President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has cleared a hurdle in the Senate. A committee on Thursday sent to the full Senate the nomination of Dr. Erica Schwartz to be director of the nation's top public health agency. Schwartz appeared to be on shaky ground after a hearing this month when she faced questions about whether she'd be willing to stand up to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. if he ordered CDC to do something unsupported by science and good public health practice. Public health experts cautiously support Schwartz, noting her qualifications and potential to rebuild the agency.

A planned vote this week to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general appears in doubt. Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas called off a scheduled meeting with Blanche on Wednesday morning. Cornyn told reporters that the Justice Department has not adequately addressed in writing his concerns about the federal settlement that afforded President Donald Trump and members of his family protection from tax audits. Without Cornyn's vote, Blanche's nomination can’t advance through the Republican-led committee to a floor vote. Another Republican on the committee, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, has backed Cornyn’s position. Blanche is serving as acting attorney general while he awaits confirmation.

The Senate has confirmed Jay Clayton to become head of the nation’s intelligence agencies. The vote Tuesday puts a permanent director in the job weeks after President Donald Trump sought to delay his nomination. Clayton is the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman. Republicans had initially hoped to confirm Clayton in June, but Trump delayed his hearing in order to allow his temporary pick for the job, Bill Pulte, to take over for several weeks. The last director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, resigned in May.

The Senate Intelligence Committee has advanced the nomination of Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the nation’s intelligence agencies. The vote was along party lines. The 9-8 vote came after some Democrats had praised Clayton and indicated that they might vote for him. But that shifted after a contentious hearing last week in which Clayton repeatedly refused to say that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said during the hearing that he was “bitterly disappointed” in Clayton. The intelligence panel vote sets up a floor vote on Clayton’s nomination, potentially early next week.

The Trump administration’s latest nominee to lead the nation’ top public health agency drew frustrated reactions from some U.S. senators when they pressed her on whether she would protect the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from political meddling. Dr. Erica Schwartz is up for director of the CDC, which is charged with protecting Americans from preventable health threats. Her career has largely been spent in military uniform, including in a leadership position at the U.S. Coast Guard where she oversaw the organization’s system of 41 clinics and 150 sick bays. She later served as deputy surgeon general.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is defending the Justice Department’s handling of the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. He told his confirmation hearing that though “mistakes were made,” the disclosure of the documents was an exercise in unprecedented transparency. Blanche confronted questions at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about his brief but turbulent tenure atop the Justice Department during a Senate hearing that will test Trump’s grip on Republican lawmakers whose support the nominee will need for the job.

President Donald Trump says he wants the U.S. to take ownership of the Gaza Strip and redevelop it after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere. He made the remarks in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Earlier Tuesday, Trump’s Middle East envoy said that a three to five-year timeline for the reconstruction of Gaza is not a viable post-war plan for the battle-torn territory. This first visit of a foreign leader during Trump’s second term comes amid lagging support for Netanyahu in Israel.

Vice President Kamala Harris has decided on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. The 60-year-old Democrat and military veteran rose to the forefront with a series of plain-spoken television appearances in the days after President Joe Biden decided not to seek a second term. Walz has made his state a bastion of liberal policy. He won the governor's office in 2018, and Democratic control of the Legislature has allowed Walz and lawmakers to repeal abortion restrictions, protect gender-affirming care for minors and legalize recreational marijuana use. Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard.