With so many crazy things happening, sometimes things fall through the cracks. Here are some headlines that you may find interesting and worth discussing. Please feel free to post ‘headlines’ you would like to share that we may have missed.
Biden Administration:
- A White House official says that Biden’s transition team warned the former administration of a need for additional space to house a surge of migrant children at the U.S.-Mexico border, but they were “sitting on their hands” and delayed aid. NBC’s Julia Ainsley has details.
- A group of White House officials and members of Congress toured a facility holding unaccompanied migrant children in Texas on Wednesday in the company of a news camera, as the Biden administration has been under mounting pressure to give journalists access inside facilities housing migrant children as the number of unaccompanied children in custody has ballooned in recent weeks.
- The Biden administration is weighing whether to extend a soon-expiring federal policy that prohibits landlords from evicting their cash-strapped tenants, as the U.S. government seeks to buy more time for an estimated 10 million families who have fallen behind on their rent.
Congress:
- Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema Open to $11 Minimum Wage, But Other Dems Less Willing to Compromise.
- GOP Sen. Hyde-Smith says there shouldn’t be voting on Sundays because of God.
COVID-19 Updates and COVIDIOTS:
- Moncef Slaoui, the pharmaceutical industry veteran and vaccine specialist who led President Donald Trump’s Operation Warp Speed, was fired from the board of a medical company Wednesday over allegations of sexual misconduct.
- A skyscraper-sized container ship has become wedged across Egypt’s Suez Canal and blocked all traffic in the vital waterway, officials said Wednesday, threatening to disrupt a global shipping system already strained by the coronavirus pandemic.
White ISIS/MAGAts/ Supremacists/Wing Nut Watch:
- According to a newly filed court document, the government is suggesting some extremist groups were in contact before Jan 6. The new document says a messaged posted to Facebook was used in organizing an alliance between the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.
- New video released by the New York Times shows what might have happened to U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick before he died. A demonstrator appears to raise a can and spray at the officer before he turns away. NBC News’ Pete Williams explains if a connection can be made between the incident and Sicknick’s death.
- Ohio Republicans defy their governor by limiting his power to manage the pandemic
- GOP Gov. Mike DeWine’s health orders, which included a mask mandate, have provoked tensions within his party’s conservative base.
- A hate crime investigation is underway after a suspect in Diamond Bar drove past several people walking on a crosswalk during a rally condemning violence against Asian Americans.
Other Headlines:
- Virginia becomes first Southern state to abolish death penalty as governor signs law.
