Politics recap
- The latest data from the 2020 Census showed that US population growth was driven by cities and minorities, as the country’s non-hispanic white population fell below 60% for the first time. The data, released this afternoon by the US Census Bureau, will have massive implications on the redistricting process, as states begin redrawing congressional district lines for next year’s midterm elections.
- The US military is temporarily deploying about 3,000 troops to Kabul as some American embassy employees evacuate Afghanistan. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby confirmed the deployment, saying the military assistance was necessary because of the “rapidly deteriorating security situation in and around Kabul”. The announcement comes as Taliban forces continue to seize control of major cities across the country, intensifying concerns that Kabul will soon fall as well.
- Joe Biden criticized Republican governors who are trying to ban mask mandates in schools, as the Delta variant of coronavirus wreaks havoc across the US. “This isn’t about politics. This is about keeping our children safe,” Biden said. Thanking the local officials who are trying to fight the mask mandates, Biden said, “I stand with you all, and America should as well.”
- The Texas Senate passed a bill that would impose new voting restrictions in the state, after Democratic state senator Carol Alvarado staged a 15-hour filibuster over the legislation. The bill still needs to pass the Texas House, where Republicans lack the quorum necessary to advance legislation because of the Democrats who remain out of the state. Texas Republicans deputized law enforcement to find House Democrats and enforce a quorum.
- The department of health and human services issued a vaccine requirement for its healthcare workers. The requirement, which will apply to more than 25,000 HHS employees, comes after the department of veterans affairs announced a similar mandate for its healthcare workers.
Texas Republicans have deputized law enforcement to find House Democrats who have fled the state capitol in order to deny the quorum needed to pass dramatic new voting restrictions.
Law enforcement has been tasked with bringing in Democrats after the state Supreme Court allowed for their civil arrests. “Earlier today the House Sergeant-at-Arms deputized members of Texas law enforcement to assist in the House’s efforts to compel a quorum. That process will begin in earnest immediately,” said Enrique Marquez, a spokesman for Republican House Speaker Dade Phelan, in a statement.
Democrat Gene Wu told the Texas Tribune that he and 44 of his colleagues have gotten temporary protection from the warrants from Harris County.
“Nobody can detain or drag us back to the House floor against our will,” Wu told the Tribune. “We will not be willing participants in the silencing of our communities.”
Read more on the escalating fight over voting restrictions in Texas here:
The National Congress of American Indians released a statement on the US Census results, celebrating findings that the American Indian and Alaska Native has increased, and urging Tribal Nations to participate in redistricting efforts.
“NCAI is excited to see the 2020 Census results that show a more diverse America,” said NCAI President Fawn Sharp. “We are also excited that the official redistricting season can now begin with today’s release of the redistricting data. We are encouraging all Tribal Nations to participate in their local and state redistricting efforts to ensure that Tribal Nations are fairly represented and have access to the resources they need and deserve.”
The American Indian and Alaska Native increased from 5.2m in 2010 to 9.7m in 2020.
“Today, we are pleased that the 2020 Census data show the increase in diversity in the United States, and a large increase in the AI/AN population,” said Dante Desiderio, NCAI Chief Executive Officer. “American Indians and Alaska Natives are a fundamental part of American history, and we hope these data inform efforts to ensure that our schools teach more American Indian and Alaska Native history in their courses about American history. Tribal Nations make significant contributions to the local, state, and regional economies and have a rich and vibrant culture that contributes positively to the past and current history of the United States.”
Nearly half of American workers don’t earn enough to afford a one-bedroom rental
Andrew Witherspoon and Alvin Chang report:
Nearly half of American workers do not earn enough to rent a one-bedroom apartment, according to new data.
Rents in the US continued to increase through the pandemic, and a worker now needs to earn about $20.40 an hour to afford a modest one-bedroom rental. The median wage in the US is about $21 an hour.
