WASHINGTON —

The U.S. Marine Corps is without a confirmed leader for the first time in a century as Gen. David Berger stepped down as commandant on Monday and a Republican senator is blocking approval of his successor.

Berger took over as the 38th commandant in July 2019, and is required to leave the job after four years. Gen. Eric Smith, currently the assistant commandant, has been nominated to be the next leader, but will serve in an acting capacity because he hasn't been confirmed by the Senate.

Under the law, Smith can serve as the acting commandant, but he can do nothing that would presume confirmation. As a result, he can't move into the main residence or the commandant's office, or issue any new formal commandant's planning guidance, which is traditional for a new leader. He has the authority to implement new policies such as budget, training and other personnel decisions.

Smith's promotion delay is the first of what could be many top level military officers held up by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. Tuberville has stalled all nominations for senior military jobs because he disagrees with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's decision to have the Defense Department pay for travel when a service member has to go out of state to get an abortion or other reproductive care. Abortion is now illegal in Alabama.

In the video player above: See moments from a Relinquishment of Office ceremony held by the U.S. Marines

Speaking at a ceremony at the Marine Barracks Washington, just down the street from Capitol Hill, Austin and Berger called on the Senate to take action.

"We need the Senate to do their job so that we can have a sitting commandant that's appointed and confirmed. We need that house to be occupied," said Berger, with a nod to the commandant's quarters at the edge of the parade field.

Austin and other Pentagon officials have pressed the Senate to move forward, saying that delays are already impacting more than 200 military officers, and many key leaders.

"You know, it's been more than a century since the U.S. Marine Corps has operated without a Senate confirmed commandant," Austin said during the ceremony.

Because of Berger's requirement to step down in July, the Marine job is the first of the military chiefs to be affected by Tuberville. The Army, Navy and Air Force are all expected to face the same delay later this year, as could the nomination of the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The current chairman, Army Gen. Mark Milley, leaves his job at the end of September. Gen. CQ Brown, the current chief of the Air Force, has been nominated to replace Milley, and is scheduled to go before the Senate Armed Services Committee for his hearing on Tuesday.

The hold, however, is also impacting scores of one, two and three-star officers who are assigned to new commands but can't move on. It also affects their families, who usually relocate over the summer to their new military communities so school-age children can settle in before fall.

"Smooth and timely transitions of confirmed leadership are central to the defense of the United States and to the full strength of the most powerful fighting force in history," said Austin. "Stable and orderly leadership transitions are also vital to maintaining our unmatched network of allies and partners. And they're crucial for our military readiness."

Smith hit the thorny issue head on during his remarks at the ceremony Monday — saying he wanted to get one thing out fast.

"If you're saying, 'what am I supposed to call you?' ACMC. That is my title, and one that I'm proud of," said Smith, using the shorthand for his assistant commandant role. But he quickly added, "to make sure that there is no confusion — all orders, directives and guidance, which were in effect this morning remain in effect, unless I direct otherwise. Further guidance to the force will follow."

Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Monday that as of last Friday, there were 265 senior officers whose promotions have been held up by Tuberville, and that number could leap to 650 by the end of the year if the issue isn't corrected. She noted that in more than 100 cases, officers — like Smith — would be forced to do two jobs at the same time because no one can move up.

She said the Pentagon is asking officers to delay planned retirements and stay on, while in other cases officers are doing more senior ranking jobs without getting the pay for that new rank.

Later in the day, Jack Reed, D-R.I., chairman of the Senate committee, spoke on the Senate floor, asking that Smith be confirmed and criticizing Tuberville for what he called an unprecedented hold that is driving the U.S. military "to a potential breaking point.

"In General Smith we have a Purple Heart recipient — this man has literally shed his blood for his country," said Reed, who attended the Marine ceremony. "He stands ready to continue his service to our nation and the Marines he will lead for four more years. He simply awaits our action."

Tuberville, however, blocked a vote and in a Senate floor speech said the holds would have "minimal effect" on Smith's ability to lead.

"There may be a delay in his planning guidance, and yet he cannot move into the commandant's residence, but there is little doubt about General Smith's ability to lead effectively," said Tuberville.

The last time the Corps was led by an acting commandant was in 1910. Then-Maj. Gen. George Elliott, who was the commandant, reached the required retirement age in November 1910 and left the office. Col. William Biddle served as the acting commandant until he was promoted to major general and became commandant in February 1911.

Berger, a native of Woodbine, Maryland, graduated from Tulane University and was commissioned in 1981. He commanded at every level including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

During his tenure, he spearheaded a broad campaign to transform the Marine Corps to better be able to fight amphibious wars in the Pacific after years of battling terrorist groups in the Middle East. The plan was lauded by many in the Pentagon and Congress as a critical way for the Marines to prepare for a potential conflict with China.

Smith, a career infantry officer, is a highly decorated Marine who served multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, including time in Fallujah and Ramadi during heavy combat in 2004 and 2005 in Operation Iraq Freedom. He later was the senior military adviser to Defense Secretary Ash Carter.

_____

Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

DES MOINES, Iowa —

Iowa Republicans have scheduled the party's presidential nominating caucuses for Jan. 15, 2024, putting the first votes of the next election a little more than six months away.

The Iowa Republican Party's state central committee voted unanimously Saturday to hold the leadoff contests on the third Monday in January — on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day federal holiday.

Though Republican presidential candidates have been campaigning in Iowa since last winter, there has been some uncertainty about when the traditional leadoff contests would be held. That is partly due to the Democratic National Committee's reshuffling of its calendar and dropping Iowa as its first contest.

The GOP date is earlier by several weeks than the past three Iowa caucuses, though not as early as 2008, when they were held just three days into the new year.

Caucuses, unlike primary elections, are contests planned, financed and carried out by the parties, not state election officials. The Iowa announcement Saturday allows New Hampshire, which has not set a primary election date yet, to protect its first-in-the-nation status, which is codified in state law that requires that contest to be held at least seven days ahead of any other primary.

