Tag: Year 4

This week definitely didn’t hit the low water mark set by suggestions to inject bleach at a press conference, but that’s not saying much. If anything, I’m feeling meh at the moment–likely a side-effect of growing inured after so many weeks of pandemic. It’s hard to really see where we go from here, and yet we keep on going. I’m here if anyone needs anything.

Standard standing reminders 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 vaccine trial!–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!  

Constitutional Crisis Corner:

As has become the norm, all of the Disregard of Governing Norms stories have a particular flavor, as leaders on state and national levels continue to refuse to listen to experts.  We’re spared the worst of it here in Massachusetts, as we’re officially still in a stay-at-home advisory at least until May 18, but some states are reopening and it’s honestly scary. Here’s what is happening:    

• Reopening Rodeo. About half the country’s states are beginning the process of resuming business, with the two original state consortia on the East and West coasts making up the bulk of states staying closed. The rush comes in part due to the White House releasing blueprints for reopening process, which appear to mostly involve holding collective breath and saying a quick prayer. The entire process has been divisive, with some owners in reopening states refusing to resume business and some municipal governments in closed states refusing to enforce stay-at-home orders. And even in states that are already open, COVID numbers are still rising at alarming rates. Nonetheless, Trump has already moved on to instructing governors to “seriously consider reopening schools.”

• Trump’s Messed Up COVID-19 Response. Trump’s grasp of leadership didn’t get any better this week, which makes it even more unsettling that he officially is ending his social distancing advisory. His new thing is theorizing that China unleashed COVID from a lab (spoiler: no they didn’t, not that this is provable), but he also dismissed another watchdog employee, this time someone who found that hospitals had massive testing and PPE shortages. His top officials say we’re likely to experience a more severe second round if we reopen too early, and even Trump is upping his death estimates, though he’s also complaining he’s treated worse than Abraham Lincoln while he does it and pushing to shield businesses from liability for COVID-related deaths caused by reopening. The cliff is plainly visible ahead, so it would be great if somebody could wrest the wheel from this guy before we all sail over the edge.

• Other COVID Misconduct.  Of course, several other people in this administration took the time to be horrifying this week as well. William Barr gets an honorable mention for his nonsense insinuation that stay-at-home orders might be unconstitutional, but the real Vice Cad this week is, appropriately, Vice Cad Mike Pence. Pence earned this honor by touring a hospital full of immunocompromised people without wearing a mask, counter to the hospital’s policy and his own federal guidance, because–and I quote–“As vice president of the United States, I’m tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis.” Folks, this man literally leads the White House coronavirus task force and this is what he does while he tours a testing facility. Then he followed up by threatening to sue the reporter that confirmed Pence was intentionally ignoring the rules–apparently, journalists were all instructed by Pence’s team in writing to wear masks in deference to the Mayo Clinic policy. This administration is such a fascinating combination of obtuse and malignant; watching them operate is like watching Snidely Whiplash tie himself to the train tracks. Except the entire country is Nell and Dudley Do-Right is on holiday.

Your “Normal” Weird:

• Election Oddities (Again).   This was a strangely active week in election news.  Given everything going on, New York has taken the unprecedented step of canceling its primary election for a Democratic candidate.  The governor of the state was quoted as saying it would be “unnecessary and frivolous” to hold an election when Joe Biden is already the presumptive nominee, but Bernie Sanders’s campaign was not happy.   Meanwhile, Justin Amash more-or-less announced that he’s running for President on the Libertarian ticket by forming an exploratory committee.  Joe Biden formally responded to credible allegations of sexual assault brought by former staffer Tara Reade, retaining the support of several prominant Democrats.  And Trump reportedly lost his fool head at his campaign team because polling in several swing states supports Biden.

