaswami said. “The question is: Will it outweigh the Kamala factor?”

Indeed, the survey reported that 45% of respondents said that Harris’ nomination had made them more likely to vote, and 49% said they were more enthusiastic about supporting Biden. It also showed that respondents cared more about health care, the economy and the environment than U.S.-India relations.

YouGov conducted the survey as part of a research project by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Trump has also lost some favor in India, where the news media criticized him for casting doubt on the integrity of Indian government coronavirus statistics during the presidential debate last month.

Rangaswami, who attended the Houston rally and is registered as an independent, said the audience appeared to consist largely of older Indian Americans, who he said leaned conservative and most likely voted for Trump in 2016.

That Indian American voters lean liberal overall is partly because a younger generation, born in the United States, is far less convinced by the conservative cultural mores brought by their parents and grandparents from India, Rangaswami said.

“There’s definitely that schism in the Indian American community,” said Raj Bhutoria, 20, a junior at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, who has dreamed of running for office since working as a volunteer on the successful 2016 campaign of Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., an Indian American.

Khanna’s victory and Harris’ nomination show that “now being Indian is no longer a barrier to run for office or get elected,” Bhutoria said.

Despite wishing that the Democratic nominees were more progressive on some issues, Bhutoria said he was supporting them — though with perhaps less gusto than his parents, Ajay and Vinita Bhutoria, Bay Area tech entrepreneurs in their 40s who, as avowed liberals, are somewhat of an exception for their generation. They have starred in three ads supporting the Biden-Harris campaign, set to Bollywood music and featuring slogans in a variety of Indian languages.

Bhutoria cited Trump’s trade disputes with India, pressure on countries not to trade with Iran — an important source of cheap oil for India — and the suspension of H-1B visas for high-skilled workers, a large number of which go to Indians.

“The ‘Howdy, Modi’ event was wonderful to look at, but they were only beautiful picture moments,” he said. “Trump has not done much for India or Indians Americans.”

A large majority of Indian Americans plan to cast ballots for the Democratic ticket of former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris, according to a survey released Wednesday, despite elaborate overtures by the Trump White House to win their support.

A large majority of Indian Americans plan to cast ballots for the Democratic ticket of former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris, according to a survey released Wednesday, despite elaborate overtures by the Trump White House to win their support. The survey, by the polling firm YouGov, found that 72% of Indian American voters planned to vote for Biden, with just 22% planning to go for President Donald Trump. While Indian Americans hold a wide variety of political views, the presence on the Democratic ticket of Harris, whose mother immigrated from Chennai, India, has had a galvanizing effect on a voting bloc that could help Biden in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Florida and Michigan. Their potential impact on the presidential election highlights the growing importance of Indian Americans in U.S. politics: As the second-largest immigrant group in the country, Indian Americans are gaining influence, making political donations, vocally supporting candidates and causes and, most notably, running for office, from the school board to Congress. “We have arrived,” said Ramesh Kapur, a Democratic Party fundraiser. Kapur, 72, who owns a gas processing and distributing company in Medford, Massachusetts, and supported Harris’ 2016 Senate race and her run for the 2020 presidential nomination, said that Indian Americans donated $3.3 million to the Biden Victory Fund at a single fundraising event he organized in September. But Harris isn’t the only reason many Indian Americans support the Democratic ticket this year, Kapur said. They are also turned off by the president’s frequent attacks on immigrants and people of color, despite standing to gain from Trump’s economic policies. “Even though they are supposedly saving taxes, to the Indian American community, when you get the president of the United States saying to an elected official, ‘Go home,’ that scares the hell out of us,” he said, referring to Trump’s tweet in July 2019 about a group of four minority congresswomen. While the approximately 2 million Indian American voters comprise less than 1% of the electorate, they are voters who both parties seek to attract. The larger Indian American population is twice as rich as the rest of the country as a whole, and two times as likely to hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. And at the rate the community is growing — doubling in size every decade since the 1980s — they represent an increasingly formidable force in U.S. politics. The apparently wide support among Indian Americans for Biden comes despite high-profile efforts by Trump and the Republicans to win their votes. A year ago, Trump drew 50,000 people to a rally in Houston with India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, an event that organizers called “Howdy, Modi.” The prime minister, a right-wing populist whose bellicose views on two of India’s rivals, Pakistan and China, helped win his party a landslide reelection in 2019, and who has generally received support from the Indian diaspora, lauded Trump’s name as “familiar to every person on the planet.” He returned the favor in February with an even larger spectacle for Trump in India. The rallies did win Trump some support, said M.R. Rangaswami, the founder of Indiaspora, a nonpartisan group that promotes the interests of Indians in the United States. “Trump has invested in India, has invested in Indian Americans with the ‘Howdy, Modi’ visit and with going to India, and it has shown results,” Rangaswami said. “The question is: Will it outweigh the Kamala factor?” Indeed, the survey reported that 45% of respondents said that Harris’ nomination had made them more likely to vote, and 49% said they were more enthusiastic about supporting Biden. It also showed that respondents cared more about health care, the economy and the environment than U.S.-India relations. YouGov conducted the survey as part of a research project by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Pennsylvania. Trump has also lost some favor in India, where the news media criticized him for casting doubt on the integrity of Indian government coronavirus statistics during the presidential debate last month. Rangaswami, who attended the Houston rally and is registered as an independent, said the audience appeared to consist largely of older Indian Americans, who he said leaned conservative and most likely voted for Trump in 2016. That Indian American voters lean liberal overall is partly because a younger generation, born in the United States, is far less convinced by the conservative cultural mores brought by their parents and grandparents from India, Rangaswami said. “There’s definitely that schism in the Indian American community,” said Raj Bhutoria, 20, a junior at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, who has dreamed of running for office since working as a volunteer on the successful 2016 campaign of Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., an Indian American. Khanna’s victory and Harris’ nomination show that “now being Indian is no longer a barrier to run for office or get elected,” Bhutoria said. Despite wishing that the Democratic nominees were more progressive on some issues, Bhutoria said he was supporting them — though with perhaps less gusto than his parents, Ajay and Vinita Bhutoria, Bay Area tech entrepreneurs in their 40s who, as avowed liberals, are somewhat of an exception for their generation. They have starred in three ads supporting the Biden-Harris campaign, set to Bollywood music and featuring slogans in a variety of Indian languages. Bhutoria cited Trump’s trade disputes with India, pressure on countries not to trade with Iran — an important source of cheap oil for India — and the suspension of H-1B visas for high-skilled workers, a large number of which go to Indians. “The ‘Howdy, Modi’ event was wonderful to look at, but they were only beautiful picture moments,” he said. “Trump has not done much for India or Indians Americans.”

US election 2020: Indian-Americans overwhelmingly support Joe Biden, new poll shows

US President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden fanned out to critical battleground states on Tuesday as the presidential race entered a final, intense phase amid record numbers of early votes cast.

US Election 2020: Joe Biden, Donald Trump duel in battleground states

Tech giant&nbsp;Twitter has been fined $100,000 for ''multiple campaign finance violations'' for failing to keep records of&nbsp; advertisements public.

It has been asked to pay Washington state's Public Disclosure Transparency Account&nbsp;the state's Attorney General Bob Ferguson said on Tuesday.

It comes with less than a month to go for the United States election 2020 on November 3.

Interestingly, Twitter&nbsp;earned nearly $200,000 for campaign ads from 2012 through 2019 but failed to follow Washington state disclosure laws, the attorney general's office said in a statement.

According to papers filed at the King County Superior Court, the company failed to maintain the required records for at least 38 Washington candidates and committees that reported paying $194,550 for political advertising on&nbsp;Twitter's platform since 2012.

"Transparency in political advertising is critical to a free and informed electorate," Ferguson said. "Whether you are a local newspaper or a multinational social media platform, you must follow our campaign finance laws."

Tech giant Twitter has been fined $100,000 for ''multiple campaign finance violations'' for failing to keep records of advertisements public. It has been asked to pay Washington state's Public Disclosure Transparency Account the state's Attorney General Bob Ferguson said on Tuesday.

Tech giant Twitter has been fined $100,000 for ''multiple campaign finance violations'' for failing to keep records of advertisements public. It has been asked to pay Washington state's Public Disclosure Transparency Account the state's Attorney General Bob Ferguson said on Tuesday. It comes with less than a month to go for the United States election 2020 on November 3. Interestingly, Twitter earned nearly $200,000 for campaign ads from 2012 through 2019 but failed to follow Washington state disclosure laws, the attorney general's office said in a statement. According to papers filed at the King County Superior Court, the company failed to maintain the required records for at least 38 Washington candidates and committees that reported paying $194,550 for political advertising on Twitter's platform since 2012. "Transparency in political advertising is critical to a free and informed electorate," Ferguson said. "Whether you are a local newspaper or a multinational social media platform, you must follow our campaign finance laws."

