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The news feels ephemeral and odd this week, even by our modern standards–and I’m not just saying that because we’re still waiting for Trump indictment riot news as I type this. There’s something that feels hard to hold onto about this week’s news cycle. But I’m here to try to pin it down anyway.

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 an economist!–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:

This was a truly wild week on the Election Rejection front, even though we’re still waiting for the full story. Here’s what has happened:

• Indictment Insurrection.  Over the weekend, Trump loudly proclaimed on social media that he would be arrested on Tuesday and people should riot about it. This narrative seemed to gain credence on Monday, when barricades went up around the New York criminal court where a grand jury was hearing the Stormy Daniels case. Major news outlets began spinning their wheels in anticipation of either an indictment, another January 6, or both–but then we got news today that the grand jury there wound up not even convening today, which is a change from their usual schedule. It’s not clear whether this is a security precaution, a normal break, or something else, but this story is definitely far from over. Meanwhile in Georgia, a completely different grand jury is still hearing evidence about Trump’s attempts to influence the election there, and he’s trying to block that evidence by having it found unconstitutional. I will keep folks posted on this, and like every other reporter out there I am really mad that I can’t give you more news.

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Meanwhile, the big Biden Rebuilding news is TikTok, which I didn’t have on my bingo card either but here we are.  Here’s what I have for you:

• Tiktok is Ticking. The Biden administration has been calling for a ban on Tiktok this week unless the Chinese-owned company is sold in the near future.  Suspicion of the app is not new, but Biden’s stance is–last year he was campaigning on feeds and briefing Tiktok stars about foreign policy.  The changes are likely spurred by a combination of similar action in Europe and elsewhere, growing awareness of valid security concerns, and general wariness created by recent spy balloons found over the U.S. that came courtesy of Chinese government. At a time when Twitter is paywalling two-factor authentication and the French are coming for Instagram, it’s not really clear how much traction will be possible for ousting such an entrenched platform.  But I suppose we’ll have to see what happens.

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Your New Normal:

• Bailout Blowout.* Financial news is all over the place this week. Right after last week’s bailout for SVB and New York Signature, First Republic Bank and Credit Suisse were also looking mighty dicey.  Both banks wound up getting cash infusions from other private lenders, and Credit Suisse was flat-out bought by Swiss rival bank USB. Only a day or two after that was finalized, the Federal Reserve went ahead and raised interest rates again for the ninth time this year–a move that seems to conflict with the bailouts, though I am admittedly not an economist.

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The Bad:

• Political Determinants of Health (cont). We continue to have bad news on the reproductive justice front, this week out of Wyoming, South Carolina, and Florida. In Wyoming, legislators went ahead and passed a ban on abortion pills, despite the fact that the Texas case on their legality hasn’t been decided yet. Meanwhile, South Carolina Republicans have proposed a bill that would potentially subject people who obtain abortions to the death penalty. Finally, in Florida, legislators are considering a bill that would ban elementary-aged children from discussing menstruation in schools, despite the fact that the average age of menarche in Americans is 11.9 years old.

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The Good:

• Recent M-State Resilience. We had some pretty good news out of states that begin with M this week! In Michigan, a new law means that union security clauses are permitted in the state again for the first time in ten years. And in Minnesota, legislators passed a new law that will shield medical providers and patients from out-of-state liability if they provide access to reproductive health services. Minnesota’s law is the fourth of its type passed in the country since the Dobbs decision was issued last June.

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So that’s all the news I have for this week, and I think we can agree it is more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this elevator cat 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 cookies because we ran out!

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After an unexpected dark-out last week on account of overworked author, the NNR is back! Sadly, the news isn’t any better than it was when we left. But at least you can read about it here again. (Caveat lector, y’all.)

