Episode 52: September 26 - October 3, 2021

September 26-October 2, 2021

Good afternoon, I’m Dennis Futoryan, and this is the 25th hour, helping you remember everything that happened beyond the 24/7 news cycle. We’ll have a more truncated version of today’s show, and will be back in full force on October 17th. Now, in this week’s news for the week of September 26-October 2, 2021, public workers are reaching the end of how many chances they can take to legally challenge vaccine mandates, as Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor swats down teachers’ attempts at stopping their mandates from going into effect. Biden and Congressional Democrats passed a government funding bill at the last second after Republicans blocked attempts at increasing the debt ceiling at the same time, and were further delayed in passing Biden’s agenda after moderates and progressives couldn’t agree on numbers. De Blasio toured the embattled Rikers Island jail complex, but didn’t speak to anyone, and Hochul continues getting rid of Cuomo holdovers while holding a hard line against those not wanting to get vaccinated. Now, onto the show; things may have changed by the time you hear this.

De Blasio

• COVID:
  • Police Commissioner Dermot Shea confirmed this week that police officers’ vaccination rates hit 64%, an improvement over this year but still lower than the 70s with residents and the 90s with school staff.
  • The Mayor kissed up to school staff after the latest push from teachers to get vaccinated ahead of a deadline this past week by saying those inoculated teacher allow schools to stay open. With more than 90% of City’s school staff, de Blasio said on WNYC, “we already have what we need to run the school system well and serve our kids in a safe way.” As we mention a bit later, some teachers petitioned the Supreme Court to block the City’s vaccine mandate pertaining to the Department of Education, but were blocked by Justice Sotomayor.
  • But the hospital and nursing home vaccine mandate has put a tighter squeeze into an already tense labor shortage, as in some hospitals, like SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, surgeries and other health services had to placed on hold. 
  • The MTA is requiring everyone newly hired to the Agency to be vaccinated by the middle of November, or else provide proof of a negative test every week, in line with the MTA’s current policy to get all of its staff vaccinated.
  • OATH hearing officers are asking for a return to in-person meetings, counter to other City workers pushing to keep things remote. The Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings officers are responsible for hearing cases about littering and and building code violations, for example, and have been administering phone conferences rather than in-person determinations. Curiously, the United Federation of Teachers represents OATH hearing officers as a union, and are pushing for them to come back in-person.
• Mayoral race:
  • You may have to be constantly reminded by this podcast that Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams is still running against someone for the position of NYC Mayor, as the general election is this November to replace outgoing Mayor de Blasio. Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate for Mayor, and the founder of the vigilante group Guardian Angels, had to apologize this week for making a claim that he confiscated more guns than Eric Adams. While Sliwa was visiting the scene of a gun violence incident in the Upper West Side, his campaign tweeted that after finding one gun, he confiscated more guns than in the entirety of Adams’ more than 7 year career as a police officer, which was palpably untrue.
  • Chair of the Brooklyn Democratic Party Todneye Bichotte Hermelyn hosted Eric Adams at a Junior’s restaurant in Brooklyn for the Brooklyn Democrats’ gathering supporting the Brooklyn Borough President in his bid for mayor against Curtis Sliwa in November. With the likes of those further to the left present at the gathering, Politico reported that it shows Adams’ consolidated support among New York’s left.
  • All in all, Adams has a major money advantage over Sliwa, with Adams raising about $2.4m between the end of August and September alone, for a total of almost $7.7m on hand. Sliwa has a total of $1.2m.
• Schools:
  • Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross-Porter introduced a new part of the school curriculum this week aimed at redoing how black history is taught. More specifically, the pilot program launched by the City Council would teach students the “role of race in power relationships and the impact of institutional racism.” The change for the NYC school system, comprised of 70% black or hispanic students, will take place in May of next year.
• Rikers:
