Summary
From me and Joan E Greve:
- Cedric Richmond, who is slated to be the director of the White House office of public engagement, tested positive for Covid-19. He was not in close contact with the president-elect, according to the Biden transition team.
- An FDA advisory panel voted to recommend authorizing the Moderna coronavirus vaccine. The recommendation clears the way for the FDA to approve the vaccine for emergency use, a decision that could as soon as later this week.
- The US has now confirmed more than 17 million cases of coronavirus. The virus continues to spread at an alarming rate, as the country sets new records for coronavirus cases and deaths. According to Johns Hopkins University, the US confirmed 247,403 cases of coronavirus yesterday, and another 3,656 Americans died of the virus yesterday as well.
- Joe Biden had chosen Deb Haaland to run the interior department. If confirmed, the progressive congresswoman would be the first Native American to serve as interior secretary.
- Another 885,000 Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, representing an increase from a week earlier. Economists warn that unemployment is moving in a startling direction as Americans prepare for the holidays amid more coronavirus-related layoffs.
- Congress is expected to pass another stopgap funding bill to continue negotiations over coronavirus relief. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said it was “highly likely” lawmakers would work through the weekend to reach a deal on a relief package and a government spending bill. The government is currently set to shut down tomorrow night.
Updated
More members of Biden’s climate team:
- Former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm has been chosen to serve as Secretary of Energy.
- Michael Regan, the secretary of Noth Carolina’s environmental agency, has been picked to serve as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator.
- Brenda Mallory, an environmental lawyer, has been selected as chair of the Council on Environmental Quality.
- Former Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy will be national climate adviser.
- Ali Zaidi, a longtime Biden adviser, will be deputy national climate adviser.
Updated
“From the wildfires across California and the west to the storms battering our coasts, our climate crisis is a grave and growing threat to the American people and the planet we all share,” said Kamala Harris, discussing the administration’s picks to lead climate policy, including Deb Haaland. “On the campaign, President-elect Biden and I proposed one of the most ambitious climate plans in history. The team we are announcing today will help make that plan a reality. They are seasoned public servants and climate experts who reflect the very best of our country. They have the knowledge and experience to confront this global challenge head-on with our allies and partners around the world. And they are the team the American people need and deserve to help protect our communities – and our planet – for generations,” Harris said in a statement.
Updated
Deb Haaland: ‘I am honored and ready to serve’ as Interior Secretary
Haaland would be the first Native American cabinet secretary. “A voice like mine has never been a Cabinet secretary or at the head of the Department of Interior,” she tweeted – her fist remarks since she was picked for the job.
A voice like mine has never been a Cabinet secretary or at the head of the Department of Interior.
— Deb Haaland (@DebHaalandNM) December 18, 2020
Growing up in my mother’s Pueblo household made me fierce. I’ll be fierce for all of us, our planet, and all of our protected land.
I am honored and ready to serve.
Read more:
Updated
SolarWinds: company at the core of the Orion hack falls under scrutiny
Kari Paul reports:
The revelation that elite cyber spies in past months conducted the largest hack against US officials in years has put the spotlight on SolarWinds, the Texas-based company whose software was compromised while servicing some of the biggest agencies and companies in the United States.
SolarWinds provides computer networking monitoring services to corporations and government agencies around the world, and has become a dominant player since it was founded in 1999.
“They’re not a household name the same way that Microsoft is. That’s because their software sits in the back office,” said Rob Oliver, a research analyst at Baird who has followed the company for years. “Workers could have spent their whole career without hearing about SolarWinds. But I guarantee your IT department will know about it.”
The firm was founded by two brothers in Tulsa, Oklahoma, ahead of the feared turn-of-the-millennium Y2K computer bug. On an October earning call, the company’s chief executive Kevin Thompson touted how far it had come since.
There was not a database or an IT deployment model out there to which the company did not provide some level of monitoring or management, he told analysts. “We don’t think anyone else in the market is really even close in terms of the breadth of coverage we have,” he said. “We manage everyone’s network gear.“
That dominance, however, has become a liability. On Sunday, SolarWinds alerted thousands of its customers that an “outside nation state” had found a back door into its most popular product, a tool called Orion that helps organizations monitor outages on their computer networks and servers.
The company revealed that hackers snuck a malicious code that gave them remote access to customers’ networks into an update of Orion. The hack began as early as March, SolarWinds admitted, giving the hackers plenty of time to access the customers’ internal workings.
Agencies contributed reporting.
Read more:
Growing alarm as US government investigates extent of hacking campaign
Kari Paul reports:
US authorities on Thursday expressed increased alarm about a large and sophisticated hacking campaign affecting government networks.
