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To say this week is an improvement from last week is to say that Detroit is wetter than the Sahara, but I suppose that progress is still progress. At any rate, several stories have improved from last week. That said, not all have, and Black lives still matter.

Standard standing reminders still 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 labor law!–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!     

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Cleanup In Aisle 45:

We’re back to more specific stories on Election Rejection, and they’re at least slightly less horrifying overall, though that’s not saying much. Here’s what I have for you:

• Original Flavor Election Rejection. Somehow, on April 26, 2021, I still have news for you about a new audit of the November election results, because Republicans in Arizona sure are importing a sketchy Florida firm to lead one this week. Meanwhile, federal authorities are estimating that over 500 people total will be charged in the January 6 riots, making this one of the largest investigations in American history. But if you prefer your news voter suppression flavored, don’t worry, we have that too–Texas is already gearing up to be the new voter suppression battleground.

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We also continue to track stories on the Biden Rebuilding fronts as well, which are a bit more varied than usual.  Here’s what has happened in the past week:  

• Recognizing Armenian Genocide.* Biden took the largely symbolic step this week of directly acknowledging that much of the world observes Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on April 24 each year because the Ottoman Empire’s massacre of Armenian people was, in fact, the first major genocide of the twentieth century. This is a pretty basic truth that the U.S. has declined to acknowledge for over a hundred years, despite many other countries doing so, due to its alliance with Turkish government. I’m inclined to think that recognition of genocide is important all by itself, given the surplus of literal Nazis littering the political landscape, but it’s also worth noting that this move highlights our current strained relations with Turkey.

• Other Biden Priorities. This was a fairly interesting and at least moderately positive week for the Biden administration on a number of other topics as well. In labor news, he urged companies to grant paid time off for vaccination recovery and issued an executive order promoting labor unions and collective bargaining. A virtual climate summit the administration held over Earth Day appears to have concluded more-or-less unremarkably, but honestly that is a huge change from the last four years all by itself. And the administration’s proposed capital gains tax increases have wealthy people freaking out, even though the changes only impact people who earn more than $1M per year and Wall Street doesn’t even expect it to pass.

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Your New Normal:

• Congressional Updates Again.  Congressional news was mostly continuations of the past week, but they were positive continuations so I’ll take it.  In the House, the DC statehood bill passed by 216-208 vote, though it’s not clear what will happen in the Senate.  But speaking of the Senate, that COVID-19 antiracism bill passed by an incredible 94-1 vote, and unsurprisingly the sole dissenter was human treasonous garbage pile Josh Hawley.  And for some reason (well, “some reason”), Republicans wanted to censure Maxine Waters for a vague statement advocating civil disobedience, but that failed along 216-210 party line votes as well.

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The Bad:

• State of the COVID-19.  COVID news is a bit better this week.  Johnson and Johnson is officially allowed to unpause their vaccine, though the Maryland plant that badly messed up production has lost vaccine-making privileges on account of being a hot mess. We also hit another major milestone in vaccine rollout, with 200 million Americans vaccinated by Biden’s 92nd day in office.  The CDC has indicated that pregnant women can safely vaccinate, and the E.U. has also signaled that vaccinated Americans may begin traveling there again this summer. But the bad COVID news this week is nonetheless very sobering–the New York Times reported that COVID caused the greatest death rate in over a century during 2020, killing even more Americans than the 1918 flu pandemic. Despite this news, vaccine hesitancy is emerging as a particularly partisan issue, with 40% of Republicans saying they will not immunize.  We’re also seeing an alarmingly high number of people skipping their second dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, for logistical reasons as well as hesitancy reasons.   