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 an indictment!–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:

There are a lot of story wisps on the Election Rejection front, and I’m waiting for those to become full news–but we do have some full updates as well. Here’s what has happened:

• January 6 Jumble. Between the release of Dominion court records, the never-ending Trump crime circus, and CPAC being CPAC, there’s a lot of GOP mess to sort. The upside of the Dominion story is that Fox News and Trump are fighting and everybody’s mad at Tucker Carlson. Meanwhile, in Fascist Cheeto news, apparently he can be sued for January 6 per the Justice Department and is probably about to be indicted–but he still plans to run in 2024, because of course he does.

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All of this week’s Biden Rebuilding news is finance-related.  Here’s what I have for you:

• Budget and Bailouts. At the top of the week, the big Biden news was his proposed budget, which cuts the deficit and attempts to save Medicare by taxing super rich people like they actually owe taxes. But then on Friday, tech sector financial giant Silicon Valley Bank, largely known as SVB, bit the big one and apparently was too tech to fail. By the time fellow bitcoin nonsense giant New York Signature followed suit on Sunday, we were setting up a full-fledged bailout. That said, the current one focuses on reimbursing consumers to avoid startup failure cascades, and the banks themselves will stay closed. Needless to say, this whole thing is a very big deal and we’ll likely be talking about it for a while.

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Your New Normal:

• COVID Lab Leak Theories. The three-year anniversary of the official COVID pandemic has people thinking about how we began this week. Against this backdrop, I suppose it’s not surprising that the House has kick-started another round of Wuhan Lab Leak conspiracy theories. Meanwhile, long COVID insurance coverage is giving us a sneak peek into what might be awaiting us when the public health emergency ends, though I’m truly hoping we can get protections in place.

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The Bad:

• Political Determinants of Health. We had a miserable couple of weeks for reproductive health and gender-affirming care. Walgreens is now refusing to sell Mifepristone, an FDA-approved abortifacient, in 20 states where legal action has been threatened, even though it’s not clearly illegal. This, in turn, has California governor Gavin Newsom condemning the franchise. Meanwhile, Florida introduced a six-week ban on abortion much like Georgia’s. And in Texas, five plaintiffs are suing because they were denied life-saving care on the grounds that it would cause abortion. And in gender identity news, both Tennessee and Mississippi have banned gender-affirming care for minors this week, bringing us up to 8 states that totally ban access. Tennessee also banned public drag performances while they were at it, and is one of five states considering bills that would block adult access to gender-affirming care too. Needless to say, this kind of stark restriction of literally live-saving medical care is both sickening and exhausting.

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The Good:

• Recent Healthcare Resilience. With all of the terrible health news over the last few weeks, I would be remiss if I didn’t draw attention to a few bright spots as well. Eli Lily appears to have made some forms of insulin at least slightly more affordable for private copay, which is a small step in the correct direction but a step nonetheless. Meanwhile, the FDA has set new mammogram standards, which will make it easier for people with dense breast tissue to detect breast cancer early.

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So that’s all the news I have for this week, and I think we can agree it is more than enough. For making it through, you deserve this frog fence saga 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 cloning technology so I can get all my work done!

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There’s a lot of health-related news this week, much of which is excitingly horrifying if you’re me. (Possibly it is also excitingly horrifying if you are you! I don’t want to presume.) I think it’s likely we’ll keep seeing these stories for a while, as they’re part and parcel with the federal decisions to end our Public Health Emergency designation. I will definitely keep folks posted on changes to this landscape.

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 discovery 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!     

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Cleanup in Aisle 45:

It has been a quiet week for Election Rejection, comparatively speaking, but there is Biden Rebuilding news to know.  Here’s what I have for you:

• Abysmal Asylum Adjustments. The Biden administration announced a new proposed asylum policy this week that, frankly, looks a lot like it was written by Cheeto POTUS. The proposed policy would dramatically curtail how people claim asylum in the US, requiring individuals to first seek asylum in other countries and invalidating their claims if they enter the U.S. without authorization. It was originally forecast in January, and has concerned a lot of Democrats–for good reason, because the new policy is probably illegal and it’s a far cry from his campaign promise to expand access. We’re currently in a 30-day comment period, with implementation planned in May, and I will definitely let folks know who’s organizing the public yelling as soon as I have more info.

