The news is pretty dispiriting again this week, and I know I for one am getting tired of hearing myself sing that tune. If you’re having a tough time with all of this, you aren’t alone; we’ve lived through a lot in the last few years. I’m here if I can help.
Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be starting a seventh year of journalism, 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 classified document!–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:
We did have some odds and ends on the Election Rejection news front. Here’s what has happened:
- Subpoenas and Searches. Pence and Trump were both in the news a lot this past week, for various court-related reasons. On the Pence end, another classified document was found in his Indiana home; he was also subpoenaed in Trump’s ongoing January 6 investigation. Trump, for his part, is trying to stop Pence from testifying on that by using his tired ‘executive privilege’ refrain again. It’s also looking likely that records from the Georgia investigation into his election actions will be released in the near future.
We also had a couple of stories for Biden Rebuilding, though nothing I would call earth-shattering. Here’s what I have for you:
- State of the Biden(s). The biggest Biden story of the past week was probably his State of the Union address, which largely touched on the debt ceiling, police reforms, and Marjorie Taylor Greene’s lack of social skills. His son Hunter’s laptop was also in the news yet again, this time because the House Oversight Committee used old social media restrictions from 2020 to create a whole censorship circus adventure.
Your New Normal:
- Reproductive Health Updates. A lot of mixed reproductive health news surfaced this week. In Texas, a lawsuit may end access to abortifacients, which are supposed to be available under existing federal law. Meanwhile, a federal judge in Washington DC suggested that abortions may be protected by the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolishes slavery outside of penal contexts–it will be interesting to see what happens with that line of precedent. Finally, in Florida, the High School Athletic Association was considering forcing teen athletes to disclose their menstruation, which needless to say would have abortion implications, though the athletic administration voted not to adopt it.
The Bad:
- Derailing Conversations. By now, I’m sure a lot of us have heard about the ongoing horrorshow happening in East Palestine, Ohio, where a massive derailed train dumped huge amounts of multiple kinds of toxic chemicals into the nearby Ohio river. The spill has killed a lot of local wildlife, and residents who were evacuated are understandably nervous about returning, wondering what this is doing to their air and water. Needless to say, this is a really concerning public health situation that seems like it’s being minimized, and it bodes watching carefully.
The Good:
- Postpartum Antidepressant. The FDA is currently reviewing a promising new treatment for postpartum depression, which if approved could increase access to treatment considerably. (The only current form of postpartum pharmaceutical treatment is a 60-hour intravenous infusion that can cost thousands of dollars.) It’s a promising development, to say the least, though it may be some time before the drug is approved.
So that’s all I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this cat conversation 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 selfies you took recently!
National News Roundup 