Michael Ellis, a former Republican operative tapped as general counsel at the National Security Agency in the final months of the Trump administration, resigned Friday after spending three months on administrative leave.

Former President Donald Trump's acting defense secretary had ordered NSA Director Gen. Paul Nakasone to accept Ellis' appointment as general counsel, and Nakasone agreed days before Trump left office, The Washington Post reported. The day Trump left the White House and Ellis was scheduled to start his new job, Nakasone placed him on administrative leave, citing a Pentagon inspector general investigation and inquiry into how Ellis handled classified information. The inspector general's investigation is still open, Nakasone told a House committee last Thursday.

"I have been on administrative leave for nearly three months without any explanation or updates, and there is no sign that NSA will attempt to resolve the issue," Ellis said in his resignation letter to Nakasone on Friday, the Post reports. "I therefore resign my position, effective immediately."

Ellis was general counsel to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) before he joined the Trump White House in early 2017 as a National Security Council lawyer. His appointment to the NSA "raised concerns among Democrats and national security experts that it was an attempt by the Trump administration to install a loyalist in a sensitive and senior position — one with visibility into the activities of other U.S. spy agencies," the Post reports. The NSA general counsel job doesn't require Senate confirmation. Peter Weber

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has had enough of the Arizona state Senate's audit of the November presidential election, and all of the baseless conspiracy theories that go along with it.

The Republican-led state Senate hired a firm called Cyber Ninjas to carry out an audit of the 2.1 million ballots cast in Maricopa County in November. Using subpoenas, the state Senate was able to get the ballots, voting machines, and private and public voter information. Former President Donald Trump has been following along from Florida, and on Saturday, released a statement falsely claiming that the "entire database for Maricopa County in Arizona has been DELETED!"

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, tweeted that Trump's comment was "unhinged," and he was "literally looking at our voter registration database on my other screen. Right now. We can't indulge these insane lies any longer." On Monday, Richer told CNN's Erin Burnett that Trump's statement left him "exasperated," and was "tantamount to saying the pencil sitting on my desk in front of me doesn't exist."

He's not the only GOP official in Arizona at their breaking point. Four of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisor's five members are Republicans, including Chair Jack Sellers, who on Monday accused the state Senate of running a "grift disguised as an audit. This board is done explaining anything to these people who are playing investigator with our constituents' ballots and equipment, paid for with real people's tax dollars. People's ballots and money are not make believe. It's time to be done with this craziness."

Richer wrote a letter rejecting claims that files were deleted, and Sellers said he will "not be responding to any more requests from this sham process. Finish what you call an audit and be ready to defend your report in a court of law. We all look forward to it."

The audit was being conducted at Phoenix's Veteran's Memorial Coliseum, but is now on pause because the venue is being used for high school graduations. Election technology expert Ryan Macias told CNN he's "never seen anything like it," adding that Cyber Ninjas has no "auditing experience" or "election technology experience." By moving the ballots in and out of the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum, "the more likely the chain of custody will be broken and the less likely that the data is reliable," Macias said. Catherine Garcia

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the number of coronavirus cases are down in all 50 states, President Biden announced on Monday.

This comes as 60 percent of Americans have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot. Despite the gains, "we're still losing too many Americans" to COVID-19, Biden said, and people who refuse to get vaccinated "will end up paying the price."

Biden also revealed that in June, the United States will send 20 million doses of the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines abroad. "We know America will never be fully safe until the pandemic that's raging globally is under control," he said. "No ocean's wide enough, no wall's high enough, to keep us safe." Catherine Garcia

Cyclone Tauktae made landfall in India's western state of Gujarat on Monday, bringing with it heavy rain and winds.

The cyclone was classified as being "extremely severe" — the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane — and has already killed 12 people since the weekend. About 150,000 people who live in low-lying areas were evacuated ahead of the cyclone making landfall, and are now in shelters. BBC News reports Tauktae is the strongest cyclone to hit the region since 1998.

The cyclone comes as India deals with a catastrophic surge in COVID-19 cases, with hospitals running out of oxygen and beds for patients. There are concerns that by moving so many people to shelters, this could lead to coronavirus outbreaks in the next few weeks. Catherine Garcia

President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, and during their call expressed support for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and encouraged Netanyahu "to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians," the White House said.

Over the last week, Israel has been conducting airstrike after airstrike in Gaza, and in return, Hamas has fired thousands of rockets into Israel. This is the worst fighting between the two sides since 2014, and so far, at least 200 Palestinians and eight Israelis have been killed.

Egypt and the United Nations have been trying to broker a ceasefire, but have yet to make any progress. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said any "diplomatic initiative that advances that prospect is something that we'll support," but "ultimately it is up to the parties to make clear that they want to pursue a ceasefire."

The Biden administration said it is focusing on "quiet, intensive diplomacy," but some Democrats, including Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), are calling on the president to "push harder" on Israel and Hamas to stop the violence. "We can't continue to see this loss of civilian life," Schiff said on Face the Nation Sunday. "It's got to come to an end." Catherine Garcia

Just as Americans finished filing their 2020 taxes, the president released his.

President Biden shared his tax returns on Monday evening, which Press Secretary Jen Psaki pointedly noted was restoring the time-honored and "transparent" presidential tradition ignored by his predecessor, President Donald Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris' taxes were released Monday evening, as well.

Notably, both Biden and Harris reported lower incomes than in 2019; they would, however, still "end up paying higher tax rates under Biden's American Family Plan based on their incomes this year," Bloomberg reports. The president's income fell to $607,336 in 2020, while Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff reported a federal adjusted gross income of $1,695,225.

The big reveal came on the heels of Monday's other tax-related news, in which the Biden administration shared it would "kick-start advance payments" of the American Relief Plan's child tax credit on July 15, per Insider.

Read more at Bloomberg and Insider. Brigid Kennedy

Ariana Grande thought she'd end up with Dalton, and it was a match.

Grande and her fiancé Dalton Gomez, a real estate agent, got married over the weekend, TMZ reported and the pop star's representative confirmed to People.

"It was tiny and intimate — less than 20 people," the representative said. "The room was so happy and full of love. The couple and both families couldn't be happier."

The wedding reportedly took place at Grande's home in Montecito, California, though TMZ writes that "there was no real 'ceremony'" and that they "said their 'I dos' in an informal way." The "thank u, next" singer, who was previously engaged to comedian and actor Pete Davidson, announced her engagement to Gomez in December after the two started dating in early 2020.

"Forever n then some," she wrote on Instagram at the time while offering a look at her engagement ring. Make that eight rings, then! Brendan Morrow