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Your New Normal:

• SNAP Cold Snap. Speaking of changes in public policy, this upcoming week will also mark the sunset of food security protections that were put in place during the pandemic.  The change was brought by December’s omnibus bill, much like the Medicaid redetermination process that has set up shop in my brain since January. That said, the SNAP policy goes into effect a month sooner, sunsetting on March 1 in 32 different states.  That is very poorly timed, since we still haven’t fully recovered from intense inflation of grocery prices, and this is likely to hurt a lot of households.
  
• One Medical to Rule Them All. Monopoly giant Amazon.com Inc has closed its acquisition this week of the primary care organization named, ironically, One Medical. The deal was able to close because the FTC decided not to sue about it, though it sounds like they are trying to retain the right to go after them later if Amazon does sketchy things with people’s medical data. This isn’t the first medical acquisition Amazon has made, as it purchased pharmacy services in 2020 and attempted to bring Alexa to hospitals in 2021. It does, however, mark a substantial expansion of Amazon’s medical services (which is a cursed phrase I’m mad I even have to type), and as far as I know it’s the first direct medical subscription service the company has offered. Many advocates are also rightfully concerned that it’s a bigger risk to patient privacy than previous acquisitions. I will definitely keep people posted on this deal.

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The Bad:

• Waste Fraught, Want Not in East Palestine. The Environmental Protection Agency took the opportunity this week to order Norfolk Southern to clean up their act in East Palestine, figuratively speaking. At the same time, however, they instructed the company to stop cleaning up the area, literally speaking, and paused shipment of the contaminated waste out of the area. The instructions highlight overall uncertainty about the long-term health effects, which remain an ongoing point of contention and concern. These things are only exacerbated by a preliminary report released from the National Transportation Safety Board, which cites an overheated wheel bearing as the cause of the derailment and notes that it took three defect detectors to pick up the issue. Needless to say, things are still a pretty big mess over there.

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The Good:

• Operation Rescue Doggos. In Seattle, a neighborhood pulled together impressively to rescue the occupants of a doggy daycare resort in Seattle when their building caught fire. After all 115 furry friends safely made it out of the building, the displaced doggos wound up staying in businesses and homes all over the neighborhood. The damage from the fire will cost about $300,000 in repairs, and the owner has started a Go Fund Me which has raised about a tenth of that cost already.

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So that’s all the news I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news rebates. For making it through, you deserve this happy capy 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 plan for universal healthcare!

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A lot of this week’s stories are continuations of long-term topics we’ve been hearing about for some time–making it feel like Groundhog Day came a little late this month. Needless to say, this isn’t the first time we’ve been trapped in a news story, and it won’t be the last time either. But on the plus side, the NNR will be in Punxsutawney for the duration.

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 discovery 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!     

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Cleanup in Aisle 45:

Most of this week’s Election Rejection news focuses on the investigation from Georgia, but there were a handful of other Trump updates as well. Here’s what I have for you:

• Court Doc Discoveries. The judge presiding over the GA election grand jury investigation ordered the release of some of their documents on Thursday, which is how we learned the grand jury believed that some witnesses perjured themselves during said investigation. Consequently, the they recommended multiple indictments, though the mostly-sealed records mean we still are missing a lot of details. Meanwhile, Fox News was in the hot seat after the Dominion lawsuit against them revealed that the network knew full well there was no election fraud–even as they aired segments claiming otherwise.

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The main story in Biden Rebuilding involves the war in Ukraine.  Here’s what has happened:

• Biden Time in Ukraine.  President Biden went on an unannounced trip to Kyiv this week, days after his Vice President Kamala Harris called out Russia for war crimes against humanity. In response, Putin announced today that he will pull Russia out of its current nuclear arms détente with the US, a program called New START. Biden addressed Warsaw today in response, stressing that Russian aggression cannot be left unchallenged. Both sides are doubling down in part because we’re nearing one year of war in Ukraine, as the conflict officially began on February 24, 2022.