The cybersecurity unit of the Department of Homeland Security warned that the hack “poses a grave risk to the federal government and state, local, tribal and territorial governments as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations”.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (Cisa) also warned that it will be difficult to remove the malware inserted through network software. “Removing this threat actor from compromised environments will be highly complex and challenging for organizations,” the agency said in the statement.
Thursday’s comments were the most detailed yet from the agency since reports of the hack emerged over the weekend. The US government on Wednesday confirmed that an operation by elite hackers, suspected to be Russian, affected its networks and said the attack was “significant and ongoing”.
“This is a developing situation, and while we continue to work to understand the full extent of this campaign, we know this compromise has affected networks within the federal government,” said a joint statement issued by the FBI, Cisa, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (Odna).
Agencies contributed reporting.
Read more:
Cedric Richmond, Biden's incoming White House senior advisor, tests positive for Covid-19
Cedric Richmond, who is slated to be the director of the White House office of public engagement, tested positive, according to Biden transition spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield
Richmond was not in close contact with Joe Biden, nor was he in close contact with Georgia senate candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, for whom he campaigned at an event this week. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Stacey Abrams and Nikema Williams, who also attended campaign event, were also not considered to be in close contact.
“After his rapid test came back positive, we initiated contact tracing protocols immediately, and have determined that he was in CDC-defined close contact with two individuals, neither of whom are Biden, Warnock or Ossoff staff,” Bedingfield said in a statement. “Those individuals, two people who drove his car during the campaign trip, have been notified and are self-quarantining consistent with CDC guidelines.
Bernie Sanders: “The American people want help.”
The Vermont senator, who has long been advocating to include direct payments as part ofo the relief bill, said the deal that lawmakers are now closing in on is a “step forward”.
"The American people want help, they need help. This will be a step forward in providing a modicum of relief to people who are struggling right now." Sen. Sanders says as lawmakers near an agreement on a Covid-19 relief bill that could provide a new round of stimulus checks. pic.twitter.com/02c6k1YKO0
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) December 17, 2020
A federal judge today rejected a request from the Republican party to change the rules for absentee voting in Georgia even as some have begun casting votes ahead of the 5 January election.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:
The lawsuit by the Twelfth Congressional District Republican Committee sought to eliminate the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in Georgia and prohibit local election officials from opening ballot envelopes before Election Day. It also sought to invalidate guidance from the Secretary of State’s Office on how local officials should verify signatures on absentee ballots.
J. Randal Hall, chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Augusta, rejected the requests. He found Republican claims that the rules have abetted voter fraud to be “highly speculative” and said they did not warrant changing the rules in the middle of the election.
“We are not even on the eve of an election,” Hall said in dismissing the case. ‘We are, as it relates to this particular election, closing in on halftime.”
The lawsuit is part of an extraordinary effort by Republicans to ask courts to change the rules for absentee ballots amid the runoff election that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. Through Wednesday, more than 423,000 Georgians had already cast absentee ballots for the runoff. Early in-person voting began Monday.
Read more here.
Updated
From Guardian staff and agencies:
Two people are dying of Covid-19 every hour in Los Angeles county, as California set daily records for newly reported cases and deaths and hospitals struggle to keep up with the surge of coronavirus patients.
Most California residents are under a stay-at-home order as California battles a deadly surge in Covid-19 cases and intensive care unit capacity across the state dwindles. Across the state, a record 53,711 new cases and 293 deaths were recorded on Wednesday. Los Angeles county, with 10 million residents, the state’s most populous, reported more than 22,000 new cases.
Two people are dying every hour in the county, said Barbara Ferrer, the public health director for the county. “We’re experiencing an explosive and very deadly surge,” she said.
The rise in cases is presenting unprecedented challenges for the state’s hospitals. Los Angeles county has 2,500 ICU beds but within a month could easily need far more, said Dr Christina Ghaly, the county’s health services director. “Hospitals are under siege and our models show no end in sight,” she said.
Southern California and the Central Valley have exhausted their regular supply of intensive care beds, with many medical centers there tapping into their “surge” capacity. Available ICU beds in the San Francisco Bay Area dropped below 15%. Health officials in Southern California’s Orange county issued an order preventing hospitals from diverting ambulances to other medical centers.
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:
- An FDA advisory panel voted to recommend authorizing the Moderna coronavirus vaccine. The recommendation clears the way for the FDA to approve the vaccine for emergency use, a decision that could as soon as later this week.
- The US has now confirmed more than 17 million cases of coronavirus. The virus continues to spread at an alarming rate, as the country sets new records for coronavirus cases and deaths. According to Johns Hopkins University, the US confirmed 247,403 cases of coronavirus yesterday, and another 3,656 Americans died of the virus yesterday as well.
