year 7 – Page 3 – National News Roundup

Year 7, Week 27 and 28 (July 16-29)

August 1, 2023August 1, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

As I’m sure folks have figured out by now, we are indeed moving to a biweekly cycle–the feedback overwhelmingly skewed in a “yes please save yourself” direction. It’s very possible (and in fact likely) that we’ll need to switch back once Criminal Election Season is truly underway, but for now, we’ll all take this opportunity to breathe. I’m sure we’ll all need it.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a tree trimmer!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

Boy howdy are we drinking from a gross firehose regarding–I’ve got 45 Election Rejection stories, and a Mitch ain’t one. Here’s what has happened:

Indictment Season (again). This cycle started out with Trump announcing that he’s a target of the January 6 probe, meaning that he’s a likely candidate for indictment over his actions on January 6–which he followed by announcing he got a second notice about it only yesterday. (As I feel compelled to note every time, this should probably be the thing that disqualifies him from eligibility for President, but this is America so here we are.) Shortly after he made this first announcement, he also picked up new criminal charges on his classified documents case, apparently because he tried to get his people to delete video camera footage. The new indictments bring him to an even 40 criminal charges for that case, for those of you playing the home game. Said case was also scheduled for trial this cycle; the circus is expected to begin on May 20, 2024. In the meantime, Michigan is charging several people involved in Trump’s ‘fake elector’ stunt in the state, and the story also broke that Trump’s PAC has spent $40M just on legal fees since the year began.

After about a million years of fiscal news, the main news story on the Biden Rebuilding front this time is immigration-related. Here’s what I have for you:

Immigration Interventions. The Biden administration sued Texas this week, disgusted with its illegal floating barriers in the Rio Grande, and presumably also with the state-sanctioned homicide stories that were sent to Texas media by a whistleblower this cycle as well. Meanwhile, a federal judge barred the new Biden asylum plan, correctly noting that it is probably illegal to bar refugees with valid claims under international asylum law.

Your New Normal:

Health Mini-Roundup. There were a lot of health odds and ends over this news cycle. The unnatural heat wave from last cycle continued, although temperatures have cooled in my area as I type this. In North Carolina, a twister damaged a Pfizer plant, which will likely exacerbate medical supply shortages for up to sixty-five pharmaceuticals. CMS has finally opted to pause redeterminations in twelve states that keep wrongfully kicking people off of Medicaid. In other government news, Congress voted this cycle to address organ donation failures with new legislation. Finally, the CDC reports that COVID hospitalizations are rising again, in what looks like potentially another late summer wave.

The Bad:

Labor Relation Station. There was a lot of news about organizing this week, and much of it was bad. In Hollywood, NBC Universal gained attention for what appears to be illegally removing tree cover on streets where SAG and WGA workers are picketing, prompting the city of Los Angeles to investigate. Just today, we also learned that the trucking company Yellow is shutting down, laying off 30,000 people. Meanwhile, UPS teetered at the edge of a strike for some of last week, but managed to reach a deal with favorable terms on Tuesday. Broadway avoided a strike through negotiated settlement as well. Finally, after a sixteen-year-old migrant was killed in a poultry plant in Mississippi that isn’t even supposed to employ minors, the country is again paying attention to exploitation of minor migrants and OSHA is investigating the issue.

The Good:

SCOTUS Interruptus. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted this week to create ethics obligations for SCOTUS, since, y’know, they currently don’t have any. Unsurprisingly, Republicans are very against advancing the proposed bill, on the grounds that it would make bribing not a thing. It’s unlikely this bill will go anywhere, but it’s still edifying to see the Senate Judiciary Committee trying to respond to all of this.

So that’s what I have for you, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this dazed snack session and a more functional government. I’ll be back next time with more restructured and improved news, and I hope you will be back as well–but in the meantime, feel free to ping the National News Roundup ask box, which is there for your constructive comments. Send me questions! Send me feedback! Send me good weather for this week’s camping trip!

Year 7, Week 25 and 26 (July 2-15)

July 18, 2023July 18, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Welcome back, folks–thank you for your patience! On a related note, I’m considering moving the NNR to a biweekly schedule, while things are still relatively calm over the summer. Let me know your opinion, if you have one! Okay, that’s all the news about the news. Let’s talk about July so far.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a continuance!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

There’s less news coming in, but we’re still stuck on 45 for the original flavor Election Rejection for now. Here’s what has happened:

Indictment Season? Remember Trump’s aide Walt Nauta, who helped him hide the documents in the Mar-a-Lago case? After postponing his arraignment three times, he finally pled not guilty this week. Meanwhile, in a modern definition of chutzpah, Trump argued this week that his case should be continued indefinitely because he is running for President.