The data, from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, shows that millions of Americans – from Amazon warehouse workers to cab drivers to public school teachers – are struggling to pay rent. For the poorest Americans, market-rate housing is out of reach in virtually all of the country.
About 14% of Americans fell behind on rent payments during the pandemic – roughly double the figure before the pandemic. A federal moratorium on evictions has kept renters from being kicked out of their homes, but the moratorium lapsed last month, only to be extended into early October for those in regions hardest hit by the pandemic.
And it’s not just big cities skewing the data. A two-bedroom rental – a reasonable size for a family – would stretch the budgets of renters in most US counties.
Read more:
Updated
More than 9,000 anti-Asian incidents reported in US since pandemic started
More than 9,000 anti-Asian incidents have been reported across the United States since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to a report released on Thursday.
Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition that tracks and responds to racially motivated hate crimes towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, received 9,081 reports between 19 March 2020 and this June. A total of 4,548 hate crimes occurred in 2020 and another 4,533 occurred in 2021.
Since the coronavirus was first reported in China, members of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities across the US have faced bigotry in the form of verbal harassment and physical attacks. Many blame Donald Trump for helping to stir anti-Asian sentiment by using racist terms when referring to the virus, such as “Chinese virus” and “kung flu”.
According to the report, 63.7% of the incidents involved verbal harassment and 16.5% involved shunning – the deliberate avoidance of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. About 13.7% of the reports were of physical assault, the third-largest category of total reported incidents. Civil rights violations accounted for 11% of the incidents while online harassment made up 8.3%.
Incidents reported by women made up 63.3% of all reports.
The number of seniors – 60 years old and older - reporting hate crimes increased from 6.5% in 2020 to 7.2% in 2021. Since the pandemic began, the majority of the headline-making attacks have involved senior Asians across the country, with many being beaten, kicked, shoved or stabbed.
“When you encourage hate, it’s not like a genie in a bottle where you can pull it out and push it back in whenever you want,” said Manjusha Kulkarni, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate and executive director of the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council. “There’s too much perpetuating these belief systems to make them go away.”
Read more:
Analysis: US deserves big share of blame for Afghanistan military disaster
The UK just announced it is joining the US in sending additional troops to Afghanistan to help evacuate nationals. amid the rapid advance of the Taliban.
As one provincial capital after another has fallen to the Taliban, the message from Washington to the Afghans facing the onslaught has been that their survival is in their own hands.
“They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation,” Joe Biden said. Jen Psaki, the White House spokeswoman, added: “They have what they need. What they need to determine is whether they have the political will to fight back.”
But despite more than $80bn in US security assistance since 2002 and an annual military budget far in excess of other developing nations, Afghan military resistance to the Taliban is collapsing with greater speed than even most pessimists had predicted. There is talk among US officials of Kabul falling in months – if not weeks.
Interviews with former officials who have been intimately involved in US policy in Afghanistan point to an interconnected webs of factors behind the implosion, some of them long in the making, some a result of decisions taken in the past few months.
While there is consensus that a failure of leadership and unity in Kabul has played an important part in the domino-fall of defeats, there is also agreement that the attempt to put all the blame on the Afghans obscures the share of responsibility of the US and its allies for the military disaster.
The candid assessments of US and allied officials and soldiers recorded in congressionally mandated “lessons learned” reports obtained by the Washington Post make clear some of the problems so evident today had their origins at the onset of the US-led military presence in the country.
Read more:
Meet Joe Biden’s secret weapon: the woman who wrangles with Congress
In the early days of the Biden administration members of the new president’s White House legislative affairs team had a meet-and-greet with Senate Republicans’ chiefs of staff. At the head of this Democratic delegation was Louisa Terrell, Biden’s White House director of the office of legislative affairs.
Terrell, speaking to the audience of powerful Republican aides, laid out how she worked. She felt even in these politically polarized times compromise should be pursued. They wouldn’t agree on everything, but there were deals to be had. At the same time Terrell said, according to four sources with knowledge of this meeting, her team had a job to do and planned to do it.