- Joe Biden plans to nominate Deb Haaland to run the interior department, according to multiple reports. If confirmed, the progressive congresswoman would be the first Native American to serve as interior secretary.
- Another 885,000 Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, representing an increase from a week earlier. Economists warn that unemployment is moving in a startling direction as Americans prepare for the holidays amid more coronavirus-related layoffs.
- Congress is expected to pass another stopgap funding bill to continue negotiations over coronavirus relief. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said it was “highly likely” lawmakers would work through the weekend to reach a deal on a relief package and a government spending bill. The government is currently set to shut down tomorrow night.
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
FDA advisory panel recommends authorizing Moderna vaccine
An advisory committee for the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended the agency authorize a second Covid-19 vaccine, this one developed by Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
The recommendation paves the way for the FDA to give emergency approval for a second highly effective vaccine to be used in the US. That approval could come by the end of the week. An FDA analysis found Moderna’s vaccine is more than 94% effective at preventing Covid-19 in a trial of more than 30,000 participants.
The likely authorization of the second vaccine comes after more than 300,000 Americans have succumbed to Covid-19, in a winter-time “third wave” of the disease that is filling hospitals with patients and exhausting healthcare workers.
The recommendation comes from the FDA’s Center for Biologics and Evaluation and Research vaccine advisory committee, an independent panel of experts who last week recommended the agency authorize a vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech.
“The question is never when do you know everything, it’s when do you know enough,” said Dr Paul Offit, a vaccine and infectious disease expert at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The answer to whether the advisory committee should recommend emergency authorization of the vaccine is, “Clearly, yes.”
Joe Biden released a statement today emphasizing the need for the US government to prioritize cybersecurity, as new details about the recent hack of several federal agencies continue to emerge.
“I want to be clear: my administration will make cybersecurity a top priority at every level of government – and we will make dealing with this breach a top priority from the moment we take office,” the president-elect said in his statement.
“But a good defense isn’t enough; we need to disrupt and deter our adversaries from undertaking significant cyber attacks in the first place. We will do that by, among other things, imposing substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious attacks, including in coordination with our allies and partners. Our adversaries should know that, as president, I will not stand idly by in the face of cyber assaults on our nation.”
Donald Trump has not yet addressed the massive hack, prompting criticizing from some lawmakers, including Republican senator Mitt Romney.
Updated
Senator Mitt Romney criticized the White House for its “inexcusable silence and inaction” over the recent hack targeting US government agencies, which has been attributed to the Kremlin.
— Senator Mitt Romney (@SenatorRomney) December 17, 2020
“This cyber hack is like Russian bombers have been repeatedly flying undetected over our entire country,” the Utah Republican said in a statement, adding that it was “past time for a national security re-set that prioritizes cybersecurity capabilities and defenses”.
Politico reported today that the energy department and the national nuclear security administration have evidence that they were also affected by the massive hack, raising additional national-security concerns.
Two members of the billionaire Sackler family that owns Purdue Pharma, the US pharmaceutical manufacturer of the prescription painkiller OxyContin, refused to apologize for their role in the opioids crisis that has killed almost half a million Americans, during a hearing in Washington on Thursday.
Kathe Sackler and David Sackler, former board members of Purdue, both said sorry for the pain endured by individuals suffering from addiction and those who lost loved ones to overdoses, but they avoided admitting any personal culpability. It was the first time members of the family faced such public scrutiny in person for its alleged role in the opioid epidemic.
The Democrat Jim Cooper of Tennessee, a member of the House of Representatives oversight committee questioning the two at the online hearing, said that watching the pair testify made his “blood boil”.
“I’m not sure I know of any family in America that is more evil than yours,” Cooper said.
Purdue Pharma last month pleaded guilty in federal court to three criminal charges related to conspiring to mislead regulators and paying illegal kickbacks to doctors and others aimed at pushing higher sales of the addictive narcotic.
Updated
The energy department and the national nuclear security administration were reportedly affected by the massive hack targeting US government agencies.
Politico reports:
On Thursday, DOE and NNSA officials began coordinating notifications about the breach to their congressional oversight bodies after being briefed by Rocky Campione, the chief information officer at DOE.
They found suspicious activity in networks belonging to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories in New Mexico and Washington, the Office of Secure Transportation and the Richland Field Office of the DOE. The hackers have been able to do more damage at FERC than the other agencies, the officials said, but did not elaborate.
Federal investigators have been combing through networks in recent days to determine what hackers had been able to access and/or steal, and officials at DOE still don’t know whether the attackers were able to access anything, the people said, noting that the investigation is ongoing and they may not know the full extent of the damage ‘for weeks.’
