“Some of President Joe Biden’s top aides in the White House, including advisers overseeing the administration’s coronavirus response and vaccine operation, have not publicly disclosed their personal finances even as they play a significant role in the multibillion-dollar federal operation to curb COVID-19,” ABC News reports.
Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, trending news, a private podcast, no ads and more!
Blue State GOP Governors Suddenly Less Popular
Politico: “Wildly unpopular in Massachusetts, Trump served as a foil for Charlie Baker, who was able to establish his own political independence — and win over Democratic constituents — by frequently criticizing his fellow Republican.”
“Baker isn’t the only blue-state Republican governor who’s seen his popularity dented by coronavirus fatigue and Trump’s absence from the news cycle. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott — two other Trump critics who have long rated among the most popular governors in the nation — have also seen their numbers dip in the post-Trump era.”
Terri Sewell Won’t Run for Senate In Alabama
Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) announced she would not run for the U.S. Senate seat Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) is leaving after 2022, the Alabama Media Group reports.
“Sewell, who has represented Alabama’s 7th District for a decade and is the only Democrat in the state’s Congressional delegation, had previously said she would ‘look very closely’ at running for the open seat.”
How Biden Can Win Over Murkowski
The New Republic: “This is only a fraction of the Alaskan puzzle the Biden administration will have to solve in the coming months and years. To pass many of its desired legislative goals through the Senate, the White House will have to please Murkowski. And pleasing Murkowski will often also mean pleasing Alaska Native voters.”
Montana Governor Broke Law In Killing of Wolf
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) violated state hunting regulations when he trapped and shot a collared wolf near Yellowstone National Park in February, Boise State Public Radio reports.
Filibuster’s Survival Will Depend on How GOP Reacts
Sen. Angus King (I-ME) is among a small minority of the members in the Senate Democratic Caucus hesitant to lowering the threshold to 51 votes to break a filibuster — down from the 60 votes required today.
However, he warns in the Washington Post that how Republicans act in the coming weeks could change his mind.
C-SPAN Begins 2024 Election Coverage
The Week: “Ready to start thinking about the 2024 election? Well, ready or not, C-SPAN is about to start embarking on the road to the White House once more.”
Utah Governor Signs ‘Porn Filter’ Legislation
“Utah is a step closer to requiring all cellphones and tablets sold in the conservative state to automatically block pornography after the Republican governor signed legislation Tuesday that critics call a significant intrusion of free speech,” the Associated Press reports.
“The measure won’t go into effect unless five other states enact similar laws, a provision that was added to address concerns that it would be difficult to implement.”
Duckworth and Hirono Drop Ultimatum to Biden
“Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) had told reporters Tuesday she would not support any more of President Joe Biden’s nondiverse nominees until he appoints more Asian Americans to his Cabinet,” USA Today reports.
“But she, and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) dropped that ultimatum late Tuesday after multiple conversations with White House officials and agreement about representation.”
Videos Show How Capitol Police Officer Died
New videos obtained by The New York Times “show publicly for the first time how the U.S. Capitol Police officer who died after facing off with rioters on Jan. 6 was attacked with chemical spray.”
“The officer, Brian D. Sicknick, who had been guarding the west side of the Capitol, collapsed later that day and died the next night. Little had been known about what happened to Officer Sicknick during the assault, and the previously unpublished videos provide new details about when, where and how he was attacked, as well as about the events leading up to the encounter.”
Europe May Cut Vaccine Exports to U.S.
“The European Commission is proposing controversial new rules that would let the EU slash vaccine exports for six weeks to places like the U.K. and U.S. — countries that are either receiving EU-made vaccines but not sending other shots back, or that have vaccinated more of their population than the EU,” Politico reports.
The Bad News Bias In Covering the Pandemic
David Leonhardt: “Bruce Sacerdote, an economics professor at Dartmouth College, noticed something last year about the Covid-19 television coverage that he was watching on CNN and PBS. It almost always seemed negative, regardless of what was he seeing in the data or hearing from scientists he knew.”
“When Covid cases were rising in the U.S., the news coverage emphasized the increase. When cases were falling, the coverage instead focused on those places where cases were rising. And when vaccine research began showing positive results, the coverage downplayed it, as far as Sacerdote could tell.”
Biden Ready to Ditch Filibuster to Go Big
“President Biden recently held an undisclosed East Room session with historians that included discussion of how big is too big — and how fast is too fast — to jam through once-in-a-lifetime historic changes to America,” Axios reports.
“The historians’ views were very much in sync with his own: It is time to go even bigger and faster than anyone expected. If that means chucking the filibuster and bipartisanship, so be it.”
The Hill: Democrats plan to squeeze GOP over filibuster.
Netanyahu Apparently Comes Up Short Again
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would not be able to form a government for the seventh time in his three-decade political career, according to preliminary results from 97% of the regular polling stations reported by the Central Elections Committee,” the Jerusalem Post reports.
Haaretz: “Netanyahu still does not have a clear path to a 61-seat majority needed to form a coalition. The vote count is expected to continue through Friday.”
McConnell Warns of ‘Nuclear Winter’
Sen. Mitch McConnell has warned that the Senate would turn into “a sort of nuclear winter” if Democrats scrapped the filibuster, Insider reports.
“Senate aides told Axios that McConnell isn’t bluffing, and that he would be very strategic in taking advantage of other Senate rules to frustrate Democrats and stall progress in the Senate.”
GOP Shares ‘Best Practices’ for Restricting Voting
New York Times: “Of the 68 bills pertaining to voting, at least 23 had similar language or were firmly rooted in the principles laid out in the Heritage group’s letter and in an extensive report it published two days later.”
Tom Steyer Polls the Newsom Recall
Politico: “Tom Steyer is polling the California recall. And the billionaire environmental activist and erstwhile presidential hopeful has included his own name among the list of possible contenders to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom.”
Manchin Faces Pressure to Oppose Voting Rights Bill
Wall Street Journal: “West Virginia election officials are lobbying Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin to oppose his party’s voting-rights legislation, again underscoring his pivotal role as the Senate’s most prominent centrist.”
“Mr. Manchin is the only senator on the Democratic side of the chamber who isn’t listed as a co-sponsor of the legislation. Last week he told reporters he was still reviewing it. All 49 other Senate Democrats back the bill, which would loosen state voter-identification requirements, expand mail-in voting and mandate online and same-day voter registration as well as early voting, among other steps.”
