WTF Just Happened Today

Friday, November 5, 2021

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1/ The House will vote on the $1 trillion infrastructure bill tonight after abandoning an agreement with progressive Democrats to first vote on a separate $1.75 trillion education, healthcare, and climate package. Party leaders began the day hoping to hold a vote on the social spending legislation, followed by a vote on the infrastructure legislation. A small group of moderates, however, refused to support the $1.75 trillion social safety net, climate, and tax package without a cost analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which could take a week or more. The opposition forced Speaker Nancy Pelosi to change course, announcing that the House would vote first on the infrastructure bill, which already passed the Senate, and then take a procedural vote to begin debate on the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better bill, with hopes of passing it by Thanksgiving. Progressives, however, rejected Pelosi’s move to vote on infrastructure without the broader social spending plan, saying “If our six colleagues still want to wait” for the CBO review, “we would agree to give them that time — after which point we can vote on both bills together.” Pelosi, however, said the bipartisan infrastructure bill was too important to put off any longer and that she believes a “large number” of progressives actually plan to support the bill. “The agenda that we are advancing is transformative and historic, hence challenging,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to Democrats outlining the new plan. Pelosi can’t afford to lose more than three votes, unless some Republicans vote for the infrastructure bill. Earlier in the day, Biden called on House members to advance both bills, which total nearly $3 trillion in investments in infrastructure, social policy, and climate programs. “I’m asking every member of the House of Representatives to vote yes on both these bills right now,” Biden said. “Send the infrastructure bill to my desk, send the Build Back Better bill to the Senate. Let’s build on incredible economic progress, build on what we’ve already done because this will be such a boost when it occurs.” When asked whether she had the votes to pass the infrastructure bill, Pelosi replied: “We’ll see, won’t we?” (New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Politico / Bloomberg / NBC News)

2/ The attorneys general in 11 states sued the Biden administration to stop new rules requiring workers at companies with at least 100 employees be vaccinated against Covid-19 or tested weekly. Under the new requirements, which apply to an estimated 84 million workers, employers have until Jan. 4 to make sure their workers are either vaccinated or produce a negative test weekly. Workers who remain unvaccinated must wear a mask at work, and employers aren’t required to provide or pay for the tests. A second rule requires about 17 million health care workers to be vaccinated, but with no option for weekly testing in lieu of vaccination. Employers could face penalties of up to nearly $14,000 per violation. (Wall Street Journal ...

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