The Bad:

• State of the COVID-19.*  Despite (because of?) the paragraphs above, COVID news is very bleak.   At the time that I type this, almost 70,000 people in this country have lost their lives to the virus, and over one million people have been infected.  The administration blocked its top advisor from testifying to a House committee about COVID response in much the same fashion as during impeachment proceedings.  Many states still don’t have enough testing, and the Capitol’s physician says he doesn’t have enough tests for all the senators who are returning this week under McConnell’s orders.  COVID model projections are now estimating many more deaths, which may be related to news that the CDC believes deaths have been underreported.  Major players in the food industry warn that the supply chain may be breaking, which prompted Trump to sign an executive order forcing meat plants to remain open.   And the push for a vaccine or at least functional treatment is causing the administration to barrel ahead with another potentially faulty drug, but at least this one has actual studies in its favor.  (Unsurprisingly, vaccine efforts are going better abroad than they are here.)

• Market Mess Continues.*    There’s scant good news on the market front too.  Though the small business program restarted after bill 3.5 was passed, it was also in the news for giving $1B to publicly traded large companies instead of small businesses per its mission.  Another 3.8 million people filed for unemployment, bringing us to 30 million total since the pandemic began.  Some states have begun threatening to end unemployment benefits upon reopening so that workers are forced to return.  Nonetheless, we’re starting to see more sectors impacted, and the first major retail bankruptcy was filed this week as well.  Several labor groups at seven different corporations also organized protests on May Day, drawing attention to unsafe working conditions during the pandemic.

The Good:

• Recent Michigan Resilience. Most of us didn’t have a great week, but it was apparently a good time for Michigan education. The Sixth Circuit found that Detroit students have a constitutional right to literacy under the Fourteenth Amendment, which is a pretty significant form of new constitutional precedent. And independently, Michigan’s governor announced a new tuition-free educational program for the state’s essential workers, which would permit those workers to complete a variety of types of programs. The announcement comes after a particularly rough week of protests in the state, with many armed constituents marching on the capitol as the governor signed a new stay-at-home order, so it’s nice to be able to offer some positive news from the state as well.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this new Waititi-directed Star Wars movie and this 30th-anniversaary Good Omens short and an eventual better government.  I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) 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 sinuses with fewer allergies!

Quick news about the news: I can’t make the current cycle better, but I can reach out about how I can help–which is why I’m beginning to seek weekly feedback, launching topic-based polls on Sundays and collecting answers until Saturday. This week’s poll is an access poll that can be answered at the link above or via the NNR answer box (if you are not a Patreon user or prefer to stay anonymous).  I’m seeking both current-process and aspirational feedback, so please feel free to share more about how you would like the news to be shared!

Another week, another COVID mess. This week is actually a bit better than last week’s on a number of fronts, but we’re still not experiencing what you’d call a great time–comfort foods are recommended. I’m here if anyone needs anything.

Standard standing reminders 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 consortium!–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!   

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

It’s another week of Disregard of Governing Norms all the way down, but I keep waiting for the next big theme to arise.  In the meantime, here’s what happened:    

• Postal Service Purgatory. As mentioned last week, the U.S. Postal Service is still struggling in the face of COVID-19 crisis, particularly when it is combined with Trump’s bizarre vendetta against them.  But reporting this week draws the issue into focus by noting the ways in which debt has been a problem for USPS since 2006, leaving the agency insolvent as a final step of decline.  Without further supports from Congress, we may be looking at a total collapse of the service, as unfathomable as that seems–it’s stunning that this administration refuses to provide supports.

• Trump’s Messed Up COVID-19 Response. This week we saw yet another installment of a by-now fixture of the NNR; Trump just can’t seem to stop himself from misbehaving even during a crisis. After more weeks of threatening to withhold funding from the WHO because he doesn’t like how they are reporting virus spread in the U.S., Trump went ahead and officially announced he was halting funding. This is particularly concerning because he remains focused on opening up the country, convening calls with hundreds of business leaders and setting up a pandemic council. Though at one point he was threatening to adjourn Congress, by the time that I type this he has settled into a three-point plan that would reopen the retail and entertainment industries first. He’s also acknowledging that states retain the right to set their own schedules when it comes to reopening, though his hand might have been forced on that one–more on that below.

• State Pacts Unpacked.  After weeks of Trump signaling to states that they were on their own, states apparently got the message, because they are starting to organize with each other instead of the federal government.  The first to appear was a three-state coalition on the west coast, with California, Washington, and Oregon banding together to coordinate their reopening efforts and resources.  Then an eight-state bloc appeared on the East Coast, extending from Massachusetts down to Maryland.  Then the three north-most states on the East Coast created their own separate group.  Now seven Midwestern states have organized as well, and we’re officially seeing this effort in more-or-less all regions.

