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Our long national nightmare is over: President Biden gave his first press conference as president on Thursday, during which he doubled his vaccine target, leaned towards filibuster reform, and was somehow asked zero questions about coronavirus. That’s the big pandemic still defining everybody’s lives? You guys remember.
- Here’s the best news that Biden delivered to reporters waiting to ask their extremely urgent questions about the 2024 presidential ticket: The administration has upped its vaccination goal to 200 million shots within Biden’s first 100 days in office. The U.S. is already on pace to hit the goal, having administered the 100 millionth jab on Day 58, with a current seven-day average of 2.51 million doses per day.
- Governors and public-health officials in more than 40 states have said they’re on track to meet or beat Biden’s May 1 deadline to open up vaccine eligibility to all adults.
The Disney States California and Florida each announced on Thursday that eligibility would expand significantly next week with the help of friendly cartoon birds and mice, and open up completely in mid-April. Meanwhile, the Biden administration will allocate nearly $10 billion towards vaccination efforts in vulnerable, hard-hit communities, with more than $6 billion for community-health centers.
- Again, it’s not like anybody asked, but a fourth authorized (if drama-ridden) vaccine could be close at hand: AstraZeneca has released a revised set of data from its U.S. trial after health officials admonished it for cherry-picking results to make its vaccine look better, and the vaccine...still looks extremely good! AstraZeneca said the complete results showed it to be 76 percent effective overall (as opposed to the 79 percent efficacy rate the company boasted on Monday), and still 100 percent effective against severe illness. That public feud with health officials might not do wonders for public trust, though.
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Thursday’s developments on the future of the filibuster were...a little more mixed.
- On the one hand, Biden signaled he was more than open to Democrats making aggressive changes to the filibuster, which he said was “being abused in a gigantic way." He said he strongly supports reverting to the talking filibuster that existed back when he came to the Senate “120 years ago” (check out Joke Biden over here), but expressed a willingness to go further if Republicans continue to block important legislation. Biden said he agreed with Barack Obama that the filibuster is “a Jim Crow relic.”
- On the other hand, he’s got some persuading to do. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) said she’s against eliminating the filibuster, and Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) said she has “concerns”—though both said they’re open to possible reforms. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has insisted that Republicans blocking S.1 wouldn’t be enough to change his mind about nuking the filibuster (no big change there), and pledged to pursue a bipartisan compromise on narrower voting-rights legislation (good luck, man).
A stronger stance against the filibuster, an update on the successful vaccine rollout, and nary a single endorsement of injecting disinfectant into one’s veins: Not bad for a first formal news conference. Maybe next time the questions will be relevant, too.
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On this week’s Hysteria, Erin and Alyssa talk to Senator Amy Klobuchar about legislating in a time of obstructionism, what’s up with her and her friend Secretary Pete, and Minnesota sports. Then, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood stops by to discuss the Health Care Affordability Act and Illinois’ hidden gems. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts →
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Clear some space on the ol’ Cuomo Scandal Bulletin Board: Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) directed state health officials to prioritize coronavirus tests for his family members and other well-connected people, reportedly dispatching state health officials to their homes early in the pandemic, when ordinary New Yorkers were struggling to get tested. Among the favored test recipients was CNN host Chris Cuomo, who was regularly conducting chummy interviews with his brother during the height of the pandemic. If true, Andrew’s move was a serious ethical violation: New York law prohibits state officials from using their positions to access privileges for themselves or others. A Cuomo spokesman released a statement neither confirming nor denying that the administration had given Cuomo’s family special treatment, as one does. A New York lawmaker said the impeachment investigation will look into it.
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- Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) has signed a sweeping voter-suppression bill that will also make it easier for the legislature to overturn elections, immediately after GOP Georgia lawmakers raced it through the legislature. This is how police treated a Black state representative who simply tried to watch Kemp sign the bill. It's all unspeakably bad. Here’s how to fight back.
- The House has launched a broad investigation into the federal government's handling of the January 6 attack, requesting records from White House, National Archives, Capitol Police, Pentagon, and several other agencies, and filling a gap Republicans have created by objecting to the formation of an independent to conduct the same investigation.
- Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer laid out the Senate agenda for when it returns from a two-week recess: Expect April votes on voting rights, anti-Asian-hate-crime legislation, and gun control, as well as movement on Biden’s infrastructure package and immigration reform.
- The Boulder shooting suspect will be held without bail while he undergoes a mental-health assessment. He currently faces 10 charges of murder, and prosecutors said at his first court appearance that they expect to file additional charges.
- The official death toll from last month’s winter storm in Texas has risen to 111, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services. That’s nearly double the previously reported death toll. Most of the deaths were the result of hypothermia.
- Los Angeles police clashed with protesters on Wednesday night as they moved to displace an unhoused community at Echo Park Lake.
- Corporate donors have moved past the whole violent coup attempt thing and are once again funding Republicans. What’s one little insurrection between friends?
- Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has refused to release texts and emails he sent while in DC on January 6, as several news organizations fight to obtain them under the Texas Public Information Act.
- IMPORTANT UPDATE ON THE VERY STUCK SHIP BLOCKING THE SUEZ CANAL: It is still so, so stuck.
- Legendary comic actor Jessica Walter died Wednesday, at age 80. It’s one heartbreaking loss, Michael, what could it cost? Ten dollars?
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The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a Big Tech hearing focused on misinformation and extremism on Thursday, marking the first time lawmakers have questioned the CEOs of Facebook, Google, and Twitter since January 6. As in most Big Tech hearings, lawmakers aired their various grievances without apparent movement towards meaningful legislative reforms. They might wanna get around to that: Just in the last few days, we learned that hundreds of far-right militias have continued organizing and recruiting on Facebook more than two months after the Capitol attack, and that Facebook has been automatically generating pages for some of the violent groups. A study by the advocacy group Avaaz found that Facebook could have stopped 10.1 billion estimated views of toxic or misleading content ahead of the election, just from the top-100 pages that Facebook had already identified as misinformation-sharers. A real-world violent assault on American democracy didn’t change how tech executives view their content moderation responsibilities, and neither will pointed questions; any substantive change will need to come in the form of legislative or executive action.
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The California Supreme Court has ruled that courts must weigh a defendant's finances before setting bail: “No person should lose the right to liberty simply because that person can’t afford to post bail.”
Washington State lawmakers have passed a bill to automatically restore voting rights for people on parole and probation.
California’s policies to reduce air pollution have been making a significant difference, according to a new study.
Bald eagles are absolutely THRIVING.
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