Well folks, I sure picked a time to restart the NNR. (Thank you for your patience over these last few weeks while I sorted out a very frenetic time, by the way.) We’re not going to do a deep dive into this week’s international stories, such as Israel’s declaration of war on Hamas or the massive earthquake in Afghanistan, because there’s so much news just on the national front. But suffice to say, there’s a lot happening on the global stage right now too.
Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my 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 motion to vacate!–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 have a change from our usual fare for Election Rejection stories this cycle, but it’s nonetheless a wild ride. Here’s what has happened since last time:
- Votes and No Confidence. Despite serious concern from basically all of us over the last few weeks, Congress managed to pass a stopgap measure to keep the lights on for another month (just in time for Fat Bear Week!). However, this was partially achieved by Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy negotiating with Democrats, which made the Freedom From Reality Caucus big mad. And since Kevin McCarthy had given them a big metaphorical stick in exchange for getting to be Speaker, Matt Gaetz used it to call for McCarthy’s removal. Then those Democrats who worked with McCarthy to keep the government open didn’t actually like him enough to save him from his own party, and voted as a block to remove him. So for the first time ever, a Speaker of the House was removed by a motion from his own party in the middle of a session. Then Republicans spent a week posturing about how Trump should be the new Speaker and ceremoniously kicking Democrats out of offices because said Dems didn’t save them from themselves. Now, we finally have some candidates for new Speaker, which are alt-right nightmare men Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise and… possibly Kevin McCarthy again, as of today? Honestly, your guess is as good as mine about what is even happening over there.
We also have a handful of odds and ends on the Biden Rebuilding front, though I’m not loving most of them. Here’s what I have for you:
- Bills and Building a Wall. As foretold by prophecy, by which I mean the Biden administration, federal student loan payments officially became due again this news cycle after over three years of pause. And in other administration and funding news, Biden was in the news this week for resuming construction on Trump’s asinine wall at the southern border. Biden is saying that he had no choice, but he was already facing increasing complaints from his own party about how he is handling asylum issues, and that seems like a relevant factor here.
Your New Normal:
- COVID Redux. Though it has gotten much harder to track cases, it would appear that COVID cases are on the rise again with the start of fall, particularly for hospitalization and death rates. That said, this rise coincided with the release of new COVID vaccines, which are recommended for everyone over six months old. The Biden administration has also announced that they will resume sending test kits through the mail, though only four tests per household at this time. Hooray, everything new is old again. Good thing we ended that public health emergency, amirite?
The Bad:
- Political Determinants of Death. On a somewhat related note, multiple outlets ran stories this week about political determinants of health. STAT released an article about conservative rhetoric causing a drop in American health outcomes because doctors can’t safely do their jobs. Meanwhile, the Washington Post wrote an entire series of articles on the the plummeting American life expectancy, which are some of the bluntest I’ve ever seen from such a mainstream outlet. One article directly linked Republican policy to early death. Another meticulously unpacks other death inequities within the U.S., noting how income gaps and politics are hurting subpopulations in our country. There’s also an interactive article which invites the reader to compare their life expectancy to that of residents in other countries–spoiler, the results aren’t awesome.
The Good:
- Recent Biden Policy Wins. We did have a couple of bright spots from the Biden administration this cycle. Biden announced the launch of the American Climate Corps, which will be a new kind of job corps designed to train young people in clean energy. He also announced a new policy which will grant veterans’ benefits to people who were discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell just for being gay. Finally, he visited the UAW strike to encourage workers to keep striking, something no President has ever done before. Credit where credit is due, these are all good things.
So that’s what I have for you, and I think we can agree it was more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this excited dove dance and a more functional government. I’ll be back next time 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 several extra hours of sleep!
National News Roundup 