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Your New Normal:

• COVID Costs. A lot of advocates, including myself, are currently very concerned about what COVID vaccines will cost after the public health emergency ends on May 12. We saw a bit of promising news on that front this week, as Moderna walked back its initial threat to charge $110-130 for its vaccine. The change was probably related to Bernie Sanders threatening a hearing about it, but frankly I’ll still take it. 

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The Bad:

• Care of a Statesman. Pennsylvania senator John Fetterman was hospitalized this week, apparently due to depressive symptoms that have worsened in recent weeks. Though Fox News was predictably catty, prominent Democrats have praised Fetterman for being transparent and seeking the care he needs through a brief medical leave. Several outlets have noted that depression is common for stroke survivors, which may be why his symptoms have worsened in recent weeks. That said, after three years of pandemic, studies show that depression is common for everybody, and will probably remain so for the foreseeable future. I hope that Senator Fetterman is getting the care he needs, and I also hope that this type of story becomes more normalized over time.

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The Good:

• Paving the Way for Narcan Access. An FDA panel recommended this week that Narcan, a nasal spray used to reverse opioid overdoses, be made available for over-the-counter use. Though most states do make the treatment available without prescription in some contexts, obtaining it still generally requires interaction with a pharmacist. Given the stigma associated with overdose, which may prevent some people from wanting to approach a pharmacist about it, an over-the-counter determination would likely save lives. The change still needs to be cleared by the whole FDA, but this is a big step and I’m really excited about it.

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So that’s all the news I have for this week, and I’m sorry, I cannot adjust the Internet to improve quality. For making it through, you deserve this fastidious greyhound 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 thoughts on what you’d do if you had to relive the same day indefinitely!

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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!            

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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The news this week is kind of a funhouse mirror, reflecting an odd mix of Situation Normal and weird twists. I would imagine this is closer than average to what covering news looked like in the Before Times. If, y’know, the Before Times involved investigating investigators and sitting House reps wanted for fraud.

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!            

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Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We did have one story pop up on the Election Rejection news front. Here’s what has happened:

• 400 Fifths. A video was released this week of Trump’s August deposition with New York AG Leticia James, who you may remember brought a $250M fraud lawsuit against him this past fall. The video is noteworthy because it shows Trump invoking the fifth amendment literally over 400 times during the course of a four-hour deposition–for those of you playing the home game, that’s approximately 100 non-answers per hour. The civil case isn’t scheduled to go on trial until the fall, but it will be interesting to see if there’s further news on this before then.

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We also had a handful of odds and ends for Biden Rebuilding, though nothing I would call earth-shattering.  Here’s what I have for you:

• Biden Admin Potpourri. The DNC approved Biden’s plan this week to dramatically change how Dem primaries work, pushing forward South Carolina’s primaries to the first date and pushing several other states forward or back. (That said, the plan still faces some logistical hurdles before it can be enacted.) In other news, the Fed raised interest rates again this week, for the eighth time this year–though it’s a milder hike than previous increases have been, at only 0.25%.  Presumably, this is because inflation has been easing up since the last increase.  Finally, on the classified document front, it turns out Biden’s beach home didn’t have any–and the FBI is planning a search of Pence’s home in Indiana.

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Your New Normal:

• Broken House Blues (Committee Edition). House committees were a hot topic again this week, with the GOP removing Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee because they didn’t like things she said four years ago. Meanwhile, newly-elected fraud entrepreneur George Santos stepped down from his committees, ostensibly because of ongoing investigations of him but possibly also because a former staffer just accused him of sexual assault in a letter to the House Ethics Committee. And in other House investigation news, Jim Jordan‘s new Judiciary Committee is apparently investigating the Department of Justice because… reasons? Candidly, I don’t think even he understands the reasoning he put forward in what is surely the first of many made-up investigations into the Biden administration.
  