Terrell’s speech illustrated how she is the tip of the spear of the Biden administration’s team as she fulfills one of the most difficult jobs in America’s deeply divided political landscape: Biden’s congressional fixer and legislative guide. Terrell is the leader of the team that takes a proposal from the White House and shepherds it through the winding and sometimes narrow halls of Congress so it can get back to the president’s desk to become law. She is the person who aims to get things done and who is in charge of ushering policy proposals through the congressional maze.
During his presidential campaign and, essentially, through the moment he stepped into the Oval Office as president, Joe Biden has argued that big bipartisan deals are worth pursuing and possible even now. Biden, a multi-decade veteran of the Senate, has argued his roots into both parties in Congress run deep and can produce expansive bipartisan deals.
Enter Terrell, a longtime Biden hand and former chief of staff to senators whose résumé also includes stints at some of the most establishment corners of the modern American economy – McKinsey & Company, Yahoo and Facebook among others. She may not have much of a public profile outside Washington’s corridors of power, but inside Terrell is a vital player. She has been in the room at the most pivotal moments of the major legislative initiatives during the Biden administration.
Read more:
Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- The latest data from the 2020 Census showed that US population growth was driven by cities and minorities, as the country’s non-hispanic white population fell below 60% for the first time. The data, released this afternoon by the US Census Bureau, will have massive implications on the redistricting process, as states begin redrawing congressional district lines for next year’s midterm elections.
- The US military is temporarily deploying about 3,000 troops to Kabul as some American embassy employees evacuate Afghanistan. Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby confirmed the deployment, saying the military assistance was necessary because of the “rapidly deteriorating security situation in and around Kabul”. The announcement comes as Taliban forces continue to seize control of major cities across the country, intensifying concerns that Kabul will soon fall as well.
- Joe Biden criticized Republican governors who are trying to ban mask mandates in schools, as the Delta variant of coronavirus wreaks havoc across the US. “This isn’t about politics. This is about keeping our children safe,” Biden said. Thanking the local officials who are trying to fight the mask mandates, Biden said, “I stand with you all, and America should as well.”
- The Texas Senate passed a bill that would impose new voting restrictions in the state, after Democratic state senator Carol Alvarado staged a 15-hour filibuster over the legislation. The bill still needs to pass the Texas House, where Republicans lack the quorum necessary to advance legislation because of the Democrats who remain out of the state.
- The department of health and human services issued a vaccine requirement for its healthcare workers. The requirement, which will apply to more than 25,000 HHS employees, comes after the department of veterans affairs announced a similar mandate for its healthcare workers.
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
The Guardian’s Sam Levine has more details on the latest data from the 2020 Census:
America’s white population declined over the last decade while US metro areas were responsible for almost all of the country’s population growth, according to significant new data released Thursday by the US census bureau.
Overall, the white-alone population fell by 8.6% since 2010, the bureau said on Thursday. Non-hispanic whites now account for around 58% of America’s population, a drop from 2010 when they made up 63.7% of the population. It was the first time that the non-hispanic white population has fallen below 60% since the census began.
The most diverse states in America, as measured by the bureau’s diversity index, were Hawaii, California, Nevada, Texas, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey and New York. In Texas, the white and Hispanic or Latino population are getting much closer. Whites made up 39.7% of the population, while Hispanics and Latinos made up 39.3%. The bureau also said there was a sharp spike in the number of people who identified as multiracial.
“Our analysis of the 2020 census show that the US population is much more multiracial and more racially and ethnically diverse than what we measured in the past,” said Nicholas Jones, the director and senior adviser of race and ethnic research and outreach, in the census bureau’s population division.
The latest 2020 Census data from the US Census Bureau shows that several New York boroughs had stronger than expected population gains over the past decade.
Queens county saw the largest rise in population, increasing its resident count by 8% over ten years, per Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report.