The cybersecurity unit of the department of homeland security said in an alert today that the hack “poses a grave risk to the federal government and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments as well as critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations”.
Updated
The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) vaccine advisory panel is now debating the only voting question of today’s hearing: does the totality of the scientific evidence support that the benefits of Moderna’s vaccine outweigh its risks in people aged 18 and older?
The debate is the only agenda item between now and a little after 5pm ET, so we should expect a vote in the next couple hours. The committee is expected to recommend the FDA authorize the vaccine for emergency use. The FDA does not always follow the advice of its independent committees, but it usually does.
If the panel recommends the FDA authorize the vaccine, it would be the second highly effective vaccine authorized to prevent Covid-19, after the FDA authorized a Pfizer vaccine last week.
Moderna’s vaccine has a couple of distinct advantages over Pfizer’s vaccine. While the vaccine is roughly as effective as Pfizer’s (94% versus 95%) current data appears to show that Moderna’s vaccine helps prevent severe disease in the people in which it does not prevent Covid-19. Pfizer’s vaccine may also help with this, but the data does not currently exist to make this conclusion.
Second, it does not require the ultra-cold storage required for the Pfizer vaccine. It still requires cold storage at -20C (-4F), but that is significantly less challenging than the first candidate. That means it might be easier to transport to rural communities.
US coronavirus cases surpass 17m
The US has now confirmed more than 17m cases of coronavirus, as the virus continues to spread at an alarming rate across the country.
According to Johns Hopkins University, 17,110,219 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the US, and 309,334 Americans have died of the virus.
The US set new records for coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths yesterday, just two days after frontline health care workers started receiving the Pfizer vaccine.
Public health experts have said the distribution of vaccines marks the beginning of the end of the pandemic, but they have emphasized that Americans must continue taking precautions, like wearing masks and socially distancing, to limit the potential of outbreaks before the vaccines are widely available.
Updated
Raphael Warnock calls out racist, 'outsider' attacks
Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Clarkston, Georgia, Senate candidate Rapahel Warnock called attacks from Republicans labeling him a parachuting outsider “absurd,” declaring he’s “Georgia through and through”.
“What happened 3 Nov was not magical or mystical,” he said. “This is the new Georgia, this is the blue Georgia.”
"This seems to keep happening to her. She should ask herself why people like that are attracted to her campaign." - @ReverendWarnock last night on @SenatorLoeffler's photo w/a white supremacists she later condemned.
— Kenya Evelyn (@LiveFromKenya) December 17, 2020
When I asked, he called GOP 'liberal outsider' attacks "absurd" pic.twitter.com/ErWpavMMPw
The reverend later took specific aim at Republican rival Kelly Loeffler, who was recently forced to condemn a white supremacist she was photographed with.
Warnock insisted the incumbent senator should “ask herself why people like that are attracted to her campaign.” The Democrat called out Loeffler for coveting QAnon support and peddling racist rhetoric that he said fuels attacks that position white residents as the only real Georgians.
He went on to highlight his generational Georgian roots through the life of his mother.
“My mother is from Waycross, where she grew up in the 50s picking somebody else’s tobacco and cotton,” Warnock said. “But now, in this new America, those 82 year-old hands get to pick her youngest son to be the next United States senator.”
Meanwhile, Loeffler is originally from Illinois.
Updated
Progressive groups are celebrating reports that Joe Biden intends to nominate Deb Haaland to lead the interior department.
“With the historic appointment of Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary, Joe Biden chose the most qualified person and put a true movement progressive in his Cabinet,” said Stephanie Taylor, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee.
“We’re thrilled that Deb will fight alongside Janet Yellen, Xavier Becerra, and others for the ambitious policy priorities that Biden campaigned on.”
The news of Deb Haaland’s nomination as interior secretary comes a day after House speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed Joe Biden’s potential selection of the progressive congresswoman.
“Congresswoman Haaland knows the territory, and if she is the President-elect’s choice for Interior Secretary, then he will have made an excellent choice,” Pelosi said in a statement released yesterday.
There had been speculation over whether Pelosi would endorse Haaland’s nomination, given Democrats’ very narrow majority in the House.
If Biden does indeed nominate Haaland, three Democratic members of the House will be leaving the chamber to join the new administration.
Marcia Fudge will be nominated to lead the department of housing and urban development, and Cedric Richmond will serve as the director of the White House office of public engagement.
Biden picks Deb Haaland for interior secretary – report
Joe Biden has reportedly decided to nominate Deb Haaland to run the interior department, which would make the progressive congresswoman the first Native American to serve as interior secretary.