• African American Study Studies. After weeks of Florida governor Ron DeSantis threatening to ban the course, the College Board revealed this week that they have stripped much of the modern curriculum from AP African American Studies. The new version of the course has eliminated references to Angela Davis, Kimberle Krenshaw, the Black Lives Matter movement, mass incarceration, and reparations–all really significant omissions from a unit reviewing the 1960s through today. It’s unclear whether DeSantis will move off of his proposed ban based on these changes, but I’m gonna go ahead and guess that he will not. In support of my hypothesis, I offer the fact that he spent the week banning diversity programs at state colleges and ousting the college President at New College of Florida.

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The Bad:

• Tragedy in Turkey and Syria. Two massive earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria today, killing at least 4,100 people and injuring many thousands more. A quake of this magnitude hasn’t been seen in this region since 1939, and there were a lot of different factors contributing to the devastation caused by this one. Rescue and recovery operations are being slowed by the freezing temperatures, and we likely won’t know the full extent of the damage until those are completed. That said, it’s very likely that we’re looking at another humanitarian crisis in a region that has already suffered more than its fair share of them.

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The Good:

• Recent Wrongful Death Suits. A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled this week that the father of a murdered protester can bring a wrongful death suit against the civilian “counter-protester” who killed him during the Kenosha shootings. It’s heartening to see this proceed forward, particularly against the backdrop of the wrongful death suit brought last month against two civilian “protesters” from January 6, whose assault with bear spray resulted in an officer’s death. (Interestingly enough, that family is also suing Donald Trump, on the theory that his incitement makes him liable.) It’s complicated news, to be sure, but it’s ultimately promising to see the possibility of consequence for political violence–especially figures like Kyle Rittenhouse, whose massive alt-right backing can allow them to escape criminal consequences.

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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 confused chicken 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 cat picture!

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The news feels like a bleak Groundhog Day yet again, which is kind of impressive when it also contains some major changes. Still, if there’s one thing I’ve learned after six years of this nonsense, it’s that the news doesn’t have to make sense. In fact, most of the time, it doesn’t bother.

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!            

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Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We had a suspiciously quiet week in election rejection news, but Biden Rebuilding still features reruns in syndicate.  Here’s what I have for you:

• What’s Up with These Docs (cont). The new contestant on Who Wants To Be An Investigation? is apparently Mike Pence, who discovered classified documents in his own home this week. (Fun fact: His public statement on the matter admitted that ‘mistakes were made,’ which is a seasoned political move but also a queer romance novel, and I love that he would hate knowing that.) Outlets are beginning to opine that maybe our classified document system needs work, or at least more oversight–can’t imagine why.

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Your New Normal:

• Broken House Blues (Tax Edition). We’re starting to see more chatter about a House bill that apparently was part of The Great Q Anon Compromise of Kevin McCarthy, the Fair Tax Act. The bill would basically nuke how we handle taxes in the US–decentralizing the IRS, removing our entire income tax structure, and replacing it with a very heavy sales tax on literally everything. Shocking no one, this was was a political gift to career Democrats, and even McCarthy is signaling he’s not going to back it. Gosh, couldn’t be happening to a nicer sellout.
  
• Contagion Corner News. The Biden administration announced today that they are officially ending the public health emergency on May 11. As far as I can tell, this is an attempt to find a compromise between giving in to Republican demands and listening to the grownups in the room–Republicans want it ended now, but the World Health Organization quite conspicuously announced this week that the international PHE is still ongoing. Nonetheless, the FDA also voted this week to evolve COVID vaccines moving forward, planning to retire the original vaccines but disagreeing with itself about whether to move to an annual vaccine model. So there was a lot of news, but most of it was a big mess.