• Black Lives Still Matter.  In the week after Derek Chauvin was convicted on all counts, the country is still reacting. More information has come out about the shooting in Columbus, wherepolice killed a sixteen-year-old girl who apparently called them for help during an altercation with two other girls. Disturbingly, the Ohio news was only one of six different police shootings to occur within 24 hours of the Chauvin verdict, with police also shooting civilians under questionable circumstances in NorthCarolina, Texas, California, and Massachusetts.  Likewise, the most recent shooting in Columbus was apparently the fourth local instance in four months, highlighting the egregious abuses of the police force in that area.  Meanwhile, the biased medical examiner who testified in the Chauvin trial is now under investigation in his own state because his testimony calls his “inconclusive” findings on several other cases into question.  And in reaction to the unusually thorough and humanizing prosecution that occurred due to extended protests in Minneapolis, some GOP lawmakers are creating legislative penalties for protesting.  (It never ceases to amaze me that people who complain about “First Amendment violations” whenever trolls tell them to shut up on the Internet are so excited to create actual First Amendment violations in their legislation, but here we are.) 

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The Good:

• Recent Congressional Resilience. Though some states are proposing legislation to make more things crimes, Manhattan proposed the opposite this week, when their District Attorney announced that the city will no longer prosecute prostitution. He also requested dismissal of over 900 cases going all the way back to the 1970s. This is a really significant win for several different movements at once–though it’s obviously a great relief for sex workers, it also has a lot of positive implications for survivors of sexual trafficking, particularly because the District Attorney will be continuing to prosecute sex trafficking. It likewise is a great moment for the trans community; the dismissals also included over a thousand cases of targeted enforcement to harass transgender individuals, a practice so widespread that it was colloquially called a “walking while trans” charge. The news is the latest in a growing movement that I didn’t expect to see in my lifetime, and I’m really excited to share it with you all.

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So that’s what I have for this week, and it was more than enough. For making it through, you deserve these otters trying out sparkling water and a more consistently improved 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 photos of delicious salads!

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I’m big mad that the same intro remains relevant for two weeks in a row, but frankly, this past week was A Lot, and we all are still pretty weary. Suffice to say, we still have so much work to do, and I’m here if I can help.

Standard standing reminders still 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 Bitcoin!–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!     

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Cleanup in Aisle 45

We continue to get updates on Election Rejection, although this week it’s a bit broader than average. Here’s what I have for you:

• White Supremacist Mélange. This week was a painful mix of white supremacist danger nonsense, and several forms involved voting. In the House, several problem children founded a new bigot caucus to “promote Anglo-Saxon political traditions” such as–hang on, let me check my notes here–European architecture and Bitcoin. (I swear I kill brain cells every time I read something these people write.) In state news, Arkansas passed comprehensive voter suppression legislation that mirrors Georgia’s in scope. Meanwhile, in January 6 news, a founding member of the Oathkeepers has flipped, and will be cooperating with federal prosecutors in exchange for a lenient sentence.

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We also continue to track stories on the Biden Rebuilding fronts as well.  Here’s what has happened in the past week:  

• Dismantling the Deportation Machine? As I mentioned last week, President Biden never finished dismantling the Trump-era 15,000 person refugee cap, which was putting us on track for the lowest number of refugee resettlements in American history. This gained more national attention after inside sources claimed Biden was leaving the cap in place because he didn’t want the political optics of changing it, and Biden doubled down on leaving the cap in place. Finally, after disgust from basically every Democrat and even a few Republicans, the White House walked that back and agreed to raise the cap again. Against this backdrop, it’s hard to get all that excited about his memo to ICE telling them to stop saying the i-word.

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Your New Normal:

• Congressional Updates Again.  With Congress back in session, there was a lot of movement this week.  I’ll talk in more detail about a few particularly promising developments in the Good below, but there were also a number of other beginnings to track:  1) An increasing number of Congresspeople are calling to create a USPS postal banking pilot program; 2) Progressive Democrats introduced a bill to expand the Supreme Court; and 3) There’s a modest bipartisan effort in the Senate to increase the minimum wage, which doesn’t make it up to the $15 per hour we frankly need but would nonetheless be better than the truly embarrassing $7.25 per hour that we’ve had for over ten years.