For yet another week, the main news story on the Biden Rebuilding front is financial. Here’s what I have for you:

Student Loan Plan Scramble (cont). In the aftermath of SCOTUS striking down Biden’s student loan plan, his administration announced a new additional stopgap on Friday. Similar to his plan which cleaned up Public Service Loan Forgiveness, this plan will clean up mistakes in enrollment for people under the Income Driven Repayment plan, which is supposed to allow forgiveness after 240 qualifying payments. It’s estimated these supports will assist about 800,000 borrowers. It’s a small step, but hopefully it will help some people.

Your New Normal:

Health Mini-Roundup. There was a lot of health news for yet another roundup. Scientists estimate that climate change is responsible for temperatures last week, when we had a new record for consecutive heat and nearly the hottest day in history. In other news, the FDA approved a new Alzheimer’s drug, which is apparently the first to slow cognitive decline in patients. A new study of Long Covid suggests that, uh… it’s not good. (Also, it might cause damage to the vagus nerve.) But in more positive news, the FDA has approved the first over-the-counter instance of birth control in the United States.

The Bad:

Political Determinants of Health. We also saw several updates on the gender-affirming care and reproductive health fronts. In Tennessee, the Sixth Circuit allowed the state’s gender-affirming care ban to go back into effect after it was paused by injunction. Meanwhile, Iowa passed a six-week ban on abortion, but the law was paused by a court order just today. This makes twelve states with effective bans of abortion on their books.

The Good:

SAG Strikes Back. After two months of the Writers’ Guild strike in Hollywood, the Screen Actor’s Guild opted to join the strike on Thursday. The move brings a lot more power to the existing strike in Hollywood, where both groups attempt to protect against AI creating a replacement of their labor (and to preserve living wages in a field where residuals are increasingly meaningless). It’s likely to give a lot more power back to workers now that both groups are striking, and hopefully it will result in better conditions.

So that’s what I have for you, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this bear’s playground jaunt 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 opinions on a bi-weekly schedule!

Year 7, Week 23 and 24 (June 18–July 1)

July 4, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Folks, thank you for your patience while I navigated Report Season–until I get my hands on that cloning technology, some weeks do be like this. In the meantime, we’ve had a truly impressive run of bad, weird news over the past couple of weeks. Some, like the OceanGate submersible implosion, whatever it is Elon Musk is currently doing with twitter, and the Wagner company abortive uprising in Russia, are juuust outside the current purview of the NNR. Others, like the past week’s constitution-breaking SCOTUS session, will definitely be covered below.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an opinion!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We’re still stuck on 45 for the original flavor Election Rejection this week. Here’s what has happened:

Impeachment and Indictment Season. There was a smattering of news over the past couple of weeks about Trump’s latest criminal charges, which incidentally are likely to begin trial in December. But there was also a lot of developing news about his 2020 election illegalities, such as the fake elector plot, his pressure of state officials to overturn election results, and his administration’s rather pointed inaction in the days leading up to January 6. (He’s also suing E. Jean Carroll for defamation, by the way, and as far as I can tell the entire basis of the suit is that she sued him and won.) Meanwhile, House Republicans have begun a probe to impeach Biden because… vibes, I guess? And they publicly censured former intel committee head Adam Schiff for doing his job, which would probably bother him way more if he weren’t successfully fundraising for re-election from it.

For yet another week, the main news story on the Biden Rebuilding front is financial. Here’s what I have for you:

Student Loan Plan Scramble. As we’ll discuss more below, SCOTUS opted to completely negate Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan on Friday. Needless to say, with loan forbearance ending this fall, that puts a lot of people in a bad place. To his credit, Biden wasted no time in announcing an adapted plan when the decision came down. The new proposal isn’t as comprehensive or supportive, but I suppose it’s better than nothing.

Your New Normal:

Health Horrorshows. Boy howdy, was there a lot going on over the past couple of weeks health-wise. In “I work on this at my day job” news, the Biden administration is horrified by how many people are getting kicked off of Medicaid for things like missing paperwork, so they are politely asking states to Do Better. Meanwhile, June 24 marks one year since the Dobbs decision, which has curtailed abortion access and worsened health outcomes in about half the states in the country. (Needless to say, the decision has remained unpopular a year later, given those outcomes.) Finally, much of the country continues to experience poor air quality and/or extreme heat due to climate change, which is causing health problems for many people as well.

