Tipsheet: White House says ball is in Congress' court on voting rights, abortion

View in your browser     White House says ball is in Congress' court on voting rights, abortion By Brett Samuels   After Texas passed a new elections bill to tighten its voting laws this past week and the Supreme Court allowed the state’s law tightly restricting abortion access, the response from the White House was largely the same in both cases: It’s up to Congress to act. The White House has been steadfast on some of the most pressing issues for Democrats that its hands are largely tied. Biden administration officials argue they’ve done as much as they can to unilaterally protect voting rights, and that Congress must now pass legislation bolstering protections. Read the full story here     Biden, first lady will travel to all three sites of 9/11 attacks By Jordan Williams   President Biden and first lady Jill Biden will mark the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by visiting all three sites where the attacks occurred, according to an announcement from the White House. Read the full story here     Abortion rights groups want Biden to use bully pulpit after Texas law By Alex Gangitano   President Biden is under pressure to do more to support reproductive rights after the Supreme Court allowed Texas to move forward with its abortion law, the most restrictive in the nation. Read the full story here     Virginia GOP lt. gov. nominee says she would support heartbeat abortion legislation By Julia Manchester   Virginia Republican lieutenant gubernatorial nominee Winsome Sears said on Friday that she would support heartbeat abortion legislation amid the fallout over a Texas law that bans abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. Read the full story here       Uber, Lyft to pay legal fees for drivers sued under Texas abortion law By Jordan Williams   Uber and Lyft announced Friday that they will pay legal fees for their drivers if they get sued under Texas’s recently enacted abortion law. Read the full story here     Nursing homes warn vaccine mandate could lead to staff shortages By Nathaniel Weixel   The Biden administration's vaccination requirement is putting a squeeze on nursing homes as they try to balance protecting residents and retaining low-wage staff that have been reluctant to get the shot. Read the full story here     Alabama schools report 13,000 COVID-19 cases in two-week period By Lexi Lonas   Alabama schools reported 13,000 coronavirus cases in a two-week period on Friday, according to data from the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Alabama State Department of Education. Read the full story here     Maine businesses clamor for foreign workers to meet demand By Rebecca Beitsch   BAR HARBOR, Maine — Faced with a worker shortage at his restaurant earlier this summer, Kevin DesVeaux spent about as much time in front of a sink as he did behind his desk. Read the full story here     Five tax issues to watch as Democrats craft $3.5T bill By Naomi Jagoda   Democrats are scrambling to craft their multitrillion-dollar social spending package while seeking to avoid any points of contention that could threaten party unity. Read the full story here     Cheney, Thompson slam McCarthy's comments about Trump, Jan. 6: 'Baseless' By Jordan Williams   Leaders of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol slammed House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for “baseless” comments he made about former President Trump’s involvement in the attack. Read the full story here     'We don't shoot women in stadiums': An Afghan American woman's plea By Humira Noorestani   OPINION | This first time I saw my father cry was when I was a university student and we sat watching the Taliban blow up ancient Buddhas in Bamiyan, Afghanistan. He could see how disturbed his emotion and the images made me. His cousin said, “Bachem (my child), they are not our people. This is not our culture. We don’t blow up history. We don’t shoot women in stadiums.” Read the full story here     Licenses of doctors who spread harmful COVID-19 information should be at risk By Jim Jones   OPINION | As a member of the Idaho Supreme Court for twelve years, I participated in many decisions involving negligence or misconduct by licensed physicians. Most of them were malpractice cases, seeking damages for negligence — violation of the established standard of care. There were also cases brought by the state board of medicine seeking to discipline a doctor for violation of the physician licensing law. Read the full story here     The New York Times: In Afghan withdrawal, a Biden doctrine surfaces By Helene Cooper, Lara Jakes, Michael D. Shear and Michael Crowley   The messy ending to the war has underscored President Biden’s discomfort with prolonged military engagements, even as the United States faces complex new threats. Read the full story here     The Associated Press: Over 24 hours in Kabul, brutality, trauma, moments of grace By Tameen Akhgar, Matthew Lee, Lolita C. Baldor, Rahim Faiez and Calvin Woodward   Bone-tired like everyone else in Kabul, Taliban fighters spent the last moments of the 20-year Afghanistan war watching the night skies for the flares that would signal the United States was gone. From afar, U.S. generals watched video screens with the same anticipation. Read the full story here     The Washington Post: As coronavirus fears spike, Biden’s ratings sag and workers split on vaccine mandates, Post-ABC poll finds By Scott Clement, Dan Balz and Emily Guskin    The delta variant’s two-month surge has generated a sharp rise in public fears about contracting the coronavirus, undermined confidence in President Biden’s leadership and renewed divisions over vaccine and mask mandates, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. Read the full story here     The Wall Street Journal: 9/11 triggered a homeland-security industrial complex that endures By Byron Tau   After the attacks, federal policies swelled a defense sector that has reshaped U.S. surveillance as well as northern Virginia’s suburbs. Read the full story here     Reuters: Drug companies say enough US states join $26 bln opioid settlement to proceed By Nate Raymond   Three large U.S. drug distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson will proceed with a proposed $26 billion settlement resolving claims that they fueled the opioid epidemic after "enough" states joined in, the companies said on Saturday. Read the full story here         Did a friend forward you this email? 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