US election 2020: Twitter fined $100,000 for campaign violations; earned twice during process

In 1995, Justice Elena Kagan, then a young law professor, wrote a law review article calling Supreme Court confirmation hearings “a vapid and hollow charade.”

“The safest and surest route to the prize,” she wrote, “lay in alternating platitudinous statement and judicious silence.”

Judge Amy Coney Barrett expertly followed that playbook at her confirmation hearings Tuesday, in her first day of answering questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Speaking without notes, she gave sure-footed accounts of Supreme Court precedents and then, almost without exception, declined to say whether the decisions were correct.

Barrett was patient, calm, a little stern and sometimes surprisingly terse when she spoke about the law, easily parrying most questions from the Democratic senators who tried to put her on the spot.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/honour-justice-ginsburgs-dying-wish-hillary-opposes-barretts-appointment-before-us-elections-335117">Also read|&nbsp;Honour Justice Ginsburg's 'dying wish': Hillary opposes Barrett's appointment before US elections</a>

She would not say how she would rule in potential cases on abortion, the election and same-sex marriage — or a pending one on the Affordable Care Act.

Barrett’s stance was in line with the approach of nominees since Judge Robert H. Bork’s answers at his 1987 confirmation hearings helped doom his nomination.

Nominated by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, Bork gave extended answers to the senators’ questions, in tones that struck some as candid and thoughtful and others as prickly and arrogant. Democrats said his legal views, particularly his skepticism about the constitutional right to privacy, were extreme and signaled hostility to abortion rights.

The Senate, which was controlled by Democrats, defeated the nomination by a 58-42 vote. That was the largest margin by which it had ever rejected a Supreme Court nomination, and it was the last time the Senate has voted down a nominee for the court.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/kamala-harris-grills-barrett-on-obamacare-she-sidesteps-question-335107">Also read|&nbsp;Kamala Harris grills Barrett on Obamacare, she sidesteps question</a>

But Kagan, in her 1995 article, said the hearings were a high-water mark.

“The Bork hearings presented to the public a serious discussion of the meaning of the Constitution, the role of the court and the views of the nominee,” she wrote. “Subsequent hearings have presented to the public a vapid and hollow charade, in which repetition of platitudes has replaced discussion of viewpoints, and personal anecdotes have supplanted legal analysis.”

Barrett seemed to have studied recent hearings carefully, absorbing their lessons. They were presciently summarized in a 1981 memorandum written by a young White House lawyer named John Roberts, who helped prepare Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, another Reagan nominee, for her confirmation hearings.

“The approach was to avoid giving specific responses to any direct questions on legal issues likely to come before the court,” the memo said, “but demonstrating in the response a firm command of the subject area and awareness of the relevant precedents and arguments.”

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/trumps-supreme-court-pick-says-she-is-not-hostile-to-obamacare-dodges-on-abortion-335070">Also read|&nbsp;Trump's Supreme Court pick says she is not 'hostile' to Obamacare, dodges on abortion</a>

Roberts took his own advice at his confirmation hearings in 2005. Some said he retired the trophy. Barrett held her own, too.

“I do want to be forthright and answer every question,” she said when asked about whether two key abortion precedents had been correctly decided. But she said she could not describe her views.

“It would be wrong of me to do that as a sitting judge,” she said. “Whether I say I love it or I hate it, it signals to litigants that I might tilt one way or another in a pending case.”

Nor would she say if the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision establishing a right to same-sex marriage might be overturned, as Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito seemed to urge this month.

Barrett acknowledged that she had written and spoken critically of the reasoning in the controlling opinions in two Supreme Court decisions upholding major provisions of the Affordable Care Act. But she said the key issue in the latest challenge, to be argued next month, presented a different issue.

That is correct: The central question now is whether the entire law must fall because Congress in 2017 zeroed out the penalty for failing to obtain health insurance. Barrett said she had expressed no view on that issue.

“I assure you I am not hostile to the ACA,” she said.

And she invoked Kagan, whose views had evolved by the time she appeared before the committee in 2010 for her own confirmation hearings, having been nominated by President Barack Obama, a Democrat. “She said that she was not going to grade precedent or give it a thumbs-up or thumbs-down,” Barrett said, paraphrasing Kagan.

Barrett also cited the so-called Ginsburg rule, named for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last month and whose seat Barrett hopes to assume. Ginsburg was nominated by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat.

At her confirmation hearing in 1993, Ginsburg distilled the responsibilities of nominees into a pithy phrase: “no hints, no forecasts, no previews.”

Barrett said she would adopt the same stance. “That had been the practice of nominees before her, but everybody calls it the Ginsburg rule because she stated it so concisely, and it has been the practice of every nominee since,” she said.

As it happened, though, Ginsburg was quite forthcoming during her hearing about her views on abortion. The main exception to the Ginsburg rule, at least where abortion was concerned, was Ginsburg.

“The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity,” Ginsburg said of abortion at her hearings. “It’s a decision that she must make for herself. When government controls that decision for her, she’s being treated as less than a fully adult human, responsible for her own choices.”

In general, though, Ginsburg had taught a master class in avoiding direct responses to senators’ questions, Kagan wrote in her 1995 article.

“Justice Ginsburg’s favored technique took the form of a pincer movement,” Kagan wrote. If a question was too specific, she would decline to answer on the ground that she did not want to forecast a vote. If it was too general, she would say a judge should not deal in abstractions or hypothetical questions.

Kagan explained what was considered too specific: “Roughly, anything that might have some bearing on a case that might someday come before the court.” She also described what had been too general: “Roughly, anything else worthy of mention.”

Barrett recited the usual factors for considering whether a precedent should be overruled: whether people had come to rely on it in ordering their affairs, whether it was workable in practice and whether it has been undermined by later decisions or factual developments. She would consider those factors, she said, for “abortion or anything else.”

She made an exception for Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 school desegregation case. That was a “super-precedent,” she said, “one that is so well-established that it would be unthinkable that it would ever be overruled.”

Barrett refused to say whether she would recuse herself from the case on the health care law or potential ones arising from the election next month. She would, she said, consider judicial ethics rules and consult with her colleagues.

“I certainly hope that all members of the committee have more confidence in my integrity than to think that I would allow myself to be used as a pawn to decide this election for the American people,” she said.

She was adamant that she had made no promises about how she would rule: “I have made no commitment to anyone, not in the Senate, not over at the White House, on how I would decide any case.”

In 1995, Justice Elena Kagan, then a young law professor, wrote a law review article calling Supreme Court confirmation hearings “a vapid and hollow charade.” “The safest and surest route to the prize,” she wrote, “lay in alternating platitudinous statement and judicious silence.