Last month, South Carolina Republicans adopted Feb. 24 as the date for the traditional first Southern primary, leaving plenty of time for Nevada to schedule its Republican caucuses without crowding New Hampshire.

"We remain committed to maintaining Iowa's cherished first-in-the-nation caucuses, and look forward to holding a historic caucus in the coming months and defeating Joe Biden come November 2024," Iowa Republican Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said in a statement.

Saturday's decision could have implications for both parties because Iowa Democrats had been waiting on the state's Republican Party to set its caucus date as they try to adjust to new DNC rules on the order of the 2024 presidential primary.

Iowa Democrats have proposed holding a caucus on the same day as the state's Republicans and allowing participants to vote for president via mail-in ballot. But Iowa Democrats have said they may not immediately release the results.

That could allow the state party to still hold the first-in-the-nation caucus without defying a new primary calendar endorsed by President Joe Biden and approved by the DNC that calls for South Carolina to replace Iowa in the leadoff spot and kick off primary voting on Feb. 3.

NEW YORK (AP) — Two people have pleaded guilty in a scheme to peddle a diary and other items belonging to President Joe Biden’s daughter to the conservative group Project Veritas for $40,000, prosecutors said Thursday.

The two, both from Florida, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams' office said.

While authorities didn’t identify Biden, the type of property stolen or the organization that paid, the details of the investigation have been public for months.

Ashley Biden stored the diary, tax records, a digital device with family photos and a cellphone in September 2020 in a Delray Beach, Florida, home where one of the defendants was living at the time, prosecutors said in a release.

They said the woman stole the items and got in touch with the other defendant, a man who contacted Project Veritas, which asked for photos of the material and then paid for the two to bring it to New York.

Project Veritas staffers met with the two in New York and dispatched them back to Florida to retrieve more of Ashley Biden’s items from the home, which they did and turned the material over to a local Project Veritas worker who brought it to New York, prosecutors said.

The activist group, which considers itself a news organization, paid the two $20,000 apiece, prosecutors said.

Project Veritas has said it received the diary from “tipsters” who said it had been abandoned in a room. The activist group said it turned the journal over to law enforcement and never did anything illegal.

Founder James O’Keefe has said that Project Veritas ultimately did not publish information from the diary because it could not confirm it belonged to Ashley Biden.

Project Veritas is best known for conducting hidden camera stings that have embarrassed news outlets, labor organizations and Democratic politicians.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to launch a Republican presidential campaign next week in New Hampshire.Christie, who also ran in 2016, is planning to make the announcement at a town hall Tuesday evening at Saint Anselm College's New Hampshire Institute of Politics, according to a person familiar with his thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm Christie's plans.The timing, which was first reported by Axios, comes after several longtime Christie advisers started a super political action committee to support his expected candidacy.The Associated Press had previously reported that Christie was expected to enter the race "imminently."Christie has cast himself as the only potential candidate willing to aggressively take on former President Donald Trump, the current front-runner for the nomination. Christie, a former federal prosecutor, was a longtime friend and adviser to Trump, but broke with Trump over his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election. Christie has since emerged as a leading and vocal critic of the former president.Christie, who is currently polling at the bottom of the pack, dropped out of the 2016 presidential race a day after finishing sixth in New Hampshire's primary.In addition to Trump, Christie would be joining a GOP field that includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and biotech entrepreneur and "anti-woke" activist Vivek Ramaswamy.North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is expected to announce his candidacy on June 7, according to two GOP operatives. And former Vice President Mike Pence is also expected to launch a campaign soon.Allies believe that Christie, who has been working as an ABC News analyst, has a unique ability to communicate. They say his candidacy could help prevent a repeat of 2016, when Trump's rivals largely refrained from directly attacking the New York businessman, wrongly assuming he would implode on his own.Christie has also said repeatedly that he will not run if he does not see a path to victory. "I'm not a paid assassin," he recently told Politico.While Christie is expected to spend much of his time in early-voting New Hampshire, as he did in 2016, advisers believe the path to the nomination runs through Trump and they envision an unconventional, national campaign for Christie with a focus on garnering media attention and directly engaging with Trump.

MEMPHIS, Ten. — Ranked choice voting gives voters the chance to vote for more than one candidate in an election. This system is becoming more popular for many elections.

“I think a lot of voters realize that they have limited choices, that sometimes it's a Coke versus Pepsi kind of thing, and they like more choice,” said Steven Mulroy, a professor of law at the University of Memphis.

Mulroy has studied ranked choice voting for decades and said more people are supporting this system because it’s more representative of who voters want to elect.

“Ranked choice voting is a voting system where rather than just voting for one person only, the voter is given the option if they want, to rank their preferences,” said Mulroy.

This may sound confusing, but here’s how it works: You rank candidates in order of preference. If a candidate receives more than half of the first choices, that candidate wins, just like in any other election.

If there is no majority winner after counting first choices, the race is decided by an "instant runoff."

The candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and voters who picked that candidate as number 1 will have their votes count for their next choice.

This process continues until two candidates remain, and the majority candidate wins.

Voters do not have to rank candidates if they don’t want to; they have the choice to vote for one person.

This system is being more widely used across the country. Maine and Alaska used it in the last presidential election, and nearly two dozen other states use ranked choice voting in local elections.

“It's used in both red states and blue states,” said Mulroy. “They don't tend to favor Democrats or Republicans. They tend to favor who has majority support. So, in a Democratic majority district, it'll tend to favor Democrats, and in a republican majority district. It'll tend to favor Republicans.

It also eliminates runoff elections—which usually have low voter turnout and cost counties more money

“You're one and done. You make sure you have a majority winner, but you do it all at once without the trouble and the expense of a separate runoff election,” said Mulroy.

From what he’s seen, it’s helped make the campaign season less negative. “It tends to elect candidates with consensus candidates with broad based support. It has not depressed minority representation. In fact, minority representation has increased where it has been used. Another thing is that ranked choice voting tends to result in more women being elected,” said Mulroy.