Large U.S. counties w/ stronger than expected Census counts (vs. estimates):
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) August 12, 2021
1. Queens, NY +8%
2. Brooklyn, NY +8%
3. Honolulu, HI +5%
4. Bronx, NY +5%
5. Manhattan, NY +5%
6. Westchester, NY +4%
7. Suffolk, NY +4%
8. Nassau, NY +3%
9. Cook, IL +3%
10. Allegheny, PA +3%
Overall, the New York congressional delegation is expected to shrink by one seat due to the results of the 2020 Census, after the state came up 89 residents short of keeping its current number of House seats.
The Census numbers mean New York will only have 26 House seats moving forward, continuing a decades-long decline in the state’s population and (accordingly) its congressional representation.
Wasserman said the Census data from New York City “almost single-handedly saved New York from losing two congressional seats” and came close to saving both seats.
Poring over the data, and it's clear NYC's stronger-than-expected count almost single-handedly saved New York from losing two congressional seats; in fact it came close to saving New York all 27 of its seats.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) August 12, 2021
The Guardian’s Dani Anguiano reports on San Francisco’s new vaccine mandate:
San Francisco will require residents to show proof of Covid-19 vaccination to enter restaurants, gyms and movie theaters and other public spaces. It is set to take effect on Monday.
The move comes as the Delta variant has led to a rise in US cases, primarily among the unvaccinated. New York City last week became the first in the US to mandate that people show proof of vaccination for indoor dining, gyms and entertainment venues.
But the mandate is more stringent than the requirement announced by New York. San Francisco will require proof of full vaccination for all customers and staff, while New York mandated proof of at least one shot for indoor activities.
Vaccines are our way out of this pandemic. They're how we can live our lives together, safely.
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) August 12, 2021
San Francisco will be requiring proof of vaccination for patrons and employees in a number of indoor settings, including bars, restaurants, gyms, and large events.
Los Angeles is considering a similar move requiring people to have at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine before going to indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, movie theaters and other venues.
On Wednesday, governor Gavin Newsom said all employees at public and private schools in California will have to show proof of vaccination or face weekly testing.
California officials have re-introduced safety measures in response to the Covid resurgence. The state’s public health department has recommended residents wear masks in public indoor settings, regardless of vaccination status, and multiple counties have reinstated mask mandates.
Kamala Harris was asked a question about the situation in Afghanistan after the vice-president held a meeting this afternoon with a group of CEOs to discuss the care economy.
A reporter asked Harris whether she believed Afghanistan has already been lost to the Taliban.
The vice-president did not directly answer, instead saying she would soon receive a briefing on the latest updates from Afghanistan, as the US military deploys thousands of troops to the embassy in Kabul to assist staff departures.
The Guardian’s Patrick Wintour and Peter Beaumont report:
The UK is to urgently send an extra 600 troops to Afghanistan this week to secure the speedy retreat of British diplomats, forces, UK passport holders and as many as 4,000 entitled Afghan personnel, as the Taliban advance towards Kabul.
The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, said the UK was relocating its embassy from the outskirts of the secure Green Zone to a potentially safer location closer to the centre of the capital.
As many as 200 UK diplomats and soldiers are being evacuated, but precise numbers are not being given. The US and other western governments are also accelerating plans for the evacuation of embassy staff amid fears over the Taliban’s remorseless advance across the country.
The announcement came as Afghanistan’s second-largest city, Kandahar, was claimed by the Taliban and its third largest, Herat, fully fell to the militants. The group has now established a bridgehead within 95 miles (150km) of Kabul and its rapid advances leave the capital isolated from the rest of the country and facing a perilous threat as provincial capitals have toppled one after another in the past seven days.
Updated
US will temporarily deploy 3,000 troops to Kabul to assist embassy departures
The US will temporarily deploy roughly 3,000 troops to Kabul to help personnel and others depart from the American embassy in Afghanistan, as the Biden administration scales back the number of staffers there.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby confirmed the deployment, saying the military assistance was necessary because of the “rapidly deteriorating security situation in and around Kabul”.