  • Amongst rising issues at the island jail Rikers, in which prisoner suicides increased and security issues mounting in light of a shrinking Corrections Department workforce, Mayor de Blasio finally visited Rikers, but without talking to any inmates or guards, defending his decision by saying he already knows everything going on there. The Mayor previously rejected visiting Rikers but bowed to public pressure. 
  • In an effort to make up for the dwindling amount of Corrections staff, the City is in negotiations with private security firm Global Guardian Security to patrol the perimeter of the island. In response, Benny Boscio, president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association said that his union will challenge the City in court over the plan.
  • In the meantime, Manhattan DA Cy Vance moved forward with suspending bail to prevent overcrowding in Rikers, while conceding it might incentivize some sort of “low level” crimes, but that possibility is overridden by the public policy concern of what’s happening at Rikers. Manhattan ADAs will seek supervised release and non-cash options during arraignments.
  • Zachary Katznelson, the executive director of the Independent Commission on NYC Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform, is set to testify before the State Assembly’s Corrections Commission that New York City should use Manhattan’s Bayview and Lincoln Correctional Facilities to house almost 600 Rikers inmates in order to alleviate congestion. Apart from the issues we mentioned before, RIkers is also facing an overcrowding problem, with reports this week also saying an entire cell block is being quarantined due to COVID.
• Crime:
  • Ever walk into a precinct with stone-cold cops staring at you in the face? Apparently the problem is big enough now that the NYPD is going to hire greeters to meet people walking into precincts in order to improve customer service.
  • On top of that, Gothamist reported that de Blasio ordered investigations into some members of the NYPD after a hack revealed that those officers were present as part of the crowd of rioters ransacking the Capitol in DC on January 6th. The Gothamist teamed up with WNYC in an investigation finding that those officers at the January 6th riot are members of the right-wing Oath Keepers group. THe Mayor said on WNYC that any officers that pledge loyalty to the Oath Keepers should be fired.
  • The potential incoming new mayor, Eric Adams, has been taking counsel from NYPD Chief of Department Philip Banks, whose brother just happens to be reportedly in the running to be Adams’ new Department of Education Chancellor.
  • Despite de Blasio’s Vision Zero initiative, the amount of traffic deaths in the City have reached their highest points in years. Through September 14th, at least 189 people died, a 26% increase from the same time last year, the highest number since 2013.
  • An MTA bus superintendent has been outed by the MTA Inspector General as dodging over $100k in tolls over bridges and tunnels. The office’s spokesman, Tim O’ Brien detailed how Aditya “Buddy” Samaroo used a dirty plastic license plate to duck tolls, but when those tolls did start piling up, Samaroo would change out his license plate to prevent his license from being suspended.
• Transportation:
  • State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli continues to raise alarm bells over the MTAs fiscal solvency, releasing a report this week saying that the agency cannot rely on the veiled promise of a federal infrastructure proposal to pass as emergency COVID relief money only lasts so long.
  • The Acting MTA Chairman Janno Lieber has officially decided to pull the plug on Governor Cuomo’s plans to restructure the agency because he wasn’t “thrilled” with the result, further saying that it caused too much disruption. Cuomo originally wanted to consolidate what he called redundant offices.
  • When it comes to congestion pricing, there is one Democrat who isn’t happy with the idea - New Jersey GOvernor Phil Murphy, who’s running for reelection in the Garden State. When Murphy was asked about congestion pricing, which would place a toll on drivers going below 96th Street, the New Jersey gov said he would purposefully slow down business at the Port Authority, responsible for collecting tolls from drivers going between New York and Jersey. Murphy feels that congestion pricing could discriminate against Jersey residents working in the CIty, despite it possibly checking his boxes concerning fighting climate change.
• Environment;
  • In a bid to be better prepared for the next round of storm-caused flooding, as was seen from Hurricane Ida, the City is taking up procuring a private forecaster, install more drainage, and push out more aggressive notifications to make sure people aren’t caught flatfooted anymore.
• Homelessness:
  • The City has officially cut ties with homeless shelter provider Aguila, telling the provider to get out of the Park View Hotel on West 110th Street by the end of the year. Audits launched by the City continue to look into how nonprofits have abused running the shelter system for years. 

