As Fox News' Chad Pergram notes, some senators may be acting with speed today to try to beat potential COVID-19 transmission inside the Capitol. Four House lawmakers who attended a weekend Washington dinner were among administration officials and journalists who tested positive for the coronavirus this week (more on that below). Assuming COVID-19 does not keep senators out of the Capitol today, 53, including three Republicans, say they plan to confirm Jackson to succeed retiring Justice Stephen Breyer, who will retire this summer.
Carl Hulse, The New York Times: The Senate is set to confirm Jackson. Here's what to watch for.
John Kruzel, The Hill: How Supreme Court fights turned into warfare: a timeline.
From one congressional action that will happen by week's end to one that will not, the $10 billion COVID-19 relief bill is set to remain dormant through the coming weeks after lawmakers were unable to reach a deal on a vote to reinstate Title 42 restrictions.
Senate Republicans have remained unified on the issue in recent days, and their bullishness has only increased as Democratic moderates and those facing tough reelection fights in November have come out against President Biden's move to end Title 42. The Trump-era policy had been used to deny migrants' asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border during the pandemic.
As The Hill's Jordain Carney writes, the wave of opposition from both sides of the aisle has created a major issue for the administration and the party in power as they seek to end the stalemate and pass the relief package. Handing the GOP a vote would create headaches for some Senate Democrats, not to mention a tough vote. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), who faces a tough reelection fight this fall, has criticized the administration for the move, saying that it does not have an adequate strategy in place to deal with the likely surge of migrants in May once the restrictions are lifted but does not want to face a vote on this topic as part of the COVID-19 relief efforts.
"I don't think it should have any amendments. I don't think there should be any poison pills. I think we should move forward with the COVID package that will really prepare us to address any surge from a variant with the therapeutics that we need and with vaccines and prevention," Cortez Masto told reporters in the Capitol on Wednesday, adding that she is unsure how she would vote on a possible amendment since there is no language yet.
This has given the GOP the ammo it has been looking for in a battle it thinks it can win against the administration.
"To expect the Republican Party to not challenge this stupid decision is unrealistic," said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who acknowledged that he isn't sure how this legislative tug-of-war ends. "I don't either. They're going to have to understand that the policy choices of the Biden administration are becoming increasingly more bizarre."
Rebecca Beitsch and Rafael Bernal, The Hill: Vulnerable Senate Democrats undercut Biden on Title 42.
The Associated Press: COVID-19 spending bill stalls in Senate as GOP, Dems stalemate.
COVID-19 relief was not the only can that got kicked down the road in Washington on Wednesday as Biden extended the moratorium on federal student loan payments and interest accrual through August (The Hill).
The Hill: Five questions about Biden's move on freezing student loans.
Finally, Schumer also added that the Senate will also vote today on a pair of bills to end normal trade relations with Russia and codify an oil ban (The Hill). The package would include two bills: one that would codify the administration's oil ban and a second that would end permanent normal trade relations with Moscow and reauthorize Magnitsky Act sanctions that target human rights violations and corruption with penalties such as visa bans and asset freezes (The Hill).
The United States on Wednesday also moved to block foreign investment in Russia and state-owned enterprises and levied further sanctions on the country's financial institutions and high-ranking officials (NBC News and The Hill).
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said global punishments aimed at Russia's economy are working to isolate Moscow and President Vladimir Putin. "The sanctions cumulatively have put the Russian economy into a deep recession," he told NBC News in an interview. "And what we're seeing is a likely contraction of the Russian economy by about 15 percent. That is dramatic. … We've seen an exodus from Russia of virtually every major company in the world. And Putin, in the space of a matter of weeks, has basically shut down Russia to the world."
Nevertheless, Blinken said, the war that began in February is likely to continue for "some time."
Today, the 27-member European Union prepares to discuss another round of sanctions and a possible ban on Russian coal as part of its response to killings of civilians outside Kyiv. Russia has denied responsibility, although German intelligence is contradicting the denials after saying intercepted Russian radio conversations include soldiers discussing the killings in Bucha (The Washington Post and Der Spiegel).
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces are shifting tactics to attempt to move civilian corpses off streets and out of buildings in occupied territory, which he said will not conceal evidence of war crimes because of the mounting number of dead (The New York Times).
In eastern locations in Ukraine, civilians who have heard about the atrocities discovered in Bucha near Kyiv are trying to flee, and officials are encouraging them to act while they still have a chance against what they fear will soon be Moscow's stepped-up attacks (The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal).
The Hill: Five things to know about the newest U.S. sanctions on Russia.
The Hill: There is a chasm between what Kyiv argues it needs to defeat Russia and what the West is willing to provide. The U.S. and Europe are focused on sanctions even as other Ukrainian allies have increased military support.
Blinken rejects criticism that U.S. and European contributions to Ukraine in terms of weaponry and military materiel are too small and too risk averse.
"Between the United States and other allies and partners, for every Russian tank in Ukraine, we have provided or will soon provide 10 anti-tank systems — 10 for every single Russian tank," he told NBC. "In terms of what they need to act quickly and act effectively, to deal with the planes that are firing at them from the skies, the tanks that are trying to destroy their cities from the ground, they have the tools that they need. They're going to keep getting them and we're going to keep sustaining that."
Much has been made of Russia's military miscues but also its advanced weapons. Add a land mine equipped with sensors that can obliterate people when they walk nearby to a list that also includes Russian claims to have fired a hypersonic missile in Ukraine.
Ukrainian bomb technicians discovered such a device, called the POM-3, last week near the eastern city of Kharkiv, according to Human Rights Watch, a leading human rights group, which has reviewed photos provided by Ukraine's military. The new weapon can distinguish between people and animals before detonation (The New York Times).
The POM-3 can be launched by a rocket and falls back to Earth by parachute before waiting on the ground. When the mine senses a person, it launches a small explosive warhead that detonates midair, producing fragments that are lethal up to about 50 feet away, according to reports.
➤ Ukrainian refugees are turning up daily at the U.S. southern border in Tijuana, Mexico, seeking entry to the U.S. because they can obtain a visa to travel to Mexico as tourists and then make their way to the San Ysidro port of entry, CBS News reported Wednesday. Volunteers helping them say about 150 Ukrainians a day have been allowed to enter the U.S. on a humanitarian basis — and more are coming.
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