Your “Normal” Weird:

• Weekly Election Update.   We did see a bit of election news this week, with Barack Obama and Elizabeth Warren both endorsing Joe Biden’s candidacy.  Wyoming also wrapped up a completely mail-in primary election, completing a process that is usually an April caucus.  Joe Biden took the majority of votes, but Bernie Sanders did gain four delegates.

The Bad:

• State of the COVID-19.  COVID news continues to be, well, bad.  At the time that I type this, over 42,000 people in this country have lost their lives to the virus.  The WHO has released guidance for ending lockdowns, and many places in the country do not meet a single one of the six recommended conditions.  Providers are beginning to see evidence that the virus can target vital organs other than lungs, throwing even more chaos into treatment research that already lacks clear directions or oversight.  Many, many outlets are reporting that we still lack the access to testing needed in order to safely reopen the country, despite what the White House says, and a few are also reporting that contamination at the CDC caused delays.  And in more positive news, due to unique vulnerabilities that create additional crisis, some states are beginning to create policies to support immigrant populations.

• Market Mess Continues.*    Another five million people have filed for unemployment in the past week, bringing our new total to 22 million people, and experts are starting to say we’re experiencing a depression.  Nonetheless, stimulus payments have hit a number of snags, between delays to get Trump’s name printed on the paper checks, a glitch in online tax filing systems, and bank seizures of stimulus payments to apply to account fees.  (There is, however, a tracking site you can use to find out what is happening with yours.) Meanwhile, the small business loan program created three weeks ago has already run out of funds, and the administration is already under fire for giving limited funds to big chains instead of, y’know, small businesses.  There is an effort to get more funding put in place in the fourth federal bill, which is reportedly nearing a deal, but we’ll have to see if that can be implemented.

•  “If You’re Sick, Still Come.”   Apparent frustration with stay-at-home orders has driven some of the country into what I can only describe as rampant nihilism, which naturally 45 felt inclined to encourage. Some states are beginning to reopen some public spaces more-or-less immediately, despite all of the issues listed above. And in states where leaders are keeping things locked down, protests are popping up with alarming alacrity. In Michigan, people gathered at the state house to criticize their governor, yelling “Lock her up!” in apparent response to a stay-at-home order. In Denver, protesters squared off against medical providers, yelling “Go to China if you want communism!” (Why medical scrubs suggest communism is, of course, left as an exercise for the reader). In Austin, people simply chanted “USA!” standing neck-and-neck outside the statehouse. Adding fuel to the fire, Trump encouraged protesters to “LIBERATE” several additional states “and save your great 2nd Amendment,” which he said was “under siege!” (Why a virus involves the second amendment is, again, left as an exercise to the reader.) Some advertisements for rallies even said things like “If you’re sick still come, it’s your right,” prompting a twitter user to wonder if the rally was being organized by the virus.  

The Good:

• Recent Court Resilience.We saw several promising court cases this week. An Obama-era standard for school lunch programs was reinstated by a federal district court judge in Maryland, who found that this administration’s attempt to roll back regulations violated the Administrative Procedure Act. And in SCOTUS news, the court held that non-unanimous jury verdicts are unconstitutional. Progress!

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this blues beagle howling their heart out and these dolphins meeting a slothand an eventual better government.  I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) 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 extra sleep, because this week I need it!

This week, we graduated from ever-present coronavirus news to coronavirus news and administration corruption news. Essentially, we’re moving away from the incompetence part of the program, and Act II will be quid-pro-quo and personal enrichment issues.  (I don’t know about you, but I’m not enjoying this show at all.  Who do I speak with for a refund?)

Standard standing reminders 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 aircraft carrier!–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!   