City Council

Hochul

• COVID:
  • Deadlines came into effect for healthcare workers and teachers around the state to get vaccinated or else face termination. After numerous court battles stopped and restarted mandate timelines, eventually the Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, greenlighted the vaccine mandate. The NYT reported that thousands of healthcare workers rushed to get their first shots ahead of the September 27 due date, although the state is still expecting to take a hit within the healthcare labor supply, with reports showing Governor Hochul prepared to call up the National Guard to assist in healthcare efforts. In Albany Medical Center, about 200 workers out of the 11k strong staff were placed on unpaid leave. At St. Peter’s Health Partners, about 320 staff out of 11k were placed on unpaid leave. Glens Falls Hospital saw 44 workers placed on unpaid leave. 92% of nursing home staff members got at least one shot, 89% of adult care facility staff got at least one shot, and 92% of hospital staff got at least one shot. In total, 87% of hospital workers were reported as fully vaccinated.
  • On Thursday, Governor Hochul said that she’s working to extend the COVID vaccine mandate to mental health and prison staff, whereas they can just keep testing weekly and won’t lose their jobs, unlike regular nursing home and hospital staff. 
  • The Governor chose former City Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett to replace Howard Zucker, the Health Commissioner during Cuomo’s tenure that took a lot of heat in the midst of Cuomo’s nursing home scandal. Basset is set to become the State Health Department’s first Black Commissioner.
  • Emergency room wait times increase as continued staff shortages throughout rural New York exacerbate hospitals’ ability to care for residents. While the modest drop in hospital staff after the vaccine mandate went into effect isn’t putting quite a dent in the shortage, it’s not helping things either.
  • As part of incentivizing patient-facing employees in SUNY hospitals to work through the vaccine mandate, Hochul reached a deal with a couple of unions to pay workers 2.5x overtime, but one group that was left out is crying foul: security guards. The State Correctional Officers and and Police Benevolent Association wrote a letter to Hochul expressing “earnest frustration” that they were left out of the overtime pilot program.
• Election:
  • Continuing a possible state of anxiety for Governor Hochul and her staff, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane WIlliams publicly said he’s exploring a run for Governor. The primary will take place in November 2022. Hochul, in the meantime, seeks to raise $25m to compete with her counterparts with only a year left until the next gubernatorial primary. 
  • The Bronx Democratic Party hosted a fundraiser dinner that featured different potential gubernatorial candidates - Public Advocate Jumaane WIlliams, State Attorney General Letitia James, Mayor de Blasio, and the Governor herself, in a potential harbinger for things to come. 
  • James had some choice words later in the week, when she said, “I know many of you might be wondering about my future plans,” to a group of Democratic leaders at the Ulster County Democratic Committee dinner. Her later response? “Stay tuned.”
  • Meanwhile, state Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs is trying to cool a runaway train towards a primary that could, in his view, pull the state Party to the left and become ammunition for state Republicans. Jacobs is urging anyone thinking about running for Governor to give Hochul a chance first and articulate their reasons for running in the first place.
• Cuomo:
  • Tuesday next week, Republican Commissioner on the Joint Commission on Public Ethics David McNamara will introduce a motion in a meeting to officially launch an investigation into Cuomo's $5m book deal and how it came to be that JCOPE approved it. Although the motion will be opposed by some Commissioners, the investigation would most likely look into why JCOPE’s deputy general Martin Levine approved Cuomo’s book deal in the first place. 
• Schools:
  • Syracuse is exploring bringing back a remote schooling option, and not because of COVID, but because the district is finding it hard handling a busing crisis. The lack of available buses to ferry students to schools might force the district into allowing students to learn from home. 
  • SUNY has started deregistering students who haven’t complied with the university system’s vaccine mandate, which gave students 35 days grace even after the original due date passed. A SUNY spokesperson confirmed 97% of SUNY students enrolled during this time got at least one shot. Students who haven’t complied yet can still prevent deregistering by getting vaccinated.
• Crime:
  • Governor Hochul’s new hire for deputy secretary for intergovernmental affairs, former NYC Council candidate Amit Bagga, is catching flak for his past stances advocating for defunding the police. Despite Hochul’s public statements against defunding police, Bagga wants to cut $3b from the NYPD budget.
  • Kevin Henderson, the Sheriff of Ontario County, has resigned this week in the midst of misconduct investigations into alleged comments Henderson made that were of a sexual, racist, and homophobic nature. Henderson’s lawyer emailed his resignation through a press release.
  • Hochul has asked Michael C. Green, the executive deputy commissioner of the Division of Criminal Justice Services since 2012, to step down as she keeps cleaning house from the Cuomo administration. A reason wasn’t given for the request.
• Bills stadium:
  • New York may have finally chosen someone to build a new stadium for the Buffalo Bills, the state’s football team. Law firm O’Melveny & Myers will provide legal advice to the state to the tune of $500k and $150k will go to real estate consulting firm AECOM. 
• AirTrain:
  • Although with Cuomo’s ouster came another look at his pet project, the $2b proposed AirTrain from LaGuardia connecting the airport to the No. 7 train and the LIRR, Port Authority leaders like Executive Director Rick Cotton, are saying the plans are moving forward. Might be a debate about how forward they’re moving, since Governor Hochul said the project can now be reviewed for prioritization. 
• Cannabis:
  • The state has missed a legal deadline to roll out a regulatory framework for people to grow weed privately, only adding to the list of frustrations from those who are sick of how slow the State is moving in fulfilling the rest of the agenda.
• Albany:
  • In Albany, Mayor Kathy Sheehan proposed a budget for the next year that would keep property taxes the same, increases the city’s minimum wage to 16.17 from 15.52, and seeks to increase the City’s spending by 4.4% over the previous $181.7m. 
• Buffalo:
  • Incumbent Mayor Byron Brown may not be printed on the ballot anymore, but the man is not letting up in his quest to seek vengeance against Democratic Socialist India Walton, who beat Brown in the Democratic primary this year for Buffalo mayor. Brown had even raised a little more than $831k between July 12 and Sep 27, twice as much as Walton raised within the same period.