In Mulroy’s hometown of Memphis, the community voted to enact ranked choice voting three separate times. But, state and local election officials pushed back…and the system has never been implemented, now, in Tennessee, the state legislature is working to ban ranked choice voting altogether.

“A lot of times the opposition that you hear comes from incumbents. Because ranked choice voting makes elections more competitive. It levels the playing field between incumbents and challengers, and incumbents don't like that,” said Mulroy.

Memphis teacher Erika Sugarmon tried to challenge the incumbent party in her local city council election. “They call me the crusader, you know, because I'm always fighting for teachers, students and parents,” said Erika.

Voters in her district had approved ranked choice voting, but the system was never implemented.

She said, if it had been, the election would’ve gone differently. “Looking at the figures and looking at our backgrounds and looking at the way the voters voted, I would have won,” said Sugarmon.

She’s now part of a lawsuit to get ranked choice voting into her district, a move she says will make elections more representative of the community.

“It's not a Democratic issue or Republican issue. It's an issue about the voting system and working for all people, and we all want the same thing. We all want fair elections,” said Sugarmon.

Not everyone is in support of ranked choice voting. Opponents of this voting method say it can be confusing to voters, it can give too much power to smaller parties, and changing voting systems could be expensive. But, both sides hope voters educate themselves, no matter their view.

Bob Dole, a Republican Party stalwart and presidential hopeful who espoused a brand of plain-spoken conservatism as one of Washington's most recognizable political figures throughout the latter half of the 20th century, died Sunday.

"Senator Robert Joseph Dole died early this morning in his sleep. At his death, at age 98, he had served the United States of America faithfully for 79 years," according to a statement from his family.

He had announced in February that he was being treated for advanced lung cancer. President Joe Biden visited Dole shortly after learning of the diagnosis.

Dole, who was seriously wounded during World War II, had suffered a series of health ailments in previous years. In 1991, he received surgery for prostate cancer, received abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery in 2001, was hospitalized in 2005 after a fall in his home and was treated for a leg infection in 2009.

Dole is survived by his wife, former Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, and daughter Robin Dole.

Arriving in Washington at the dawn of the Kennedy administration, Dole would serve for 27 years as a U.S. senator from Kansas, including two stints as the Senate majority leader, though he might be best known for his unsuccessful run as the Republican presidential nominee against Bill Clinton in 1996, his third attempt at the White House. He also served as President Gerald Ford's running mate in 1976 after Nelson Rockefeller declined to stay on as vice president.

Early in his Senate career, he was labeled a "hatchet man" by his critics and drew national attention for his vehement defense of President Richard Nixon throughout the Watergate scandal. He considered Nixon a friend and a mentor — later eulogizing Nixon at his funeral in 1994 as the "most durable public figure of our time." In a notable departure from his sour public image, he choked up at the end of his remarks.

But in taking up the mantle of GOP leader in the Senate, Dole's reputation became that of a whip smart lawmaker and a tough negotiator willing to work across the aisle with Democrats on issues such as Social Security reform, the Americans with Disabilities Act and landmark nutrition legislation.

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"By all rights, he and I should have had a lousy relationship," former Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle, who was the Senate's top Democrat during Dole's second stint as majority leader, said in a 2000 speech. "The fact that we did not was due to Bob Dole — to his civility, to his pragmatism, to his quick wit and self-effacing humor, and to his love of this country and to this United States Senate. His sense of fairness and decency is a standard for which everyone in public life should aim."

In his book "What It Takes" about the 1988 election, journalist Richard Ben Cramer described Dole as a Senate leader who was always ready with a joke and a greeting and was "never more cheerful, more at peace, than he was in the wee hours, when a deal was going down and he was waiting for someone to crack, while he drank a milkshake and told old stories in the Senate dining room."

Three-time presidential hopeful

In 1996, he resigned from the Senate as the chamber's then-longest serving GOP leader to focus on running for the White House, quipping it was either "the White House or home." He entered the race as the front-runner and fended off an early challenge from his right from Pat Buchanan to secure the nomination, then selected former congressman and supply-side economics champion Jack Kemp as his running mate.

But he lost the election handily to incumbent President Bill Clinton, who at the time was riding a strong economy and drew a contrast between his image as a Baby Boomer and the 73-year-old Dole, who was portrayed as old and out of touch.

It was the last of Dole's bids for the White House. His first, in 1980, gained little traction, but his second, in 1988, initially provided a strong challenge to eventual nominee George H.W. Bush after Dole won the Iowa caucuses. The race between the two men eventually turned nasty, culminating with Dole testily telling Bush in a live television moment on the night he lost the New Hampshire primary, "Stop lying about my record."

The rivalry between the two men would fade over time; in 2018, when Bush laid in state at the Capitol Rotunda, Dole was helped to his feet from his wheelchair to salute his one-time opponent.

Despite never winning election as either president or vice president, Dole's long career on the national stage and as a leader of the Republican establishment is abundantly clear in one piece of party history: 14 GOP presidential tickets from 1952 to 2004 (all of them except for 1964) included either Dole, Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush or George W. Bush.

Dole also had a notably warm personal relationship with Clinton, who told the audience at their first presidential debate, "You can probably tell we like each other."

A few months after his loss to Clinton, Dole would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his service in World War II and Congress from his former rival and flashed his sense of humor.

"I, Robert J. Dole, do solemnly swear ..." he quipped during the ceremony, pretending to take the oath of office. "Sorry, wrong speech. But I had a dream that I would be here this week, receiving something from the president, but I thought it would be the front door key."

Clinton and Dole later co-chaired a scholarship fund that initially raised over $100 million for families of those killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks and subsequently teamed up for a weekly debate segment on CBS News' "60 Minutes."

He also demonstrated his ability to take a joke when he appeared on "Saturday Night Live" in 1996 following his loss alongside Norm MacDonald, who had mercilessly lampooned him during the election.

