WTF Just Happened Today

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

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1/ The Senate passed a $3.5 trillion budget plan that includes a sweeping expansion of the social safety net. The 92-page blueprint, which would expand Medicaid, provide free preschool and community college, and fund climate change programs, passed along party lines. The blueprint sets in motion a perilous legislative process aimed at creating the largest expansion of the federal safety net in nearly six decades. (New York Times / Politico)

2/ Cuomo announced his resignation in an effort to head off a likely impeachment after a devastating report found he sexually harassed 11 women. “Wasting energy on distractions is the last thing that state government should be doing,” the three-term governor of New York said in a video address. “And I cannot be the cause of that.” (Washington Post)

3/ The federal government sent ventilators to Florida even as Gov. Ron DeSantis says he’s unaware of the shipment. A health administration official confirms the Strategic National Stockpile sent 200 ventilators and 100 high-flow nasal cannula kits to the state of Florida “earlier this week.” (CNN)

4/ California is the first state to require teachers and school staff to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to regular testing in order to return to school. Gov. Gavin Newsom cited the surging delta variant, which has challenged plans for the opening of school this fall. Data, he said, shows the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines. (Washington Post)

5/ The Texas House speaker signed arrest warrants for the state Democrats who broke quorum over impending GOP voting restrictions. The move followed approval of a House motion to send for absent members, which enabled Phelan to issue the warrants. The Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday also stayed a trial court judge’s ruling that would have protected absent Democrats from arrest. (Washington Post)

6/ A federal judge says Trump’s accountants must turn over his tax records to the House of Representatives. A federal judge in Washington ruled that Trump must disclose certain financial records held by his accounting firm Mazars in response to a subpoena from congressional Democrats. The judge approved a subpoena for Trump’s records covering 2017 and 2018, but turned down most of the panel’s request for similar information dating back to 2011. (Politico / Bloomberg)

7/ Biden nominated Damian Williams to be the next U.S. Attorney in Manhattan. The selection is part of a slate of nominations for top law enforcement posts in the country, including for three offices that tend to investigate the Justice Department’s most prominent cases. (New York Times)

8/ YouTube suspended Sen. Rand Paul over a video that falsely claims masks are ineffective at preventing the spread of the coronavirus. The suspension was “a badge of honor...

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