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The Bad:

• State of the COVID-19.  COVID news is still mixed, shocking no one.  The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is officially paused after it was discovered to cause dangerous blood clots in a very small number of cases, and the pause will likely remain in place for most of the week.  This has equity implications, as its single dose and lack of refrigeration made this vaccine easier to distribute in more remote locations.  Hospitalizations are also increasing again nationwide (though that may or may not be related to the pause).  But in more positive news, as of today, all adults are eligible for the vaccine and over 50% of adults have received at least one immunization shot.

• Gun Violence Updates.  Just like last week, this was a brutal, painful week for violence against Black Americans and gun violence in general.  The officer in Minnesota who fatally shot a Black man last week is being charged with secondary manslaughter, which in my opinion is a lesser charge than the situation deserves.  Meanwhile, in Chicago, a newly-released video shows police fatally shooting an unarmed 13-year-old boy. Understandably, protests are ongoing in Minnesota and Illinois as I type this.  In Austin, an ex-officer shot three people, including his own wife and daughter.  The Chauvin trial also wrapped this week after the defendant invoked the Fifth Amendment in lieu of testifying.  There were also several more civilian mass shootings in the past week.  In Indianapolis, eight FedEx employees were fatally shot, and several more were wounded; it’s possible this was another hate crime, as several deceased were members of the local Sikh community.  There was also a bar shooting in Kenosha and a shooting at a gun violence vigil in Columbus, Ohio.  All in all, that brings us to at least fifty mass shootings in the last month, which is a sickening and globally anomalous rate of violence.

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The Good:

• Recent Congressional Resilience. We did see some promising movement on several groundbreaking bills. A COVID-19 hate crime bill easily overcame threat of filibuster with unusually broad bipartisan support, though it’s unclear when a final vote will occur. A bill granting DC statehood has made it out of committee, and will likely have a floor vote relatively soon. And the House has advanced a bill to create a committee to study reparations for descendents of enslaved people.

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So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are still no news refunds. For making it through, and in celebration of my upcoming birthday, you deserve Kiss from a Rose by Seals and this gradation of birthday singing, as well as a more consistently improved 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 memes with seals in them!

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This week was A Lot, and I think we’re all pretty weary. Suffice to say, a new government is not a perfect government, and we have work to do. I’m here if anyone needs anything.

Standard standing reminders still 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 All Star game!–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!     

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Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We continue to get updates on Election Rejection, with further updates on last week’s new salvo. Here’s what I have for you:

• New Voting Suppression Laws (cont). Outlets are beginning to report that the corporate backlash in Georgia created by the state’s oppressive voting law is shaping the discourse in several other key states around the country. As we’ve discussed before, these laws are part of a concerted, organized attempt to curtail voter turnout in subsequent elections. Now companies in other states are counter-organizing, eager to avoid the profit loss created by responses like the sudden departure of Major League Baseball, and it should make for a more complicated fight on this front overall.

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We are continuing to track stories on the Biden Rebuilding fronts as well.  Here’s what has happened in the past week:

• Infrastructure Week? Almost immediately after unveiling his infrastructure plan last week, President Biden signaled that he would be open to reducing its scope, presumably because Joe Manchin is being a Joe Manchin about both the infrastructure bill and, more broadly, the idea of removing the filibuster. Since a new Senate ruling creates a workaround on the filibuster issue, Biden is stuck working with Manchin on the filibuster issue.

• Responsible Gun Legislation. The Biden Administration also tackled responsible gun rules this past week, passing six executive orders on the subject and calling our current legal structure “an international embarrassment.” Though it’s a good start, the orders also highlight the ways in which his jurisdiction is limited on this issue; though the President can do things like limiting ghost guns, it’s really up to Congress to pass meaningful reform.