As he put it to NBC in 2005, humor is needed in Washington "to break the tension sometimes and you can do it with just -- without offending anybody."

War hero and legislator

Dole was born on July 22, 1923, in the small town of Russell, Kansas, and grew up during the years of the Great Depression. At the age of 19, while a student-athlete at the University of Kansas studying to become a doctor, Dole enlisted in the Army in 1942 following America's entry into World War II and was called up to active duty the following year, he wrote in his memoir "One Soldier's Story." Sent to fight in Italy in 1945, Dole was seriously wounded while trying to carry a fellow soldier to safety. He spent 39 grueling months in and out of hospitals, recuperating from his near fatal injuries, which left his right arm permanently disabled and his left arm minimally functional. Dole received the Purple Heart twice and two Bronze Stars with an oak leaf cluster for his service in World War II.

His injuries changed the trajectory of his life, leading him to pursue a law degree and a career in politics. He served a term in the Kansas House of Representatives and later for eight years as Russell County prosecutor. Dole was elected to the U.S. House to represent Kansas in Washington in 1960, serving four terms before he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968.

Beyond his career in Washington, Dole advocated for the nation's veterans throughout his career, including serving as co-chair of a 2007 presidential commission that investigated Walter Reed Medical Center. After leaving public office, he served as the National Chairman of the World War II Memorial Campaign, helping to raise millions to construct the first memorial dedicated to all World War II veterans. In his 90s — as one of the longest-living and most prominent members of the Greatest Generation — he spent his Saturdays greeting his fellow veterans as they visited the memorial in Washington after it opened to the public in 2004.

In January 2018, Dole became the eighth US senator to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress. Dole was the only former Republican nominee to support Donald Trump's candidacy in the 2016 election, and Trump recognized his service to his country at the medal ceremony.

"In hearing (Dole's) story they will truly learn what it means to be a great American," Trump said at the medal ceremony. "Bob, that is the legacy that you have left our nation and it will outlive us all."

Dole was one of the key Republicans to say plainly after the 2020 election that Biden had won. In a July 2021 interview with USA Today, Dole said that while he is still "a Trumper," he was "sort of Trumped out."

Challenges to President Joe Biden's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private employers will be consolidated in the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, a panel dominated by judges appointed by Republicans.

The Cincinnati-based court was selected Tuesday in a random drawing using ping-pong balls, a process employed when challenges to certain federal agency actions are filed in multiple courts.

The selection could be good news for those challenging the administration's vaccine requirement, which includes officials in 27 Republican-led states, employers and several conservative and business organizations. They argue the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration does not have the authority to impose the mandate.

The challenges, along with some from unions that said the vaccine mandate didn't go far enough, were made this month in 12 circuit courts. Under an arcane system, it was up to the clerk of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict litigation to select a ping-pong ball from a bin to choose where the cases would be heard.

It was a favorable outcome for Republicans. Eleven of the 16 full-time judges in the 6th Circuit were appointed by Republican presidents. Accounting for one of the Republican-appointed judges, Helene White, who often sides with judges appointed by Democrats and adding senior judges who are semi-retired but still hear cases, the split is 19-9 in favor of Republicans. Six of the full-time judges were appointed by former President Donald Trump.

Another court where a majority of judges were nominated by Republicans, the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, issued a ruling that put the mandate on hold.

It's not clear whether the court that will hear the case will act as the 5th Circuit did and side quickly with the Republican challengers. But legal experts have become increasingly concerned in recent years about the politicization of both federal and state courts, raising questions about whether justice is fairly administered or dispensed through a partisan lens.

Allison Orr Larsen, a professor at William & Mary Law School, coauthored a study published this year that found growing partisanship in federal judicial decisions. For decades, the study found that rulings on cases in which all judges in a circuit weighed in generally were not decided along party lines based on the presidents who appointed the judges.

“We did see a concerning spike starting in 2018 that led us to wring our hands,” Larsen said in an interview.

The increasing partisanship in a branch of government that is supposed to be blind to partisan politics was seen in judges appointed by presidents of both parties, but Larsen said it's not clear why that was or whether it will last.

Some of the federal courts moved to the right when Donald Trump was president and Republicans controlled the U.S. Senate, which confirms judicial nominees. Trump appointed 54 judges to the circuit courts, which are one step below the U.S. Supreme Court, including filling one seat twice. That represents nearly 30% of the seats on the circuit courts, where cases are most often considered by three-judge panels.

Trump's appointees flipped the 11th Circuit in the South to Republican control and expanded the GOP-appointed majorities in the 5th, 6th and 8th Circuits in the Midwest and South. Biden's three appointees switched the New York-based 2nd Circuit to Democratic control.

Republican state attorneys general and conservative groups mostly filed their challenges in circuit courts dominated by conservative judges, while the unions went to circuits with more judges nominated by Democratic presidents.

In all, 34 objections have been filed in all 11 regional circuits plus the one for the District of Columbia. That’s where the ping-pong balls came in to play.

Under federal law, cases challenging federal agency actions get consolidated upon the agency's request if they are filed in multiple circuit courts. Each circuit where a challenge is filed within the first 10 days of the agency taking action has an equal chance of being selected.

It was up to the judicial panel's clerk, John W. Nichols, to select a ping-pong ball from a bin, according to a Tuesday court filing by the panel. The office denied a request by The Associated Press to allow media access to the drawing.

Previously this year, the lottery had been used to assign just two cases. One involved fallout from a National Labor Relations Board ruling on an anti-union Twitter message by Tesla founder Elon Musk where objectors filed in two circuits. The other was over orders from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in which objectors filed in three.

The employer vaccine mandate is higher profile and further reaching. It calls for businesses with more than 100 workers to require employees to be vaccinated by Jan. 4 or wear masks and be tested weekly for COVID-19. Exemptions are provided for religious reasons and for those who work at home or only outdoors.