The Bad:

SCOTUS Scandals and Screeds. Speaking of Dobbs and horrors, this past week’s SCOTUS cases were easily as destructive–so it’s extra fun that they were kicked off by yet another corruption scandal about a sitting justice. (This time, it was Justice Alito, who failed to disclose his fishing trip with a billionaire who had 10 cases before SCOTUS in the recent past.) In addition to the crappy Navajo water rights decision leading into the week, we had several new nadirs of jurisprudence: 1) The effective end of affirmative action for college admissions, which overturns 45 years of precedent; 2) Expansion of Christian religious accommodations for state employees, which overturns 46 years of precedent; 3) Erosion of LGBT equal rights protections based on a case that lacked ripeness and standing, because no one was requesting the services in question and the plaintiff didn’t even offer them; and 4) Negation of Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan based on a case where Missouri didn’t have standing. I am stressing the aberrations in each of these cases because, as Biden has publicly noted, none of this is normal for SCOTUS, and I really want people to understand that the decisions are damaging to the institution itself. These decisions are the legal equivalent of taking a check to the bank that isn’t signed and is made out to a guy named Steve you’ve never met, and the teller going “well I like Steve so here you go” and depositing it in your account anyway. In addition to being bad news for whoever’s checkbook that was, it just doesn’t follow the bank’s rules or make any sense.

The Good:

Recent Judicial Resilience (again). We did have a handful of promising court opinions as well, though of course they do not offset the above. In Tennessee and Kentucky, federal judges paused hormone blocker bans for adolescents; a similar ban for Medicaid recipients was struck down in Florida. There were also a few silver linings and decent decisions out of SCOTUS; they tossed out an unhinged lawsuit that demanded Biden order more deportations and re-affirmed the role of courts in keeping election districts at least somewhat constitutional. Some advocates are also saying that there is room for holistic review within the Students for Fair Admission case, and it has already sparked another lawsuit regarding legacy enrollment that may broaden existing positive change in admission practices.

So that’s what I have for you, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this Papa Roach filk 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!

Year 7, Week 22 (June 11-17)

June 20, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

Today is Juneteenth, and also marks its third year as a federal holiday. While I’m not the most qualified person to speak on the occasion, I urge you to spend some time today watching, reading or listening to the words of people who are.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an arraignment!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We’re still stuck on 45 for the original flavor Election Rejection this week. Here’s what has happened:

45 Reasons to Indict (cont). As foretold by prophecy, Trump did indeed appear and plead not-guilty in federal court on Tuesday. Somehow, this has managed to endear him further to Republicans, which is both striking commentary and frankly terrifying. It will likely be some time before we see further movement on his case; while we wait, he has wasted no time in damaging the judicial system by threatening communism and calling his prosecutor a “thug.” President Biden, meanwhile, is frustrating Democrats by refusing to comment on any of this.

We did get an extension on TPS this week, but the main news story on the Biden Rebuilding front is still financial. Here’s what I have for you:

Same Old Rate Old. The Federal Reserve was in the news this week because they didn’t raise interest rates for the first time in over a year. Nonetheless, they signaled that they probably will raise them next time, likely because prices of some essentials are still climbing, even though inflation is slowing in other ways. So we’ll have to see what happens on that front.

Your New Normal:

Health News Corner. There was a fair amount of health news this week. The American Medical Association finally admitted that the Body Mass Index metric is a bad metric indeed, and should not be used alone to assess patient health. Meanwhile, the White House is hosting a naloxone pricing summit later this week, but drew criticism for not inviting affordability advocates to said summit. In mental health news, the CDC released a report this week saying that Americans are more depressed in places where everything’s bad. Finally, the FDA recommended this week that COVID boosters be updated ahead of the fall to increase resistance to XBB.1.5.

The Bad:

Black Lives Still Matter. The Department of Justice published a lengthy report this week after multiple years of investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department, and the contents were just as horrifying as you might expect. The report found that the department routinely used excessive force for years before the 2020 murder of George Floyd, and ignored documentation practices so that they could continue to dangerously discriminate. The report release roughly coincides with the indictment of Jordan Neely’s killer in New York City, though the exact charges on that likely will not be released until his arraignment on June 28.

The Good:

Recent Judicial Resilience (again). This was another good week for court cases. The Supreme Court again shocked most of us by holding that the Indian Child Welfare Act could continue to do its thing uninterrupted, opting not to mess with a law already in place for nearly fifty years. Meanwhile, in Iowa, the state Supreme Court affirmed a block on their six-week abortion law, which will leave the procedure legal in the state until the 20th week of pregnancy.

