Bernie Sanders and Joe Manchin reportedly fight on conference call over stimulus checks
Post that tensions flared specifically between Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), who reportedly got into a heated exchange over how big stimulus checks should be. Checks were initially left out of the $900 billion proposal before reportedly being added as part of a compromise. Sanders argued for more robust direct payments, while Manchin advocated for a lower amount, instead preferring to emphasize unemployment benefits.
, members trying to rush the $900 billion proposal into law are infuriated by the potential for Sanders opposition to blow up the whole deal.
1:44 a.m.
The Navajo Nation, which had the highest rate of COVID-19 infections anywhere in the U.S. last May, recently recorded zero cases and zero deaths in a 24-hour period, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez noted Sunday on CBS s
Face the Nation. The Navajo Nation has also vaccinated more of its population than any U.S. state â more than half the 170,000 residents of the tribal lands spanning New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah are fully vaccinated,
The New York Times reports, and the nation of 300,000 enrolled members is averaging 11 infections a day, down from 250 a day in late November.
Nez said the Navajo Nation was able to tamp down COVID-19 through a strict lockdown, a year-old mask mandate, and a communal culture that convinced people to wear masks and get vaccinated. It wasn t about restricting people s freedoms when we told people to wear a mask or to stay home, he said on
Biden reportedly picks former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to run Energy Department
As governor, Granholm worked with the auto industry in Detroit, experience that would likely help her as the Biden administration aims to move the United States away from fossil fuels and increase the number of electric vehicles on the road,
Politico notes. The Energy Department maintains the country s nuclear weapons arsenal, sets appliance standards, and operates national labs that focus on making scientific innovations.
If confirmed, Granholm will be the second woman to ever lead the department. In 2016, Granholm was considered Hillary Clinton s likely nominee for the position, had she won the election.
Trump s Mar-a-Lago neighbors don t want him to move there. They may be able to stop him, too.
President Trump may be refusing to concede that he s leaving the White House in January, but first lady Melania Trump and the Secret Service are reportedly busy preparing for his post-presidency life at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, Florida. There may be a hitch in that plan, though: the neighbors. And thanks to legal agreements Trump signed in the 1990s, they may be able to stop him from making Mar-a-Lago his next home,
Trump s Mar-a-Lago neighbors sent a letter to the town of Palm Beach and the Secret Service on Tuesday demanding that the town notify Trump he can t reside at Mar-a-Lago because he signed away that right in 1993, the
California distributes 5,000 body bags to counties amid most intense COVID-19 surge
Due to the surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Tuesday said the state ordered 5,000 additional body bags and 60 refrigerated trucks to deal with the increase in deaths.
California recorded 32,326 new COVID-19 cases and 142 deaths on Tuesday, and its 14-day average positivity rate is 10.7 percent; two weeks ago, the rate was 6.9 percent. This is the most intense surge since the beginning of the pandemic, Newsom said.
Over the last week, California has reported an average of 163 deaths a day from COVID-19, four times the daily average a month ago. To handle the increase in deaths, the state recently bought 5,000 body bags to deliver to Inyo, San Diego, and Los Angeles counties, where there are fewer than 100 intensive care unit beds available for the county s 10 million residents. Statewide, ICU capacity is at 5.7 percent.