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| LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS RELIEF PACKAGE | |
The fun is just beginning!: |
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© Getty Images Now that Senate Democrats passed the budget resolution to pass a coronavirus bill without any GOP support, Democrats now have to hash out how to spend that $1.9 trillion. https://bit.ly/3oTRxhj But I thought they just did that?: “The budget, effectively a shell bill, authorizes a $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill and includes instructions to congressional committees on drafting the legislation under reconciliation, the tool Democrats are using to sideline Republicans in the Senate.” Meaning there is still work left to do: Now that Democrats have authorized the use of $1.9 trillion, they need to agree how exactly to spend it. And with a 50-50 vote, plus Vice President Harris breaking the tie, there is no room for any Democrats to disagree. What President Biden is suggesting for the package: “President Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion plan that includes a $1,400 direct stimulus payment, a $400 per week federal unemployment benefit, $350 billion for state and local governments, a minimum wage hike to $15 per hour and more money for things like childcare, schools and vaccine distribution.” ^ But don’t get too attached to those specifics: “But there are already signs that Democrats, particularly in the Senate, are going to be pushing for changes. Because of the tight margin, any one Democratic senator will have leverage to shape the final coronavirus relief proposal or withhold the support needed to pass it without help from Republicans.” What to expect, via The Hill’s Jordain Carney: https://bit.ly/3oTRxhj |
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| THE BIGGEST INTERNAL DIVISION SO FAR: |
| Whether to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour https://bit.ly/39VKMYh |
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| NEWS THIS MORNING — A TOP ECONOMIC ADVISER FOR OBAMA THINKS BIDEN’S STIMULUS IS TOO BIG: |
| In a Washington Post op-ed, Larry Summers, the top economic adviser to former President Obama, warned that President Biden’s stimulus is risky. https://wapo.st/3oRREtN Why: It could overheat the economy. Excerpt: “First, while there are enormous uncertainties, there is a chance that macroeconomic stimulus on a scale closer to World War II levels than normal recession levels will set off inflationary pressures of a kind we have not seen in a generation, with consequences for the value of the dollar and financial stability.” Read Summers’s full op-ed:https://wapo.st/3oRREtN |
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| Happy Friday! The Super Bowl is just two days away! I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@thehill.com — and follow along on Twitter @CateMartel and Facebook. Did someone forward this to you? Want your own copy? Sign up here to receive The Hill's 12:30 Report in your inbox daily: http://bit.ly/2kjMNnn |
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Bring ‘em back, bring ‘em back: |
| Via The Hill’s Sylvan Lane, “The U.S. added 49,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate fell to 6.3 percent, a 0.4 percentage point drop, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.” https://bit.ly/39QKCRK Context to those numbers: “The uptick in jobs shows the recovery from the coronavirus recession resumed last month after December job losses, but the report underscored the deep damage yet to be repaired from the pandemic-driven economic crisis.” |
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| LATEST WITH THE CORONAVIRUS | |
Yeeeeeea, AstraZeneca! — its vaccine appears to work against the U.K. variant: |
| Via The New York Times’s Benjamin Mueller and Rebecca Robbins, “The Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford protected people against a new, more contagious coronavirus variant at similar levels to the protection it offered against other lineages of the virus, Oxford researchers said in a paper released on Friday.” https://nyti.ms/2YQRp7A Details: “The paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, said that the vaccine had 74.6 percent efficacy against the new variant, which was first detected in Britain and is known as B.1.1.7. That was similar to, though slightly lower, than its efficacy against other lineages of the virus.” Read the paper released today: https://bit.ly/2Lt541O |
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The one stop shot!: |
| Via The Associated Press’s Lauran Neergaard, Johnson & Johnson has applied for emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine. https://bit.ly/3oS6IHJ When the FDA panel will meet to discuss the vaccine: Feb. 26 What to know about J&J’s effectiveness: “Overall, the single-dose vaccine was 66% effective at preventing moderate to severe COVID-19, according to early findings from a study of 44,000 people in the U.S., Latin America and South Africa.” ^ Yes, but this is big (!): “It was 85% protective against the most serious symptoms — and starting 28 days after their shot, researchers found no one who got the vaccine needed hospitalization or died.” Everything to know: https://bit.ly/3oS6IHJ |
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| ANOTHER THING TO KEEP IN MIND ABOUT THE J&J VACCINE: |
| “Infectious disease experts point out that J&J’s numbers can’t be used as a direct comparison with Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines, which were found to be 95% and 94% effective, respectively. That’s because J&J’s vaccine is a single dose and the company’s trial was conducted when there were more infections and new, more contagious variants, they said.” Full story from CNBC: https://cnb.cx/2YOqJog |