So that’s what I have for you this week, and there will be more where that came from. For making it through, you deserve this corvid brushie session 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 opportunities to nap!

Year 7, Week 21 (June 4-10)

June 13, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

This is one of those rare weeks where virtually everyone here knows what the NNR is about to say. It’s a nice unifying moment of surreality–we might not always know what is going on, but by God, we all know that Donald Trump is now twice as indicted.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an arraignment!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

This was a heck of a week for original flavor Election Rejection. Here’s what has happened:

45 Reasons to Indict (cont). As one might expect when last week’s news involved a literal tape of Trump announcing that he kept classified documents, Trump was indeed federally indicted on Friday in Florida. His first court appearance is tomorrow, and the man has already wasted no time in letting everybody know he’s definitely still running for President even if he has to rule from a jail cell. Unusually, his unsealed indictment document is available online and is quite a read, if you have the time to peruse it–but if you just want the Cliffs Notes version, it’s thirty-seven counts of That Dude Sure Stole Classified Docs On Purpose. Memewhile, photos of classified documents in the chandelier-encrusted toilet at Mar-A-Lago are already everywhere.

The main news story on the Biden Rebuilding front this week is the debt ceiling dealing. Here’s what I have for you:

Debt Ceiling Dealing (cont). We’re continuing to see fallout from the debt ceiling deal, which appears to be the biggest news in the Biden administration for another week. To be fair to Biden though, the majority of news on this actually comes out of the House, where the GOP has been eating itself for the past week. More specifically, the far-right dregs of the party have been sticking it to McCarthy over anything and everything, which ultimately saw the House dismissing itself early on Wednesday evening. To be fair, this is almost certainly also exacerbated by the overstuffed clown car of 2024 GOP presidential hopefuls, which just keeps gaining occupants and increasing splintering of the party as the weeks go on.

Your New Normal:

LGBTQIA+ Roundup. With one exception we’ll discuss below, this was a bleak week for LGBTQIA+ news. In Louisiana and Missouri, new laws were passed banning access to gender-affirming care for minors. Relatedly, the Southern Poverty Law Center documented Moms for Liberty and other parental hate groups in its annual retrospective, which was released this week. Similarly, the Human Rights Campaign this week declared a national state of emergency for American LGBTQIA+ people for the first time in its 43-year history. The HRC also released a Guidebook for Action that offers information about which places are still safe to travel for LGBTQIA+ people. It also offers guidance for how to move out of dangerous places. Needless to say, though I live in a place that is considered among the safest in the country for my household, it is deeply disheartening to review these materials–and even more disheartening to know how necessary they are for millions of Americans.

The Bad:

Hard to Breathe AQI. Speaking of millions of Americans, pretty much the whole Eastern seaboard suffered low air quality this week, as Canadian wildfires spread high volumes of smoke further south. Air quality was particularly poor in places like Philadelphia and New York City, where geographic location and ambient industry combined to create extreme conditions. (Thankfully, both New York and Philly, along with the rest of the Eastern seaboard, appear to be more-or-less back to normal by the time that I type this.)

The Good:

Recent Judicial Resilience. We have some more interesting court cases this week, even beyond the indictmas discussed above. In true stopped clock fashion, SCOTUS stunned everybody this week by actually deciding Alabama discriminated against Black voters in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Less bombastically but still interestingly, at least if you’re me, they also held that people can sue nursing homes even when they’re Medicaid funded. Meanwhile, in Florida, a federal judge blocked the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, saying that the state has no rational basis for limiting access to health care and noting that “gender identity is real” in his opinion.

So that’s what I have for you this week, and there will be more where that came from. For making it through, you deserve this master of disguise 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 recipes you like on hot days!

Year 7, Week 20 (May 28–June 3)

June 6, 2023 Kara Hurvitz1 Comment

I drafted this week’s news watching Brennan Lee Mulligan rant as a fake CEO for several sad companies, which turns out to be an improbably good backdrop to this week’s news in general. (This is to say, the news this week isn’t unusually bad, but it does make you want to stare dead-eyed into the camera and yell things.)

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a student loan!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We’re also back to original flavor Election Rejection this week with yet more 45 train wreck. Here’s what has happened:

45 Reasons to Indict. This was quite a week for news about Trump. First, in “this is lazy even for the 45 writing room” news, we learned federal prosecutors have a tape of Trump a) talking about his b) definitely classified documents that he c) still had after he left office in 2021. Then Trump’s lawyers said they couldn’t find the document, and just today they met with the special investigator to… plead with them not to charge him, I guess? Meanwhile, the Trump probe in Georgia has been broadened to include other states. Finally, almost as an afterthought, the DOJ confirmed that they will not be charging Mike Pence over the comparatively minor classified documentation they found on him earlier this year. (I guess it’s all relative.)

