December 2020 – National News Roundup

Year 4, Week 49 (December 20-26)

December 28, 2020December 29, 2020 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

The frenetic pace of this week’s news is my fault, y’all–against all good sense, I mistakenly hoped that we’d get a quiet week over the holidays. (After four years of this, you’d think I would know better!)

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an electoral college!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

Here we go again with yet another round of Election Rejection, as Trump refuses to wind down and the GOP refuses to deal with it. Again. Still. Here’s what I have for you:

Trumped-Up Election Challenges. Apparently Trump isn’t about to let a little thing like certified election results stop him, and with his lawsuits winding down he is pivoting to new methods. He met with several GOP members of the House this week about the possibility of challenging the electoral college votes on the Senate floor, a move Mitch McConnell has openly gainsayed as ill-advised. Meanwhile, a few other GOP lawmakers are suing Mike Pence in an attempt to get him to ignore the certified results. Pence hasn’t really been all that reassuring when talking talking about how he’ll handle that, so we should probably be keeping an eye on him along with everything else. And speaking of suing, the people that make the voting machines are suing the Trump team for defamation, since they kept bad-mouthing the product in bogus lawsuits. Meanwhile, in the week leading up to the runoff Senate elections in Georgia, it’s anybody’s guess what all of this circus will do to those elections. And finally, against all of this backdrop, President-Elect Biden is expressing concern about cybersecurity and says that he’s still not getting full briefs on national security.

That said, we also got an improbable amount of Disregard of Governing Norms–like I said, that’s on me for wanting a quiet week. Here’s what I have for you:

COVID Relief Circus. The pending COVID relief bill was an entire ride this week, I tell you what. Around this time last week, the House and the Senate both passed a final compromise version of relief legislation. Like people who expect rational thought from their fellow humans, leadership on both sides assumed that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s active participation in the negotiations meant that the White House was agreeing to the deal. This turned out to be a tactical error, as Trump promptly refused to sign the bill–blaming the amount of stimulus payment, but I suspect the provision ending surprise medical billing was his actual problem here. Since Trump took to twitter to demand $2,000 stimulus payments, House Democrats put forward an existing bill that did exactly that. Mitch McConnell, of course, was having none of that, and House GOP blocked the new bill on Thursday. Trump let unemployment benefits expire on Saturday before finally signing the dang bill on Sunday night to avoid a government shutdown. The whole thing mostly only hurt his own political party right before Georgia’s elections, and the House is still planning to vote on $2,000 stimulus payments even though he relented.

Beg Your Pardon. As was foretold by prophecy, Trump issued a bunch of pardons leading up to the holiday, and thanks, I hate it. Most of the 15 people he pardoned on Tuesday were high-profile sycophants, people who were convicted of public corruption, or both, which is hardly surprising. But in a particularly galling move, he also pardoned the Blackwater Four, who were military vets working as contractors in Iraq convicted of the unprovoked killing of seventeen civilians while there. Then on Wednesday, he pardoned another 29 people, and most of them were personal friends, underlings, or both as well. At the time that I type this, he has personally intervened for five different people involved in the Russia investigation, three Republican officials, one family member, and six officials accused of wrongful killings. It’s traditional for a President to pardon people in their last few weeks in office, but it’s also hard to overstate how incredibly not normal these pardons are.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Other Ridiculous Veto News. Speaking of refusing to sign things, Trump also formally vetoed his own defense’s spending budget this week because the bill didn’t repeal online liability protections for companies like Facebook and Twitter. At the time that I type this, the House has already overwhelmingly voted to override his veto, and the Senate is expected to go the same way.

The Bad:

State of the COVID-19. Even setting aside the COVID relief bill news, COVID news was not good this week–our numbers overall nationally are slightly better than last week’s, but given the current spike that’s really not saying much. California became the first state to hit two million cases, which is not a distinction anyone wanted. The Associated Press is reporting that this year is the deadliest year in American history, and the biggest percentage jump in fatalities since the flu pandemic of 1918. And a new COVID strain was identified in the UK, prompting much of Europe to bar entry to the country. America is considering doing the same, which is a bit rich coming from us and might be pointless regardless, since we don’t know if the new strain is already here.