Kirby added that the US military will be “postured to support airlift” operations if necessary, as Taliban forces continue to seize control of major cities across Afghanistan.
BREAKING: Biden admin. says it will scale back the number of staff at the US embassy in Afghanistan as Taliban forces rapidly advance across the country.
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 12, 2021
The U.S. embassy will remain open with “a core diplomatic presence," State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters. pic.twitter.com/6lK1DHAUVx
State department spokesperson Ned Price emphasized that the US embassy in Kabul would remain open and embassy personnel would continue to support peace and security efforts in Afghanistan.
“The embassy remains open. We continue our diplomatic work, our diplomatic mission in Afghanistan,” Price said.
The spokesperson specifically noted that the embassy will continue to process applications to the special immigrant visa program, as Afghans who assisted the US military over the past 20 years seek to leave the country in the face of the Taliban’s advances.
2020 census data: US population less than 60% white
The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports:
America’s population growth over the last decade was driven by minorities and cities, census data released Thursday shows, painting the most detailed picture to date of how America has changed over the last 10 years.
The data from the 2020 census, the decennial count of the entire US population, showed that the non-hispanic white alone population dropped by 8.6% from the 2010 census. Overall, the non-hispanic white population fell below 60% of the entire US population for the first time.
The bureau also said that almost all of the population growth over the last decade was in metro areas, which grew by 8.7%. Places not in a metro or micro area saw their populations decline by 2.8% the bureau said.
The release of the data starts off the official process of redrawing the political maps that will be in place for the next decade.
Updated
Joe Biden outlined his strategy for lowering prescription drug prices, calling on Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices to alleviate older Americans’ healthcare costs.
“To really solve the problem, we need Congress to act,” Biden said.
The president said people should not be denied access to potentially life-saving medications because they can’t afford them, noting that the US often pays much more for similar drugs compared to its peer nations.
“I’ve long said healthcare should be a right, not a privilege in this country,” Biden said. “This isn’t a partisan issue. Alzheimer’s, diabetes, cancer, they don’t care if you’re a Democrat or Republican.”
The president then left his event without answering any of reporters’ shouted questions about the situation in Afghanistan, as Taliban forces take control of more cities there.
Biden criticizes politicization of masks: 'This is about keeping our children safe'
Joe Biden is now delivering remarks on the need to lower prescription drug prices in the US, arriving at the event more than two hours later than originally scheduled.
Before launching into his prepared remarks on drug prices, Biden reflected on the recent surge in coronavirus cases among unvaccinated Americans as the Delta variant continues to spread.
Biden condemned efforts by Republican governors, such as Ron DeSantis of Florida, to politicize the pandemic response by banning mask mandates in schools.
“This isn’t about politics. This is about keeping our children safe,” Biden said.
The president thanked the local leaders and school officials who are standing up against mask bans and prioritizing the health of children above all else.
“Thank God we have heroes like you,” Biden said. “I stand with you all, and America should as well.”
Updated
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- The US Census Bureau is releasing more data on the 2020 Census today, kicking off a heated battle over the drawing of congressional district lines. Republicans have a significant advantage in the redistricting fight, given the number of state legislatures and governorships they control, and their ability to draw district lines in dozens of state could help them take back the House next year.
- The Texas Senate passed a bill that would impose new voting restrictions in the state, after Democratic state senator Carol Alvarado staged a 15-hour filibuster over the legislation. The bill still needs to pass the Texas House, where Republicans lack the quorum necessary to advance legislation because of the Democrats who remain out of the state.
- The department of health and human services issued a vaccine requirement for its healthcare workers. The requirement, which will apply to more than 25,000 HHS employees, comes after the department of veterans affairs announced a similar mandate for its healthcare workers.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provided more details on the recommendation for booster vaccine shots for immunocompromised people.