The main news story on the Biden Rebuilding front this week is the debt ceiling dealing. Here’s what I have for you:

Debt Ceiling Dealing (cont). As foretold by prophecy, the debt ceiling bill did get passed by both the House and the Senate this week, and Biden signed it into law over the weekend. As one might expect, the final version was just as bad as the first version. Nonetheless, we do have a functional government again, so at least there’s that.

Your New Normal:

Repro Health Roundup. We had a weirdly positive week, on the whole, for repro health news. ABC ran a story that teenage pregnancy reached a historic low last year, although I’m honestly not sure how that happened with everything else going on. Both Oklahoma and Nevada had positive movement as well; the Oklahoma Supreme Court apparently struck down two abortion bans (though plenty of restrictions still exist in the state). Meanwhile, Nevada became the next state with a Republican governor to approve abortion shield laws.

The Bad:

Symbolic Student Loan Screw You. The Senate, in its infinite wisdom, also passed a bill from the House this week that overturns Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan by 52-46 vote. Unsurprisingly, Biden has signaled that he will veto this bill, and enough Democrats still vote like it that his veto will likely stand. Nonetheless, it’s a kick in the teeth when it happens the same week that Congress voted to turn federal loans back on. The final say on the matter will likely be the Supreme Court case that is also pending, and expected to come out in the next few weeks.

The Good:

Recent LGBT Resilience. At the top of Pride month, it feels good to share that the absurd Tennessee drag law issued a few months ago was shot down by a federal court this week as unconstitutional. (If you were wondering whether it violates freedom of speech, yes yes it does.) I’m sure this won’t be the last we hear of this, but it’s good to have the decision for now.

So that’s what I have for you this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this bear bed hair 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 pictures of sloths because who doesn’t like those?

Year 7, Week 18-19 (May 14-27)

May 29, 2023May 30, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

I’m still running ragged trying to support folks through redeterminations, but a slower news week is allowing me to resume our regularly-scheduled NNR (at least for now). Be forewarned, however, that a slow news week doesn’t mean a good one–most of this week’s news sucks. I recommend the application of ice cream.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a bill!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

We’re also back to original flavor Election Rejection this week, plus one story that just involves elections and is funny. Here’s what has happened:

Election Rejection Mini-Roundup. The biggest election rejection story this week is likely that Oathkeepers who were convicted last month for their role in January 6 are starting to be sentenced, with some of the sentences as high as 18 years. That said, we also got a date for Trump’s criminal trial–it will be in March 2024–and the schadenfreude of DeSantis’s failed Twitter launch of his 2024 campaign.

The main news story on the Biden Rebuilding front this week is the debt ceiling dealing. Here’s what I have for you:

Debt Ceiling Dealing. Well, the good news on the Biden front is that he finally has a deal on raising the debt ceiling, which will prevent a default ahead of the June 5 drop-dead date if Congress passes it. The bad news is, as his colleagues feared, he struck a deal that sucks–it flattens funding for many social programs, increases work requirements for SNAP and TANIF, and expedites gas mining in West Virginia. Now Congress gets to vote on it, and it seems very possible we’ll see further tweaks on the Congressional floor. I’ll keep folks posted on the final form next week.

Your New Normal:

AG Impeachment. In this week’s “couldn’t happen to a nicer scumbag” news, the Texas House voted this week to impeach Texas AG Ken Paxton. Paxton ended up with 20 articles of impeachment, on account of his vast portfolio of sketchiness–apparently, he did everything from accepting bribes to tanking investigations to threatening the whistleblowers who wanted to disclose all the bribery and investigation tanking. He’s now suspended from his duties, and will face a Senate trial sometime in the next few months.
Recent Health Access Ruins. The last ten or so days have been abjectly awful for reproductive health and gender-affirming care. Nebraska passed a twelve-week abortion ban bill that also bans gender-affirming care for minors and survived hundreds of hours of filibuster to pass. North Carolina managed to overcome a gubernatorial veto on its own twelve-week abortion ban and finalize it as law as well. Meanwhile, South Carolina passed a six-week abortion ban, also overcoming many hours of filibuster to pass and leaving Virginia the main point of access for the whole of the South. Finally, Florida restricted access to both gender-affirming care and bathrooms. The one bit of hope at the bottom of this week’s Pandora’s Box is Maine’s gender-affirming care bill, which would grant adolescents 16 and older the ability to access HRT without parental consent.

