Government

Seven States Lose House Seats Under Census Numbers

Bloomberg News reports: Texas will gain the most new seats in the U.S. House of Representatives under new Census numbers released Monday, while states in the Northeast and Midwest will lose seven seats, shifting some political clout to Republican strongholds before the 2022 midterms. The U.S. Census Bureau released its every 10 year count of state populations Monday, reshuffling the …

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Census To Release Numbers On US House Allocations

Via press release from the US Census Bureau: The U.S. Census Bureau has completed data processing for the first 2020 Census results — state population counts used to apportion the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states. The Census Bureau will hold a virtual news conference to release these results on Monday, April 26, 2021. The …

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USPS Cops Tracking Social Media Posts On Protests

Yahoo News reports: The law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service has been quietly running a program that tracks and collects Americans’ social media posts, including those about planned protests, according to a document obtained by Yahoo News. The details of the surveillance effort, known as iCOP, or Internet Covert Operations Program, have not previously been made public. The …

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BREAKING: Former VP Walter Mondale Dies At Age 93

The Washington Post reports: Walter F. Mondale, the former Democratic senator and vice president whose unusually candid and forward-looking bid for the pinnacle of American politics was blocked by President Ronald Reagan’s landslide reelection victory in 1984, died April 19 at his home in Minneapolis. He was 93. Family friend and spokeswoman Kathy Tunheim announced the death but did not …

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Republican Rep. Steve Stivers To Resign Next Month

Roll Call reports: Ohio Republican Rep. Steve Stivers, who had been viewed as a possible candidate for the state’s open Senate seat, said Monday he would depart Congress next month to take a lobbying job instead. The six-term former bank executive plans to join the Ohio Chamber of Commerce as president and CEO, Stivers said on Twitter. It’s the second …

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Adults In All 50 States Now Eligible For COVID Vaccine

Axios reports: All 50 U.S. states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, have now made U.S. adults over the age of 16 eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, meeting President Biden’s April 19 deadline. The landmark speaks to the increased pace of the national vaccination campaign, but will increase pressure on the federal government, states and pharmaceutical companies to provide adequate vaccine …

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Half Of US Adults Have Gotten At Least One Vax Dose

ABC News reports: Roughly half of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released Saturday. Across the country, more than 128 million people ages 18 and older have received at least one shot, with more than 82 million fully vaccinated with one of …

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FDA Reverses Trump Rule On Abortion Pills By Mail

ABC News reports: Women seeking an abortion pill will not be required to visit a doctor’s office or clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. health officials said Tuesday in the latest reversal in an ongoing legal battle over the medication. The Food and Drug Administration announced the policy change a day earlier in a letter to the American College of …

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Biden To Make First Address To Congress On April 28th

USA Today reports: President Joe Biden is set to deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, April 28, just before he marks his 100th day in office. Biden accepted an invitation Tuesday night from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to address a joint session on that date, the White House confirmed. The speech will allow Biden …

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Michigan Sees Soaring New Cases, Hospitalizations

CNN reports: Michigan is now reporting thousands of new Covid-19 cases daily, when just weeks ago, state data showed the daily reported case count was as low as 563 cases. In one part of the state, emergency room physician Dr. Rob Davidson told CNN hospitalizations have gone up “four fold in just the last two weeks.” “Hospitals are being inundated,” …

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Anti-Woke: Josh Hawley To Unveil “Trust Busting Act”

Axios reports: Corporate giants would be barred from acquisitions and century-old antitrust laws would get sharper teeth under a new proposal by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) shared exclusively with Axios. Hawley is among the Senate’s most conservative members, but his attack on corporate power wouldn’t sound out of place on Elizabeth Warren’s or Bernie Sanders’ agenda. That’s how deeply Republicans’ …

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Ontario Stiffens Province-Wide Month-Long Lockdown

Blog Toronto reports: The Ontario government just officially declared another state of emergency and has issued a new stay-at-home order for the entire province, beginning this Thursday, April 8, as of 12:01 a.m. Premier Doug Ford announced the news Wednesday afternoon, as expected, stating that “there’s no doubt that this third wave has been different from anything we’ve faced so …

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Actor Arrested In $227M Netflix/HBO Ponzi Scheme

Law & Crime reports: Federal prosecutors on Tuesday announced that agents with the FBI arrested a 34-year-old Los Angeles actor on charges that he oversaw a Ponzi scheme that swindled investors out of approximately $227 million. Zachary Joseph Horwitz, who also uses the stage name “Zach Avery,” allegedly bilked investors out of their funds by promising the money would be …

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NYC Launches Vax Bus To Reach Vulnerable Populations

Gothamist reports: Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday that the city will roll out a mobile vaccine bus this week. The bus, which can give out 150-200 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine a day, will be used to reach the city’s most vulnerable populations. During its first week in operation, the mobile clinic will be focused on …

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California Plans To Lift COVID Restrictions On June 15th

The New York Times reports: California plans to lift all its coronavirus restrictions on June 15, provided there are enough Covid-19 vaccines available for anyone age 16 or older and hospitalizations remain low and stable, state officials announced on Tuesday. The move in June will allow Californians to return to restaurants, bars, movie theaters, houses of worship and concerts without …

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Sinema Won’t Budge On Ending Or Changing Filibuster

The Wall Street Journal reports: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema has emerged as the staunchest Democratic defender of the filibuster, brushing off fire from the outspoken progressive wing of her party as she tries to stake out a bipartisan reputation in a battleground state. “When you have a place that’s broken and not working, and many would say that’s the Senate today, …

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Dem Rep. Alcee Hastings Dies Of Cancer At Age 84

Miami’s ABC News affiliate reports: Alcee Hastings, the longtime Congressman who served South Florida for decades and fought for civil rights, has died at 84 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. First elected in 1992, Hastings was in his 15th term in Congress representing District 20, which includes parts of Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Appointed by President Jimmy Carter …

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Fauci: Feds Won’t Mandate Vax Passports For Travel

CBS News reports: Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview released Monday that the federal government won’t be mandating vaccine passports for travel and businesses. The White House has indicated that any potential passports would come from the private sector, with little direct involvement from the government. “I doubt that the federal government will be the main mover of a …

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Manchin Opposes Key Aspect Of Infrastructure Bill

The Week reports: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), a moderate Democrat who more or less serves as the 50-50 upper chamber’s swing vote these days, gave President Biden’s infrastructure proposal — as it’s currently written — a thumbs down on Monday. In a radio interview with West Virginia’s MetroNews, Manchin said raising the corporate tax rate to 28 percent, as envisioned …

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New Mexico Leads States In Fully Vaccinated Residents

NY1 reports: The United States surpassed a significant milestone Friday toward ending the COVID-19 pandemic with more than 100 million people having received at least one vaccine dose, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number as of early Friday afternoon stood at 101.8 million, or 30.7% of the population. Nearly 58 million are fully …

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