Nashville Bombing. Even Christmas Day this year involved terrible national news, because 2020 is nothing if not consistent. A bomb was intentionally detonated in downtown Nashville, injuring three people, destroying buildings, and causing multiple massive disruptions in and around the city during the holiday. The injury count is likely relatively low because the vehicle announced it was about to explode starting about fifteen minutes beforehand, prompting police to vacate the area. Remains near the vehicle were eventually identified as the person who detonated it, making him the only person currently identified as dying in the blast.

Black Lives Still Matter. In addition to the violence above, there was another police extrajudicial shooting of a Black man in Columbus, Ohio–which makes two in that location this month alone. Incredibly, the police officer involved in the first Columbus shooting was also in the news this week because a tape surfaced of him advocating extrajudicial violence in a church sermon. Needless to say, the community is both exhausted and incensed, and I don’t blame them.

The Good:

Recent Court Resilience. We had a couple of good court moments this week. A U.S. federal district court judge issued a stay of Trump’s ban on diversity training from this past autumn in California, noting that the ban was “an insult to the[] work of addressing discrimination and injustice towards historically underserved communities.” And in Georgia, a class action suit regarding the unnecessary hysterectomies of women detained by ICE has grown to over 40 plaintiffs, highlighting just how seriously the September whistleblowing complaint is being taken by advocates.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I think we can agree that it’s more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this seal getting nice pets and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me more hours in the day!

Year 4, Week 48 (December 13-19)

December 21, 2020December 22, 2020 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Somehow, election news still isn’t over, and not just because of the Georgia election’s unprecedented early voting. I’ve outlined the latest hysterics below, which might be funny if they weren’t so unsettling. We need to continue to keep an eye on this, y’all.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a vaccine vial!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

Here we go again with yet another round of Election Rejection, as Trump refuses to wind down and the GOP refuses to deal with it. Again. Still. Here’s what I have for you:

Trumped-Up Election Challenges. In the day or so after the electoral college certified, Trump was telling his base to “fight on” and was still saying the election isn’t over. It turns out we didn’t have to wonder what that meant for very long–within a day or two, he had newly-pardoned former national security advisor Michael Flynn on television saying that Trump should seize voting machines and declare martial law to force another election. Flynn was then back at the White House by Friday to discuss hiring apparently un-disgraced Sidney Powell to lead an investigation into voter fraud, which apparently involved advisors yelling and screaming at each other because that’s how they do over there. Recently-fired-slash-resigned William Barr, meanwhile, had no problem at using one of his final press conferences to dismiss Flynn’s dangerous nonsense.

That said, we also saw more Original Flavor Disregard of Governing Norms.Here’s what I have for you:

Your Ordinarily-Scheduled Corruption. Jared Kushner was in the news this week for apparently creating a shell company that paid the Trump family from campaign funds over the 2020 campaign–which, as the Washington Post op-ed notes, may or may not be legal, but is definitely sketchy. And down in Florida, Mar-A-Lago residents are suing to keep Trump from moving there full-time once he vacates the White House, anticipating that he will violate his own real estate contract before he even leaves. And, of course, several outlets are anticipating a pardon free-for-all over the next few weeks, as the Trump administration (hopefully) winds down its term.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Unexpected Political Updates. In weird and semi-political news, a beleaguered U.S. Postal Service is struggling to meet mailing demand, as the holidays plus the pandemic plus remote voting for the Georgia election create unprecedented amounts of mail. Folks can expect all kinds of delays on delivery over the next few weeks as a result, which on the plus side is a great excuse if you didn’t manage to get your holiday shopping done. (Your gifts are in the mail though, loved ones, I swear!)

Your New Normal:

Transition Tidings Continue. President-Elect Joe Biden nominated a few more appointees this week, and unsurprisingly they are a mixed bag. I am legitimately excited about his suggestion for Secretary of Interior, Rep Deb Haaland, who will be the nation’s first Native American to fulfill the role. I am less excited that he tapped Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of Transportation, as South Bend has a grand total of 60 busses and, apparently, a pothole problem.

