“Congressional negotiators are closing in on a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending deal to ward off a government shutdown on Friday at midnight, crossing one major priority off the legislative agenda and adding further urgency around the inclusion of coronavirus aid in a year-end package,” Politico reports.
Biden Favorite to Run EPA No Longer In Running
“When Joe Biden won the presidential election, his top candidate to lead the nation’s most powerful environmental agency appeared clear: Mary Nichols, California’s clean air regulator and arguably the country’s most experienced climate change official, was seen as a lock to run the Environmental Protection Agency,” the New York Times reports.
“Now Mr. Biden’s team is scrambling to find someone else, according to several people who have spoken with the presidential transition team. The chief reason: This month, a group of more than 70 environmental justice groups wrote to the Biden transition charging that Ms. Nichols has a ‘bleak track record in addressing environmental racism.'”
DeBlasio Tells New Yorkers to Prepare for ‘Full Shutdown’
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio (R) said New Yorkers should prepare for the possibility of a “full shutdown,” warning that December and January will be particularly difficult months in the city’s fight against coronavirus.
Said De Blasio: “We need to recognize that that may be coming and we’ve got to get ready for that now, because we cannot let this virus keep growing.”
Trump Administration Turned Down Vaccine In November
Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb, now on the board of Pfizer, told CNBC that the United States was offered more of the company’s successful coronavirus vaccine as recently as November — but didn’t take the deal.
Effort to Recall Newsom Gains Momentum
“California Gov. Gavin Newsom has had a rough year. The next one might be even tougher as a recall effort appears to be gaining momentum, fueled partly by outrage over the first-term Democrat dining with friends at an opulent restaurant while telling state residents to spurn social gatherings and stay home,” the AP reports.
Lawmaker Claims ‘Hail Mary’ Effort to Help Trump
Michigan state Rep. Gary Eisen (R) told WPHM that there’s some kind of “Hail Mary” effort underway regarding today’s elector ceremony at the state capitol.
Said Eisen: “It’ll be all over the news later.”
When asked if he could assure listeners that no one would get hurt, Eisen replied: “No. I don’t know. Because what we’re doing today is uncharted.”
Relief Plan Will Be Split In Two Parts
“A $908 billion bipartisan COVID-19 relief plan set to be introduced in the U.S. Congress as early as Monday will be split into two packages in a bid to win approval,” Reuters reports.
“One will be a $748 billion measure, which contains money for small businesses, the jobless and COVID-19 vaccine distribution. The other will include some key sticking points: liability protections for business and $160 billion for state and local governments.”
Election Tech Company Seeks Retractions for False Stories
Election technology company Smartmatic announced that it is “issuing legal notices and retraction demand letters to Fox News, Newsmax and One America News Network for publishing false and defamatory statements.”
New York Nurse Is Among First to Receive Vaccine
Critical care nurse Sandra Lindsay in New York became one of the first Americans to receive the coronavirus vaccine this morning, NBC News reports.
Said Lindsay: “I would like to thank all the frontline workers, all my colleagues who have been doing a yeoman’s job despite this pandemic all over the world.”
She added: “I feel hopeful today, relieved. I hope this marks the beginning to the end of a very painful time in our history. I want to instill public confidence that the vaccine is safe. We’re in a pandemic, so we all need to do our parts.”
The Atlantic: How science beat the virus.
Putin Said to Have Two Identical Offices
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been a visible presence during Russia’s COVID-19 pandemic, but only on TV, shown working from his office at his official residence outside Moscow, the New York Times reports.
But Proekt reports that Putin’s isolated workaholism isn’t all that it appears. He has actually been working at an identical office set up at his residence in Sochi, a resort town and popular vacation destination on the Black Sea.
Trump Delays Plan to Vaccinate White House Staff
“President Trump said on Sunday night that he would delay a plan for senior White House staff members to receive the coronavirus vaccine in the coming days,” the New York Times reports.
“The shift came just hours after The New York Times reported that the administration was rapidly planning to distribute the vaccine to its staff at a time when the first doses are generally being reserved for high-risk health care workers.”
Tracking the Electoral College Vote
CNN is tracking the Electoral College vote as it comes in today.
Stephen Miller Says Election Isn’t Decided Today
White House adviser Stephen Miller told Fox & Friends that today’s meeting of the Electoral College is a mere formality and that Congress will ultimately declare Donald Trump the winner of the presidential election.
Said Miller: “There’s plenty of time left.”
Why Haven’t Trump’s Judges Saved Him?
Paul Campos: “The formalist answer would be that all these lawsuits were just an enormous pile of crap in terms of even the most basic legal rules, and that calling balls and strikes is easy when the pitcher throws the ball straight into the ground rather than tossing it at least somewhere in the general vicinity of the plate.”
“The realist answer is that at least some of these various state and federal judges who as a political matter very much wanted Trump to win the election still realized that these lawsuits were so preposterous on formal grounds that giving Trump any sort of even partial rhetorical victory (‘this litigation raises serious questions about the procedures used’ blah blah blah) would do far more damage to the institutional capital of the courts than it would help the long term goals of the American right wing.”
Jonathan Bernstein: “What I find interesting is that if this is correct — that these judges are acting to advance their political goals — the key is that their political program remains the substantive legal agenda they’ve had for some time. In this respect, Republican judges differ from many Republican legislators, who have increasingly become indifferent to public policy at all.”
Nearly Half of Trump Backers See Election Overturned
Despite there being no viable legal pathway for President Trump to overturn the election results, a new Morning Consult poll finds that 45% of voters who “strongly approve” of the president’s job performance also believe the election results will be overturned, including 29% who say that outcome is “very likely.”
And despite no evidence of widespread fraud emerging, just 29% of Republican voters say the election was free and fair.
Early Voting Kicks Off for Georgia Runoffs
“All eyes are on Georgia as the state begins early voting on Monday for two Senate runoff elections that will determine control of the US Senate,” CNN reports.
“But there will be fewer early voting sites available in some parts of the state than there were for the November general elections, which has upset voting rights and advocacy groups in the state who say the changes will lead to longer lines, longer wait times and more barriers — especially for voters of color.”
Democrats Face Key Choice on Relief Negotiations
“Democratic leaders are now confronting a crucial decision: Whether to abandon aid for states and cities in order to get a slimmed-down Covid-19 relief deal or whether to make a last-ditch attempt for a bigger plan even if it risks an accord in the final days of the 116th Congress,” CNN reports.
“The decision isn’t an easy one for Democrats who rejected bigger proposals before the elections as they pushed for their own massive plan.”
Inside the ‘Nasty’ Feud Between Trump and Brian Kemp
Washington Post: “The strain between the two Republicans has now boiled over into a full-blown feud in the aftermath of Trump’s 2020 electoral defeat, as the president has fixated on his loss in Georgia as a humiliation that he blames in large part on Kemp. Trump lost the solidly Republican state by approximately 12,000 votes and is furious with Kemp for not heeding his calls to question the integrity of the state’s election results.”
“In phone calls and conversations with allies and advisers, Trump has griped that Kemp was not pushing Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to do more to reverse President-elect Joe Biden’s victory; that Kemp was not defending the president on television; and, perhaps most indefensible in Trump’s mind, that Kemp moved forward with certifying the results of the election.”