The Washington Post reports:
A member of Pueblo of Laguna, the 60 year-old Haaland would become the first descendant of the original people to populate North America to run the Interior Department. It marks a turning point for a 171-year-old institution that has often had a fraught relationship with 574 federally recognized tribes.
The first-term House member, who hails from a top oil- and gas-producing state, has pledged to transform the department from a champion of fossil fuel development into a promoter of renewable energy and policies to mitigate climate change.
Progressive groups have pushed Biden to choose Haaland, arguing she would be a historic nominee who would help the interior department embrace a new approach to tribal rights and climate policy.
Updated
More than 30 US states file antitrust lawsuit against Google
The Guardian’s Kari Paul reports:
The US attorneys general of more than 30 states filed a new antitrust complaint against Google on Thursday, marking the third lawsuit against the online search and advertising giant this fall.
The complaint focuses on Google’s search business and search advertising and also alleges that Google used exclusionary agreements to dominate newer technologies like smart speakers, televisions and cars.
In October, the justice department, joined by 11 states, sued Google and accused the $1tn company of acting unlawfully to maintain its position in search and advertising on the internet.
On Wednesday, a group of Republican attorneys general led by Texas filed a separate lawsuit focused on Google’s dominance of digital advertising.
The states that filed their suit on Thursday are asking for their case be consolidated with the one filed by the justice department, according to a statement from the Colorado attorney general’s office.
Vice-President Mike Pence is visiting Georgia today to stump for Republican senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who are facing tough runoff races next month.
Pence appeared to acknowledge Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential race by arguing that Perdue and Loeffler (and by extension, a Republican-controlled Senate) would provide a necessary block on Democrats’ “radical agenda”.
More Pence: "We need two Georgia senators who will get in the way of the radical agenda of the Democratic Party and fight for Georgia every day."
— James Arkin (@JamesArkin) December 17, 2020
Donald Trump, on the other hand, has consistently refused to acknowledge Biden’s victory, even in the context of the Georgia runoff races, which will determine control of the Senate.
Campaigning in Georgia earlier this month, Trump said: “They cheated and rigged our presidential election, but we’ll still win.”
Updated
One of the key challenges facing the incoming Biden administration is how to tackle misinformation and skepticism around the Covid-19 vaccines, the first of which has been rolling out across the country this week.
Social media giants such as Facebook and YouTube have taken some steps to try and stop the spread of misinformation on their platforms, but health experts and officials are also calling on local media outlets to make sure their coverage does not offer a platform for baseless anti-vaccine claims.
According to reporting from NBC News published today, a recent newscast on WFXG-TV in Augusta, Georgia, a Fox affiliate, did just that.
A story on a local veterans affairs center becoming one of the first to receive vaccine doses “quickly pivoted to a small group of ‘concerned mothers’ holding large black and red signs outside the hospital with messages familiar to people who have followed the anti-vaccination movement and its dangerously misleading position,” NBC News reported.
David Williams, WFXG’s news director, declined to comment.
“This is the problem of information laundering,” Whitney Phillips, an assistant professor of communication and rhetorical studies at Syracuse University, told NBC. “If you make a harmful position sound reasonable, then more people who would otherwise not be inclined to believe it, might be willing to look at it as an issue with two sides.”
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- The US set records yesterday for coronavirus cases and deaths. According to Johns Hopkins University, the US confirmed 247,403 cases of coronavirus yesterday, and another 3,656 Americans died of the virus yesterday as well.
- Another 885,000 Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, representing an increase from a week earlier. Economists warn that unemployment is moving in a startling direction as Americans prepare for the holidays amid more coronavirus-related layoffs.
- Congress is expected to pass another stopgap funding bill to continue negotiations over coronavirus relief. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said it was “highly likely” lawmakers would work through the weekend to reach a deal on a relief package and a government spending bill. The government is currently set to shut down tomorrow night.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Biden to nominate Michael Regan to run EPA - report
Joe Biden is reportedly expected to announce he will nominate Michael Regan, the secretary of the North Carolina department of environmental quality, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Washington Post reports:
Regan, 44, would be the first Black man to run the EPA.
He would play a central role in realizing Biden’s promises to combat climate change, embrace green energy and address environmental racism. As administrator of the EPA, he would be responsible for crafting fuel-efficiency standards for the nation’s cars and trucks, overseeing emissions from power plants and oil and gas facilities, and cleaning up the country’s most polluted sites. ...
Regan has served as North Carolina’s top environmental official since early 2017, when Gov. Roy Cooper (D) named him to his role. During that time, he forged a tough multibillion-dollar settlement over a coal ash cleanup with Duke Energy, established an environmental justice advisory board, and reached across the political divide to work with the state’s Republican legislature.
