We had a much quieter week than I expected–but then again, with all of the whirlwind last week, a calmer clip was probably inevitable. That said, there are indeed some updates on last week’s stories, especially regarding Election Rejection. A quieter week doesn’t mean an uneventful one! Nonetheless, it certainly has been less frenetic, and it’s nice to have a split second to breathe.
Standard standing reminders still apply: I guess after six years I’m conceding that I’m a journalist, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a text!–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!
Cleanup in Aisle 45:
For yet another week, Election Rejection was an entire flying circus. Here’s what I have for you:
- Insurrection Update: Tracking the Threads. There are a lot of threads of ongoing stories to track here, but I’ll do my best to braid them for you. On the FBI Tour of Mar-a-Lago front, a federal judge has ordered the unsealing of the affidavit in support of the search warrant released last week, though the DOJ will be heavily redacting it so we might not learn much. Meanwhile, in the Atlanta 2020 election crimes case, though Lindsey Graham was originally compelled to testify in front of the Atlanta grand jury, he instead was given a stay by the 11th Circuit at the eleventh hour. In Trump Organization Crime news, CFO and local pancake man Allen Wesselberg did agree to testify at the upcoming larger trial in October as part of his plea deal this week–but sadly, this is unlikely to involve Trump personally. Finally, in Original Flavor Election Rejection news, Wyoming rep and GOP House panel participant Liz Cheney was voted out of office in her primary on Tuesday due to said involvement in the January 6 House panel. She’s now organizing new opposition to Trump, and is apparently considering a Presidential run in response.
In contrast, the Biden Rebuilding front was pretty quiet. Here’s what has happened:
- Recent Biden Resilience.* We’ve already talked about the biggest Biden-related news this week, which is that he signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law last Tuesday. That said, I have a few other bits and bobs for you! Partially due to Biden’s urging, the FDA cleared the way this week for over-the-counter hearing aids, which should reduce their overall average cost of the medical by over $2,000. Additionally, the Fifth Circuit reached a favorable decision about whether the administration was allowed to pause offshore drilling, which would have been promising, except that the same District Court judge just reissued an injunction again the next day. So this marks the fourth Reverse Uno on off-shore drilling, for those of you playing the home game, because: 1) The Biden administration tried to block offshore drilling, but then 2) a District Court judge blocked their blocking, resulting in 3) the Fifth Circuit blocking the District Court decision that blocked the administration’s blocking of drilling, except that this lobbed the whole thing back down to the District Court, which just 4) blocked the blocking drilling all over again. Lawyers, amirite?
Your New Normal:
- Contagion Corner. A large-scale study on post-COVID symptoms was published this week, and unsurprisingly found that COVID creates significant risk of longstanding neurological conditions such as brain fog, increased anxiety, depression, and dementia. The study also found that this risk can persist for up to two years, and overall, the risk is higher in adults than it is in children. Against this serious backdrop, perhaps it is unsurprising that CDC head Rochelle Walensky announced that the entire agency was reorganizing. Walensky cited major missteps in its COVID response as the main motivation and says that they’ll be aiming to change the agency’s underlying culture. Finally, though it’s unclear whether this is related to the previous announcement or not, news also broke today that long-term Head COVID Guy Anthony Fauci is retiring at the end of the year.
The Bad:
- Reproductive Justice Struggles. The continuous steady stream of states losing reproductive rights trickles on, as several more states enacted trigger laws this week. The Washington Post estimates that one in three people capable of pregnancy is now living in a state without access, which is a pretty horrifying statistic. We can expect that number to keep going up, unfortunately, as states where advocates are suing reach resolution of their court cases. I’ll definitely continue to keep folks posted.
The Good:
- Recent Trans Resilience. With all the rough things going on right now, particularly regarding increased transphobia nationally, it’s edifying to share some small successes. In Utah, a new law that banned trans girls from competing in sports was enjoined by a state judge, allowing girls to compete in the coming school year while the larger court case is decided. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania became the 27th state to ban conversion therapy by executive order, which hopefully signals likely movement in other states as well.
So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. Nonetheless, for making it through, you deserve dogs going down twisty slides and a more functional government. I’ll be back next week with more restructured and improved 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 your favorite ice cream flavor!
National News Roundup 