In 1995, Justice Elena Kagan, then a young law professor, wrote a law review article calling Supreme Court confirmation hearings “a vapid and hollow charade.” “The safest and surest route to the prize,” she wrote, “lay in alternating platitudinous statement and judicious silence.” Judge Amy Coney Barrett expertly followed that playbook at her confirmation hearings Tuesday, in her first day of answering questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Speaking without notes, she gave sure-footed accounts of Supreme Court precedents and then, almost without exception, declined to say whether the decisions were correct. Barrett was patient, calm, a little stern and sometimes surprisingly terse when she spoke about the law, easily parrying most questions from the Democratic senators who tried to put her on the spot. Also read| Honour Justice Ginsburg's 'dying wish': Hillary opposes Barrett's appointment before US elections She would not say how she would rule in potential cases on abortion, the election and same-sex marriage — or a pending one on the Affordable Care Act. Barrett’s stance was in line with the approach of nominees since Judge Robert H. Bork’s answers at his 1987 confirmation hearings helped doom his nomination. Nominated by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, Bork gave extended answers to the senators’ questions, in tones that struck some as candid and thoughtful and others as prickly and arrogant. Democrats said his legal views, particularly his skepticism about the constitutional right to privacy, were extreme and signaled hostility to abortion rights. The Senate, which was controlled by Democrats, defeated the nomination by a 58-42 vote. That was the largest margin by which it had ever rejected a Supreme Court nomination, and it was the last time the Senate has voted down a nominee for the court. Also read| Kamala Harris grills Barrett on Obamacare, she sidesteps question But Kagan, in her 1995 article, said the hearings were a high-water mark. “The Bork hearings presented to the public a serious discussion of the meaning of the Constitution, the role of the court and the views of the nominee,” she wrote. “Subsequent hearings have presented to the public a vapid and hollow charade, in which repetition of platitudes has replaced discussion of viewpoints, and personal anecdotes have supplanted legal analysis.” Barrett seemed to have studied recent hearings carefully, absorbing their lessons. They were presciently summarized in a 1981 memorandum written by a young White House lawyer named John Roberts, who helped prepare Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, another Reagan nominee, for her confirmation hearings. “The approach was to avoid giving specific responses to any direct questions on legal issues likely to come before the court,” the memo said, “but demonstrating in the response a firm command of the subject area and awareness of the relevant precedents and arguments.” Also read| Trump's Supreme Court pick says she is not 'hostile' to Obamacare, dodges on abortion Roberts took his own advice at his confirmation hearings in 2005. Some said he retired the trophy. Barrett held her own, too. “I do want to be forthright and answer every question,” she said when asked about whether two key abortion precedents had been correctly decided. But she said she could not describe her views. “It would be wrong of me to do that as a sitting judge,” she said. “Whether I say I love it or I hate it, it signals to litigants that I might tilt one way or another in a pending case.” Nor would she say if the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision establishing a right to same-sex marriage might be overturned, as Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito seemed to urge this month. Barrett acknowledged that she had written and spoken critically of the reasoning in the controlling opinions in two Supreme Court decisions upholding major provisions of the Affordable Care Act. But she said the key issue in the latest challenge, to be argued next month, presented a different issue. That is correct: The central question now is whether the entire law must fall because Congress in 2017 zeroed out the penalty for failing to obtain health insurance. Barrett said she had expressed no view on that issue. “I assure you I am not hostile to the ACA,” she said. And she invoked Kagan, whose views had evolved by the time she appeared before the committee in 2010 for her own confirmation hearings, having been nominated by President Barack Obama, a Democrat. “She said that she was not going to grade precedent or give it a thumbs-up or thumbs-down,” Barrett said, paraphrasing Kagan. Barrett also cited the so-called Ginsburg rule, named for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last month and whose seat Barrett hopes to assume. Ginsburg was nominated by President Bill Clinton, a Democrat. At her confirmation hearing in 1993, Ginsburg distilled the responsibilities of nominees into a pithy phrase: “no hints, no forecasts, no previews.” Barrett said she would adopt the same stance. “That had been the practice of nominees before her, but everybody calls it the Ginsburg rule because she stated it so concisely, and it has been the practice of every nominee since,” she said. As it happened, though, Ginsburg was quite forthcoming during her hearing about her views on abortion. The main exception to the Ginsburg rule, at least where abortion was concerned, was Ginsburg. “The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity,” Ginsburg said of abortion at her hearings. “It’s a decision that she must make for herself. When government controls that decision for her, she’s being treated as less than a fully adult human, responsible for her own choices.” In general, though, Ginsburg had taught a master class in avoiding direct responses to senators’ questions, Kagan wrote in her 1995 article. “Justice Ginsburg’s favored technique took the form of a pincer movement,” Kagan wrote. If a question was too specific, she would decline to answer on the ground that she did not want to forecast a vote. If it was too general, she would say a judge should not deal in abstractions or hypothetical questions. Kagan explained what was considered too specific: “Roughly, anything that might have some bearing on a case that might someday come before the court.” She also described what had been too general: “Roughly, anything else worthy of mention.” Barrett recited the usual factors for considering whether a precedent should be overruled: whether people had come to rely on it in ordering their affairs, whether it was workable in practice and whether it has been undermined by later decisions or factual developments. She would consider those factors, she said, for “abortion or anything else.” She made an exception for Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 school desegregation case. That was a “super-precedent,” she said, “one that is so well-established that it would be unthinkable that it would ever be overruled.” Barrett refused to say whether she would recuse herself from the case on the health care law or potential ones arising from the election next month. She would, she said, consider judicial ethics rules and consult with her colleagues. “I certainly hope that all members of the committee have more confidence in my integrity than to think that I would allow myself to be used as a pawn to decide this election for the American people,” she said. She was adamant that she had made no promises about how she would rule: “I have made no commitment to anyone, not in the Senate, not over at the White House, on how I would decide any case.”

Barrett’s testimony is a deft mix of expertise and evasion

President Donald Trump made a direct appeal to suburban women during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania as he sought to use his Supreme Court nomination to reset the trajectory of the race.

Trump holds support from Suburban women: Trump's Pennsylvania rally

President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett said on Tuesday at her U.S. Senate confirmation hearing she is not hostile to the Obamacare law, as Democrats have suggested, and declined to specify whether she believes landmark rulings legalizing abortion and gay marriage were properly decided.

Day 2 of Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation hearing | US Election 2020

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden pulled further ahead of President Donald Trump in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, building momentum in two states that could decide the winner of November`s election, Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls showed on Monday.

The polls showed the former vice president leading Trump by 7 percentage points in both states. A week earlier, Biden was up by 6 points in Wisconsin and by 5 in Pennsylvania.

Reuters/Ipsos is polling likely voters in six states - Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida and Arizona - that will play critical roles in deciding whether Trump wins a second term in office or if Biden ousts him.

Below is a state-by-state look at Reuters/Ipsos findings, based on the online responses of likely voters, which include responses from some who cast ballots ahead of the formal Nov. 3 Election Day, which is increasingly common due to the coronavirus pandemic:

WISCONSIN (Oct. 6 - Oct. 11): 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Voting for Biden: 51% 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Voting for Trump: 44% 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 20% said they already had voted. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 52% said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic. 38% said Trump would be better. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 47% said Trump would be better at managing the economy. 46% said Biden would be better.

PENNSYLVANIA (Oct. 6 - Oct. 11): 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Voting for Biden: 51% 
&nbsp; &nbsp; * Voting for Trump: 44% 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 6% said they already had voted. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 51% said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic. 42% said Trump would be better. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 50% said Trump would be better at managing the economy. 45% said Biden would be better.

FLORIDA (Sept. 29 - Oct. 6): 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Voting for Biden: 49% 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Voting for Trump: 45% 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 50% said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic. 41% said Trump would be better. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 49% said Trump would be better at managing the economy. 45% said Biden would be better. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 7% said they already had voted. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
ARIZONA (Sept. 29 - Oct. 7): 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Voting for Biden: 48% 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Voting for Trump: 46% 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 49% said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic. 43% said Trump would be better. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 52% said Trump would be better at managing the economy. 42% said Biden would be better. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 3% said they already had voted.

MICHIGAN (Sept. 29-Oct. 6): 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Voting for Biden: 51% 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Voting for Trump: 43% 
&nbsp; &nbsp; * 50% said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic. 41% said Trump would be better. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 49% said Trump would be better at managing the economy. 44% said Biden would be better. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 10% said they already had voted.

NORTH CAROLINA (Sept. 29-Oct. 6): 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Voting for Biden: 47% 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * Voting for Trump: 47% 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 47% said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic. 45% said Trump would be better. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 52% said Trump would be better at managing the economy. 40% said Biden would be better. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; * 8% said they already had voted. 
 
The Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls are conducted online in all six states in English, as well as in Spanish in Arizona and Florida.

-- In Wisconsin, from to Oct. 6 to Oct. 11, it gathered responses from 1,002 adults, including 577 likely voters, and had a credibility interval of 5 percentage points. 
-- In Pennsylvania, from to Oct. 6 to Oct. 11, it gathered responses from 1,002 adults, including 622 likely voters, and had a credibility interval of 5 percentage points. 
-- In Florida, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, it gathered responses from 1,100 adults, including 678 likely voters, and had a credibility interval of 4 percentage points. 
-- In Arizona, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 7, it gathered responses from 1,099 adults, including 663 likely voters, and had a credibility interval of 4 percentage points. 
-- In Michigan, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, it gathered responses from 1,098 adults, including 709 likely voters, and had a credibility interval of 4 percentage points. 
-- In North Carolina, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, it gathered responses from 1,100 adults, including 693 likely voters, and had a credibility interval of 4 percentage points.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden pulled further ahead of President Donald Trump in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, building momentum in two states that could decide the winner of November`s election, Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls showed on Monday.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden pulled further ahead of President Donald Trump in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, building momentum in two states that could decide the winner of November`s election, Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls showed on Monday. The polls showed the former vice president leading Trump by 7 percentage points in both states. A week earlier, Biden was up by 6 points in Wisconsin and by 5 in Pennsylvania. Reuters/Ipsos is polling likely voters in six states - Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina, Florida and Arizona - that will play critical roles in deciding whether Trump wins a second term in office or if Biden ousts him. Below is a state-by-state look at Reuters/Ipsos findings, based on the online responses of likely voters, which include responses from some who cast ballots ahead of the formal Nov. 3 Election Day, which is increasingly common due to the coronavirus pandemic: WISCONSIN (Oct. 6 - Oct. 11): * Voting for Biden: 51% * Voting for Trump: 44% * 20% said they already had voted. * 52% said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic. 38% said Trump would be better. * 47% said Trump would be better at managing the economy. 46% said Biden would be better. PENNSYLVANIA (Oct. 6 - Oct. 11): * Voting for Biden: 51% * Voting for Trump: 44% * 6% said they already had voted. * 51% said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic. 42% said Trump would be better. * 50% said Trump would be better at managing the economy. 45% said Biden would be better. FLORIDA (Sept. 29 - Oct. 6): * Voting for Biden: 49% * Voting for Trump: 45% * 50% said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic. 41% said Trump would be better. * 49% said Trump would be better at managing the economy. 45% said Biden would be better. * 7% said they already had voted. ARIZONA (Sept. 29 - Oct. 7): * Voting for Biden: 48% * Voting for Trump: 46% * 49% said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic. 43% said Trump would be better. * 52% said Trump would be better at managing the economy. 42% said Biden would be better. * 3% said they already had voted. MICHIGAN (Sept. 29-Oct. 6): * Voting for Biden: 51% * Voting for Trump: 43% * 50% said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic. 41% said Trump would be better. * 49% said Trump would be better at managing the economy. 44% said Biden would be better. * 10% said they already had voted. NORTH CAROLINA (Sept. 29-Oct. 6): * Voting for Biden: 47% * Voting for Trump: 47% * 47% said Biden would be better at handling the coronavirus pandemic. 45% said Trump would be better. * 52% said Trump would be better at managing the economy. 40% said Biden would be better. * 8% said they already had voted. The Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls are conducted online in all six states in English, as well as in Spanish in Arizona and Florida. -- In Wisconsin, from to Oct. 6 to Oct. 11, it gathered responses from 1,002 adults, including 577 likely voters, and had a credibility interval of 5 percentage points. -- In Pennsylvania, from to Oct. 6 to Oct. 11, it gathered responses from 1,002 adults, including 622 likely voters, and had a credibility interval of 5 percentage points. -- In Florida, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, it gathered responses from 1,100 adults, including 678 likely voters, and had a credibility interval of 4 percentage points. -- In Arizona, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 7, it gathered responses from 1,099 adults, including 663 likely voters, and had a credibility interval of 4 percentage points. -- In Michigan, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, it gathered responses from 1,098 adults, including 709 likely voters, and had a credibility interval of 4 percentage points. -- In North Carolina, from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6, it gathered responses from 1,100 adults, including 693 likely voters, and had a credibility interval of 4 percentage points.