Because it's an unusual rule from the workplace safety agency, there is no consensus among lawyers on how the challenges will go. OSHA has issued just 10 emergency rules in the half century since it was formed. Of the six challenged in court, only one survived intact.

The Biden administration has insisted it’s on strong legal footing. It also has the backing of the American Medical Association, which filed papers in support of the mandate.

“The AMA’s extensive review of the medical literature demonstrates that COVID-19 vaccines authorized or approved by FDA are safe and effective, and the widespread use of those vaccines is the best way to keep COVID-19 from spreading within workplaces,” the group said in its filing.

Among those challenging the rule is a consortium of construction contractors. They say they want their workers vaccinated, but that a requirement only on larger companies is just pushing vaccine-hesitant workers to take jobs with companies that have fewer than 100 employees.

“Crafting an unworkable rule that will do little to get construction workers vaccinated is an approach that is not only wrong, but likely counterproductive,” said Scott Casabona, president of Signatory Wall and Ceiling Contractors Alliance.

Officials with the workplace safety agency say they’re considering extending the mandate to smaller employers.

A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit extended the stay of the OSHA rule in an opinion released last Friday, expressing skepticism that the agency had authority to implement the vaccine requirement. The 6th Circuit could modify, revoke or extend the stay.

It had not yet been determined which judges from the 6th Circuit will be on a three-judge panel to hear the case or whether it will be considered by all the judges.

The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment on the selection of the court.

___

Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Associated Press writer Mark Sherman in Washington, D.C., contributed to this article.

The imminent release of a partisan audit into the 2020 election results in Arizona – authorized in March by the GOP state Senate – has pitted elected Republicans against each other.

Stephen Richter was elected in 2020 to help oversee elections in Maricopa County – the state's largest.

"They started to pursue this in what I believe to be an unprofessional manner that will only erode confidence in our elections," Richter said.

He flipped the county recorder's office red in a down-ballot race last November – the same year Donald Trump lost. He initially supported an election audit.

"I'd have to be a doofus not to understand that there's a significant percentage of the party that doesn't have confidence in how the 2020 elections were administered," he said.

But it was the state Senate's selection of Cyber Ninjas to conduct the audit – a Florida-based company with no experience leading election probes and whose CEO has spouted debunked election conspiracy theories – that has caused many prominent Arizona Republicans to distance themselves.

"I'm not anti-audit," Richter continued. "I'm anti-Cyber Ninjas."

One of the theories already floated by associates of Cyber Ninjas is the assertion that tens of thousands of ballots were cast fraudulently for Joe Biden last November – something Richter characterized as "laughable" in a 38-page open letter he sent last week to Arizona Republicans.

Newsy repeatedly reached out to representatives of Arizona's Republican State Senate and was denied interviews with all 16 state Senators.

Contacted directly, Newsy found one Republican state senator who originally supported the audit has turned on an email auto-reply with a letter explaining why he abandoned support for the probe, saying in part: "What's been going on these past few months cannot be called a professional audit."

On the national scale, former President Donald Trump said "the facts are coming out, the truth is being uncovered and the crime of the century is being fully exposed."

But so far, the audit – pitched as a way to restore voter confidence – has fallen short.

Recent state polling by non-partisan pollster OH Predictive Insights, shows just six in 10 voters are extremely or moderately confident in the state's elections.

Former Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett is now the Senate liaison to the Maricopa County audit.

"I want myself, my children, my friends and my family to know that when they participate in an election in Arizona, the results are going to be tabulated accurately,"he said. "Even when the results are close, they can have confidence that they can believe those results."

The audit is still turning heads in other states across the country, especially from far-right voters disaffected with President Biden's win in the 2020 election.

Arizona voter Scott Ziegler said many are still eager for the results of the audit.

"I know people that are in other states that are waiting for this," he said. "This is a big deal."

This story was originally reported on Newsy.com.

Bruce Springsteen issued a call for common ground, unity and political centrism in a 2-minute long ad for Jeep set to run during the Super Bowl on Sunday.The ad, featuring wide-shot vistas of the American countryside, open roads and slow-motion shots of "The Boss," centers on a tiny chapel in Lebanon, Kansas, that purportedly sits in the geographical center of the continental United States."All are more than welcome to come meet here in the middle," the "Thunder Road" singer says in a voiceover. "It's no secret the middle has been a hard place to get to lately, between red and blue, between servant and citizen, between our freedom and our fear. PGlmcmFtZSBzdHlsZT0nd2lkdGg6MTAwJTsgaGVpZ2h0OjgwMHB4Oycgc3JjPSJodHRwczovL3d3dy55b3V0dWJlLmNvbS9lbWJlZC9EMlhZSC1JRXZoSSIgZnJhbWVib3JkZXI9IjAiIGFsbG93PSJhY2NlbGVyb21ldGVyOyBhdXRvcGxheTsgY2xpcGJvYXJkLXdyaXRlOyBlbmNyeXB0ZWQtbWVkaWE7IGd5cm9zY29wZTsgcGljdHVyZS1pbi1waWN0dXJlIiBhbGxvd2Z1bGxzY3JlZW4+PC9pZnJhbWU+"Now fear has never been the best of who we are, and as for freedom, it's not the property of just the fortunate few, it belongs to us all. Whoever you are, wherever you're from, it's what connects us, and we need that connection. We need the middle," he says.Ambient music plays throughout the commercial, interspersed by Springsteen's speech. Over the course of the ad, the camera shows Springsteen doing various nondescript activities: writing in a notebook, driving, drinking a hot liquid, rubbing dirt in his hands, opening a door, lighting a candle and putting on a hat."We just have to remember the very soil we stand on is common ground, so we can get there. We can make it to the mountaintop through the desert, and we will cross this divide. Our light has always found its way through the darkness. And there's hope on the road up ahead," Springsteen says.The ad then ends with a dedication: "To the ReUnited States of America."

Senate is in recess

WARNING: This live video may contain violent images and strong or coarse language. Viewer discretion is advised.