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| CASE NUMBERS: |
| Coronavirus cases in the U.S.: 26,681,420 U.S. death toll: 455,915 Breakdown of the numbers: https://cnn.it/2UAgW3y |
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| VACCINATION NUMBERS: |
| Total number of vaccinations administered in the U.S.: 36.7 million shots have been given Seven-day average of doses administered: An average of 1.34 million doses. For context: The U.S. population is roughly 331 million Breakdown of the numbers: https://bloom.bg/3iVTPLH |
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Marjorie Taylor Greene isn’t just riding off into the sunset: |
| “House Democrats on Thursday took the extraordinary step of voting to strip committee assignments from a member of the opposite party, saying Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) had forfeited her right to those seats by endorsing conspiracy theories, racist dogma and violence against Democratic politicians.” https://bit.ly/2YKMqFE Yes, but she isn’t going anywhere: “Greene is hardly going to slink away into backbench obscurity. She claims to have raised $175,000 in a fundraising appeal this week from 13,000 donors. Her now-infamous Twitter account had more than 345,000 followers by Thursday evening. The contrition in her floor speech was limited, too.” Full reasoning from The Hill’s Niall Stanage: https://bit.ly/39RpQl6 |
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| SHOT AND CHASER: |
| Yesterday, Taylor Greene apologized. “She told Republican colleagues she believes school shootings are real and called them ‘awful,’ and apologized for her past support for QAnon conspiracy theories, according to two sources familiar with the meeting.” https://cbsn.ws/3pU5ixJ Then today, she tweeted — welp: “I woke up early this morning literally laughing thinking about what a bunch of morons the Democrats (+11) are for giving some one like me free time. In this Democrat tyrannical government, Conservative Republicans have no say on committees anyway. Oh this is going to be fun!” See her full tweet: https://bit.ly/3pSP0oY |
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| HERE’S A LIST OF THE 11 REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED TO STRIP GREENE OF HER COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS: |
| Two regional trends included a few lawmakers from Florida and New York. Keep in mind: Greene has made comments about 9/11 terrorist attacks and the Parkland High School shooting both being a hoax. https://bit.ly/2YMdtjE |
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If you want your cookie fix this year, here’s an awesome Girl Scout troop to support: |
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© Twitter Details: https://bit.ly/3rnybCR |
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Where do I sign up?: |
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© Twitter Watch: https://bit.ly/3aG6Ogq |
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| The House is in. The Senate is out. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C. Biden is heading to Delaware this evening. 9:45 a.m. EST: President Biden and Vice President Harris met with House Democratic leaders and House committee chairs to discuss the coronavirus relief package. This afternoon: The House votes. The House’s full agenda today: https://bit.ly/2YNAx1D 4:55 p.m. EST: President Biden leaves for Wilmington, Del. Tuesday: The Hill is hosting a virtual event on “Complex Generics & The Prescription Drug Landscape.” Details and how to RSVP: https://bit.ly/2YIZyLh |
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| 11 a.m. EST: The White House COVID response team held a press briefing. 11:45 a.m. EST: President Biden delivered remarks on the state of the economy and the coronavirus relief package. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3cPPw3v 12:30 p.m. EST: White House press secretary Jen Psaki and Council of Economic Advisers member Jared Bernstein hold a press briefing. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3aFLnvY 3 p.m. EST: Vice President Harris and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen hold a virtual roundtable with local Black Chambers of Commerce to discuss COVID-19. Livestream: https://bit.ly/3rmVjkU |
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| NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF...: | |
| Today is World Nutella Day?! It’s also National Frozen Yogurt Day. And for weekend planning purposes, Sunday is National Fettuccine Alfredo Day. |
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The news for me — Peeps comes in other flavors??: |
| Via Thrillist, Peeps announced two new flavors for the 2021 Easter lineup. https://bit.ly/2LnD2Vn The new flavors: “a cinnamon-flavored Hot Tamales variety and a Froot Loops-flavored marshmallow pop” What I learned today: Peeps already comes in flavors such as cotton candy, sour watermelon, fruit punch, root beer float and chocolate pudding. I’m intrigued. |
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The festival of snacks is on Sunday!: |
| Via Delish, here’s a list of Super Bowl food specials around the country: https://bit.ly/3jnbKLl And if you’re in the Washington, D.C.-area: Eater DC has a list of the best food specials in DC: https://bit.ly/2MYS8kF |
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| And to get your weekend off to a good start, here's an adorable baby bunny: 
© Twitter Watch: https://bit.ly/39PR5fG |
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