Reuters poll shows Biden lead over Trump growing in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania

Microsoft on Monday said it disrupted a major cybercrime digital network that uses more than 1 million zombie computers to loot bank accounts and spread ransomware.

This could have indirectly affected US presidential election infrastructure if allowed to continue. The action coincides with an offensive by US Cyber Command to disrupt the cybercriminals, at least temporarily, according to The Washington Post.

The operation to knock offline command-and-control servers for a global botnet that uses an infrastructure known as Trickbot to infect computers with malware was initiated with an order that Microsoft obtained in Virginia federal court on October 6.

Trickbot's operators have a decentralised fall-back system and employ encrypted routing. The company took down the servers behind Trickbot, which criminals were using to launch other cyberattacks, including a strain of highly potent ransomware.

Ransomware seizes control of target computers and freezes them until victims pay up — though experts urge those affected by ransomware not to encourage hackers by complying with their demands.

The announcement follows a Washington Post report Friday of a major effort by the US Military's Cyber Command to dismantle Trickbot beginning last month with direct attacks rather than asking providers to deny hosting to domains used by command-and-control servers.

Recently, researchers have noted a rise in Trickbot's use in ransomware attacks targetting everything from municipal and state governments to school districts and hospitals.

A separate technical report by Microsoft on Monday said Trickbot has been used to spread the Ryuk ransomware -- which has been attacking 20 organisations per week, and was reportedly the ransomware that struck Universal Health Services.

Ransomware could pose a risk to the election process if systems designed to support voting are brought down.

 
&nbsp;

Microsoft on Monday said it disrupted a major cybercrime digital network that uses more than 1 million zombie computers to loot bank accounts and spread ransomware.

Microsoft on Monday said it disrupted a major cybercrime digital network that uses more than 1 million zombie computers to loot bank accounts and spread ransomware. This could have indirectly affected US presidential election infrastructure if allowed to continue. The action coincides with an offensive by US Cyber Command to disrupt the cybercriminals, at least temporarily, according to The Washington Post. The operation to knock offline command-and-control servers for a global botnet that uses an infrastructure known as Trickbot to infect computers with malware was initiated with an order that Microsoft obtained in Virginia federal court on October 6. Trickbot's operators have a decentralised fall-back system and employ encrypted routing. The company took down the servers behind Trickbot, which criminals were using to launch other cyberattacks, including a strain of highly potent ransomware. Ransomware seizes control of target computers and freezes them until victims pay up — though experts urge those affected by ransomware not to encourage hackers by complying with their demands. The announcement follows a Washington Post report Friday of a major effort by the US Military's Cyber Command to dismantle Trickbot beginning last month with direct attacks rather than asking providers to deny hosting to domains used by command-and-control servers. Recently, researchers have noted a rise in Trickbot's use in ransomware attacks targetting everything from municipal and state governments to school districts and hospitals. A separate technical report by Microsoft on Monday said Trickbot has been used to spread the Ryuk ransomware -- which has been attacking 20 organisations per week, and was reportedly the ransomware that struck Universal Health Services. Ransomware could pose a risk to the election process if systems designed to support voting are brought down.

Microsoft takes down global criminal botnet that could have affected US election

US President Donald Trump, with the presidential election just three weeks away, returned&nbsp;to the campaign trail on Monday after being hospitalised for coronavirus, and set off on a blitz of key swing states. He tested negative for COVID-19 on consecutive days, the White House physician said.

Trump's evening rally at an airport in Sanford, Florida,&nbsp;kicked off a three-week sprint to Election Day as new polls show him losing more ground to Democratic rival Joe Biden in two battleground states that could decide the November 3 contest.

"It's great to be back in my home state, Florida, to make my official return to the campaign trail," Trump declared&nbsp;in&nbsp;front of a crowd of thousands of supporters, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, mostly without masks, despite the ongoing pandemic.

"I am so energised by your prayers and humbled by your support," he said.

Trump -- yet again -- played down the coronavirus and said, "22 days from now we're going to win this state. We're going to win four more years at the White House."

"I feel so powerful. I'll walk into that audience. I'll walk in there, and I'll kiss everyone in that audience. I'll kiss the guys and the beautiful women... everybody," he added.

In rare form just a week after his release from hospital, Trump's hour-long speech called on all of his campaign classics: vicious attacks against "Crooked Hillary" Clinton and the "corrupt" press, alarmist warnings against the "radical left" and the "socialist nightmare."

Trump also mocked his opponent, whom he has nicknamed "Sleepy Joe," saying that "practically nobody showed up" to Biden's campaign event.

Unlike Trump, Biden has been following public health guidelines during the pandemic, hosting socially-distanced campaign events that sharply contrast with Trump's packed, largely maskless extravaganzas -- including a recent celebration at the White House described by experts as a "superspreader."

The president was earlier declared non-contagious. or "not a transmission risk",&nbsp;following which he headed to Florida for his&nbsp;campaign rally -- since he disclosed he contracted the novel coronavirus.

"I can share with you that he tested negative, on consecutive days, using the Abbot BinaxNOW antigen card," Sean Conley said in a memo released to the public on Monday. The doctor said the negative determination had taken into account a number of measurements, and not just the rapid test alone.

The&nbsp;brief statement was issued while the president was on board Air Force One en route to Florida for the&nbsp;campaign rally.

The US president said on October 2 that he contracted the virus, following which he spent three days in a military hospital. In a memo, Dr Sean Conley said the tests and other clinical and laboratory data "indicate a lack of detectable viral replication."

Trump's rally in Florida, and planned rallies in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Iowa on Wednesday and North Carolina on Thursday, will be watched closely to see whether the president has reshaped his campaign approach since contracting the virus.

Trump is now seeking to change the dynamics of a race that national opinion polls and some state polls show he is losing to Biden.

Trump told Fox News on Sunday he felt good and, without producing evidence, that he was now "immune", an assertion that drew a flag from Twitter for violating the social media platform's rules about misleading information related to COVID-19.

Biden also tested negative for COVID-19 on Monday, his campaign said in a statement. The former vice president has tested negative a number of times since Trump announced his positive test.

Biden pulled further ahead in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, building momentum in two states that Trump carried in the 2016 presidential election, Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls showed on Monday.

The polls, conducted Tuesday through Sunday, showed Biden now leading Trump by 7 percentage points in both states.

Taking advantage of his momentum and growing advantage in the polls, Biden on Monday campaigned in Ohio, where he was once considered a long shot, as he tries to expand his reach into Republican-leaning states.

Biden also appeared at a get-out-the-vote event in Cincinnati. It was Biden`s second campaign trip in as many weeks to Ohio, which was once thought out of reach but where polls now show a competitive race. He blasted his handling of the pandemic.

"215,000 dead because of Covid," the 77-year-old former vice president told a small group of auto workers who gathered in their American-made cars in a parking lot outside a union hall in Toledo, Ohio.

"Trump knew how dangerous the disease was but did nothing," Biden said. "Why didn't he tell us? Why didn't he warn us?"

"His reckless personal conduct since his diagnosis has been unconscionable," Biden added. "The longer Donald Trump is president, the more reckless he seems to get."

