The Shot with Rick Klein
The country may not close again due to COVID-19, at least, not anytime soon.
But possibly the federal government would do well, and very soon.
This says a lot about the state of pandemic politics, which replaced even as the virus produced worrying new variants. On Thursday, President Joe Biden will define his winter plans to deal with COVID-19, with many familiar steps around vaccines, boosters and testing, adding loose house tests, but also promising additional lockdowns or closures.
Meanwhile, Congress’ recurring struggle to fund the government has a new twist: House conservatives are not easy to make any extension of Biden’s vaccine mandates to fund federal spending. elimination “to make it a condition for a friday shutdown.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki presented the strategy as a pro-Trump effort to allow a minority of other people who refuse to be vaccinated to have “freedom to infect their colleagues, our children. “
But opposition to government-mandates and other restrictions is broader than that. It’s a fact that the Biden White House at least tacitly acknowledges that it has gotten rid of the blockades and eased enforcement provisions related to vaccine mandates for federal workers.
Summary with Averi Harper
Stacey Abrams’ crusade announcement for governor sets up a possible rematch with Gov. Brian Kemp that may be even more bitter than his first attempt.
Abrams, who would be the nation’s first female black governor if elected, is running in this statewide race after amassing a national profile since losing Kemp in 2018 with just 1. 4 percentage points. This is a fact that Republicans have already grasped since their announcement on Twitter on Wednesday.
Kemp claimed that Abrams was on an “endless crusade for power” and that the Republican Governors Association pursued the same goal. “Stacey Abrams returned to Georgia to bring her own star to life as she charts the course of her true career goal: president of the United States,” said Maddie Anderson, a spokeswoman for the group.
The state’s Republicans have been organizing for months to postpone his career. Kemp’s allies and former Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler introduced the “Stop Stacey” organization in February, no doubt illustrating considerations about Abrams’ strength this time around.
In addition to deep partisan decisions, many things have replaced in Peach State since Abrams’ 2018 career, namely election turnout regulations due to Georgia’s restrictive election law. in the state’s blue zones, others see voting restrictions as potentially motivating in Abrams’ efforts to withdraw the vote.
The COUNCIL with Alisa Wiersema
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker’s decision not to seek a mandate signals a potential turning point in Republican policy at the state level.
Baker was one of the few Republican leaders to govern Democratic states during the Trump years and sharply criticized the former president during his tenure. Despite this, the two-term governor has controlled to move beyond partisanship in an increasingly tense political environment and remains very popular with voters.
Massachusetts has a long history of supporting Democrats, so it’s highly imaginable that the next candidate for governor as Head of Bay State will come from the left, but the draw for the open contest also raises the question of whether a classic Republican candidate running under fiscally conservative and socially moderate (or even liberal) policies can emerge from a number one after Trump. even in friendly territory.
Meanwhile, Republican state leaders waste no time expressing their personal tastes regarding the direction long-term candidates for governor will take.
“We are turning a new page here in Massachusetts,” Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jim Lyons said in a statement, adding, “Our commitment remains the strong conservative values of liberty, individual liberty and non-public responsibility. President Trump as we continue to rebuild the Massachusetts Republican Party. “
THE PLAYLIST
ABC News’ “Start Here” Podcast. Thursday morning’s episode begins with the Supreme Court’s dramatic arguments over a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks. ABC News reporter in Washington Devin Dwyer tells us his findings about the case from inside ABC News senior national policy reporter Anne Flaherty highlights the White House’s plan to respond to COVID-19 this winter, and a 15-year-old from Michigan was charged with a fatal high school shooting. ABC News joins us from Oxford Township with the latest news from the investigation.
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