| CONGRESS: House Democrats rallied to the side of Waters, the chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee, and beat back a GOP attempt to censure her for saying that “we’ve got to get more confrontational” about police brutality against African Americans. In a strict party-line vote, lawmakers voted 216-210 to table a censure resolution brought up by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). McCarthy and Republicans argued that the California Democrat incited violence with police in the lead-up to Tuesday’s verdict and following Daunte Wright’s death by an officer. “Chairwoman Waters’ actions are beneath the dignity of this institution,” McCarthy tweeted. Democrats responded with accusations of hypocrisy after Republicans largely decided against impeaching former President Trump following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol and stood by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). “Clean up your mess, Kevin. Sit this one out. You’ve got no credibility here,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), pointing to Greene, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) as examples (The Hill). The last member of Congress to be censured was then-Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) in 2010, while only four have been in the past four decades. The Associated Press: Waters’s bold words echo civil rights, draw criticism. NBC News: “Did I strike a nerve?”: House police reform hearing erupts into shouting match between Reps. Val Demings (D-Fla.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). The Hill: Democrats adopting rule to limit Freedom Caucus delay tactics. Axios: Senate confirms Lisa Monaco as deputy attorney general. > Infrastructure: The clock is ticking for Republicans to make a substantial infrastructure offer, with the White House giving them until the end of May to come up with a counter proposal as they push to pass a bill over the summer. GOP talks are being led by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), tasked to come up with a $600 billion to $800 billion proposal. However, as The Hill’s Alexander Bolton writes, they have a major hill to climb as they try to form consensus among Republicans on how to pay for the bill. On the Democratic side, the sales job of the administration’s $2.3 billion infrastructure and jobs proposal continued on as four top members of the Cabinet made their case to the Senate Appropriations Committee. As The Hill’s Niv Elis writes, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, EPA Administrator Michael Regan, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge described at length the contours of the plan, making the case for the plan. The Hill: White House readies another massive spending proposal. The Hill: Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus say they were energized by their first meeting with Biden. ***** CORONAVIRUS: The drug regulator for the European Union found a “possible link” between rare blood clot complications and the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) coronavirus vaccine. The European Medicines Agency recommends a warning be added that the blood disorders should be considered “very rare side effects of the vaccine” (The Associated Press). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to meet on Friday to weigh additional information about the J&J vaccine and what increasingly seems to be a correlation between rare, serious blood clot complications and the vaccine’s interaction with some people’s immune responses (ABC News). The Associated Press: Here’s how one 18-year-old Nevada woman early this month developed blood clots in her brain a week after receiving a J&J dose. Emma Burkey has undergone three brain surgeries. The Wall Street Journal: Newly reported infections fall in the U.S. The government’s concerns about the J&J vaccine and the administration’s decision last week to recommend a pause in all 50 states has complicated worries among some Americans about coronavirus vaccines administered in the United States. Forty percent of Republicans have consistently told pollsters they’re not planning to be vaccinated — a group that could undermine the goal of increasing national immunity in order to tamp down the virus’s spread. A focus group of vaccine-hesitant Trump voters over the weekend urged politicians and pollsters to stop pressuring people who are vaccine holdouts, move away from forecasts of booster shots in the future, and find a more persuasive influencer than the ubiquitous Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (The Washington Post). Among the most pressing questions public health experts are asking is why so many GOP voters remain opposed to the COVID-19 shots and whether the recent decision to pause J&J vaccinations increased their skepticism. 
© Getty Images Biden is scheduled to speak today about the administration’s vaccination rate to date and states’ success in allowing all U.S. adults to make vaccine appointments by May 1 in their communities, as he requested. The Associated Press: Hitting latest vaccine milestone, Biden pushes shots for all. The Hill: Connecticut lawmakers voted to rescind a religious exemption for school vaccination requirements. The New York Times: Some children with COVID-related syndrome develop neurological issues. The Associated Press: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday extended restrictions that make it mandatory for air travelers to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense when they arrive in Canada. He thanked the country’s two major airlines for extending a voluntary suspension of flights to Mexico and all Caribbean destinations until May 21. The Wall Street Journal: Japan is preparing to reimplement its state of emergency declaration for Tokyo due to the increase in coronavirus cases as the country prepares to host the Olympics this summer. “We should not fall behind the speed at which variants of the virus are spreading infection,” Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike said. ***** ADMINISTRATION: The president plans to announce the United States will work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at least in half by 2030, according to The Washington Post. The target, timed for Earth Day and a U.S.-led global virtual climate summit on Thursday, is intended to reassert America’s global leadership on greenhouse gas reductions and would require significant U.S. changes. Biden wants to encourage other nations to follow suit. The president’s pledge represents a near-doubling of the U.S. commitment under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, when former President Obama vowed to cut emissions between 26 percent and 28 percent compared with 2005 levels. The Associated Press: The European Union reaches a major climate deal ahead of the U.S. climate summit. 
© Getty Images When the administration recently retreated from a tight cap on refugees to insist the limit will be lifted, progressives and advocates for immigrants said their power at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. was clear. The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant and Mike Lillis report on whether that reading of their West Wing clout holds up. “We take this victory. Now, let’s protect this victory,” said Ezra Levin, co-executive director of progressive group Indivisible. “Now, let’s hold these elected officials accountable.” The Washington Post: The president’s own misgivings fueled the decision to keep a restrictive refugee cap in place, a decision then reversed by the administration after public outcry. The Department of Homeland Security announced on Tuesday that it will make an additional 22,000 temporary non agricultural worker visas available soon through a temporary rulemaking. The expansion of visas has been sought by companies and employers (The Wall Street Journal). The decision comes weeks after the administration lifted a ban imposed in June on the guest worker visas and other work visas by the Trump administration amid the economic fallout of the pandemic. Six thousand of those additional visas will be set aside for applicants from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, which together are sending the largest number of migrant families and children to the U.S. border seeking asylum. | 
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