The CDC director emphasized that the recommendation only applies to a small fraction of people, such as some cancer patients and those who have received organ transplants.
According to Walensky, that group accounts for less than 3% of the US population, so the vast majority of Americans would not be eligible for booster shots at this time.
The CDC director said making booster shots available to that group would help ensure the most vulnerable Americans are as protected as possible while coronavirus case numbers rise due to the spread of the Delta variant.
We’re still waiting on Joe Biden’s remarks about lowering drug prices, and the White House pandemic response team is now holding a briefing as coronavirus case numbers continue to rise.
According to White House pandemic response coordinator Jeff Zients, Florida and Texas now account for nearly 40% of new coronavirus hospitalizations.
Zients encouraged private employers to establish vaccination requirements for their employees, reiterating that vaccines are the most important tool in fighting coronavirus.
“Through vaccination requirements, employers have the power to help end the pandemic,” Zients said.
Updated
Here is the set-up in the East Room, where Joe Biden will soon deliver remarks on the need to lower prescription drug prices in the US:
Awaiting @POTUS remarks. pic.twitter.com/c9ns5IRWWC
— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) August 12, 2021
Of course, “soon” is a relative concept here because the president was originally scheduled to start delivering his speech about an hour ago.
After the event on drug prices, Biden will travel to his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.
Updated
As Joe Biden prepares to deliver a speech on the need to lower prescription drug prices, the White House Twitter account is being run today by a woman who has suffered the consequences of those high costs.
“Hi, I’m Gail — a mom, business owner, and Type 1 diabetic. Today I’m taking over the White House Twitter to talk about the cost of prescription drugs and the toll it takes on millions of Americans, myself included,” Gail’s first tweet read.
Hi, I'm Gail — a mom, business owner, and Type 1 diabetic. Today I'm taking over the White House Twitter to talk about the cost of prescription drugs and the toll it takes on millions of Americans, myself included. If you'd like to follow along, I'll be signing my tweets "-GdV" pic.twitter.com/AgdENVPULa
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 12, 2021
Gail noted she has spoken to children, such as 6-year-old Frankie Hodgson, who have asked what can be done about the high prices of drugs like insulin.
“It’s heartbreaking that even children are aware of how expensive prescriptions drugs can be,” Gail said in one tweet.
She added, “Insulin is every day, every week, every month, every year, for the rest of my life. I agree wholeheartedly with President Biden when he says health care is not a privilege — it’s a right. No one should have to worry their entire life about how to afford their prescriptions.”
Joe Biden will soon deliver remarks on the need to lower prescription drug prices in the US, and he will call on Congress to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, according to a White House face sheet released this morning.
“For every other type of health care service, Medicare works to get the best prices for American seniors. But for prescription drugs – and only prescription drugs – Medicare is prohibited by law from negotiating for the best deal. This needs to change,” the White House said.
Biden is expected to start his remarks at any moment, so stay tuned.
Texas Senate passes voting restrictions after Democrat ends filibuster
The Texas Senate has passed a bill that would impose voting restrictions in the state, shortly after Democratic legislator Carol Alvarado concluded her 15-hour filibuster of the proposal.
The vote was 18-11, falling along party lines.
Shortly before ending her filibuster, Alvarado asked her colleagues to consider the severe ramifications of making it harder to vote in Texas.
“As we draw this discussion to an end, it is my sincere hope that civil acts by everyday Texans, from the Senate floor to the ballot box, can help to shed the light on all important issues,” Alvarado said. “What do we want our democracy to look like?”
The bill still needs to pass the Texas House, where Republicans do not currently have a quorum to advance legislation. Dozens of Democratic legislators remain out of the state to block the voting bill from going into effect.
Texas House speaker Dade Phelan has now signed 52 civil arrest warrants for the absent Democrats, who have given no indication that they plan to return to Austin anytime soon.
The Guardian’s Sam Levine has more details on the numbers that the US Census Bureau will be releasing today:
In a normal redistricting year, the bureau would have released this data months ago and states would already be well on their way to drawing maps. But because of Covid-19 related delays, the bureau is getting the data to states much later than they normally would.