1:40 p.m.

Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calls for a 15 minute recess. The trial will resume shortly.

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1:30 p.m.

House Democrats prosecuting Donald Trump's impeachment trial are methodically tracing his monthslong effort to undermine his supporters’ faith in the election results. They say they will show he is responsible for last month’s deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol.

During arguments Wednesday, impeachment managers showed a flurry of excerpts from Trump speeches in which the then-president told supporters the only way he could lose is if the election results were rigged.

The effort to challenge the results continued after the election, with Trump telling his supporters the election had been stolen and that they shouldn’t accept the results.

Impeachment managers also pushed back at defense team arguments that Trump’s words were protected by the First Amendment. They said the case was not about protected political speech but rather about Trump’s incitement of violence.

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1 p.m.

One of the House impeachment managers on Wednesday showed videos, some filmed by the Capitol rioters themselves, who said they were heeding a call from former President Donald Trump when they descended upon the complex that January day.

One rioter said he was "invited by the president of the United States." Others later told investigators and participated in interviews where they said that they were motivated by Trump’s words at a rally before the storming occurred.

House impeachment manager Rep. Joe Neguse also showed photos of samples from some of the 200 criminal cases stemming from the insurrection, specifically quoting people who said they were inspired by Trump to storm the Capitol.

Trump knew very well what would happen when he took to the microphone at the outdoor White House rally that day, almost to the hour that Congress gaveled in to certify Biden’s win, said Neguse.

“This was not just a speech,” he said.

Trump’s supporters were prepped and armed, ready to descend on the Capitol, Neguse said. “When they heard his speech, they understood his words.”

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12:30 p.m.

In his opening argument for the conviction of former President Donald Trump, lead impeachment manager Rep. Jaime Raskin called Trump the "inciter-in-chief," placing blame on the former president for the deadly Capitol riot.

"[This trial will show that Donald Trump surrendered his role as commander-in-chief and became the inciter-in-chief of a dangerous insurrection, and this was as one of our colleagues put it so cogently on Jan. 6 itself, the greatest betrayal of the presidential oath in the history of the United States," Raskin said.

Raskin also played videos from Trump's now-suspended Twitter account, where Trump called the rioters "very special."

"He watched it on TV like a reality show. He reveled in it," Raskin added. "He did nothing to help us as commander-in-chief. Instead, he served as the inciter-in-chief sending tweets that only further incited the rampaging mob."

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Noon

Opening arguments in the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump are underway. House impeachment managers will start first, making their case for the former president's conviction. Senate leaders reached an agreement Monday, giving the impeachment managers and Trump's lawyers up to 16 hours each to present their cases and creating the option for a debate and vote to call witnesses if the House impeachment managers seek it.

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Original story below

Opening arguments will begin in Donald Trump's impeachment trial after an emotional first day ended with the Senate voting to hear the case for convicting the former president of inciting the riot at the U.S. Capitol even though he is no longer in office.

On Wednesday, House Democrats prosecuting the case and the former president’s attorneys will lay out their opposing arguments before the senators, who are serving as jurors. The defense lost the vote seeking to halt the trial on constitutional grounds, 56-44, leaving Trump fuming over his lawyers' performance and allies questioning the defense strategy. Some called for yet another shakeup to his legal team.

House prosecutors on Tuesday wrenched senators and the nation back to the deadly attack on Congress, showing a graphic video of the Jan. 6 mob violence that stunned the the world as hundreds of rioters ransacked the building to try to stop the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory. Five people died.

That detailed and emotional presentation by Democrats was followed by meandering and occasionally confrontational arguments from the Trump team, which insisted that his remarks were protected by the First Amendment and asserted that he cannot be convicted as a former president. Even Trump’s backers in the Senate winced, several saying his lawyers were not helpful to his case.

Senators, many of whom fled for safety themselves the day of the attack, watched and listened, unable to avoid the jarring video of Trump supporters battling past police to storm the halls, Trump flags waving. More video is expected Wednesday, including some that hasn't been seen before.

The heavy emotional weight of the trial punctuates Trump’s enduring legacy as the first president to face impeachment trial after leaving office and the first to be twice impeached. While many minds are made up, the senators will face their own moment to decide whether to convict or acquit Trump of the sole charge of “incitement of insurrection.”

“That’s a high crime and misdemeanor,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., declared in opening remarks. “If that’s not an impeachable offense, then there’s no such thing.”

Trump’s lawyers insist he is not guilty, his fiery words just figures of speech.

Security remained extremely tight at the Capitol, a changed place after the attack, fenced off with razor wire and with armed National Guard troops on patrol. The nine House managers walked across the shuttered building to prosecute the case before the Senate.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden would not be watching the trial of his predecessor.

“Joe Biden is the president, he’s not a pundit, he’s not going to opine on back and forth arguments,” she said.

With senators sworn to deliver impartial justice, the trial started with the Democratic House managers' gripping recollections, as they described police officers maimed in the chaos and rioters parading in the very chamber where the trial was being held.

Trump’s team countered that the Constitution doesn’t allow impeachment at this late date. Though the trial now proceeds, that’s a legal issue that could resonate with Republicans eager to acquit Trump without being seen as condoning his behavior.

Lead defense lawyer Bruce Castor said he shifted his planned approach after hearing the prosecutors’ opening and instead spoke conversationally to the senators, saying Trump’s team would do nothing but denounce the “repugnant” attack and “in the strongest possible way denounce the rioters.” He appealed to the senators as “patriots first,” and encouraged them to be “cool headed” as they assess the arguments.

Trump attorney David Schoen turned the trial toward starkly partisan tones, saying the Democrats were fueled by a “base hatred” of the former president.

The early defense struggles also underscored the uphill battle that Trump’s lawyers face in defending conduct that preceded an insurrection that senators themselves personally experienced. Though they will almost certainly win Trump’s acquittal — by virtue of the composition of the Senate — they nonetheless face a challenge of defanging the emotion from a trial centered on events that remain raw and visceral, even for Republicans.