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The Bad:

• Black Lives Still Matter.  This week, footage was released of five Memphis police aggressively brutalizing Tyre Nichols, who they stopped in traffic for an alleged driving violation, before Nichols died of the injuries sustained.  Though the murdering officers were charged and fired, the contradictory commands and disparate police reporting of their stop highlight that these disturbingly plethoric police brutalities are systemic in nature. People gathered this weekend to protest and demand action in both Memphis and across the country, and I will definitely keep folks posted on any meaningful policy reform that results. In the meantime, I have made the decision not to link directly to the footage, which can be needlessly traumatizing of Black communities. Instead, I want to relay and continue the trend of sharing images of sunsets in his memory, as Nichols was an avid photographer who photographed them often.

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The Good:

• Recent Reproductive Health Resilience. Advocates in two states are beginning to bring legal challenges to restrictions on abortion pills, which may be a way to improve access to reproductive health supports in those states. This is likely the beginning of a much longer battle, but it’s promising to see challenges emerge.

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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 bear’s selfie game 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 more hours in the day!

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The NNR starts counting from Inauguration Weekend every year, which means that this trip round the sun, we happen to coincide with the East Asian cultural sphere’s Lunar New Year! Though it’s off to a tough start, I’m still hopeful that the Year of the Rabbit (or Year of the Cat, depending upon who you ask) will ultimately live up to its reputation. Rest assured that if it doesn’t, I will tell you about it.

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 committee!–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:

It was a bit of a disturbing week on the Election Rejection news front. Here’s what has happened:

• Sedition Stories.  Most of the Election Rejection news this week involves political violence. On Capitol Hill, four more Oathkeepers were convicted of seditious conspiracy and separate conspiracy charges. Meanwhile, in New Mexico, a bitter and failed GOP candidate was taken into custody this week because he decided to pay people to shoot up the homes of several Democratic lawmakers he blamed for his election loss. (Thankfully, no New Mexican lawmakers were injured in the making of this news story.)
  

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Meanwhile in Biden Rebuilding, the scandal story continues to grow more heads.  Here’s what I have for you:

• What’s Up with These Docs (cont).  I can’t believe I’m typing this again, but another search at Biden’s place turned up six more classified documents this week, bringing the total number of caches up to four.  Since these searches were prompted by the White House, the total document number is pretty small, and Biden’s administration appointed the special counsel in the first place, we appear to still be in “oops my bad” territory.  That said, it does make Biden look bad, so here’s hoping I’m not continuing this story again next week.

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Your New Normal:

• Broken House Blues. More news about House committees came down this week, and it features just as much vindictive and scary hell-brokering from McCarthy as forecast. Q Anon caucus reps Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar are both back on the Oversight committee despite being stripped of committees last year due to dangerous and threatening conduct. Meanwhile, McCarthy is trying to block former Intelligence committee chair Adam Schiff from serving on the committee at all because he’s mad about the Greene and Gosar thing, which as far as I’m aware is completely unprecedented. Finally, the House let the US go ahead and hit its debt ceiling this week, which could have catastrophic consequences as soon as July if it isn’t addressed before then. In the short term, the U.S. treasury is taking ‘extraordinary measures’ to avoid an immediate default, which basically means that some government employees aren’t getting their pensions properly because the GOP won’t shut up and do their literal job.
  
• Contagion Corner News. There was some significant news on long COVID this week–bluntly, that it’s not good. Which, to be fair, we already knew, but recent research publications reinforce that it can create serious symptoms that last more than a year and impacts ten percent of total COVID cases. This means that tens of millions of people worldwide likely need ongoing treatment, and that number will likely keep going up. We also currently don’t have any known interventions to prevent it, though researchers are working on that. All told, long COVID remains a serious concern that isn’t going away anytime soon and should be approached accordingly.