That might not seem like that big a deal, but actually it’s huge. States face legal deadlines for getting maps in place in just a few months and there will likely be a scramble to quickly draw maps to meet them.
Civil rights and other advocacy groups are worried that the tight deadlines might provide cover for lawmakers to rush maps through with little public input. It also means there will be less time for lawyers to bring cases to challenge maps before they go into effect.
There are also questions about the accuracy of the census data. While the actual count was ongoing, there was a huge push from outside groups to encourage minorities, especially Hispanics, to respond to the survey.
An undercount would be catastrophic. It would lead to less political representation for those groups as well as less federal funding, since census data is used to determine how federal dollars are allocated. Those same groups will be carefully crunching numbers today to see if they can spot any anomalies.
HHS to require coronavirus vaccinations for its healthcare workers
The Department of Health and Human Services will now require its healthcare workers to get vaccinated against coronavirus, HHS secretary Xavier Becerra announced this morning.
The newly announced policy will apply to more than 25,000 healthcare workers employed by HHS, including staff at the Indian Health Service (IHS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) who serve in research facilities or interact with patients.
The surgeon general, Dr Vivek Murthy, will also require members of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps to get vaccinated as part of the procedures to prepare for potential deployment.
“Our number one goal is the health and safety of the American public, including our federal workforce, and vaccines are the best tool we have to protect people from Covid-19, prevent the spread of the Delta variant, and save lives,” Becerra said in a statement.
“As President Biden has said, we are looking at every way we can to increase vaccinations to keep more people safe, and requiring our HHS health care workforce to get vaccinated will protect our federal workers, as well as the patients and people they serve.”
The news comes after the department of veterans affairs announced a similar vaccine mandate for its healthcare workers.
The secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, also said earlier this week that he plans to add the coronavirus vaccine to the list of required vaccinations for service members in the coming weeks.
Updated
Texas state senator Carol Alvarado’s filibuster of the Republican voting restrictions bill has now concluded after about 15 hours.
Although the filibuster will not prevent the legislation from advancing, Alvarado said she was happy to “give a voice to the constituents who this bill attempts to silence”.
“I know #VoterSuppression anywhere, is a threat to democracy everywhere,” Alvarado said on Twitter. “Proud to shine a light on stories of everyday Texans & stand up for the promise of democracy.”
15 hrs ago I stood to filibuster #SB1 & give a voice to the constituents who this bill attempts to silence.
— Carol Alvarado (@CarolforTexas) August 12, 2021
I know #VoterSuppression anywhere, is a threat to democracy everywhere.🗳
Proud to shine a light on stories of everyday Texans & stand up for the promise of democracy. pic.twitter.com/vN5X2sO3Gd
Texas legislator filibusters for 14 hours to protest voting restrictions
As Washington awaits the latest data release from the US Census Bureau, one Democratic legislator was filibustering a bill that would impose voting restrictions in her state.
Texas state senator Carol Alvarado has now been speaking on the floor for about 14 hours in an attempt to block the restrictions from going into effect.
#TxDemFilibuster – HOUR 1️⃣4️⃣.
— Carol Alvarado (@CarolforTexas) August 12, 2021
🗳TUNE IN: https://t.co/RtAebWncHy.
Today on this floor, as we discuss TX’s #VoterSupression bill, we stand at one of these pivotal moments were we have a choice between preserving or diluting a right that has been fought for and died for. pic.twitter.com/SYCj3pM9G9
The AP reports:
Alvarado began her filibuster shortly before 6pm on Wednesday by speaking indefinitely, although she admitted that was unlikely to stop the bill from passing. She must remain standing and speaking during the filibuster, which entered its 12th hour on Thursday morning.