The Bad:

Clean Water Waning. The Supreme Court meddled with the Clean Water Act this week, dramatically curtailing the reach of the law after over fifty years of enforcement. Those of you playing the home game may remember that this is an encore performance for this area of law, as they similarly limited the Clean Air Act last year. I probably speak for all of us when I say that it would be cool if the Supreme Court could stop overturning settled law that’s half a century old because the far-right is paying them to do it.

The Good:

Recent Health Resilience. In direct counterpoint to much of the health news above, Minnesota has been going on a bicameral legal protections spree this session. In addition to abortion protections, which were codified this week, the state also, among other things, 1) legalized cannabis; 2) invested in transportation; 3) created a new child tax credit; 4) passed comprehensive gun safety reform; 5) expanded the school lunch program; 6) expanded voting rights; 7) banned conversion therapy; and 8) shielded providers of gender-affirming care from out-of-state litigation. And that’s not even a comprehensive list; it has truly been an impressive amount of well-targeted reform.

So that’s what I have for you this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this regal matriarch 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!

Year 7, Week 17 (May 7-13)

May 18, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

This was a week of endings, between the official end of the COVID public health emergency and the official end of Title 42 asylum policies at the border. (The way we’re headed, I also haven’t ruled out an end to the debt ceiling.) Needless to say, the NNR remains available for your snarky coverage needs.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an amendment!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

I wasn’t quite sure where to stick the story below, but it does involved both Election and Rejection, so I figured this was the place for it. Here’s what has happened:

Santos Malos. On Wednesday, still-current GOP rep George Santos was taken into custody and charged with thirteen counts of fraud, presumably due to, y’know, all the fraud. Though he originally pled not guilty, he quickly confessed to crimes in Brazil in order to make those charges go away. Just today, he dodged a vote to expel him by the skin of his teeth, and the matter instead went to the House Ethics Committee. Santos has already refused to resign several times, so in a GOP-led house, it seems likely he’s not going anywhere.

The main news story on the Biden Rebuilding front this week is immigration-related. Here’s what I have for you:

The End of Title 42. With the immigration policy known as Title 42 ending last week due to the end of the public health emergency, there have been a lot of eyes on the southern border. Initial fears of a massive asylee surge appear to have been unfounded, as the Biden administration made clear they planned to deport asylum seekers en masse under Title 8. Still, it’s unclear what may come next, as Title 8 under Biden’s plan will be rough on Mexico. It’s very possible that the whole thing will prompt Congress to revamp relevant legislation.

Your New Normal:

Creeping Healthcare Concerns. As I mentioned last week, Thursday also marked the official end of the COVID public health emergency. As if to puncture the point, the CDC celebrated by finally releasing ventilation guidelines sought by health professionals for literal years–nothing says “you’re on your own” quite like “the pandemic’s over, by the way change your airflow regularly.” Meanwhile, in reproductive health news, North Carolina passed a twelve-week abortion law by overriding the governor’s veto on the matter. And in New Orleans, the Fifth Circuit appears poised to reinforce the nonsense decision issued by a federal district court judge in Texas regarding access to mifepristone.

The Bad:

Raise the Debt Roof (again).* Also as I mentioned above, we appear to be gearing up for a(nother) wild ride on the debt ceiling. Although Biden and Congress have been meeting regularly to try to strike a deal, it’s increasingly obvious that the House GOP isn’t playing ball. In response, Biden has signaled that he’s beginning to consider using the 14th Amendment as a workaround. Just today, several Senate Democrats sent him a letter officially urging him to push that button. If nothing is done, we may slam right into default as soon as June 1, so time is rather of the essence–I’ll keep folks posted on this.

The Good:

Recent Health Resilience. A small trial published this week shows potential great promise for a pancreatic cancer vaccine developed using mRNA technology. This is a really big deal, as scientists have long been trying to figure out how to use mRNA to tailor vaccines to patients’ specific tumors. We’re still early stages, but it’s a potential major milestone. Hooray progress!

So that’s what I have for you this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this attention-seeking lamb 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; I’ll use it responsibly!