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

This week we have a throwback episode of Whistleblowing Ukraine Biden Bingo, y’know, just in case you didn’t have enough to worry about.  Here are the details:   

• Retaliatory Firings (Again). This week Trump fired Inspector General Michael Atkinson, the man who did his job and passed along a credible whistleblowing complaint literally six months ago. Though the official notice gave no reason for the firing, counter to Congressional intent, it seems pretty clear that this was retaliatory and intended to be a distraction from COVID-19 news. (Ironically, Mitch McConnell went ahead and said the quiet part out loud this week, complaining that impeachment news diverted attention from coronavirus–but he was trying to excuse Trump’s inaction in January and February, claiming that impeachment kept him from doing his job.)

We’re also starting to see Disregard of Governing Norms manifest as obvious quid-pro-quo and other forms of corruption rather than simple incompetence and denial.  Here’s what I have for you:

• Trump’s Messed Up COVID-19 Response. Governors are reporting that Trump is showing favoritism with medical equipment, pitting states against each other instead of encouraging fair pricing and undergranting supplies to blue states while overgranting to red states. (Trump, of course, did nothing to disabuse anybody of this notion when he announced that states needed to be ‘treat [him] well’ to get supplies the week before.) Similarly, the administration has been accused by several countries of seizing masks and other equipment mid-transit that were supposed to go to Germany, Canada, and other countries–I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but I definitely did not have ‘America accused of piracy by its own allies’ on my COVID Bingo card. Trump also refused to reopen the ACA marketplace for newly-unemployed Americans and has doubled down on his false claim that hydroxychloroquine can treat COVID-19. And on the topic of oversight, he’s already threatening to ignore the new inspector general filling the role created by the CARES Act. Because why would giant corporations need oversight, amirite?

• Other COVID Misconduct. Of course, Trump didn’t have a corner on bad government behavior this week. Jared Kushner was in the news for claiming the Health and Human Services stockpile of emergency medical equipment was ‘our stockpile’ and not supposed to go to the states–despite the HHS website clearly saying otherwise. When this was pointed out to him, Kushner’s response was to change the language on the HHS website, removing the language about state access. And the Navy was in the news after relieving a commander because he reported COVID spread on his aircraft carrier.

Your “Normal” Weird:

• Weekly Election Oddities.   The Wisconsin primary has turned into quite an ongoing saga, and they haven’t even voted yet.  Though the state legislature wanted to hold in-person elections, the governor ordered a postponement for safety reasons in light of the current crisis.  Then the state’s Supreme Court blocked the governor today in the eleventh hour, which means in-person voting is back on and but everybody’s scrambling to figure out if their polling location will even be open.  Wisconsin Republicans may or may not have been taking cues from Trump, who said this week that Republicans would ‘never’ be elected again if vote-by-mail were permitted–an incredible claim even before you consider the obvious risk it promotes during a pandemic.

The Bad:

• State of the COVID-19.    The virus is starting to hit us really hard, and there’s a lot of mess in its wake.  At the time that I type this, we still lead the world in cases, and over 10,000 people in this country have lost their lives to the pandemic.  Data is starting to suggest that the virus is more fatal to men than women, though that’s far from conclusive, and we’re starting to see infection among essential workers who do not treat the virus.  New York is still a major hotspot, and though the U.S.N.S. Comfort docked in New York Harbor, it is not yet treating many patients.  The United States is still missing a lot of test data, making it hard to get accurate numbers, and the CDC is now recommending that everyone wear cloth face masks in public.  Nonetheless, some states are allowing religious exemptions for stay-at-home orders, which Trump seems to be supporting.

• Fourth Coronavirus Response Bill?   With everything going on, Congress is beginning to talk about a fourth Coronavirus relief bill, though there are no specifics yet.  Mitch McConnell is expressing resistance, but Nancy Pelosi seems equally determined, and she also is acting to create more oversight for the third bill.  It’s sort of anybody’s guess what happens next on this front, so we’ll need to see where we are in a week.

• Market Volatility Continues.*   Market volatility continues to be an unprecedented problem, with 6.6 million Americans filing for unemployment last week–more than twice the previous week, and bringing the total for the month over 10 million.  For perspective, we’ve already outstripped total job loss during the Great Recession, and we might see major long-term changes as a result.  Meanwhile, after outlets began reporting that Americans on Social Security would need to file taxes to get their stimulus payments under the CARES Act, the IRS corrected course and permitted recipients to get their stimulus without filing after all.  The current implementation plan will issue disbursements from April through September, with the lowest-earning Americans receiving their checks first.

