1/ The FDA said Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine “met the prescribed success criteria” for emergency authorization in a clinical study, saying the shot showed “a favorable safety profile, with no specific safety concerns.” The FDA noted that the two-dose vaccine reduced the risk of getting COVID-19 by about half after the first injection. The vaccine was found to be 95% effective after the second dose, three weeks later. The vaccine had several tolerable, short-term side effects, including sore arms, fatigue, headaches, muscle pain, and chills that typically resolved within one to two days. The FDA will meet Thursday to discuss the data and make recommendations in advance of a vote on whether to recommend authorization of the Pfizer vaccine. (Wall Street Journal / New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / NBC News / ABC News)

2/ The Trump administration declined “multiple” offers from Pfizer to secure an additional 100 million to 500 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine. In July, Pfizer offered the Trump administration the option to purchase additional doses as part of a $1.95 billion deal for an initial 100 million doses. The Trump administration, however, turned down the offer. The Pfizer vaccine requires a two-dose treatment, meaning that 100 million doses is enough to vaccinate 50 million Americans. On Nov. 11, the European Union finalized a supply deal with Pfizer for 200 million doses. Trump, meanwhile, issued a symbolic executive order that prioritized the shipment of the coronavirus vaccine to Americans before other nations. Moncef Slaoui, the chief scientist of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed, however, was unable to explain how the executive order would be enforced, saying: “Frankly, I don’t know, and frankly, I’m staying out of this. I can’t comment. I literally don’t know.” (New York Times / CNN / Politico / Axios / The Guardian / ABC News)

3/ Biden pledged to distribute “100 million shots in the first 100 days” of his presidency. The pledge to administer 100 million shots aligns with vaccine supplies already secured. Biden also called on all Americans to wear masks in public for those 100 days to slow the spread of the virus and he said he would sign an executive order the day he is sworn in requiring Americans to wear masks on buses and trains crossing state lines. Biden also promised to prioritize reopening “the majority of our schools” in the same time frame. (Politico / Washington Post / The Guardian / NBC News / Bloomberg)

4/ Trump’s lawyer Jenna Ellis tested positive for the coronavirus after attending a senior staff Christmas party last week. Ellis reportedly did not wear a mask during the party, which included top administration officials. Ellis and Rudy Giuliani, who tested positive on Sunday, have been leading the Trump campaign’s legal efforts to dispute the results of the 2020 presidential election. (Politico / CNN / Axios)

5/ The Supreme Court rejected a last-minute attempt by Trump’s allies to overturn Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania. The justices – in a one-sentence order – turned down the emergency request from Rep. Mike Kelly and two other House candidates to decertify the results, who argued that a 2019 state law authorizing universal mail-in voting was unconstitutional and that all ballots cast by mail – more than 2.5 million in total – should be thrown out. Biden won the state by a more than 80,000-vote margin. (CNBC / Washington Post / New York Times / NPR / Wall Street Journal / Axios / USA Today / CNN / Politico)

  • Trump-Biden Transition Live Blogs: New York Times / Washington Post / The Guardian / CNN / ABC News

  • Trump called the speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives – twice – to request help reversing his loss in the state. Speaker Bryan Cutler, however, told Trump he had no authority to step in, or to order the legislature into special session. (Washington Post / Bloomberg)

  • The Texas attorney general sued four battleground states Biden won – Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Ken Paxton claimed that pandemic-era changes to election procedures in those states violated federal law and is seeking to have the Supreme Court invalidate the election results. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel called Paxton’s motion “a publicity stunt, not a serious legal pleading.” Trump, meanwhile, tweeted praise for Paxton, saying “COURAGE & BRILLIANCE!” (Texas Tribune / NBC News / The Guardian / Bloomberg)

  • Federal judges in Michigan and Georgia denied Republican efforts to decertify Biden as the winner of the presidential election. (NBC News)

✏️ Notables.

  1. A federal judge dismissed Michael Flynn’s prosecution after Trump’s pardon. Judge Emmet Sullivan said Trump’s pardon, which he called “extraordinarily broad,” does not mean the former national security adviser is innocent of lying to FBI agents about his talks with the Russian government. Sullivan also called the Justice Department’s previous arguments for dismissing the case “dubious to say the least” and suggested he “likely” would have rejected them. (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News / CNN / CNBC)

  2. The nation’s former cybersecurity and infrastructure security chief sued the Trump campaign, attorney Joseph diGenova, and the cable channel Newsmax for defamation, emotional distress, and conspiracy. Trump fired Christopher Krebs last month after Krebs said the recent presidential election was “the most secure in American history.” DiGenova said in an interview aired on Newsmax on Nov. 30 that Krebs “should be drawn and quartered” and “taken out at dawn and shot.” (NPR / Axios / CNBC / Washington Post)

  3. A Trump appointee overseeing Voice of America and other federally funded news agencies has declined to cooperate with Biden’s transition team. Michael Pack refused to make officials from his agency available to answer questions about the agencies’ operations or provide records. (Washington Post)

  4. Congressional Republican leaders rejected a resolution recognizing Biden is president-elect. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer offered a motion to affirm that it is preparing for the inauguration of Biden and Harris, but Mitch McConnell and Rules Committee Chairman Roy Blunt voted with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy in blocking the motion. A Republican congressman, meanwhile, wants to condemn his GOP colleagues who refuse to support Trump’s efforts to challenge the election results. Rep. Alex Mooney proposed a resolution titled “Counting Every Legal Vote” that supported Trump’s efforts to question the results in states he lost, “investigate and punish election fraud,” and “condemns any member who calls upon Trump to concede prematurely before these investigations are complete.” (CNN / Washington Post)