Trump won the state by 8 percentage points four years ago and almost certainly must carry it again to win re-election. No Republican has won the White House without carrying Ohio.

For months, Trump had worked furiously to shift public attention away from the virus and his handling of the pandemic, which has infected more than 7.8 million people in the United States, killed more than 214,000 and put millions out of work.

His own illness has put the spotlight squarely on his coronavirus response during the closing stretch of the race, with the Biden campaign scaling up its attacks and stretching its campaign into states that normally lean Republican.

Critics fault Trump for failing to encourage supporters at campaign events, and even White House staff, to wear protective masks and abide by social-distancing guidelines. At least 11 close Trump aides have tested positive for the coronavirus.

(with inputs from agencies)

US President Donald Trump, with the presidential election just three weeks away, returned to the campaign trail on Monday after being hospitalised for coronavirus, and set off on a blitz of key swing states.

US President Donald Trump, with the presidential election just three weeks away, returned to the campaign trail on Monday after being hospitalised for coronavirus, and set off on a blitz of key swing states. He tested negative for COVID-19 on consecutive days, the White House physician said. Trump's evening rally at an airport in Sanford, Florida, kicked off a three-week sprint to Election Day as new polls show him losing more ground to Democratic rival Joe Biden in two battleground states that could decide the November 3 contest. "It's great to be back in my home state, Florida, to make my official return to the campaign trail," Trump declared in front of a crowd of thousands of supporters, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, mostly without masks, despite the ongoing pandemic. "I am so energised by your prayers and humbled by your support," he said. Trump -- yet again -- played down the coronavirus and said, "22 days from now we're going to win this state. We're going to win four more years at the White House." "I feel so powerful. I'll walk into that audience. I'll walk in there, and I'll kiss everyone in that audience. I'll kiss the guys and the beautiful women... everybody," he added. In rare form just a week after his release from hospital, Trump's hour-long speech called on all of his campaign classics: vicious attacks against "Crooked Hillary" Clinton and the "corrupt" press, alarmist warnings against the "radical left" and the "socialist nightmare." Trump also mocked his opponent, whom he has nicknamed "Sleepy Joe," saying that "practically nobody showed up" to Biden's campaign event. Unlike Trump, Biden has been following public health guidelines during the pandemic, hosting socially-distanced campaign events that sharply contrast with Trump's packed, largely maskless extravaganzas -- including a recent celebration at the White House described by experts as a "superspreader." The president was earlier declared non-contagious. or "not a transmission risk", following which he headed to Florida for his campaign rally -- since he disclosed he contracted the novel coronavirus. "I can share with you that he tested negative, on consecutive days, using the Abbot BinaxNOW antigen card," Sean Conley said in a memo released to the public on Monday. The doctor said the negative determination had taken into account a number of measurements, and not just the rapid test alone. The brief statement was issued while the president was on board Air Force One en route to Florida for the campaign rally. The US president said on October 2 that he contracted the virus, following which he spent three days in a military hospital. In a memo, Dr Sean Conley said the tests and other clinical and laboratory data "indicate a lack of detectable viral replication." Trump's rally in Florida, and planned rallies in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Iowa on Wednesday and North Carolina on Thursday, will be watched closely to see whether the president has reshaped his campaign approach since contracting the virus. Trump is now seeking to change the dynamics of a race that national opinion polls and some state polls show he is losing to Biden. Trump told Fox News on Sunday he felt good and, without producing evidence, that he was now "immune", an assertion that drew a flag from Twitter for violating the social media platform's rules about misleading information related to COVID-19. Biden also tested negative for COVID-19 on Monday, his campaign said in a statement. The former vice president has tested negative a number of times since Trump announced his positive test. Biden pulled further ahead in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, building momentum in two states that Trump carried in the 2016 presidential election, Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls showed on Monday. The polls, conducted Tuesday through Sunday, showed Biden now leading Trump by 7 percentage points in both states. Taking advantage of his momentum and growing advantage in the polls, Biden on Monday campaigned in Ohio, where he was once considered a long shot, as he tries to expand his reach into Republican-leaning states. Biden also appeared at a get-out-the-vote event in Cincinnati. It was Biden`s second campaign trip in as many weeks to Ohio, which was once thought out of reach but where polls now show a competitive race. He blasted his handling of the pandemic. "215,000 dead because of Covid," the 77-year-old former vice president told a small group of auto workers who gathered in their American-made cars in a parking lot outside a union hall in Toledo, Ohio. "Trump knew how dangerous the disease was but did nothing," Biden said. "Why didn't he tell us? Why didn't he warn us?" "His reckless personal conduct since his diagnosis has been unconscionable," Biden added. "The longer Donald Trump is president, the more reckless he seems to get." Trump won the state by 8 percentage points four years ago and almost certainly must carry it again to win re-election. No Republican has won the White House without carrying Ohio. For months, Trump had worked furiously to shift public attention away from the virus and his handling of the pandemic, which has infected more than 7.8 million people in the United States, killed more than 214,000 and put millions out of work. His own illness has put the spotlight squarely on his coronavirus response during the closing stretch of the race, with the Biden campaign scaling up its attacks and stretching its campaign into states that normally lean Republican. Critics fault Trump for failing to encourage supporters at campaign events, and even White House staff, to wear protective masks and abide by social-distancing guidelines. At least 11 close Trump aides have tested positive for the coronavirus. (with inputs from agencies)

'I feel so powerful': Trump returns to campaign trail after testing negative for coronavirus

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Morning news brief: Updates on Trump's health and election campaign, and more

Democratic senators including vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Monday painted President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett as a threat to the Obamacare healthcare law

Donald Trump's SC nominee Amy Coney Barrett faces democratic opposition on Obamacare law

Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris told Republicans it was "reckless" to hold Monday's Supreme Court confirmation hearing amid a pandemic, especially given the recent outbreak of Covid-19 affecting three US senators.

"This hearing has brought together more than 50 people to sit inside of a closed-door room for hours while our nation is facing a deadly airborne virus," Harris, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told the hearing via videolink.

"The decision to hold this hearing now is reckless and places facility's workers, janitorial staff and congressional aides and Capitol Police at risk," the 55-year-old senator added.

As the Senate Judiciary Committee began its four-day confirmation hearing for Barrett, Democrats voiced their opposition even though they have little hope of derailing her nomination in the Republican-led Senate.

The Democratic senators also painted US President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee -- Amy Comey Barrett -- as a threat to the Obamacare healthcare law during a deadly pandemic and denounced the Republican drive to approve her before the November 3 US election.

Republican senators praised Barrett, an appellate court judge and a favorite of religious conservatives, as well qualified for a lifetime job on the high court and a worthy successor to the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Barrett, who had a bout with the coronavirus earlier in the year, removed her mask when she was sworn in to deliver her own opening statement.

"I believe Americans of all backgrounds deserve an independent Supreme Court that interprets our Constitution and laws as they are written," Barrett said, with her husband and six of her seven children sitting behind her as she read from prepared remarks that had been made public on Sunday.

Barrett's confirmation would give the court a 6-3 conservative majority that could roll back abortion rights, expand religious and gun rights, and uphold Republican-backed voting restrictions, among other issues.

But it was the fate of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA), Democratic former President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement that has enabled millions of Americans to obtain medical coverage, that was the focus of the Democrats. Barrett has criticized a 2012 Supreme Court ruling authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts that upheld Obamacare.

Harris, the running mate of Trump's Democratic election opponent Joe Biden, said the hearing should have been postponed because of COVID-19 worries and called the confirmation process so near an election rushed and illegitimate.

"I do believe this hearing is a clear attempt to jam through a Supreme Court nominee who will take away healthcare from millions of people during a deadly pandemic that has already killed more than 214,000 Americans," Harris said, speaking via a video link.

"A clear majority of Americans want whomever wins the election to fill this seat, and my Republican colleagues know that. Yet they are deliberately defying the will of the people in their attempt to roll back the rights and protections provided under the Affordable Care Act," Harris said.

Barrett could be confirmed in time to participate in a case to be argued on November 10 in which Trump and Republican-led states are seeking to invalidate Obamacare. Some legal experts doubt the justices, even with Barrett confirmed, would strike down Obamacare.

Barrett will face questioning from senators on Tuesday and Wednesday in a hearing that sets the stage for a full Senate vote by the end of October on confirming her. Republicans have a 53-47 majority so Barrett`s confirmation seems almost certain.