The Good:

• Recent Ocean Resilience.We got some unexpected good news this week in the form of marine biology–scientists are now saying that we have the knowledge to restore ocean life by 2050. Needless to say, this optimism still hinges on finding a solution to climate change, because conditions would continue to threaten life without a solution for the cascade of changes it creates. But the fact that it’s even possible is new, and definitely welcome information!

• Workers Strike Updates.Several of the strikes mentioned last week have already seen successes! Instacart will now provide their workers with health and safety kits containing cloth face masks, hand sanitizer, and thermometers, and Amazon will begin conducting temperature checks and providing masks. Target and Walmart have announced similar policies as well. Progress!

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve penguin weigh-ins with sound on and an eventual better government.  I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) 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 pictures of your pets!

We’ve officially reached the point where the news is All COVID-19, All the Time, and I don’t mind admitting that I’m already heartily sick of it. That said, there’s still a lot of news that definitely needs to be closely tracked, so here we are. I’ll keep folks posted, and I hope everybody is staying safe. I’ve got a stockpile of memes if anybody needs them.

Standard standing reminders 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 voice vote!–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!   

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

With another week of COVID-19 crisis under our belts, it’s unsurprising that the Attorney General Overreach this week involves the crisis directly.  Here are the details:    

• Attorney General Overreach (Again). Improbably, this week’s installment of Attorney General Overreach is actually not about William Barr! Executive branches in Texas, Ohio, and Mississippi all ordered abortion services to cease, claiming the procedure is a “nonessential medical surgery.” Needless to say, women’s health providers didn’t agree, and Planned Parenthood and the ACLU brought a lawsuit on the subject. Today, that lawsuit resulted in an order to keep the clinics open while the merits of the case are decided–an early signal that the District Court judge presiding over the case thinks that Planned Parenthood and the ACLU have a point. Hopefully, this will mean no one’s access is actually removed while the case is decided.

We also saw a bit of other Disregard of Governing Norms crop up during the crisis, though mostly in terms of sheer incompetence.  Here’s what I have for you:

• Trump’s Wild COVID-19 Adventures. In the face of the current crisis, trying to predict what 45’s policy plans has become even more of an arcane art than usual. Early in the week, he was still asserting that we should end stay-at-home protocols by Easter, for no better reason than–and I quote–he “just thought it [would be] a beautiful time.” He also stated that he will only aid states if they “treat us well” and “are appreciative” of basic federal response, withholding disaster funding from the three states hit hardest. Then he did a 180 from that cavalier position and started threatening to quarantine New York, but then walked that back the same day. Eventually his leading expert got him to wander into the middle and order another month of social distancing, which will last at least through April 30. (The CDC still urges citizens living in NY and NJ not to travel though.)

• The Blame Game. With everything else going on, you might expect our federal government to be too busy to sling blame at an entire country, but you’d expect wrong! Two House representatives introduced a resolution to blame China for COVID-19 in general, piggy-backing on Trump’s repeated insistence on racism as a crisis strategy. Meanwhile, the administration itself continued the blame game at a United Nations meeting later that week, insisting that China was responsible for the virus. The end result was a stalled U.N. declaration and increased violence against against Asian-Americans, neither of which are a welcome addition to the current crisis.

Your “Normal” Weird:

• Goodbye, 2020 Olympics. Japan officially announced this week that it is postponing the 2020 Olympics, given the uncertainty created by the current pandemic.  The event is rescheduled to begin July 23, 2021.  Though this is an understandable move, it’s also unprecedented, and nobody’s quite sure what it will mean for the next year.