Year 7, Week 16 (April 30–May 6)

May 10, 2023May 10, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

This week felt slow at its start, but it started churning out stories hard and fast by the time the weekend wrapped. I’m going to cover most of this week’s stories today, but there are a couple we’ll have to punt to next week–it’s that kind of cycle, apparently.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not a strike!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

After a blessed week off, we’re back to Election Rejection news about January 6 and Cool Ranch Mussolini crimes. Here’s what has happened:

Sedition Stories (again). By far, the biggest January 6 story is that a jury found four Proud Boys guilty of 31 counts of seditious conspiracy. This marks the second alt-right group convicted, as several Oathkeepers were convicted of similar charges in two separate proceedings in March. These four defendants are potentially facing up to twenty years in prison, though the sentencing will be handled separately later this month. Meanwhile, in Cool Ranch Mussolini news, eight Georgia Republicans have flipped on him in the election interference case against him down there. And just today, the jury on the E. Jean Carroll civil trial found him liable for $5M to her for sexual assault and defamation.

The main news stories on the Biden Rebuilding front this week are FDA and CDC updates. Here’s what I have for you:

FDA and PHE. This week marks the official end of the public health emergency, both nationally per the Biden administration and globally per the WHO. This has a number of implications, most of which involve protections, flexibilities, or coverage ending. That said, we’re getting a temporary extension for virtual prescriptions for controlled substances, because 38,000 people asked to continue it–and I’m pretty happy about this, because I was one of them. Meanwhile, the FDA is considering making hormonal medications commonly used as contraceptives over-the-counter, which will likely be a significant support for the reproductive health landscape if it happens. And in other FDA news, they approved the first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which has been in development for decades.

Your New Normal:

Extremely Normal SCOTUS and Senate News (again again). I swear some week we’ll stop having new stories about how corrupt Clarence Thomas is, but this week is apparently not that week. The first story this time was that Mein Kampf devotee Harlan Crow is apparently paying for Thomas’s kid’s private school–which, as I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you, is not normal. Then the Washington Post broke another story which is frankly much worse, and I can’t believe we’re not talking more about it. Apparently, conservative lobbyist Leonard Leo, in 2012, laundered $25K to Ginni Thomas through a nonprofit he consults for called the Judicial Education Project. He did this by having Kellyanne Conway bill the Judicial Education Project $25K for “Supplement for Constitution Polling and Opinion Consulting,” sending the resulting $25K directly to Ginni Thomas, and instructing Kellyanne Conway to make sure the documentation had “No mention of Ginni, of course.” The Judicial Education Project then promptly appeared in front of SCOTUS for Shelby County v. Holder, an important voting rights case which appears to be the basis of the payment. Clarence Thomas voted in favor of the Judicial Education Project’s position and wrote a concurrence, resulting in the loss of voting rights for millions of people. In case you are wondering whether a nonprofit literally called the Judicial Education Project is supposed to give thousands of dollars directly to the household of a Supreme Court justice they are intending to influence on an upcoming landmark court case… uh, no, no they are not.
WGA Strike Begins. The Writers Guild of America began striking last week, concerned about increasing job cuts, consistent low pay, and encroaching AI use in writing rooms. It’s not clear how this will impact Hollywood, but the last time the WGA went on strike in 2007, it lasted 100 solid days before reaching resolution. It’s helpful to know that the WGA is not asking for a boycott of streaming services, but rather is seeking support of strike funds such as the Entertainment Community Fund.

The Bad:

This Week’s Avoidable Deaths. We lost a lot of people to preventable violence this week. In New York, a white passenger fatally choked fellow rider Jordan Neely on the subway when Neely began yelling and pacing. As I type this, no one has been charged in Neely’s death even though it has been ruled a homicide by medical examination. We also had several gun homicides in Texas. At the top of the week, the man in Cleveland Texas who fatally shot five neighbors was picked up by police along with accomplices. Meanwhile, a few days later, a white supremacist opened fire in a Dallas area mall, resulting in eight deaths and seven injuries. And in Atlanta, there was a mass shooting at Northside Medical Midtown, resulting in one death and four injuries as well as an eight-hour manhunt to find the shooter. I feel it is necessary to note that all of these stories are senseless and traumatizing tragedies that could have been prevented by more responsible gun laws and better behavioral health crisis response.

The Good:

Recent Health Resilience. In addition to the FDA news above, this week they approved the first vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). This vaccine has been in development for decades, and it’s a really big deal that it’s approved!

So that’s what I have for you this week, and I’m sorry, there are no news refunds. For making it through, you deserve this cauliflower snack time 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!

Year 7, Week 15 (April 23-29)

May 3, 2023 Kara HurvitzLeave a comment

We had a few days in a row this week where the news was looking… pretty positive? Somehow? (I know, I’m as shocked as you are.) But by the time that I’m typing this, another big bank has failed and we’re back to our normally scheduled timeline. We had a good run, y’all.