(with inputs)

Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris told Republicans it was "reckless" to hold Monday's Supreme Court confirmation hearing amid a pandemic, especially given the recent outbreak of Covid-19 affecting three US senators.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris told Republicans it was "reckless" to hold Monday's Supreme Court confirmation hearing amid a pandemic, especially given the recent outbreak of Covid-19 affecting three US senators. "This hearing has brought together more than 50 people to sit inside of a closed-door room for hours while our nation is facing a deadly airborne virus," Harris, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told the hearing via videolink. "The decision to hold this hearing now is reckless and places facility's workers, janitorial staff and congressional aides and Capitol Police at risk," the 55-year-old senator added. As the Senate Judiciary Committee began its four-day confirmation hearing for Barrett, Democrats voiced their opposition even though they have little hope of derailing her nomination in the Republican-led Senate. The Democratic senators also painted US President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee -- Amy Comey Barrett -- as a threat to the Obamacare healthcare law during a deadly pandemic and denounced the Republican drive to approve her before the November 3 US election. Republican senators praised Barrett, an appellate court judge and a favorite of religious conservatives, as well qualified for a lifetime job on the high court and a worthy successor to the late liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Barrett, who had a bout with the coronavirus earlier in the year, removed her mask when she was sworn in to deliver her own opening statement. "I believe Americans of all backgrounds deserve an independent Supreme Court that interprets our Constitution and laws as they are written," Barrett said, with her husband and six of her seven children sitting behind her as she read from prepared remarks that had been made public on Sunday. Barrett's confirmation would give the court a 6-3 conservative majority that could roll back abortion rights, expand religious and gun rights, and uphold Republican-backed voting restrictions, among other issues. But it was the fate of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA), Democratic former President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy achievement that has enabled millions of Americans to obtain medical coverage, that was the focus of the Democrats. Barrett has criticized a 2012 Supreme Court ruling authored by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts that upheld Obamacare. Harris, the running mate of Trump's Democratic election opponent Joe Biden, said the hearing should have been postponed because of COVID-19 worries and called the confirmation process so near an election rushed and illegitimate. "I do believe this hearing is a clear attempt to jam through a Supreme Court nominee who will take away healthcare from millions of people during a deadly pandemic that has already killed more than 214,000 Americans," Harris said, speaking via a video link. "A clear majority of Americans want whomever wins the election to fill this seat, and my Republican colleagues know that. Yet they are deliberately defying the will of the people in their attempt to roll back the rights and protections provided under the Affordable Care Act," Harris said. Barrett could be confirmed in time to participate in a case to be argued on November 10 in which Trump and Republican-led states are seeking to invalidate Obamacare. Some legal experts doubt the justices, even with Barrett confirmed, would strike down Obamacare. Barrett will face questioning from senators on Tuesday and Wednesday in a hearing that sets the stage for a full Senate vote by the end of October on confirming her. Republicans have a 53-47 majority so Barrett`s confirmation seems almost certain. (with inputs)

Kamala Harris, Democrats slam Trump SC nominee, timing of confirmation hearing

Americans are rushing to cast ballots ahead of the Nov. 3 election at an unprecedented pace, early voting numbers show, indicating a possible record turnout for the showdown between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

US Election 2020: Early voting continue to surge despite coronavirus fears

Where would we be now if we had a truly politically incorrect president? Donald Trump is supposed to be politically incorrect, but, for the most part, he isn’t. He’s mainly just a jerk.

Jerkishness is often mistaken for political incorrectness, in the way that blind luck is easily mistaken for great skill. They’re fundamentally different. Political incorrectness is an expression of intellectual independence. Jerkishness is a personality defect. The former requires a sense of inner rectitude. The latter reveals an absence of inner boundaries.

Politically incorrect people are prepared to deviate from their own party, ideology or personal interest for the sake of a moral principle. Jerks are always in it for themselves alone.

Andrei Sakharov and Liu Xiaobo were politically incorrect: honest men in dishonest systems. Trump is a dishonest man in a country with an increasingly tenuous grip on the concept of honesty itself.

With this in mind, let’s imagine an alternative history for a (politically incorrect) Trump presidency.

January 2017: Shortly after his inauguration as president, Trump fulfills a campaign promise by releasing his full tax returns. In a statement, the president says he’s releasing them for two reasons.

“First of all, if our dishonest media ever gets a hold of them, and they will, they’ll lie about what’s in them! And second, they show just what’s wrong with our tax code. As a real estate developer, I make no apologies for taking advantage of every loophole. As president, I will close these crazy holes for the sake of the American people. #IAloneCanFixIt. #MAGA.”

February 2017: Infuriating movement conservatives, Trump resubmits 64-year-old Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court, saying he wants to uphold the principle — denied to his predecessor — that a president has the right to nominate a candidate to fill a vacant judgeship at any point in his administration.

But he does so as part of a deal in which one of the court’s older conservative justices steps down from the bench in favor of Neil Gorsuch, 49. The subsequent retirement of Anthony Kennedy and the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg mean the court regains its conservative majority, with three younger justices, by the end of Trump’s first term.

October 2017: Following the massacre of some 60 people (and the injury of more than 800) by a lone gunman in Las Vegas, Trump delivers a prime-time address on the subject of gun control. He observes that, at the time the Second Amendment was written, a skilled marksman could fire, at most, three or four rounds a minute.

“The right to bear arms cannot become a license for American carnage,” he says, borrowing a line from his inaugural address. “We’re either going to get serious about regulating the ability of just about anyone to get access to high-powered, rapid-firing weapons, or we’re going to start requiring every gun owner to spend every other Sunday doing drills in their local ‘well-regulated militia’ — just like it says in the Constitution.”

May 2018: In the face of a migration crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump proposes a grand-immigration bargain with congressional Democrats: full funding for a border wall, in exchange for a path to citizenship for Dreamers. Later, he expands the proposal to a $2 trillion infrastructure bill with “Buy American” provisions, in exchange for expedited environmental reviews for federal projects and a repeal of the Jim Crow-era Davis-Bacon Act, which has long inflated the labor costs of public works.

June 2018: Invoking Gerald Ford’s congressional testimony regarding his presidential pardon of Richard Nixon, Trump agrees to sit before the House Intelligence Committee on the subject of his campaign’s links to Russia. He expresses regret for hiring Paul Manafort as campaign chairman and for his praise for WikiLeaks, which he concedes interfered in the 2016 election. But he challenges the factual basis of the Steele dossier and the legal basis for the FBI’s investigation of his campaign.

July 2019: In a telephone call with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Trump makes no mention of the Biden family.

February 2020: Warning Americans that the novel coronavirus risks becoming the greatest global health emergency of the century, Trump tells Americans that we can beat this, and keep the economy strong, by adopting common-sense social-distancing measures: avoiding crowded public transportation, sports arenas, concerts and bars. Going further than even his own health experts recommended, he talks up his well-known germophobia and insists that everyone in the White House wear a face mask. But he also warns state governors that attempts to lock down entire communities in an effort to contain the spread is a futile cure that will impose ruinous economic costs.

June 2020: After the killing of George Floyd, Trump convenes a conference of law enforcement officials and others to develop a set of national police standards. He asks Rep. Valerie Demings, D-Fla., to lead the conference.

For many conservatives (including me), some of these proposals would have been hard to accept. Liberals would have their own objections to some of this ideological jiujitsu. Then again, what an interesting and fruitful administration it might have been. America still awaits a politically incorrect president — while it waits out the jerk.

Where would we be now if we had a truly politically incorrect president? Donald Trump is supposed to be politically incorrect, but, for the most part, he isn’t. He’s mainly just a jerk.