The Bad:

• State of the COVID-19.   More states issued stay-at-home orders this week, bringing the total up to 30 states and one district.  At the time that I type this, the U.S. leads the world in coronavirus cases, with nearly half of those cases located in New York, and nearly 3,000 people in this country have lost their lives to the pandemic. The FDA has given emergency approval to use antimalarial meds to treat COVID-19 as health centers struggle to get enough personal protective equipment and ventilators in place.  Trump has ordered General Motors to start producing the latter–more on that below–and Pornhub has donated 50,000 masks to NYC first responders.  Meanwhile, more and more attention is being drawn to the seriously unsafe conditions created for incarcerated populations, who frequently cannot observe any best practices for slowing infection spread.  We’re also showing more concern about anticipated increase of domestic violence during stay-at-home orders, which is a very real risk right now.

• Unpacking the CARES Act.  Before everything shut down in D.C. area, Congress managed to pass the CARES Act, and Trump signed it into law on Friday evening.  (The bill was stalled for quite some time, but it impacts a lot of Americans, and it’s the third in a three-part legislative series.)  Steptoe put out a pretty good summary of the whole bill, but the parts that impact most people are likely the individual payments to taxpayers, the expanded unemployment payments (including to independent contractors), the paid family leave, and the small business loans.

• Market Volatility Continues.*  Once again, we had a scary week of market volatility, though hopefully the CARES Act will quell some of the storm.  The biggest new piece is that over three million Americans have filed for unemployment in the past week, which is a wildly unprecedented number for claims filed–the previous record was 700,000 claims in one week in 1982.  The Dow, for its part, had a jump after the Senate passed the CARES Act but dropped again by the end of the week, continuing its overall slump.

The Good:

• Recent Court Resilience. We do have a couple of good news stories this week! On the court resilience front, the Second Circuit affirmed that Trump cannot block people on Twitter who annoy him. And on the organizing essential workers front, Amazon workers in We had some good court cases this week. In addition to the injunctive relief for Planned Parenthood mentioned above, another District Court judge struck down permits for the Dakota Access Pipeline, concluding that their issuance violated the National Environmental Policy Act. And the First Circuit held that the administration cannot withhold crime prevention funding because it dislikes a jurisdiction’s immigration enforcement practices.

• Workers Strike for Common Good.This week also saw a lot of worker solidarity in the face of extreme circumstances. Both Instacart and Amazon employees have initiated a strike to get hazard pay and safer work conditions. Meanwhile, as General Motors suspends production and cuts paychecks, its workers are trying to persuade the company to comply with Trump’s order and make ventilators to address national shortages. The NNR stands with workers and supports all three of these movements.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this stylin’ hamster pad and an eventual better government.  I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) 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 pita chips because I keep eating them all!

Okay, folks. At the time that I type this, most of us have been cooped up in our homes for over a week, and many of us live in places with stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders by this point in time–needless to say, not ideal circumstances for anybody. Most of the news is COVID-flavored, and that doesn’t go down easy, but we’ll get through this. I’m here if anyone needs anything.

Standard standing reminders 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 public gathering!–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!   

Constitutional Crisis Corners:

With another week of COVID-19 crisis under our belts, it’s unsurprising that the Attorney General Overreach this week involves the crisis directly.  Here are the details:    

• Attorney General Overreach (Again). Attorney General and apparent aspiring fascist William Barr has asked Congress for permission to hold people indefinitely without trial during the COVID-19 crisis at all stages of procedure, including pre-arrest. Folks, speaking as an attorney who has a background in both criminal law and health law, I cannot stress enough how inappropriate this request is. We do sometimes curtail civil rights in times of war, generally due to either limited capacity for process or higher risk of quick-moving problems that damaging domestic war efforts, like espionage. That said, the COVID-19 crisis is not an actual war, and we cannot jail the virus to keep it from spying on us. In fact, high concentrations of people in detention is such a significant risk factor for this type of pandemic that many organizations are actively calling for controlled decarceration. And more to the point, Barr’s request wasn’t limited to the COVID-19 crisis; he asked for this authority “whenever the district court is fully or partially closed by virtue of any natural disaster, civil disobedience, or other emergency situation.” In other words, “let’s just suspend habeas corpus when we have a global pandemic or, y’know, when somebody I don’t like protests something.” This is straight up fascist nightmare fuel, and I can’t imagine the Democrat-controlled House will agree to it.

