Attorney General William Barr has been telling associates he may resign before President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20, The New York Times and The Washington Post reported Sunday, citing at least three people familiar with Barr's thinking. Barr has been one of President Trump's most loyal and acquiescent Cabinet members, but Trump and his allies have increasingly disparaged Barr since the attorney general said last week he has seen no evidence of significant voter fraud, and Trump has reportedly been telling allies he might fire Barr.

Barr first brought up his slightly early resignation after it became clear Biden won, soon after Election Day, one person told Post, and another insisted to the Times this isn't a you-can't-fire-me-because-I-quit situation. "Given the many controversial decisions he has made, it's unclear that a resignation, as opposed to a firing or uneventful departure, would much alter public perception of his tenure," the Post notes. If Barr leaves, Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen would be expected to replace him until Biden is sworn in.

Barr echoed Trump by raising concerns about mail-in voting and fraud before the election, citing "common sense" rather than evidence, and he changed Justice Department policy after the election to allow federal prosecutors to investigate "specific allegations" of voter fraud before states certified the results. But after Trump told Fox News the Justice Department and FBI may have been "involved" with some sort of massive voter fraud, Barr broke with Trump, reportedly enraging the president.

"When Barr first served as attorney general under President George H.W. Bush, he stayed in the position until the administration's final week," the Post reports, but "it is not uncommon for Cabinet secretaries to leave their positions before the end of a lame-duck term, or contemplate doing so." Barr became a "millionaire many times over" after leaving the Bush White House and joining GTE, which became Verizon, the Times adds, so it's "unlikely that he will take another full-time job after he leaves the department." Peter Weber

In February, several bonobos and orangutans at the San Diego Zoo received an experimental COVID-19 vaccine that was developed for animals, becoming the first non-human primates to get inoculated.

One of those orangutans, Karen, has made medical history before — in 1994, she became the first ape to ever undergo open-heart surgery. A total of four orangutans and five bonobos received two doses of the vaccine, developed by Zoetis, a veterinary pharmaceutical company. Zoetis began working on the vaccine after the first dog tested positive for COVID-19 in Hong Kong last spring, and testing began on dogs and cats in October.

"This isn't the norm," Nadine Lamberski, chief conservation and wildlife health officer at the San Diego Zoo, told National Geographic. "In my career, I haven't had access to an experimental vaccine this early in the process and haven't had such an overwhelming desire to use one."

Eight gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park tested positive for COVID-19 in January, and they are now recovering. Lamberski said the orangutans and bonobos who received the vaccine did not experience any adverse side effects, and they will be tested in the near future to see if they have antibodies. "It's not like we randomly grab a vaccine and give it to a novel species," she told National Geographic. "A lot of thought and research goes into it — what's the risk of doing it and what's the risk of not doing it. Our motto is, above all, to do no harm." Catherine Garcia

Federico Klein, a former State Department aide who worked on former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, was arrested Thursday on charges related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the FBI announced Thursday night.

This is the first known instance of a Trump appointee facing prosecution in connection with the attack, Politico reports. An FBI Washington Field Office spokeswoman told Politico that Klein, 42, was taken into custody in Virginia, but did not release any information on the charges against him.

Federal Election Commission records show Klein worked as a tech analyst for the 2016 Trump campaign, Politico says, and after the election he was hired at the State Department. A federal directory from last summer lists Klein as a special assistant in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, making him a "Schedule C" political appointee, Politico reports.

On Jan. 6, a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Biden's victory. Klein's mother, Cecilia, told Politico on Thursday night that he told her he was in Washington, D.C., on the day of the riot, and "as far as I know, he was on the Mall." She is a retired economist and trade official, and told Politico because of their different views, she rarely spoke about Trump or politics with her son. "Fred's politics burn a little hot," she said. "But I've never known him to violate the law." Catherine Garcia

Richard Barnett, the Arkansas man who posed for pictures in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, complained on Thursday that it is "not fair" he is still in jail while "everybody else who did things much worse are already home."

Barnett was arrested in January on federal charges of entering and remaining on restricted grounds, violent entry, and theft of public property, and has entered a plea of not guilty. On Thursday, he attended a virtual hearing before U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who announced Barnett would remain in jail until his next court date in May. That's when Barnett erupted, yelling this was "not fair" and adding, "I've been here for a month, they're going to set it for another month, and everybody else is getting out."