The Bad:

State of the COVID-19. We continue to have horrifying new records of daily death, infection, and hospitalization counts in this country, which remains in worse shape than most of the world. On the plus side, the House did manage to pass another modest COVID relief bill today per Congressional deal; the bill provides more support for unemployment, rental assistance, and childcare as well as another round of stimulus checks, and the stimulus checks might go out as soon as next week. On the less plus side, the stimulus checks in question are only $600 per person, which doesn’t contrast so favorably with the $1.4B to build Trump’s vanity wall which the bill also contains. And in unsurprising-but-horrifying news, the House subcommittee on COVID crisis released a memo illustrating that a former Trump advisor was actively trying to get people sick with COVID because he (falsely) believed it would lead to herd immunity.

From Russia, We Think (cont).* We continue to learn more about the spy campaign that targeted several U.S. agencies, and the news keeps getting worse. Our State Department retains confidence that this was an act of Russian espionage, though Trump is of course claiming it “may be China” with absolutely no evidence to support his claim. At this point, it looks like forty different organizations were targeted, hitting several different countries (although the majority of the organizations are mostly U.S.-owned). Needless to say, Russia spying on our internal emails at several different U.S. agencies, including the Commerce Department, National Security Council, and Department of Homeland Security, is not great news. This is especially true when the head of cybersecurity at DHS was just let go for saying there was no election fraud.

The Good:

Second COVID Vaccine Approved. We got a bit more positive COVID news this week, as Moderna’s vaccine was approved by the FDA as well. This vaccine also can be stored at ordinary refrigeration temperatures, which should help distribution effects considerably; the first shipments have already begun to go out as I type this. And in true Hanukkah fashion, pharmacists figured out how to get 40% more vaccine out of Pfizer’s vaccine vials, expanding access during the first phase of vaccination.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I think we can agree that it’s more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this otter enjoying an ice snack and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me mail after the holiday!

Year 4, Week 47 (December 6-12)

December 14, 2020December 15, 2020 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

The electoral college voted today, and I can’t get over how uneventful that event was–at the time that I type this, there are no faithless electors and I haven’t heard any reports of violence. Of course, we were hacked by Russia and the attorney general resigned, so there was still plenty of sensational news from the day. But the electoral college, at least, was functional.

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

Here we go again with yet another round of Election Rejection, as Trump refuses to wind down and the GOP refuses to deal with it. Here’s what I have for you:

Trumped-Up Election Challenges. As I mentioned above, the electoral college vote today went… exactly how people expected it to, which by this point is deeply unnerving. It’s extra jarring, to be fair, because election challenges abounded the entire week beforehand. Trump asked the Pennsylvania House Speaker to overturn election results there, marking the third state he has pressured to throw out legal election results. Meanwhile, Texas sued to toss out legal election results and two dozen states countersued to stop them. (Within a few days of the suit being filed, the Supreme Court had tossed it out the door with a subtle note to Texas to stay in its own lane, and rejected a case challenging Pennsylvania’s results while it was at it.) While the case was pending, 126 GOP lawmakers urged SCOTUS to throw out election results in support of the Texas suit, and some prominent officials even began alluding to secession. Against that backdrop, it’s hardly surprising that at least one retiring Republican has officially left the party over the matter. Now that the challenge has been tossed, Trump is telling his base to “fight on,” whatever that means, and is still saying the election isn’t over.

State of Unrest. As an unfortunate corollary to the legal challenges above, we also saw a fair amount of rallies and resulting violence about the election results. In Olympia, Washington, members of the Proud Boys shot counterprotesters on two separate occasions in an eight-day period. Meanwhile, in Washington DC, four people were stabbed and Proud Boys also vandalized several prominent D.C. Black churches. Michigan also reported credible threats of violence ahead of the electoral college vote, although there are no reports of violence at the building today.

That said, we also saw more Original Flavor Disregard of Governing Norms. Here’s what I have for you:

Goodbye Barr! Apparently I still have some skill with tea leaves, because as I predicted last week Attorney General William Barr did indeed get resigned -slash-fired today. He leaves too late to prevent the execution of Brandon Bernard, but his departure may have implications for the remaining scheduled executions between now and late January. Given his methods of upholding the law while serving included acting as the President’s personal attorney on more than one occasion and lying about the contents of the Mueller report, I can’t imagine much of the country is sad to see him go.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Unexpected Political Updates. Congress did indeed pass a one-week stopgap measure this week to avoid a shutdown on Thursday, which is to be expected. What was less expected was the veto-proof majority they managed on this year’s defense spending bill so that Trump couldn’t derail it because he’s mad at Twitter. The bill passes during a low point for Trump-military relations, as veterans are currently calling for his Secretary of the VA to resign because of his mishandling of a sexual assault case.