We also saw a bit of other Disregard of Governing Norms crop up during the crisis, though nothing as serious as the above.  Here’s what I have for you:

• Trump’s COVID-19 Grab Bag. Though it’s hard to top Barr’s incredible request, we do have a few other weird, questionable bits and bobs from Trump over the past week. First there’s his bizarre relationship with the Defense Production Act, a law to force production of materials: he said he was invoking it to increase production of masks and ventilators but then dithered, insulted state governors, and simply outsourced to FEMA while Jared Kushner formed a shadow team. Then there’s the hostile answer he gave NBC’s simple journalistic question on Friday, “What do you say to Americans who are feeling scared?”–apparently in Trumpland, the correct response is “you are a terrible reporter.” And last but not least, we have the press conferences and tweets promoting unproven treatments for COVID-19 that are in high demand for other ailments, such as Lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

• Senate Insider Trading. The other big story about sketchy government times this week is the major bombshell about the Senate Intelligence Committee–apparently current Chairperson Richard Burr and several other Senators were first briefed about first briefed about the coming crisis in January and responded by selling their stocks. (This would be bad even if Burr hadn’t downplayed the risk posed by COVID-19 for weeks, but he most assuredly did that last thing also.) Burr says he has asked the Senate ethics committee to review his stock sales, but in the meantime even Fox News talking head Tucker Carson is calling for Burr’s resignation.

Your “Normal” Weird:

• Election Infection Watch.   A few states did try to have primaries as scheduled on Tuesday, and by all accounts it was something of a hot mess–prompting officials to begin discussing other options for subsequent voting days.  Biden did sweep Florida, Illinois, and Arizona despite the pandemic, creating a lead so wide that centrist outlets are speculating that Sanders may drop out. And in all the chaos, Tulsi Gabbard did drop out and endorsed Joe Biden on Thursday.  

The Bad:

• Governing in the Time of Coronavirus.   This week, ho boy.  By the time that I type this, most experts are acknowledging that the pandemic is accelerating and we’re running out of time to flatten the curve, which has officials taking all kinds of steps. Some hard-hit locations are triaging testing, several politicians are urging mobilization of the Army Corps of Engineers, and Congress managed to pass another emergency response bill that provides more paid leave and expands unemployment insurance.  (Trump signed the bill into law on Wednesday evening.) That said, progress on the third bill of the set has been stalled for two days.  The process is not improved by Senator Rand Paul testing positive for COVID-19, which forced several other Senators to quarantine after contact with him.  A Seattle study has also begun testing on a vaccine, though it’s unlikely to become available for another year.    

• Hunkering Down.  With everything going on right now to try to contain COVID-19, and the inconsistent federal response involved, both state and federal systems have focused on closing down borders or urging people to stay in place.  California has issued a shelter in place for several counties, and at this point many other states have followed suit with stay at home orders. The State Department has issued a Level 4 travel advisory for Americans considering going abroad, and both the northern and southern U.S. border are now closed, with imports dropping as well.  In part due to that last bit, many places are still struggling to obtain materials and get testing in place. 

• Market Volatility.*   Though Trump is hoping that Congress will pass its third response bill soon, market volatility remains a really serious problem as the pandemic progresses.  Experts say the market is now on pace for the worst month since the Great Depression, and projected unemployment rates reflect that as well.  The federal government is attempting all sorts of things to stem the flow–federal taxes are now due in July; they’re permitting unlimited bond purchases; borrowers are allowed to suspend student loan payments for two months; and foreclosures are paused for federal mortgages.  But the administration is beginning to mutter about reopening everything despite the health risk, and we’ll need to watch that carefully.  Meanwhile, mutual aid efforts are popping up all over, and many nonprofits are seeking donations as well.

The Good:

• Recent Resilience Grab Bag.We do have a couple of good news stories this week! On the court resilience front, the Second Circuit affirmed that Trump cannot block people on Twitter who annoy him. And on the organizing essential workers front, Amazon workers in Chicago are reporting that paid time off has become a reality for workers around the globe after several sites organized in Chicago and California. This is great news, especially given how much people are relying on Amazon while staying at home.

So that’s what I have for this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve these new twenty-second Broadway hits and an eventual better government.  I’ll be back next week with more (and hopefully better) 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 the willpower to stop touching my face!