Republicans made it clear that they were unhappy with Trump’s defense, many of them saying they didn’t understand where it was going — particularly Castor’s opening. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who voted with Democrats to move forward with the trial, said that Trump’s team did a “terrible job.” Maine Sen. Susan Collins, who also voted with Democrats, said she was “perplexed.” Sen. Lisa Murkowki of Alaska said it was a “missed opportunity” for the defense.

While the 56-44 vote affirmed the Senate’s authority under the Constitution to decide the case even after the president had left office, the total was still far from the two-thirds threshold of 67 votes that would be needed for conviction.

The six Republicans who joined with Democrats to pursue the trial was one more than on a similar vote last week. Cassidy joined Collins, Murkowski, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

At one pivotal point, Raskin told his personal story of bringing his family to the Capitol that day to witness the certification of the Electoral College vote, only to have his daughter and son-in-law hiding in an office, fearing for their lives.

“Senators, this cannot be our future,” Raskin said through tears. “This cannot be the future of America.”

The House prosecutors had argued there is no “January exception” for a president to avoid impeachment on his way out the door. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colo., referred to the corruption case of William Belknap, a war secretary in the Grant administration, who was impeached, tried and ultimately acquitted by the Senate after leaving office.

If Congress stands by, “it would invite future presidents to use their power without any fear of accountability," he said.

It appears unlikely that the House prosecutors will call witnesses, and Trump has declined a request to testify.

The trial is expected to continue into the weekend.

Trump's second impeachment trial is expected to diverge from the lengthy, complicated affair of a year ago. In that case, Trump was charged with having privately pressured Ukraine to dig up dirt on Biden, then a Democratic rival for the presidency.

This time, Trump's “stop the steal” rally rhetoric and the storming of the Capitol played out for the world to see.

The Democratic-led House impeached the president swiftly, one week after the attack. Of the five who died, one was a woman shot by police inside the building and another a police officer who died the next day of his injuries.

CNN contributed to this report.

President Joe Biden praised the Senate on Friday for edging the bipartisan infrastructure plan closer to passage, ahead of a key vote on the $1 trillion package.

As the president spoke from the White House, he compared the “historic investment” to building the transcontinental railroad or the interstate highway system — lofty themes he has touched on before as he nudges Congress along.

"It will enable us not only to build back, but to build back better than before the economic crisis hit," he said. "I know that body will move toward establishing the framework for the remainder of my build back better agenda."

The president’s note of encouragement offers a reset for lawmakers after frustrations mounted and tempers flared overnight as the Senate stalled out, unable to expedite the package to completion.

SEE MORE: What's In The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill?

It’s nearing decision time for Congress, and particularly the Senate, to make gains on the president’s infrastructure priorities — first with the bipartisan bill that’s on track for passage as soon as this weekend, and quickly followed by Democrats' more sweeping $3.5 trillion budget blueprint they plan to shoulder on their own.

Called the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the thick bill is a first part of President Biden’s infrastructure agenda and would inject billions of new spending on roads, bridges, waterworks, broadband and other projects to virtually every corner of the nation. 

If approved by the Senate, it would next go to the House. A procedural vote on the package is set for Saturday.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.

This story was originally reported by Jay Strubberg on Newsy.com

Two California men have been charged with plotting to blow up the Democratic Party's headquarters in the state capital, a bombing they hoped would be the first in a series of politically-motivated attacks, federal prosecutors said Thursday. The pair used multiple messaging apps to plan to attack targets they associated with Democrats after the November 2020 presidential election, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. Their first intended target was the John L. Burton Democratic Headquarters in Sacramento, prosecutors said."According to the indictment, the defendants planned to use incendiary devices to attack their targets and hoped their attacks would prompt a movement," the statement said. Ian Benjamin Rogers, 45, and Jarrod Copeland, 37, each face multiple charges including conspiracy to destroy by fire or explosive a building used or in affecting interstate commerce, prosecutors said. Rogers, of Napa, is charged with additional weapons violations, including one count of possession of unregistered destructive devices, and three counts of possession of machine guns. Copeland, of Vallejo, is charged with an additional count of destruction of records.It wasn't known Thursday evening if the men have attorneys who could speak on their behalf. "I want to blow up a democrat building bad," Rogers wrote, according to the indictment unsealed Thursday in San Francisco federal court. Copeland responded, "I agree" and "Plan attack," the indictment says. In late December 2020, Copeland told Rogers he contacted an anti-government militia group to gather support for their movement, according to court documents. In one exchange, Rogers wrote to Copeland, "after the 20th we go to war," meaning that they would initiate acts of violence after Joe Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021, the court papers say.On Jan. 15, law enforcement officers searched Rogers's home and seized a cache of weapons, including 45 to 50 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and five pipe bombs, prosecutors said. Copeland is accused of attempting to destroy evidence of the plan after Rogers' Jan. 15 arrest. Copeland was arrested Wednesday and made an initial court appearance Thursday. He's scheduled to appear in court again on July 20 for a detention hearing. Rogers is scheduled to appear in court July 30 for a status conference.If convicted on all charges, each defendant faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, officials said.

When WCPO news anchor Tanya O’Rourke interviewed author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance in 2017, he was fresh off the decision not to run for Senate the year before. People had wanted him to, he said. He didn't. His family, investment firm and nonprofit kept him too busy.

He'd found room in his schedule by Thursday night, when Vance returned to his birthplace of Middletown to announce a bid for the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Rob Portman. It'll be a competitive race — other Republicans hoping to score the same job include longtime Ohio GOP chair Jane Timken and former Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel, one of Twitter's most vocal Trump fans.

O’Rourke sat down with Vance again to find out what changed his mind. Why now?

WCPO Staff

“I recognize that if you actually want to get anything done, you got to go in there and blow some things up,” he said. “I also think I have a desire to actually get things done. You know, I’m a political outsider. I’ve never run for political office before.”

