WTF Just Happened Today

Monday, March 2, 2020

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1/ The Supreme Court agreed to take up a legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act during its next term starting in October. The court, however, did not say when it will hear oral arguments, making it unlikely the justices will rule on the lawsuit before the election. In December, a federal appeals court ruled that the individual mandate is unconstitutional, sending the case back to the trial judge for another look at whether the entire law is invalid or some parts can survive. (NBC News / Politico / New York Times / Washington Post / Associated Press)

• ???? Day 1063: A federal appeals court ruled that the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate is unconstitutional, but did not invalidate the entire law. The court ordered a lower court judge to evaluate whether other provisions of the law can survive without the mandate. (Politico / Axios / New York Times / Washington Post / CNN)

2/ Trump called the coronavirus the Democrats’ “new hoax” and accused them of “politicizing” the deadly virus, which has now spread to China, Japan, South Korea, Iran, Italy and the U.S. Trump also blamed the press for acting hysterically about the virus, downplaying its dangers while he compared it to the flu. Experts say that the coronavirus is significantly more contagious than the flu and a vaccine is at least a year to 18 months away. Trump, however, told a a group of drug company executives at the White House to “get it done” on vaccines and antivirals to combat the coronavirus. Trump also authorized new travel restrictions after confirmation of the first coronavirus death in the U.S., saying there’s “no reason to panic” but additional cases in America were “likely.” (NBC News / Politico / CNN / The Guardian / Bloomberg)

• Six people in Washington state have now died from coronavirus. Four people had been residents of a nursing center and two other people not connected to the center have also died in Washington. There are at least 18 confirmed cases of the illness in the state. New cases of the coronavirus were ...

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