Your New Normal:

Transition Tidings Continue. After last week’s health-related picks, President-Elect Biden appears to be continuing the trend with this week’s proposed appointments. He announced his pick for head of Veteran’s Affairs today, who is former Obama chief of staff Dennis McDonough. Much like Biden’s pick for head of DHHS, Xavier Becerra, McDonough lacks basic in-field background, and veteran organizations are frustrated by that lack. His pick for Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, is also a potentially problematic pick, as he hasn’t been retired from the military long enough to be a civilian commander in accordance with federal law. (Austin would, however, be the first Black Secretary of Defense if confirmed, and that part is awesome.) He also proposed new heads of HUD and DOA, Marcia Fudge and Tom Vilsack respectively, and both of those picks look very traditional.

The Bad:

State of the COVID-19. We continue to have horrifying new records of daily death, infection, and hospitalization counts in this country. Congress is considering another modest relief bill, which first appeared to be enjoying more support than previous efforts, but negotiations looked on the verge of collapse again by Tuesday evening. The FDA did approve the Pfizer vaccine for use–more about that below–but not before Trump threatened to fire the head of the organization because it was taking too long. And Florida police raided the home of a scientist who drew attention to the state’s COVID data manipulation earlier in the summer.

From Russia, We Think.* News broke over the weekend that several government entities had been hacked, with the security breaches bearing hallmarks of Russian cyberespionage. The attacks also appear tied to a recent attack on FireEye, a cybersecurity company with many government contracts–FireEye reports that the perpetrators stole their own hacking software. Needless to say, Russia spying on our internal emails at the Commerce Department, National Security Council, and Department of Homeland Security for months is, uh, not great news, especially when the head of cybersecurity at DHS was just let go for saying there was no election fraud.

The Good:

COVID Vaccine Approved. As I mentioned above, the FDA cleared the Pfizer vaccine on Friday, and the first batch was shipped very quickly; at the time that I type this, the first recipients have already received their first shots. Naturally, people have a lot of questions about how the vaccine works and what we can expect, but this is nonetheless a monumental moment and a bright spot in what promises to be a dark winter.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I think we can agree that it’s more than enough. For making it through, you deserve a puppy for Chanukah and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me news of your Zoom plans!

Year 4, Week 46 (November 29–December 5)

December 7, 2020December 8, 2020 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Another week of Trump temper tantrum is behind us, and I’m running out of ways to summarize the same exact news week over and over. I would apologize for boring y’all, but at least stale stories would suggest there isn’t new bad news. Mostly.

Standard standing reminders apply: I am no journalist, though I play one in your inbox or browser, so I’m mostly summarizing the news within my area of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a dubious election lawsuit!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

Here we go again with yet another round of Election Rejection, as Trump refuses to wind down and the GOP refuses to deal with it. Here’s what I have for you:

Trumped-Up Election Challenges. Election tantrums continue for another week even though, as I mentioned last week, all six of the states where Trump tried to contest results have certified their election results for Biden. Trump brought another lawsuit in Wisconsin, though it’s unclear how he expects the judge to do anything when the state has already certified, and engaged in lengthy video rants. But the biggest Trumpian effort of the week was his hissy fit in Georgia, where he ostensibly was stumping for the special election scheduled on January 5. In true Trump fashion, he instead used the opportunity to lie about winning his own election, pressure Georgian officials to throw out the election results, and have his team file yet another lawsuit. This move doesn’t exactly distance him from his former lawyer Sidney Powell, who along with fellow bonkers attorney Lin Wood spent the week telling Georgian Republicans not to vote unless the state refuses to acknowledge Biden’s win. Against that backdrop, it’s depressing but hardly surprising that over 200 Republican elected officials refuse to acknowledge Biden’s victory, and Trump is demanding the names of those 25 Republicans that did. Meanwhile, election officials worry about staff safety, particularly after armed protesters surrounded the home of Michigan’s Secretary of State.