State Legislature

• It won’t just be the Attorney General’s report that found 11 women to have credibly accused former Governor Cuomo of sexual harassment. A state Assembly committee looking into the allegations is expected to release a report substantiating the complaints as well, only compounding Cuomo’s issues since he left office in disgrace.
• 36 lawmakers wrote a letter to State Education Secretary Betty DeRosa asking her department to reconsider holding adult literacy classes in-person, with the signatories arguing that allowing for remote options will prevent disruptions due to COVID. 
• Lawmakers also penned a letter to Governor Hochul to release more prisoners from Rikers as the jail complex undergoes continued dysfunction. Deputy State Senate Majority Leader Mike Gianaris was one of the lawmakers to write the letter, where he specifically asked for the Governor to lift parole violations and warrants, which would apply to 800 inmates.
• Gianaris also took point on a proposal to change how judicial nominations are done in the State, wanting more than just prosecutors and “career jurists” from joining the bench, especially openings on the State’s highest court, the Court of Appeals with the retirement of Judge Eugene Fahey when he turns 70, the statutory retirement age. Gianaris is looking for advocates who have worked in civil rights, housing, immigration, and more.
• Something else planned on the legislature’s docket is a potential nursing home victims compensation fund with a possible $4b allocation, aimed at giving the families of those who lost loved ones in nursing homes in the course of the pandemic some financial relief. Assemblyman Ron Kim, known for taking on Governor Cuomo before a cascade of sexual harassment allegations changed Albany, sponsored the bill, whose own uncle passed away in a nursing home during the worst of the pandemic. For every loved one who passed in a nursing home, applicants will get $250k for nursing home residents who died from the virus and dependents will get at least $100k.

State Judiciary

• Remote criminal hearings:
  • Governor Hochul ordered the expansion of New York City criminal virtual hearings, with the goal of taking the pressure off of the dwindling Corrections staff tasked with bringing prisoners into courtrooms for their appearances, which has become all the more difficult not just because of the pandemic, but because of the lack of Corrections officers.
• Sealed arrest records:
  • New York County Supreme Court Judge Lyle E. Frank ruled that NYPD officers cannot use sealed arrest records without a court order anymore, following a class action lawsuit filed by the Bronx Defenders, who used NYPD training materials to show that the Department uses sealed records despite it not being legally permissible without the court’s permission. The NYPD is reviewing the decision.
• Police misconduct database:
  • The New York Civil Liberty Union sued the NYPD in Manhattan Supreme Court this week, alleging that the Police Department is hiding a database of officers with a full history of misconduct claims, whether or not they are substantiated or cleared. The NYPD released a database of only those officers with misconduct that has been substantiated following the repeal of the state’s 50-a law that hid those disciplinary records from public view.

