.By Mary Clare Jalonick and Eric Tucker
Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., stepped aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday after the FBI served a search warrant for his phone as part of an ongoing insider-trading investigation tied to the coronavirus pandemic.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the move, saying he and Burr had agreed it was in the Senate's best interests.
FBI officials showed up at Burr's home with the warrant on Wednesday, marking a significant escalation into the Justice Department's investigation into whether Burr broke the law with a well-timed sale of stocks before the coronavirus caused markets to plummet,
The Justice Department declined to comment. His attorney did not respond to phone and email messages, but said last month that the law is clear that any senator can participate in stock market trading based on public information "as Sen. Burr did."
Congress has passed a bill to fund the government for another week, giving lawmakers time to reach an agreement on a new coronavirus relief bill.
The final vote was 84-13, mirroring a similarly overwhelming margin in the House that, if maintained in both chambers, would be enough to override a potential veto.
Gun and ammunition sales have surged this year in the U.S. Michelle Castillo investigates.
Several states along with the Federal Trade Commission have launched lawsuits against Facebook for snuffing out competition through acquisitions. Cheddar's Michelle Castillo reports.
Stockton, California Mayor Michael Tubbs, started a pilot UBI program in 2019 that just got a big boost in funding from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
The number of people applying for unemployment aid jumped last week to 853,000, the most since September, evidence that some companies are cutting more jobs as new virus cases spiral higher.
Lawmakers are embracing a one-week extension of government funding to buy time for more COVID-19 relief talks.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined Cheddar to discuss the multi-state antitrust lawsuit against the social media giant Facebook even as the FTC filed its own legal action.
Rep. Jim Clyburn, the Democratic congressman from South Carolina, stood up for President-elect Joe Biden's Cabinet selections so far.
Deaths from the coronavirus in the U.S. have soared to more than 2,200 a day on average.