Standard standing reminders still apply: I may be well into my seventh year of journalism, but I summarize news within my areas of expertise. NNR summaries often contain some detailed analysis that’s outside my expertise–I’m a lawyer, not an injunction!–but all offroad adventures are marked with an asterisk. And, of course, for the things that are within my lane, I’m offering context that shouldn’t be considered legal advice. Okay, I think that’s about it for the disclaimers. Onward to the news!

Cleanup in Aisle 45:

Strictly speaking, the Election Rejection front news this week is really more just Election News, but it’s such a repeat of 2020 that I don’t feel bad stashing it here. Here’s what has happened:

Hindsight is 2024. President Biden announced on Tuesday that he’s definitely running for President again in 2024,setting himself up to be retiring at 86 years old if he finishes a second term. He’s almost certainly going to be running against Trump, who is already the heavily favored candidate for the GOP after DeSantis was too busy fighting Disney to overtake him. Meanwhile, Mike Pence is definitely testifying against Trump federally about his role in the Jan 6 insurrection, but that will not in any way disqualify Trump from running for President in 2024. Isn’t politics fun?

The main news on the Biden Rebuilding front, in contrast, is economics-related. Here’s what I have for you:

Raising the Debt Ceiling. The House passed a bill this week by party lines that would raise the debt ceiling but undo half of Biden’s policies from the last two years. Unsurprisingly, Biden took one look at the various provisions in it and said ‘no thank you’. Now, House Democrats are trying their own thing through a procedural maneuver that would force another vote known as a discharge petition. If it’s not resolved soon, our Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns that the U.S. could run out of money as soon as June 1. Meanwhile, as I mentioned at the top of this roundup, another bank failed and was purchased by J.P. Morgan yesterday, so our economy is looking extra exciting this week.

Your New Normal:

Extremely Normal SCOTUS and Senate News (again again). We have yet another week of bad news about SCOTUS self-interest and Chief Justice Roberts refusing to do anything. This time, we started with news about Justice Gorsuch selling property to the CEO of a firm that appears before him regularly, closing the sale after he was appointed and failing to disclose it. This was swiftly followed by news that Justice Roberts’s wife, Jane Roberts, made over $10M as a legal consultant from firms appearing before SCOTUS while her husband was on the bench from 2007 to 2014. Wouldn’t you know, Chief Justice Roberts also failed to disclose this, claiming her commissions as “salary.” Nonetheless, he is still insisting that SCOTUS doesn’t need ethics rules and refusing to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Unsurprisingly, a Senate bill was introduced this week that would force the Supreme Court to have a code of conduct. Perhaps more surprisingly, the bill wasn’t introduced by Democrats–it’s from Senator Angus King (I-Maine) Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska).

The Bad:

Rep Removal in Montana. Montana rep Zooey Zephyr, who you may remember as the rep who appropriately used a floor debate to rail against curtailing access to gender-affirming care, was formally barred from the Montana House floor this week. She will be permitted to vote remotely until the session ends in a few weeks, but will not be permitted to speak in any formal debates for the rest of the session. Zephyr, who is the state’s first transgender rep, was also misgendered repeatedly during the censure process, and seven people were arrested for peacefully protesting her removal. It’s the second time in a month that Republicans removed marginalized state reps from service and cited the reps’ service itself as the reason for removal. I’m sure you don’t need me to make this subtext into text, but I’m going to anyway: What we’re seeing is a deeply concerning subversion of how democracy is supposed to work.

The Good:

Recent State Resilience. As I mentioned in the opening, we had a weirdly good week in many places for reproductive rights and trans rights, mostly because the GOP had a weirdly cursed one. In South Carolina, a strict abortion ban failed after all five women in the state senate (yes, all five of them total, you read that right) participated in a multi-day bipartisan filibuster. A similar bill failed in Nebraska because one 80-year-old Republican dude who had co-sponsored the bill and voted it out of committee arbitrarily decided to abstain instead of backing it. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is suing Tennessee over their total ban on gender-affirming care for youths, and a judge in Missouri has paused enforcement of the pseudo-ban on gender-affirming care for adolescents and adults. On the other side of the political spectrum, Washington state became the first place to explicitly protect privacy rights regarding reproductive health data. Washington and Minnesota also joined a growing number of states passing shield laws to protect people who seek or provide care within the state that is illegal in other states. And here in Massachusetts, there was a public hearing today on several bills that would expand access to gender-affirming care.

So that’s what I have for you this week, and I’m sorry for the return to our regularly-scheduled timeline. For making it through, you deserve this kitten ambush 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 photos of your pets!