He was initially critical of former President Donald Trump in 2016 but has since changed his mind about that, too.

“I think he delivered on his promises to make the country a better place,” Vance said. “So, I think I saw this guy, he was an outsider. I didn’t really believe he was serious. And then I saw the guy in action. And I thought he was a successful president. That’s why I supported him enthusiastically in 2020. I didn't hide from that fact, either that I was critical of them in 2016, or that I was a big supporter in 2020. So I changed because he did a good job.”

The two met a few months ago to discuss the race.

“He’s not gonna endorse anybody in this race early on,” Vance said of his meeting with Trump. “I think he wants to let the candidates fight it out.”

Vance is running on a platform of bringing jobs to Ohio and taking on big tech, even though he’s received $10 million from a super PAC formed by billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel.

Pieper, Robert

Vance also said he supports a universal voter ID.

“First of all, we do want, I think, universal voter ID because it's just common sense election integrity," he said. "A majority of people, Democratic, Republican, all racial groups support common sense voter ID, so I think we should have it."

"And absolutely, if people can't afford to get an ID, you don't want that to prevent them from being able to vote. You want to make it easier for people to vote, but you want to make it easier for them to vote in a fair and safe way. You want basically legal votes to count, illegal votes not to count, and making voter ID the law, that way it actually I think facilitates and supports that goal."

In addition to Timken and Mandel, Vance will face two Cleveland businessmen, Mike Gibbons and Bernie Moreno, in next year's GOP primary.

President Joe Biden used the 100th anniversary of Tulsa's race massacre to make a plea for sweeping legislation in Congress to protect the right to vote as Republican-led governments in Texas and other states pass new restrictions making it tougher to cast ballots.

Biden, marking the centennial in Oklahoma on Tuesday, called out lawmakers in Congress — including two senators in his own party — for holding up action on voting bills. Invoking the words of the late Rep. John Lewis, Biden said the right to vote is "precious" and must be protected. He vowed that June will be a "month of action" on Capitol Hill as Congress considers the legislation, among the top priorities of his administration.

"We’re not giving up," Biden said about the bill, S.1. "I'm going to fight like heck with every tool at my disposal for its passage."

Republican legislators in state capitols across the nation are pushing what experts say is an unprecedented wave of bills aimed at restricting access to the ballot box. While Republicans say the bills are aimed at preventing voter fraud, Democrats contend that the measures are aimed at undermining minority voting rights in particular.

Most recently, the Texas legislature moved closer to passing a bill that would reduce early voting hours, tighten voter identification requirements for absentee ballots and eliminate ballot drop boxes and drive-thru voting centers. The bill was blocked only when Texas Democrats walked off the House floor on Sunday night, but Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has said he'll order a special session to ultimately ensure its passage.

Related video: Dems walk, stop Texas GOP's voting restrictions

Biden addressed the federal voting rights legislation during an event marking the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre, in which a white mob looted and burned Tulsa’s Greenwood district, which was known as "Black Wall Street."

As many as 300 Black Tulsans were killed, and thousands of survivors were forced for a time into internment camps overseen by the National Guard. Biden said the nation must acknowledge the long-forgotten chapter of history to fully heal from it, and he pledged action on key issues confronting Black Americans, including police misconduct and restrictions on voting rights.

Related video: President Biden on Tulsa Race Massacre

"We can’t just choose what we want to know, and not what we should know," Biden said. "I come here to help fill the silence, because in silence wounds deepen."

Despite Biden's pledge to keep fighting to pass legislation protecting voting rights, however, he acknowledged Tuesday that his biggest obstacle may lie within his own party.

Biden called out two fellow Democrats in explaining why he hasn’t enacted some of the most ambitious elements of his agenda, noting that slim majorities in the House and evenly divided Senate have hamstrung legislative negotiations around key issues like voting rights.

Responding to critics who question why he hasn’t been able to get a wide-reaching voting rights bill passed, Biden lamented, "Well, because Biden only has a majority of effectively four votes in the House, and a tie in the Senate — with two members of the Senate who voted more with my Republican friends."

It appeared to be a veiled reference to Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, both of whom have frustrated Democrats with their defense of the filibuster. The rule requires most legislation to win 60 votes to pass, making many of Democrats’ biggest priorities like voting rights and gun control dead on arrival in the 50-50 Senate. While Sinema is a sponsor of the voting rights bill that passed the House, known as the For the People Act, Manchin has refused to sign on, calling the measure "too broad."

But it’s not just Manchin and Sinema who oppose doing away with the filibuster — as many as 10 Democratic senators are reluctant to change the rules even for must-pass legislation like the voting rights bill. Biden himself has not said he wants to end the filibuster.

It's unclear whether Biden's comments will change the views of any senators, who are facing tough choices ahead as pressure mounts on them.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told colleagues that he would be bringing the voting rights bill to a vote the week of June 21, in effect testing where senators stand. Schumer warned in a letter to colleagues last week to brace for the month ahead.

"The June work period will be extremely challenging," Schumer told them, adding that it would "test our resolve."

Biden has tasked Vice President Kamala Harris with leading the administration’s efforts to defend voting rights, declaring that with her leadership, Americans will again "overcome" efforts to reduce access to voting, as they have in the past and did during the 2020 election, which saw record turnout despite new voting restrictions.

It adds another high-profile fight to Harris' fast-expanding portfolio, which includes addressing the root causes of migration from Central America, leading the National Space Council and working on expanding access to broadband internet.

In a statement, Harris said she plans to work with voting rights groups, community organizations and the private sector to strengthen voting rights, as well as push for passage of voting rights legislation on Capitol Hill.

"The work ahead of us is to make voting accessible to all American voters, and to make sure every vote is counted through a free, fair, and transparent process. This is the work of democracy," she said.

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Associated Press writers Jonathan Lemire in New York and Darlene Superville in Tulsa, Okla., contributed to this report.