Where would we be now if we had a truly politically incorrect president? Donald Trump is supposed to be politically incorrect, but, for the most part, he isn’t. He’s mainly just a jerk. Jerkishness is often mistaken for political incorrectness, in the way that blind luck is easily mistaken for great skill. They’re fundamentally different. Political incorrectness is an expression of intellectual independence. Jerkishness is a personality defect. The former requires a sense of inner rectitude. The latter reveals an absence of inner boundaries. Politically incorrect people are prepared to deviate from their own party, ideology or personal interest for the sake of a moral principle. Jerks are always in it for themselves alone. Andrei Sakharov and Liu Xiaobo were politically incorrect: honest men in dishonest systems. Trump is a dishonest man in a country with an increasingly tenuous grip on the concept of honesty itself. With this in mind, let’s imagine an alternative history for a (politically incorrect) Trump presidency. January 2017: Shortly after his inauguration as president, Trump fulfills a campaign promise by releasing his full tax returns. In a statement, the president says he’s releasing them for two reasons. “First of all, if our dishonest media ever gets a hold of them, and they will, they’ll lie about what’s in them! And second, they show just what’s wrong with our tax code. As a real estate developer, I make no apologies for taking advantage of every loophole. As president, I will close these crazy holes for the sake of the American people. #IAloneCanFixIt. #MAGA.” February 2017: Infuriating movement conservatives, Trump resubmits 64-year-old Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court, saying he wants to uphold the principle — denied to his predecessor — that a president has the right to nominate a candidate to fill a vacant judgeship at any point in his administration. But he does so as part of a deal in which one of the court’s older conservative justices steps down from the bench in favor of Neil Gorsuch, 49. The subsequent retirement of Anthony Kennedy and the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg mean the court regains its conservative majority, with three younger justices, by the end of Trump’s first term. October 2017: Following the massacre of some 60 people (and the injury of more than 800) by a lone gunman in Las Vegas, Trump delivers a prime-time address on the subject of gun control. He observes that, at the time the Second Amendment was written, a skilled marksman could fire, at most, three or four rounds a minute. “The right to bear arms cannot become a license for American carnage,” he says, borrowing a line from his inaugural address. “We’re either going to get serious about regulating the ability of just about anyone to get access to high-powered, rapid-firing weapons, or we’re going to start requiring every gun owner to spend every other Sunday doing drills in their local ‘well-regulated militia’ — just like it says in the Constitution.” May 2018: In the face of a migration crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump proposes a grand-immigration bargain with congressional Democrats: full funding for a border wall, in exchange for a path to citizenship for Dreamers. Later, he expands the proposal to a $2 trillion infrastructure bill with “Buy American” provisions, in exchange for expedited environmental reviews for federal projects and a repeal of the Jim Crow-era Davis-Bacon Act, which has long inflated the labor costs of public works. June 2018: Invoking Gerald Ford’s congressional testimony regarding his presidential pardon of Richard Nixon, Trump agrees to sit before the House Intelligence Committee on the subject of his campaign’s links to Russia. He expresses regret for hiring Paul Manafort as campaign chairman and for his praise for WikiLeaks, which he concedes interfered in the 2016 election. But he challenges the factual basis of the Steele dossier and the legal basis for the FBI’s investigation of his campaign. July 2019: In a telephone call with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Trump makes no mention of the Biden family. February 2020: Warning Americans that the novel coronavirus risks becoming the greatest global health emergency of the century, Trump tells Americans that we can beat this, and keep the economy strong, by adopting common-sense social-distancing measures: avoiding crowded public transportation, sports arenas, concerts and bars. Going further than even his own health experts recommended, he talks up his well-known germophobia and insists that everyone in the White House wear a face mask. But he also warns state governors that attempts to lock down entire communities in an effort to contain the spread is a futile cure that will impose ruinous economic costs. June 2020: After the killing of George Floyd, Trump convenes a conference of law enforcement officials and others to develop a set of national police standards. He asks Rep. Valerie Demings, D-Fla., to lead the conference. For many conservatives (including me), some of these proposals would have been hard to accept. Liberals would have their own objections to some of this ideological jiujitsu. Then again, what an interesting and fruitful administration it might have been. America still awaits a politically incorrect president — while it waits out the jerk.

Imagining the Trump presidency that wasn’t

WASHINGTON — There is, traditionally, a predictable rhythm to the start of a “much-awaited hearing” on Capitol Hill.

There are protesters and counterprotesters, enhanced police and news media presences, insufferable opening statements and an overall sense that something more momentous than usual might be going on.

The start of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Monday had all of that. But like everything else in Washington these days, this was an entirely different kind of pinstripe rodeo.

Start with the hazmat suits.

“We are making a point,” said Jennie Spector, one of a few dozen demonstrators dressed in white hazmat suits convened outside the Hart Senate Office Building.

It was insane to be holding these hearings, Spector said. After all, two Republicans on the committee had recently tested positive for the coronavirus. And the committee chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was among those at the White House “super spreader” event last month, had refused to get tested in recent days.

But there they all were. Showtime in a potential petri dish.

For the record, Spector said she purchased her hazmat suit at Walgreens. Apparently you can buy hazmat suits at Walgreens these days. How 2020 is that? The white jumpsuits doubled as decent rain gear in the morning drizzle.

Inside, everyone seemed to be remarking upon the senators’ varying degrees of public health diligence or recklessness. Viral vulnerability and co-morbidities were assessed. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Charles E. Grassley are 87!

As a general rule, U.S. Capitol Police officers have been diligent in their enforcement of mask requirements, with blatant exceptions. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who attended the super spreader event — the Rose Garden announcement of President Donald Trump’s nomination of Barrett to the Supreme Court — and tested positive soon after, delivered his opening statement sans mask. He had previously assured everyone that he had been “cleared” by his doctor.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, appeared remotely as he was self-quarantined after coming in contact with an infected party (Lee). Hand sanitizer, disinfecting machines and wipe dispensers are the new candy bowls in Senate offices.

Other novelties were more subtle, but telling. Upon gaveling the proceedings to order, Graham opened what he called “the hearing to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court,” a choice of words that pretty much gave away the game at the outset. Usually, the parliamentary term of art is for the chairman to commence a hearing to “consider the nomination” of so and so, not merely rubber stamp, or “confirm,” the nominee.

In other words, this would not be a deliberation as much as a media spectacle convened amid particles that may or may not be lethal.

“This is probably not about persuading each other unless something really dramatic happens,” Graham said. “All the Republicans will vote yes. All the Democrats will vote no.”

It raised an obvious question: Why were we even here?

There was a certain low energy to the whole tableau. Numbers of both pro- and anti-Barrett demonstrators were less than what you’d expect on Opening Day of a big Senate proceeding. It was a holiday. It was raining. It was Monday. Chants were muffled by germ masks.

People seemed to be going through the motions. They seemed tired.

The hearings droned on through a procession of opening statements from the senators — 22 — before Barrett even uttered a word. Fun!

Graham was an obvious person of interest. In addition to his role as chairman and ubiquity in Trump’s orbit, he faces a possible reckoning at the polls next month in a tight reelection campaign.

He also has a habit of spectacular about-faces — all caught on video — on everything from his previous ill feelings toward Trump to whether Senate Republicans should have the right to fill a Supreme Court vacancy shortly before a presidential election. No way, he declared in 2018. “You can use words against me,” he thundered at the time, and of course, no one had been waiting for his permission.

Another high-curiosity figure for obvious reasons was Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who is former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate.

“This hearing should have been postponed,” said Harris, who appeared remotely. “The decision to hold this hearing now is reckless and places facilities workers, janitorial staff and congressional aides and Capitol Police at risk.”

Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana was a rare Republican senator to subject himself to news media questions outside the hearing room. “This is a solemn occasion,” Kennedy said softly before launching into what has become a key part of the Republican message, bemoaning all of the terrible attacks Barrett was being forced to endure from Democrats over her Christian faith. “Some of my colleagues tried to attack her on her religion,” Kennedy said.

“Wait, who did that?” one reporter asked. For the record, no one on the committee had.

“I’m not going to argue with you guys,” Kennedy said.

It was a simple question: Could he name a colleague who attacked Barrett over her religion?

“I don’t want to go there,” Kennedy demurred. “I understand the point of your question. It’s to try to get me to attack one of my colleagues.”

“Y’all get outside,” he urged reporters as he headed back into the hearing room. “Get a little sun.” Folksy!

Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., replaced Kennedy at the standing microphone in front of reporters and immediately pounded on the Democrats’ key theme of the day: Putting Barrett on the Supreme Court would hasten the demise of the Affordable Care Act.

Durbin then pivoted to some Senate math. Keep in mind, Durbin said, that two Republican senators did not support holding the hearing now. Presumably he was referring to Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, both of whom said the Supreme Court vacancy should not be filled until after the next president is selected.

If two more Republican senators could not support Barrett, the Republicans would not have the votes to confirm, and would be forced to put off the vote until after the election. “Which is what we think the right thing to do is,” Durbin said.

It was not immediately clear whether Durbin was suggesting that those elusive two Republican votes might be persuaded not to support Barrett on the merits, or simply might not be able to participate in a vote or quorum for some reason. Illness, perhaps.

This is one of those morbid speculation scenarios that seems to be getting tossed out a lot these days on Capitol Hill.

“I’m not talking about gaming COVID-19,” Durbin said when a reporter asked if that in fact was what he was suggesting. “Not at all,” he reiterated.

That settled, Durbin reentered the hearing room, and Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, parked himself nearby in front of another cluster of reporters. As Meadows began to remove his mask to speak, CNN’s Kristin Wilson asked if he could please keep it on. Meadows had been in close contact with dozens of infected parties over the past two weeks, including Trump.

“I’m not going to talk through a mask,” Meadows, and that was that. He headed off. It was yet another discussion in these dark Washington days that was over before it began.

WASHINGTON — There is, traditionally, a predictable rhythm to the start of a “much-awaited hearing” on Capitol Hill. There are protesters and counterprotesters, enhanced police and news media presences, insufferable opening statements and an overall sense that something more momentous than usual might be going on.