• Dismantling the Deportation Machine? Immigration is an area where the executive branch does have a lot of power, and unfortunately, this was another bad week for immigration news. At the time that I type this, there are still 445 kids separated from their parents due to the Trump zero tolerance policy; there was also a story about a deported unaccompanied minor getting kidnapped that is highlighting the unique risks of mass deportation of minors. Nonetheless, the number of unaccompanied minors keeps increasing, and hit record numbers last month–though March 2021 was also the highest number of border detentions in two decades in general. President Biden also never finished dismantling the 15,000 person refugee cap, which is putting us on track to have the lowest number of refugee resettlements in American history. And Biden also reportedly is considering the Tuscon police chief to head CBP.

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Your New Normal:

• Gross Congressional (Non-)Updates.  We didn’t get a lot of new legislation with Congress on recess, but we did see another week of gross Matt Gaetz news.  The latest is that he’s said to have sought a blanket pardon from Trump before January rolled around, and outlets have also noted that he voted against legislating revenge porn while part of the Florida legislature–one of only two members of the Florida House to do so.  Finally, and unsurprisingly, his current House has opened an ethics investigation.

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The Bad:

• State of the COVID-19.  COVID news remains a mix for yet another week.  On the negative side: 1) Johnson and Johnson is only releasing 700,000 doses next week, and won’t make their April goal, due to the contamination issues from last week; 2) Vaccines are still not reaching all demographics equally, and immigrants are facing particular barriers; 3) The Supreme Court has struck down another pandemic restriction on in-person services; 4) News broke that Trump officials were definitely changing CDC guidelines for political reasons last year; and 5) the more virulent UK strain is now the dominant COVID strain in the U.S., creating a plateau on viral containment.  But on the more positive side: 1) All adults in the U.S. will be eligible for vaccination on April 19; 2) We vaccinated a record number of people today; and 3) The Biden administration is creating a new fund that will cover burial costs for families.

• Black Lives Still Matter. This was another terrible, painful week regarding police violence against Black Americans. The ongoing Chauvin trial increasingly highlights police aggression, though I think a unique low point was hit when Chauvin’s defense team claimed that saying “I can’t breathe” is a form of resisting arrest. But even as the Chauvin trial continues, we saw another fatal police shooting in Minneapolis yesterday during a routine traffic stop, this time with the police officer claiming that she meant to tase the decedent instead of shooting him. Understandably, protests are ongoing in Minnesota as I type this. As Rev Jacqui Lewis put it, “We can’t even finish trying one police officer before another murder.” Then, just to punctuate the other two stories, the Biden administration put its proposed police oversight commission on hold yesterday.

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The Good:

• Recent State Resilience. Though there are some scary pieces of legislation brewing in statehouses right now, we actually saw a couple of cool laws this week that deserve their own mention. In Kentucky, legislators voted to expand voting rights, making some of the state’s COVID-related changes more permanent. Meanwhile, Maryland voted to expand police accountability considerably, which is a welcome step in the correct direction especially given the paragraph above.

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So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are still no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this unimpressed frog and a more consistently improved 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 happy photos of yourself!

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This is the first roller coaster week I think we’ve had in a little while; it had a lot of notable dips but we also had some exciting advances. (Though I would prefer an abjectly good week, I’ll take the wins where I can!)

Standard standing reminders still 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 All Star game!–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!

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Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We continue to get updates on Election Rejection, with further updates on last week’s new salvo. Here’s what I have for you:

• New Voting Suppression Laws (cont). Georgia has begun to experience pushback for last week’s terrible law, and honestly it couldn’t happen to a nicer bill. First Major League Baseball announced that it was taking its ball and leaving Atlanta, or at least, wouldn’t host its annual All Star Game there, and made it very clear that this was motivated by the new law. After facing boycotts as well as public statements from Black business leaders, several prominent Georgia-based companies also issued statements against the law, and by the time that I type this we’re up to almost 200 companies issuing statements in support of free elections. This is, of course, in addition to the three lawsuits that have already been filed against the Georgia law. And in other voter fraud news, the New York Times did run a story about voter fraud this past week–that the Trump campaign defrauded its contributors by forcing repeat donations through sketchy practices. Too bad no GOP legislators are likely to make a law about that.