Alvarado wore running shoes on the Senate floor – much like former legislator Wendy Davis, known for her lengthy filibuster in 2013 of an anti-abortion bill. Alvarado’s filibuster began hours after officers of the Texas house of representatives delivered civil arrest warrants for more than 50 absent Democrats on Wednesday. Frustrated Republicans have ratcheted up efforts to end a standoff over a sweeping elections bill that has continued for 32 days.
But after sergeants-at-arms finished making the rounds inside the Texas capitol – dropping off copies of the warrants at Democrats’ offices, and politely asking staff to tell their bosses to please return – there were few signs the stalemate that began when Democrats fled to Washington DC in July in order to grind the statehouse to a halt was any closer to a resolution.
As the Democratic legislators remain out of the state, Texas governor Greg Abbott has pledged to keep calling special legislative sessions until the voting restrictions are passed.
Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report currently predicts that Republicans could gain somewhere from zero to seven House seats based off redistricting alone, albeit with a high initial degree of uncertainty.
It's Census data day! Here's @CookPolitical's breakdown of which party controls the redistricting process where. Our current outlook: a GOP gain of 0-7 House seats from redistricting alone, w/ a high initial degree of uncertainty. pic.twitter.com/usPQ9wYmHL
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) August 12, 2021
Although the midterm elections are still more than a year away, that possibility is hugely consequential because it means Republicans might be able to flip control of the House based solely off redistricting.
On top of redistricting, Republican legislatures in certain states have also advanced voting restrictions that voting rights experts say will disproportionately affect voters of color, who traditionally lean Democratic.
And historically, the president’s party loses House seats in the midterms. Overall, it’s becoming clear just how difficult it will be for Democrats to hold on to the House next year.
The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports:
Political strategists have long known that they can manipulate the electoral redistricting process.
In 1991, Republican mapmaker Thomas Hofeller said: “I define redistricting as the only legalized form of vote-stealing left in the United States today.” In the following decades, he drew gerrymandered maps that gave Republicans electoral advantages across the country.
What Hofeller knew was that the rules around redistricting are flexible. The constitution requires states to draw new electoral districts every 10 years, but there are few other hard and fast rules.
The US constitution gives state lawmakers the authority to draw electoral districts. So when state legislatures are controlled by one party and in charge of drawing new maps, they often draw districts that overwhelmingly favor their party, locking in victories for the next 10 years.
Read the Guardian’s full explainer on the process:
Census set to release data, starting heated redistricting battle
Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.
This afternoon, the US Census Bureau is set to release more data on the 2020 census, the decennial population count that determines how many House seats each state gets.
The data release will kick off a fierce battle over how states draw their congressional district lines, which could ultimately decide who controls the House of Representatives after next year’s elections.
NEW: The next #2020Census data release will be Aug. 12 @ 1PM ET. We'll host a news conference to discuss redistricting data – the first local level census results. 👉 https://t.co/EaRiImypLf pic.twitter.com/jHOHbnje5u
— U.S. Census Bureau (@uscensusbureau) August 5, 2021
Republicans have a huge advantage in the redistricting process because of the number of state legislatures and governorships they control, and they only need to flip a handful of seats to capture the House.
The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports:
The redistricting cycle arrives at a moment when American democracy is already in peril. Republican lawmakers in states across the country, some of whom hold office because of gerrymandering, have enacted sweeping measures making it harder to vote. Republicans have blocked federal legislation that would outlaw partisan gerrymandering and strip state lawmakers of their authority to draw districts.
Advances in mapmaking technology have also made it easier to produce highly detailed maps very quickly, giving lawmakers a bigger menu of possibilities to choose from when they carve up a state. It makes it easier to tweak lines and to test maps to ensure that their projected results will hold throughout the decade.
‘I’m very worried that we’ll have several states, important states, with among the worst gerrymanders in American history,’ said Nicholas Stephanopoulos, a law professor at Harvard, who closely studies redistricting. ‘That’s not good for democracy in those states.’
The blog will have more details on the census data coming up, so stay tuned.