Biden has promised that confronting climate change would be a central focus of his administration, and the president-elect has also pledged to reinstate and strengthen many of the environmental regulations that were rolled back by Donald Trump.
Another House member has tested positive for coronavirus, as the US sets new records for coronavirus cases and deaths.
Mike Rogers, a Republican of Alabama, said in a tweet, “This morning I tested positive for COVID-19. I immediately consulted with the Office of the Attending Physician and am currently self-isolating. I am experiencing mild symptoms but otherwise I am in good spirits and looking forward to getting back to work soon.”
This morning I tested positive for COVID-19. I immediately consulted with the Office of the Attending Physician and am currently self-isolating. I am experiencing mild symptoms but otherwise I am in good spirits and looking forward to getting back to work soon.
— Mike Rogers (@RepMikeRogersAL) December 17, 2020
Rogers’ announcement makes him the second House member in two members to announce a coronavirus diagnosis. Republican Joe Wilson announced his own positive test result yesterday.
According to CNN, 49 members of Congress have tested positive for coronavirus -- or have been presumed positive cases or have tested positive for coronavirus antibodies -- since the start of the pandemic.
Jim Inhofe, the Republican chairman of the Senate armed services committee, said he expected Donald Trump to veto the defense authorization bill at the last possible moment, which would be next Wednesday.
Breaking: @JimInhofe tells reporters today that he expects President Trump to veto the defense bill but wait till the very last possible moment, Dec. 23. Also he says Senate may be able to vote to override the veto the morning of Jan. 3
— Roxana Tiron (@rtiron) December 17, 2020
If Trump waited until next week to veto the bill, the House and the Senate would have to hold votes to override the veto before the next Congress is sworn in at noon on 3 January.
CNN reports:
Senate leaders are discussing holding an override vote of Trump’s possible veto of the annual defense bill on the morning of Sunday, January 3, before the outgoing 116th Congress expires and the incoming 117th Congress is sworn in at noon that day.
The timing, which is not finalized, would allow senators to avoid being brought back to Washington over the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays to deal with the override, according to GOP aides. But it would also require careful planning to overcome any possible procedural delays by opponents of the bill that could disrupt it.
Updated
Echoing comments from Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer said Congress is “very close to an agreement” on a coronavirus relief package.
“We are putting the final touches on what would be the largest stimulus in the history of the country, with the exception of the CARES Act,” the Senate minority leader said in a floor speech.
Schumer projected confidence about the negotiations, saying, “None of the remaining hurdles cannot be overcome. Everyone is committed to achieving a result, and we will not leave until we get the job done.”
McConnell acknowledged moments earlier that Congress is likely to stay in session through the weekend to reach a deal on coronavirus relief and government spending.
The vice president of pharmacovigilance at Moderna, Dr David Martin, said the company analyzed data from its phase III trial of more than 30,000 people for evidence of allergic reactions.
Allergic reactions have become important to monitor, following three allergic reactions among the tens of thousands of people who have received Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine in the UK and the US.
Martin said there were two allergic reactions in the Moderna trial, one in the placebo group, and another in the vaccine group. The allergic reaction in the person who received the vaccine happened more than 60 days after the vaccine was administered in a person who had a history of asthma and allergic reactions to shellfish.
Martin said researchers determined the allergic reaction was related to a separate medical procedure. Because the rate of allergic reaction is the same in the placebo and vaccine group, it supports the idea that the vaccine did not cause the reaction in the vaccine recipient.
“Working together we can enhance public confidence in the vaccine through robust vaccine safety monitoring,” said Martin.
Updated
Mitch McConnell confirmed it was “highly likely” Congress would have to stay in session through the weekend to reach a deal on a government spending bill and a coronavirus relief package.
Senate Majority Leader McConnell says it's "highly likely" lawmakers will be working through the weekend on Covid-19 relief pic.twitter.com/zlItUVUAr0
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) December 17, 2020
“We’re going to stay right here, right here, until we’re finished,” the Senate majority leader said in a floor speech. “Even if that means working through the weekend, which is highly likely.”
McConnell said he hoped Congress would pass a stopgap funding bill for “a very, very short, short window of time” to give lawmakers additional time to negotiate.
“A bipartisan, bicameral agreement appears to be close at hand,” McConnell added.
Today’s US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) vaccine advisory panel hearing focuses on a vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and whether the agency should authorize this second vaccine for emergency use.
But, reflecting the importance of fostering public trust in the vaccines, the issue of one allergic reaction to Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine in Alaska came up quickly in the hearing.