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We are continuing to track stories on the Biden Rebuilding fronts as well.  Here’s what has happened in the past week:  

• Infrastructure Week. By far the biggest Biden Reopening story is the comprehensive infrastructure package his administration revealed this past week. The plan is extremely ambitious in scope, and includes a lot of things not traditionally considered infrastructure purview. On the more-traditional side, it would rebuild roads, expand train track infrastructure, repair bridges, eliminate lead pipes from our water supplies, and modernize the electric grid. But it would also make several less-traditional infrastructure changes, such as funding electric vehicle charging stations along highways, building new schools, and broadening access to broadband Internet. And, of course, there’s always the fact that the whole thing is funded by corporate tax increases. Unsurprisingly, this plan is less than popular with Republicans, who have spent the last four years railing against things like “corporate tax increases” and “clean water” and “education.”

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Your New Normal:

• Gross Congressional (Non-)Updates.  Honestly, the only real update to come out of Congress this week is that Matt Gaetz is, as SNL put it, “a full-on sex pest“–not that much of an update no matter what Tucker Carlson may say. about it.  But the part where Gaetz is being investigated for sexually trafficking minors is definitely new, and the part where he allegedly showed naked photos of said minors to fellow politicians is uniquely disturbing as well.  Just to ground this in legal perspective: Since the 1990s, simply possessing those photographs has been its own federal offense. So this is like the sex pest version of just whipping out a dollar bill and some cocaine at your fellow legislators like, “Hey, you wanna bump? My local tax collector hooks me up.”  Except the cocaine in this analogy is an actual adolescent being sex-trafficked and why is this real life.

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The Bad:

• State of the COVID-19.  It was something of a rough week for COVID news, though we did see some silver linings.  Infection rates continue to rise, despite high vaccination rates in many parts of the country, and experts disagree about what this means. This was likely exacerbated by a manufacturing error in Maryland that ruined 15 million Johnson and Johnson doses, though the company says it’s still on track to produce 100 million doses by late May.  And the CDC has announced that vaccinated Americans are low-risk while traveling, prompting discussion of “vaccine passports” that has already prompted backlash (and in Florida, an executive order banning them).  But there was a modicum of good news as well; some early research suggests that Pfizer may be effective for adolescents, though further study is still needed.

• Gun Violence Updates (again).  It truly pains me to say this, but gun violence remains highly relevant for yet another week.  In Orange, California, an assailant fatally shot at least four people, including a nine-year old boy.  There was also a vehicular assault on Capitol Hill which has resulted in the death of yet another Capitol Police officer as well as fatal shooting of the assailant.  News articles are beginning to emerge about the Capitol Police struggling to maintain staffing during this period of unprecedented strain, and apparently two officers are suing over the January 6 riots. 

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The Good:

• Recent Trans Equity Resilience. We did see some small progress in trans right this week. During Trans Day of Visibility, President Biden announced he was rescinding a Trump era policy that banned transgender individuals from serving in the military. And in a move I honestly did not see coming, that awful transgender discrimination bill in Arkansas–specifically, the one that banned access to gender-affirming care for all minors–was vetoed by Governor Hutchinson today.  The bill could still be passed by override, but it’s nonetheless really noteworthy that the Governor refused to sign it.

• Recent Medical Advances. In other “I can’t believe I’m typing this” news–of the good kind, not the Trump kind–an early study shows 97% effectiveness of a novel HIV vaccine. We definitely need to do more research, but it’s tentatively looking like breakthroughs that resulted in COVID vaccines may have implications for HIV infection as well.

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So that’s what I have for this week, and it’s more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this angry octopus and a more consistently improved 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 cookies because the holiday ended!

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I’m probably jinxing myself by typing this, but as I draft this on Monday afternoon we appear to have sighted that mythical beast known as a slow news week. I haven’t really seen these in the last four years, so I’m throwing an impromptu desk party over here. The light switch rave is off the chain.