WASHINGTON — There is, traditionally, a predictable rhythm to the start of a “much-awaited hearing” on Capitol Hill. There are protesters and counterprotesters, enhanced police and news media presences, insufferable opening statements and an overall sense that something more momentous than usual might be going on. The start of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett on Monday had all of that. But like everything else in Washington these days, this was an entirely different kind of pinstripe rodeo. Start with the hazmat suits. “We are making a point,” said Jennie Spector, one of a few dozen demonstrators dressed in white hazmat suits convened outside the Hart Senate Office Building. It was insane to be holding these hearings, Spector said. After all, two Republicans on the committee had recently tested positive for the coronavirus. And the committee chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who was among those at the White House “super spreader” event last month, had refused to get tested in recent days. But there they all were. Showtime in a potential petri dish. For the record, Spector said she purchased her hazmat suit at Walgreens. Apparently you can buy hazmat suits at Walgreens these days. How 2020 is that? The white jumpsuits doubled as decent rain gear in the morning drizzle. Inside, everyone seemed to be remarking upon the senators’ varying degrees of public health diligence or recklessness. Viral vulnerability and co-morbidities were assessed. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Charles E. Grassley are 87! As a general rule, U.S. Capitol Police officers have been diligent in their enforcement of mask requirements, with blatant exceptions. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who attended the super spreader event — the Rose Garden announcement of President Donald Trump’s nomination of Barrett to the Supreme Court — and tested positive soon after, delivered his opening statement sans mask. He had previously assured everyone that he had been “cleared” by his doctor. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, appeared remotely as he was self-quarantined after coming in contact with an infected party (Lee). Hand sanitizer, disinfecting machines and wipe dispensers are the new candy bowls in Senate offices. Other novelties were more subtle, but telling. Upon gaveling the proceedings to order, Graham opened what he called “the hearing to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court,” a choice of words that pretty much gave away the game at the outset. Usually, the parliamentary term of art is for the chairman to commence a hearing to “consider the nomination” of so and so, not merely rubber stamp, or “confirm,” the nominee. In other words, this would not be a deliberation as much as a media spectacle convened amid particles that may or may not be lethal. “This is probably not about persuading each other unless something really dramatic happens,” Graham said. “All the Republicans will vote yes. All the Democrats will vote no.” It raised an obvious question: Why were we even here? There was a certain low energy to the whole tableau. Numbers of both pro- and anti-Barrett demonstrators were less than what you’d expect on Opening Day of a big Senate proceeding. It was a holiday. It was raining. It was Monday. Chants were muffled by germ masks. People seemed to be going through the motions. They seemed tired. The hearings droned on through a procession of opening statements from the senators — 22 — before Barrett even uttered a word. Fun! Graham was an obvious person of interest. In addition to his role as chairman and ubiquity in Trump’s orbit, he faces a possible reckoning at the polls next month in a tight reelection campaign. He also has a habit of spectacular about-faces — all caught on video — on everything from his previous ill feelings toward Trump to whether Senate Republicans should have the right to fill a Supreme Court vacancy shortly before a presidential election. No way, he declared in 2018. “You can use words against me,” he thundered at the time, and of course, no one had been waiting for his permission. Another high-curiosity figure for obvious reasons was Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., who is former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate. “This hearing should have been postponed,” said Harris, who appeared remotely. “The decision to hold this hearing now is reckless and places facilities workers, janitorial staff and congressional aides and Capitol Police at risk.” Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana was a rare Republican senator to subject himself to news media questions outside the hearing room. “This is a solemn occasion,” Kennedy said softly before launching into what has become a key part of the Republican message, bemoaning all of the terrible attacks Barrett was being forced to endure from Democrats over her Christian faith. “Some of my colleagues tried to attack her on her religion,” Kennedy said. “Wait, who did that?” one reporter asked. For the record, no one on the committee had. “I’m not going to argue with you guys,” Kennedy said. It was a simple question: Could he name a colleague who attacked Barrett over her religion? “I don’t want to go there,” Kennedy demurred. “I understand the point of your question. It’s to try to get me to attack one of my colleagues.” “Y’all get outside,” he urged reporters as he headed back into the hearing room. “Get a little sun.” Folksy! Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., replaced Kennedy at the standing microphone in front of reporters and immediately pounded on the Democrats’ key theme of the day: Putting Barrett on the Supreme Court would hasten the demise of the Affordable Care Act. Durbin then pivoted to some Senate math. Keep in mind, Durbin said, that two Republican senators did not support holding the hearing now. Presumably he was referring to Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, both of whom said the Supreme Court vacancy should not be filled until after the next president is selected. If two more Republican senators could not support Barrett, the Republicans would not have the votes to confirm, and would be forced to put off the vote until after the election. “Which is what we think the right thing to do is,” Durbin said. It was not immediately clear whether Durbin was suggesting that those elusive two Republican votes might be persuaded not to support Barrett on the merits, or simply might not be able to participate in a vote or quorum for some reason. Illness, perhaps. This is one of those morbid speculation scenarios that seems to be getting tossed out a lot these days on Capitol Hill. “I’m not talking about gaming COVID-19,” Durbin said when a reporter asked if that in fact was what he was suggesting. “Not at all,” he reiterated. That settled, Durbin reentered the hearing room, and Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, parked himself nearby in front of another cluster of reporters. As Meadows began to remove his mask to speak, CNN’s Kristin Wilson asked if he could please keep it on. Meadows had been in close contact with dozens of infected parties over the past two weeks, including Trump. “I’m not going to talk through a mask,” Meadows, and that was that. He headed off. It was yet another discussion in these dark Washington days that was over before it began.

Showtime in a potential petri dish

The Irish for Biden campaign was launched on Friday in County Louth, where Mr Biden's maternal great-grandparents immigrated from in the 1850's

US Election 2020: 'Irish For Biden' campaign launched in ancestral home

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday (October 12) opened its four-day confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett in what the panel's chairman predicted would be a "long contentious week," as Democrats denounced a Republican drive to approve her before the Nov. 3 U.S. election.

Senate hearing opens for U.S. Supreme Court pick Amy Coney Barrett

Top US government scientist Anthony Fauci has said an ad aired by Donald Trump's reelection campaign was edited to make him seem to endorse the&nbsp;president's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.&nbsp;

But Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, has so far never endorsed any political candidate.

"In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate," Fauci said in a statement.

The 30-second campaign ad cites Trump's personal experience with the virus -- "President Trump is recovering from the coronavirus, and so is America," it says -- before including a brief clip in which Fauci appears to praise the president's response to the pandemic.&nbsp;

"I can't imagine that anybody could be doing more," Fauci is shown as saying, creating the clear impression he is referring to Trump.

The complete clip, however, shows no hint of any appreciation. The clip is from Fauci's interview in March with Fox News, and shows the doctor saying: "I have been devoting almost full time on this. I'm down at the White House virtually every day with the task force. It's every single day. So, I can't imagine that under any circumstances that anybody could be doing more."

In his statement Sunday, Fauci said, "The comments attributed to me without my permission in the GOP campaign ad were taken out of context from a broad statement I made months ago about the efforts of federal public health officials."

Trump, as expected, did not budge and defended the clip, and his handling of pandemic, and rebutted the doctor's criticism.

"They are indeed Dr. Fauci's own words. We have done a 'phenomenal' job, according to certain governors," the president wrote in a tweet.

As a leading member of the White House task force on the coronavirus, the 79-year-old doctor has frequently had to walk a fine line in attempting to clarify -- or correct -- the Trump's often incautious assertions about the disease or the treatments and vaccines being developed against Covid-19.&nbsp;

Fauci has at times aroused Trump's ire, as when the president in April retweeted a message containing the hashtag #FireFauci -- before publicly insisting the doctor was doing a great job.

Top US government scientist Anthony Fauci has said an ad aired by Donald Trump's reelection campaign was edited to make him seem to endorse the president's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Top US government scientist Anthony Fauci has said an ad aired by Donald Trump's reelection campaign was edited to make him seem to endorse the president's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. But Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, has so far never endorsed any political candidate. "In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate," Fauci said in a statement. The 30-second campaign ad cites Trump's personal experience with the virus -- "President Trump is recovering from the coronavirus, and so is America," it says -- before including a brief clip in which Fauci appears to praise the president's response to the pandemic. "I can't imagine that anybody could be doing more," Fauci is shown as saying, creating the clear impression he is referring to Trump. The complete clip, however, shows no hint of any appreciation. The clip is from Fauci's interview in March with Fox News, and shows the doctor saying: "I have been devoting almost full time on this. I'm down at the White House virtually every day with the task force. It's every single day. So, I can't imagine that under any circumstances that anybody could be doing more." In his statement Sunday, Fauci said, "The comments attributed to me without my permission in the GOP campaign ad were taken out of context from a broad statement I made months ago about the efforts of federal public health officials." Trump, as expected, did not budge and defended the clip, and his handling of pandemic, and rebutted the doctor's criticism. "They are indeed Dr. Fauci's own words. We have done a 'phenomenal' job, according to certain governors," the president wrote in a tweet. As a leading member of the White House task force on the coronavirus, the 79-year-old doctor has frequently had to walk a fine line in attempting to clarify -- or correct -- the Trump's often incautious assertions about the disease or the treatments and vaccines being developed against Covid-19. Fauci has at times aroused Trump's ire, as when the president in April retweeted a message containing the hashtag #FireFauci -- before publicly insisting the doctor was doing a great job.

Fauci says Trump campaign ad twisted his words on coronavirus

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