That said, we also saw more Original Flavor Disregard of Governing Norms. Here’s what I have for you:

Goodbye Barr? Between investigating potential pardon abuses and loudly proclaiming that there was no election fraud, Attorney General William Barr appears to be suddenly out of sync with Trump all over the place. (This may or may not be related to Trump pardoning Flynn, which almost certainly was not what Barr wanted to happen.) Unsurprisingly, outlets are already starting to report that Trump is less than thrilled about this. If Trump fires his sitting Attorney General (again) in the two or so months he has left, or Barr leaves on his own, that may derail the spate of executions currently scheduled to occur before Biden is sworn in. It’s worth keeping an eye on this and seeing how it develops.

Your Ordinarily-Scheduled Corruption. Despite his busy anti-stumping schedule, Trump managed to find plenty of time to be sketchy this week. News broke that he is now allegedly looking into pardoning his three oldest children and Rudy Giuliani, the former of whom have not even been charged with a crime yet, although Ivanka was deposed in an AG investigation this week. He also threatened to veto defense spending unless Congress repealed legislation that protects tech companies from lawsuits. And finally, yet more people were fired from the Pentagon and replaced with loyalists; resident scary COVID advisor Scott Atlas also left a week early, although nobody seems too sad about the latter’s departure.

Your “Normal” Weird:

Unexpected Political Updates. There’s a lot of weird political news floating around right now, and I’m not sure what to make of all of it. Since the tentative stimulus package definitely won’t be ready before December 10, Congress will vote on a one-week stopgap measure this week to avoid a shutdown on Thursday. Meanwhile, the Georgia runoff election is taking all kinds of strange turns, including one of the candidates refusing to show up for the campaign debates on Saturday. (Incidentally, if you’re reading this from Georgia, today is the last day that new voters can register, and early voting begins next week.) Additionally, the Trump administration passed changes this week that make the citizenship exam harder and more Republican, presumably for funsies since Biden can start rolling that back only six weeks after it goes into effect.

Your New Normal:

Transition Tidings Continue. There was a bit more Biden transition news this week, though not as much as previous weeks. He announced a plan to ask everyone to wear a mask for 100 days, which hopefully is not the sum total of his COVID messaging (although the CDC is finally admitting it’s important). He also announced several picks for top health-related positions: He is asking former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to reprise the role for his administration, asking Mass General Hospital’s head of its infectious disease division, Rochelle Walensky, to run the CDC, and he plans to tap current California AG Xavier Becerra as his Secretary of Health and Human Services. The first two are solid picks, but I have concerns about Becerra’s selection to head DHHS, which is an extremely broad agency that runs everything from the FDA to the CDC to Medicare and Medicaid to NIH. Health experts are saying the agency should have a health professional at the helm during the COVID crisis, and though Becerra has considerable experience litigating the Affordable Care Act, he has no background in healthcare or human services. He would, however, be the first Latino person to hold the position.

The Bad:

State of the COVID-19. Unfortunately, COVID news remains bad. At the time that I type this, infections are still rising and so are death rates, with both reaching a new all-time high on Wednesday. Experts remain extremely concerned about the coming winter, and the director of the CDC has gone on the record as saying that it may be the worst period in American public health history. In response to the growing infection rates, California issued new stay-at-home guidance, tying the restrictions to ICU capacity. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has invited 900 people to his house for a holiday party, and Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for COVID. In vaccine news, Bush, Clinton, and Obama have agreed to take the vaccine publicly once it becomes available, trying to forestall mistrust of the development process, and experts recommend people get the vaccine even if they’ve already had a COVID infection. Congress is considering another modest relief bill, which appears to be enjoying more support than previous efforts and might actually pass. And finally, new research analysis suggests that many people do not remain contagious for longer than seven days, which has resulted in the CDC shortening their recommended period for self-isolation in cases of exposure.

The Good:

Recent Government Resilience. By this point, we know not to expect much from the executive branch, but we did see a few bright spots in both the judicial and legislative branches this week. Arizona Democrat Mark Kelly was sworn in this week, giving Arizona two Democrat senators for the first time in nearly sixty years, and the House voted to decriminalize marijuana (though that bill is likely DOA in the current Senate). On the judicial side, a federal district judge reinstated the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, ordering the administration to accept first-time applications. Though DACA’s position remains precarious, this is still a step in the right direction.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this Star Wars version of Carol of the Bells and an eventual better government. I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me holiday chocolate!