“While the totality of data at this time continues to support vaccinations under the Pfizer [authorization] without new restrictions, these cases underscore the need to be vigilant during the early stage of the campaign,” said Dr. Doran Fink, deputy director of the vaccines division of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
The allergic reaction in Alaska came after two allergic reactions in the United Kingdom. It is not yet clear what might be causing the allergic reactions, but experts said their treatment shows surveillance systems are working.
In Alaska, the allergic reaction occurred within 10 minutes, all people receiving the vaccine must wait for 15 minutes after receiving the vaccine to detect serious allergic reactions.
It looks like Congress is headed toward a weekend session. Senate majority whip John Thune told Politico moments ago that a short-term funding bill is a “real possibility”.
THUNE just told us he thinks a short term stopgap funding bill — 24-48 hours long — is a “real possibility”
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) December 17, 2020
The bill would keep the government funded for an additional 24 to 48 hours past tomorrow night, allowing Congress to avoid a government shutdown while granting lawmakers extra time to negotiate over a spending bill and a coronavirus relief package.
Trump says he will veto defense bill
Donald Trump once again said he intends to veto the annual defense authorization bill, setting up a potential veto override by Congress.
“I will Veto the Defense Bill, which will make China very unhappy,” the president said in a tweet. “They love it. Must have Section 230 termination, protect our National Monuments and allow for removal of military from far away, and very unappreciative, lands. Thank you!”
I will Veto the Defense Bill, which will make China very unhappy. They love it. Must have Section 230 termination, protect our National Monuments and allow for removal of military from far away, and very unappreciative, lands. Thank you! https://t.co/9rI08S5ofO
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2020
Before Congress passed the defense bill, Trump demanded that the legislation include an overhaul of Section 230, which provides tech companies with liability protections in connection to user-generated content on their platforms.
But last week, Congress passed the defense bill without addressing Section 230, and the legislation was approved by veto-proof majorities in both chambers.
If Trump does indeed veto the bill, it could set up the first veto override of his presidency, just weeks before it is set to end. Some of the president’s advisers have reportedly advised him against vetoing the legislation, but Trump seems set on doing so.
French president Emmanuel Macron tests positive for coronavirus
In case you missed it this morning: Emmanuel Macron has been diagnosed with Covid-19 after developing symptoms, the Élysée Palace has announced, forcing several other European leaders who had recently met the French president into self-isolation.
In a brief statement on Thursday, the palace said Macron had a PCR test as soon as the symptoms had appeared and would “self-isolate for seven days in line with the health protocol applicable to everyone”.
The statement said the president, who is 42, would “continue to work and carry out his activities remotely”, but gave no further details of his condition. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an Élysée source said Macron was “feeling well”.
Several European leaders who have met Macron this week said after the announcement that they would be going into quarantine.
The office of the Portuguese prime minister, António Costa, who had a working lunch at the Élysée on Monday in the run-up to the Portuguese presidency of the EU, said he had cancelled all official meetings and trips and was awaiting the result of a test.
The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who along with the president of the European council, Charles Michel, had lunch with Macron at the Elysée on Monday, suspended public activities and would be in quarantine until 24 December, his office said.
Michel tested negative on Tuesday but would self-isolate as a precaution, a council spokesman said in Brussels. A third guest, José Ángel Gurría, the secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, will do likewise.
Congress may have to pass another stop-gap funding bill by tomorrow in order to buy lawmakers extra time for negotiations over government spending and coronavirus relief.
In order to avert a government shutdown, Congress has to pass a spending bill by tomorrow night.
Yesterday, House majority leader Steny Hoyer raised the possibility of passing a bill to fund the government for a few more days.
Speaking on the Senate floor this morning, Democratic minority whip Dick Durbin said, “We are facing the prospect of another continuing resolution. I pray we don’t do that.”
When Nancy Pelosi was asked moments ago whether she expected to reach a deal today, the House speaker replied, “We’ll let you know.”
.@SpeakerPelosi tells me they’ve “made some progress this morning and are waiting to hear back” as covid negotiations continue. Asked if she thinks they’ll have a deal today, Pelosi said “We’ll let you know” pic.twitter.com/9xXzcRXx51
— Allison Pecorin (@AllisonMPecorin) December 17, 2020
Donald Trump is celebrating the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine in the US and the stock market numbers this morning, even as the country reports a record number of coronavirus cases and deaths.
“All-time Stock Market high. The Vaccine and the Vaccine rollout are getting the best of reviews. Moving along really well. Get those ‘shots’ everyone! Also, stimulus talks looking very good,” the president said in a new tweet.
All-time Stock Market high. The Vaccine and the Vaccine rollout are getting the best of reviews. Moving along really well. Get those “shots” everyone! Also, stimulus talks looking very good.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 17, 2020
But that is a rather rosy way of looking at the current state of our country, as coronavirus spreads at an alarming rate and unemployment rises.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the US confirmed 247,403 cases of coronavirus yesterday, and another 3,656 Americans died of the virus yesterday as well.
