
Senate panel to consider Rachel Levine's historic nomination for HHS assistant secretary
CNN
A Senate confirmation hearing will take place on Thursday for President Joe Biden's pick to serve as assistant health secretary, Dr. Rachel Levine, who would make history as the first out transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.
The hearing before the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee will also consider the nomination of Dr. Vivek Murthy to serve as US surgeon general, a role Murthy held under the Obama administration. As surgeon general under President Barack Obama, Murthy helped lead the national response to the Ebola and Zika viruses and the opioid crisis, among other health challenges. If confirmed, Murthy would be poised to play a key role in the Biden administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
A federal judge on Friday blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from enforcing most of his executive order on elections against the vote-by-mail states Washington and Oregon, in the latest blow to Trump’s efforts to require documentary proof of citizenship to vote and to require that all ballots be received by Election Day.

A Border Patrol agent shot two people in Portland, Oregon, during a traffic stop after authorities said they were associated with a Venezuelan gang, another incident in a string of confrontations with federal authorities that have left Americans frustrated with immigration enforcement during the Trump administration.