Standard standing reminders still 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 stimulus payment!–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!     

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Cleanup in Aisle 45:

Even during a slow news week there are still updates on Election Rejection, though they’re mostly about how many people are being charged by the DOJ right now. Here’s what I have for you:

• Insurrection Redux. The Justice Department has signaled they are still planning to charge many more people, including many members of the militia-style organization known as the Oath Keepers organization, which has also slowed down their proceedings. In the meantime, however, they have charged two individuals who fatally assaulted a police officer with chemical weapons. And in related news, outlets began reporting new information about additional pressuring phone calls Trump placed to Georgia officials, trying to make them find voter fraud so that he could justify challenging the election results. Against this backdrop, it’s not really surprising that his acting Secretary of Defense publicly opined that Trump caused the insurrection, even if he wasn’t sure if Trump was aware of it.

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We are continuing to track two main stories on the Biden Rebuilding fronts as well.  Here’s what has happened in the past week:  

• Dismantling the Deportation Machine? We did get some positive news on immigration fronts this week, but it remains mixed overall. The Biden Administration has officially ended a Trump-era rule that penalized legal applicants for being low income, and they also will stop deporting people who step forward as sponsors for unaccompanied minors.  However, the administration is still struggling to meet the needs of unaccompanied minors, who are coming to the U.S. in unprecedented numbers, and is holding them longer than legally permissible. Outlets are reporting that the administration will begin housing unaccompanied boys in the Dallas convention center, and FEMA has been sent to the border to respond to the large number of people emigrating. They also made it clear that they are not ending family detention, and several application process issues remain as well.

• Confirmation Tango (continued). Despite Tom Cotton’s nonsense, Merrick Garland was confirmed as Attorney General this week by 70-30 vote. Additionally, the Senate confirmed Marcia Fudge as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; she will be the first Black woman to lead the department in over 40 years. We also saw Michael Regan confirmed as new head of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Deb Haaland was confirmed as the first Native American Secretary of Interior.

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Your New Normal:

• Congressional Updates.  The biggest Congressional update of the week is the good news below, but we also saw some other interesting bills.  A group of bipartisan senators have proposed a bill called the Sunshine Protection Bill of 2021, which proposes permanent daylight saving time.  And the House passed new responsible gun ownership laws which restructure background checks to make them more comprehensive.

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The Bad:

• State of the COVID-19.   We have a surprising amount of positive COVID-related news this week. President Biden gave a prime-time address on Thursday to discuss his planning.  Some of the highlights: 1) Urging all states to make the vaccine available to all adults by May 1; 2) Aiming for July 4th celebrations in person; and 3) Streamlining vaccination processes in several different ways, including centralized registration, more vaccination sites, and expanding pharmacy vaccination.  He also announced plans for the U.S. to purchase another 100 million doses of the single-dose Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which presumably will help achieve Thursday’s stated goals.  In related vaccine eligibility news, Alaska has made its doses available to adolescents age 16 and older, and teachers are now eligible in all 50 states.  Case numbers also continue to drop nationally.

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The Good:

• Recent Legislative Resilience. We finally have an American Rescue Act as I type this! The final version in the Senate passed last Saturday in a 51-50 vote entirely along party lines, and it passed in the House on Wednesday. Then it was signed into law by President Biden on Thursday afternoon. In addition to the much-covered provisions about stimulus payments, unemployment supports, small business supports, and education and child supports, the final version includes a provision expanding the Affordable Care Act market as well as some increased taxes for businesses.

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So that’s what I have for this week, and it was a bit lighter than many weeks but I’m okay with that. For making it through, you deserve this rebounding cat and a more consistently improved 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 warm weather like we had last week!

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The biggest news of the week technically hasn’t happened yet, which makes drafting interesting to say the least. Think of it as a holiday gift, along with that extra hour of sunlight we’re getting back on Sunday–sure, Monday will be extra sleep-deprived, but it’s also the Ides of March, so we’re getting off light. (See what I did there?)