And this morning’s unemployment report showed new jobless claims rose to 885,000 last week, representing the highest weekly number since September.
It’s clear that many Americans are suffering acutely in the final days of the Trump administration.
An extraordinary hearing has just got underway of the House oversight committee, which is investigating the role of opioid painkiller maker Purdue Pharma, manufacturer of the prescription narcotic OxyContin.
The hearing is titled “the role of Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family in the opioid epidemic”.
Purdue pleaded guilty last month in federal court to felonies relating to the opioid crisis that has killed almost half a million Americans.
However, the clutch of members of the billionaire Sackler family that own the private company were not charged, though they are being investigated.
The company and six members of the family have been sued by cities and counties across the US and by many US states.
The Sackler family and Purdue Pharma helped to fuel and profited from the opioid epidemic to the tune of $35+ billion. Tune in to watch today’s @OversightDems hearing w/ members of the Sackler family & the CEO of Purdue. https://t.co/L2Mgt9tVqc
— Carolyn B. Maloney (@RepMaloney) December 17, 2020
One of the reasons this hearing is extraordinary is that two of those Sacklers have voluntarily agreed to testify today, which is highly unusual. They very, very rarely speak out about their role in Purdue and the OxyContin and opioid crisis.
Today, Kathe Sackler, a former vice-president of Purdue, who was on the company’s board from 1990 to 2018, is appearing (remotely) to testify. She is the daughter of one of the co-founders of Purdue.
Also testifying is David Sackler, who is the grandson of one of the co-founders and the son of Richard Sackler, who for many years was the president of Purdue. David Sackler was on the board of Purdue from 2012 to 2018.Purdue CEO Craig Landau is also testifying.
Committee chair Carolyn Maloney, Democratic congresswoman of New York, said: “No member of the Sackler family has ever admitted to doing anything wrong, or taken responsibility or apologized. They have admitted no liability.”
But she called the opioids crisis, which was driven by the potent prescription opioids, particularly OxyContin “a crime against the American people”.
Purdue Pharma is currently before a bankruptcy court in New York, having put itself into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2019, in an effort to halt the lawsuits, avoid further prosecution and settle with complainants.
The drawn-out proceedings have not yet concluded and many aspects of the company and family members’ futures remain up in the air, awaiting the decision of the bankruptcy judge.
Updated
Weekly jobless claims rise to 885,000
Another 885,000 Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week, representing an increase of 23,000 from a week earlier.
The number represents the highest weekly figure since September. Overall, more than 20.6 million Americans are now receiving unemployment benefits.
Economists say unemployment numbers are heading in an alarming direction as Americans prepare for the holidays amid more coronavirus-related layoffs.
A number of experts also said the data underscored the need for Congress to pass another coronavirus relief bill to aid Americans who are financially struggling because of the pandemic.
The $900 billion relief bill currently under consideration in Congress would provide enhanced unemployment benefits for Americans who have lost their jobs.
If Congress does not act, 12 million Americans are slated to lose their unemployment benefits starting the day after Christmas.
The US Food and Drug administration has announced that extra doses of coronavirus vaccine contained in Pfizer’s vials can be used, potentially expanding the US supply of the drug by 40%, according to reports.
The news, reported initially by Politico, comes after pharmacists discovered that some of the vaccine bottles contained enough liquid for up to two extra doses.
The FDA has told Pfizer that these doses can be used rather than being thrown away, in a change of the agency’s guidance from last week which indicatedeach vial held only five doses – a rule pharmacists in some states had been advised to stick to.
“Given the public health emergency, FDA is advising that it is acceptable to use every full dose obtainable,” an FDA spokesperson confirmed to Politico.
US reports record number of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths
Greetings from Washington, live blog readers.
The United States’ coronavirus numbers are becoming increasingly grim as the virus spreads at an alarming rate across the country.
Yesterday, the US set new records for coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths. According to Johns Hopkins University, the US has now confirmed 16,984,580 cases of coronavirus, and 307,543 Americans have died of the virus.
The sad news comes days after the country’s first doses of the Pfizer vaccine were distributed to frontline health care workers. An expert panel at the Food and Drug Administration will also hold a meeting today on the Moderna vaccine.
Those clashing headlines underscore what public health experts have been saying for weeks: although there is light at the end of the tunnel because of the vaccines, Americans need to work much harder to limit the spread of coronavirus until most people are vaccinated.
The blog will be sharing updates on the FDA meeting, as well as on the congressional negotiations over a coronavirus relief bill, so stay tuned.