Barnett's attorney, Joseph D. McBride, told NBC News his client's "frustration stems from the fact that he is incarcerated pre-trial, despite lacking any criminal history, being gainfully employed, respected in his community, and in a stable relationship for over 20 years. Normally, facts like these are more than enough for an individual to fight their case from the outside." McBride also said because of the pandemic, he is restricted in how he can meet with Barnett, and wasn't able to clearly explain the court proceedings.

On the day of the riot, Barnett was photographed with his feet on Pelosi's desk and holding up an envelope with her name on it. During an interview with New York Times reporter Matthew Rosenberg, Barnett said he wrote Pelosi "a nasty note" and took one of her envelopes, but didn't steal it because he left behind a quarter on her desk. Catherine Garcia

The United States has picked up the vaccination pace, and for the first time on Wednesday, the average number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered per day surpassed 2 million, The New York Times reports. 


The average a month ago was roughly 1.3 million per day. After his inauguration, President Biden said his goal was for the U.S. to administer at least 1.5 million doses every day, in order to surpass 100 million vaccines by his 100th day in office.

There are three COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized for emergency use in the U.S., and as of Thursday, 54 million Americans have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. On Tuesday, Biden said every adult in the United States who wants a vaccine will be able to get one by the end of May. Catherine Garcia

While Texas and Mississippi are lifting their mask mandates, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) announced on Thursday she is extending her state's mask order for another month.

On Wednesday, President Biden slammed Ivey's fellow Republican governors, Texas' Greg Abbott and Mississippi's Tate Reeves, for ending mask requirements and fully reopening businesses, saying they were showing "Neanderthal thinking." He called on leaders to listen to public health experts, and Ivey said that's what she's doing, extending the mask order that was set to expire on Friday.

"We need to get past Easter and hopefully allow more Alabamians to get their first shot before we take a step some other states have taken to remove the mask order altogether and lift other restrictions," Ivey said. "Folks, we are not there yet, but goodness knows we're getting closer."

The mask order will now expire on April 9, and Ivey said after that, people will have to be responsible for wearing them without a mandate. Face coverings, Ivey said, are "one of our greatest tools" in preventing the spread of coronavirus, and when the order is lifted she will "continue to wear my mask when I'm around others and strongly urge my fellow citizens to use common sense and do the same."

Public health experts have warned of the dangers associated with reopening states too soon, before more people are vaccinated and as highly-transmissible variants spread, saying it could erase gains made against the virus. Alabama is home to 4.9 million people, with just 13 percent of the population having received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Don Williamson, head of the Alabama Hospital Association, told The Associated Press that if 1.75 million doses are delivered by early April, that would be "a terrific place to be." Catherine Garcia

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is under close scrutiny following multiple sexual harassment allegations and revelations of withheld COVID-19 data, but most voters haven't fully turned against him.

In a Quinnipiac poll released Thursday, voters gave Cuomo a split 45-46 percent approval rating, down almost 30 points since his nearly-peak approval at the height of the pandemic in New York last year. Even though his overall approval has plummeted, voters don't necessarily think he should resign.

Cuomo has faced some calls to step down after three women accused him of sexual harassment, including two former aides. The governor apologized on Wednesday, but said he "never touched anyone inappropriately" and said he would not resign. Quinnipiac found that 40 percent of New York voters believe he should resign, while 55 percent say he should not. Perhaps surprisingly, just 21 percent of Democrats say Cuomo should step down, and 74 percent say he should stay.

Even so, while voters aren't united in saying Cuomo should leave office immediately, there's more consensus that he shouldn't run again. A full 59 percent said he should not run for re-election in 2022, and 36 percent said he should. Democrats were more split on the question, with 50 percent saying he should run again, and 44 percent disagreeing.

There's more bad news for Cuomo on the coronavirus front, seeing as 56 percent of those polled approve of his handling of the pandemic, down from 81 percent who approved last May. That could be related to Cuomo's office reportedly acknowledging they withheld data on COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes across the state, undercounting by as much as 50 percent. While 75 percent say his handling of the issue was wrong, 51 percent say he did something "unethical, but not illegal."

Quinnipiac surveyed 935 registered voters in New York from March 2-3. The margin of error is 3.2 percentage points. See more results here. Summer Meza