Standard standing reminders still 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 stimulus payment!–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!     

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Cleanup in Aisle 45:

Another week, somehow yet another story about Election Rejection, even though half the country is sick to death of it by now. Here’s what I have for you:

• Insurrection Redux. Those who followed the immediate insurrection aftermath may recall that QAnon started naming March 4th as another date of attack pretty quickly, latching onto the fact that it used to be the date of inauguration. And as it would happen, March 4th was also last Thursday. As the date approached, officials increasingly expressed concern that there may be further insurrection planned at the Capitol building complex–so much so that the House shifted its work schedule and canceled Thursday’s floor plans. After the date, it was announced that the National Guard will remain in place for the next two months.

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We also saw a bit of movement on the Biden Rebuilding fronts.  Here’s what has happened in the past week:  

• Dismantling the Deportation Machine?  We did get some positive news on immigration fronts this week. The Biden Administration is converting family detention centers back into 72-hour processing facilities per their original legal purpose. It also announced it is creating a temporary protected status for displaced Venezuelans, which we should have set up years ago. However, the administration is still struggling to meet the needs of unaccompanied minors, who are coming to the U.S. in unprecedented numbers.

• Confirmation Tango (continued). We saw some interesting developments on the confirmation front, though not as many as last week. After voting on Neera Tanden for the Office of Management and Budget was postponed amid growing opposition, eventually her candidacy was withdrawn. Meanwhile, Tom Cotton is delaying Merrick Garland’s final vote, but it will move forward sometime this week anyway. Finally, Miguel Cardona was confirmed as Secretary of Education.

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Your New Normal:

• Stimulus News.  Democrats continued to fight about the $15 minimum wage provision in the $1.9T stimulus package after the package itself passed in the House last Friday, and eventually the Senate parliamentarian decided that it couldn’t be included in the Senate version for procedural reasons. In a move to keep the Democrats united enough to pass something, President Biden ended up limiting who qualifies for the stimulus and keeping employment benefits at $300 per week. The final version in the Senate passed on Saturday in a 51-50 vote entirely along party lines. It’s now headed back to the House, which could vote on the new version as soon as tomorrow.

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The Bad:

• State of the COVID-19.  Both Texas and Mississippi decided to end mask mandates for all businesses this week, which as health experts note is a pretty garbage way to apologize for utility failures. This is particularly true as infection rates rise worldwide, although they are still going down in the U.S. for now. Meanwhile, in vaccine news, Biden is hoping to have enough doses to vaccinate all adults by the end of May, in part because Merck is helping Johnson and Johnson produce their single-dose vaccine. But vaccine rollouts are still having a lot of issues, particularly regarding equitable distribution. Adding to the pile, several American Catholic officials have forbidden or discouraged parishioners from receiving the Johnson and Johnson vaccine because something something stem cells. (It is worth noting, however, that this is not the Vatican’s position.) Finally, the CDC issued new guidance today for people already vaccinated, clarifying what are and are not considered best practices.

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The Good:

• Recent Legislative Resilience. In addition to the stimulus bill mentioned above, the House passed a couple of other promising pieces of legislation in the past week. First on the roster was the For the People Act, which is a very comprehensive voting rights act bill passed in response to coordinated state efforts to expand voter suppression and a pending Supreme Court case. (If this bill passed in the Senate, this could potentially curtail Supreme Court damage, but it’s unlikely to succeed unless the filibuster is removed or altered.) The House also passed The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which is a policing overhaul bill first passed in 2020. The new version was passed just as the trial began of George Floyd’s killer, highlighting the strong need for reform–which this bill does not comprehensively do, but it would be a start.

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So that’s what I have for this week, and it was a bit lighter than many weeks but I’m okay with that. For making it through, you deserve this bear family crossing the street and a more consistently improved 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 sunglasses for sunny days!