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The Bad:

• Yet Another Mass Shooting. A mass shooting at Star Ballroom in Monterey Park, California on Saturday evening has killed eleven people as I type this and injured ten more. The shooter also attempted a second mass shooting at Lai Lai Ballroom two miles away, but was subdued by a staff member who managed to disarm him. The assailant died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds after a standoff with police the next day, and it’s unclear what motivated him to attack people celebrating the new year. I feel the need to note that this incident is already the thirty-third mass shooting this year, which means we’ve had more mass shootings than days so far in 2023.

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The Good:

• Recent Reproductive Health Resilience. New York City has introduced free access to abortifacients at public health clinics in the Bronx and three other locations. This supplements access available at eleven local hospitals, and is intended to support other comprehensive access initiatives across the city. This is particularly welcome news as plans to offer abortifacients in pharmacies hit legal snags in much of the country; the clinic access will likely increase access for a lot of people.

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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 dramatic reenactment 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 tea blends!

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Much like my dog every time he goes outside, the news seems unsure where it is going this week. We have a lot of meandering threads that continue from last week, with little resolution in sight. Nonetheless, the NNR will keep you posted on the updates.

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 gas stove!–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:

Since it’s otherwise a quiet week for Election Rejection news, now seems like a fine time to catch everyone up on the Santos saga. Here’s what has happened:

• Santos Malos. If you somehow have not yet caught up on the impressive fraudulence of George Santos, let me give you the Cliff notes: He has lied about basically everything it is possible to lie about. Over the past few weeks, we’ve caught lies on topics ranging from his family of origin to his qualifications to how he spent his donations to whether he’s wanted by the Brazilian government. As you might imagine, this kind of thing leads to federal and House investigations, as well as ethics complaints from the Dem side of the aisle. As of this week, we can also add hostilities from his own aisle to that list, as half the GOP attempts to kick Santos off the island. Nonetheless, as we’ve seen so ably demonstrated over the past few weeks, McCarthy isn’t doing anything that might challenge his fragile hold on the House, and that includes making Santos answer for any of this. I’ll keep folks posted on whether anything comes of any of this, but it’s my guess that we’ll be stuck with him until 2024.
  

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Meanwhile in Biden Rebuilding, the scandal story from last week has grown more heads.  Here’s what I have for you:

• What’s Up with These Docs (cont). Remember last week, when the GOP had already started comparing Biden’s classified cache to Trump’s? They got slightly more supporting facts this week, because we learned about more classified oopsies in Biden’s home in Delaware. I do want to stress that there’s still a dramatic difference between the two in terms of context and magnitude, but it’s not a great look for Biden, especially when the new House is desperate to investigate him already. Attorney General Merrick has appointed special counsel, in the form of Robert Hur, to investigate the matter further. I’ll keep folks posted on this one as well.

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Your New Normal:

• Out Of Gas. The GOP went all the way off the rails about gas range stoves this week, apparently in response to a Biden official from the Consumer Product Safety Commission saying he considered a ban on them during a routine interview. The chair of the commission had to publicly clarify that nobody was banning gas stoves in the near future, but people are still defending their Constitutional right to them anyway. (That said, there really are health concerns associated with gas stovetops, as has been highlighted in major studies in recent years. There just aren’t any federal plans to do anything about it.)

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The Bad:

• Climate Change Catastrophes (cont).  The severe storms in California that I documented last week are still ongoing as I type this, though experts believe that the state may see a break soon.  Flooding is still a major concern; according to NWS, some areas have weathered over half their annual rainfall in the past three weeks. Needless to say, this isn’t normal, and we may be rebuilding local infrastructure for quite a while after this. 

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The Good:

• Recent Economic Resilience.* Several outlets reported this week that consumer prices fell in December by a 0.1% monthly rate overall. It’s a small decrease, but it’s also the first decrease since May 2020, so it’s still worth getting excited about. The annual inflation rate dropped as well, largely due to falling gas prices. Incremental progress!

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So that’s all I have for this week, and here’s hoping it doesn’t get worse. For making it through, you deserve these penguin bros 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 head scritches for my dog!