Biden

Domestic

• COVID
  • Pfizer has supplied the FDA data on how its vaccine performs in minors ages 5-11, saying authorization will be requested within weeks. If approved, 28m children will be eligible for vaccination.
  • President Biden got his booster shot on camera this week, urging more people to get their boosters if they qualify. Pfizer’s boosters shots were authorized last week for those over 65 and the immunocompromised.
• Debt ceiling:
  • Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testified before Congress this week, warning against not raising the debt ceiling, the name for Congress’ authority to increase its borrowing capacity to pay for government programs. Republicans, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell are making the political play not to help Democrats raise the debt ceiling, with the hope that voters will blame the Democrats in case of a government shutdown.
• Infrastructure:
  • Amidst stalling negotiations on how to pass Biden’s signature infrastructure proposals, Biden told reporters that it doesn’t matter exactly when the deal gets done, just that it’ll get done.
• Economics:
  • Consumer spending increased last month, with the amount of money spent on goods and services increasing by 0.8%.
  • The presidents of the Dallas and Boston Federal Reserve banks resigned after they were outed for their stock trading practices during the pandemic. Dallas President Robert Kaplan and Boston President Eric Rosengren both stepped down, albeit Rosengren gave health reasons for his departure. 
• Wildlife:
  • The US Fish and Wildlife Service has unfortunately proposed adding 23 animal species to the list of those that have gone extinct, warning climate change is destroying habitats.
• Situation Room:
  • The Situation Room, where major and confidential decisions are made by Presidents in high-stress situations, is getting a more than $56m overhaul, its first in 15 years. $46m of that money is coming from other programs that the Pentagon is shifting towards the Situation’s Room update.
• Military suicides:
  • According to Pentagon data, the number of military suicides has increased by 15% last year compared to 2019. One of the highest increases is among the Army National Guard, as suicides increased from 76 in 2019 to 103 in 2020, a 35% increase. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin commented that the findings are troubling and admitted that the trend isn’t going in the right direction.
• Schools:
  • The National School Boards Association officially asked President Biden for help in investigating violent threats placed on its members because of mask mandates and other COVID policies, as parents become more belligerent at school board meetings.
• Immigration:
  • Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayoraks laid out new guidelines limiting migrant deportations, saying officers can’t just deport someone because they’re undocumented, but with the priority being on those posing a terrorist threat or for those with serious crimes. If an immigrant is a contributing member of their community, such as healthcare workers, they can’t be arrested either for their undocumented status.
  • Biden vowed that immigration officers using their reins to corral Haitian immigrants back across the Mexican border would be investigated and brought to justice, as images showing white officers on horseback appearing to whip black migrants caused an uproar. The Haitian migrants started coalescing under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas, with 6000 already housed at an encampment. Migrants are being deported back to Haiti, although some of those migrants have never been to that country. On the other hand, Secretary Mayorkas said 10k Haitians were admitted into the US to pursue their asylum claims. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, ever the contrarian to Biden as he seeks to continue Trump’s legacy, said that he would hire any border agents that could be fired.
  • The Biden administration proposed a new rule this week seeking to keep protecting so-called Dreamers from deportation. Dreamers are undocumented immigrants that were brought into the country when they were just kids. After a federal judge struck down the DACA program which allowed Dreamers to work in the country, Biden is trying to set the program back up again through the federal regulatory process so that it can survive an administrative law challenge.
• Crime:
  • The FBI released data this week showing killings increased by 30%, the largest jump in a single year since the 60s. The overall violent crime rate went up by 5.6% last year, with property crimes dropping by 7.8%.

Foreign

• North Korea:
  • The Hermit Nation of North Korea tested a fourth weapon in a matter of weeks, shooting an anti-aircraft missile on Thursday. The big difference this time around is that the US, South Korea, and Japan didn’t confirm this launch. 
• Ransomware:
  • CNN reported this week that the Biden administration is planning on getting 30 countries to meet up to talk about fighting back against ransomware. The President hopes to increase collaboration between law enforcement on the issue, as well as going after the use of cryptocurrency by illicit organizations committing the attacks.

Congress

• Congress had quite the week, with a series of deadlines being blown dealing with a range of gigantic issues that seem like they should have been handled months ago. Republicans filibustered an attempt by Democrats to raise what’s called the debt ceiling, or the amount legally allowed for the federal government to borrow money in order to continue funding federal programs, with the threat of a government shutdown if the government can’t pay its bills. Additionally, continued stonewalling by moderate Democrats like Joe Manchin and Kirsten Sinema about the $3.5t price tag of Biden’s human infrastructure proposal put a stop to the momentum to pass Biden’s Build Back Better initiative, which sought to fund programs for universal eldercare, childcare, two years of free community college, climate change mitigation efforts, and more. Manchin later said in the week that his topline number for a human infrastructure proposal is $1.5t, $2t lower than what’s already been heralded. Meanwhile, progressives in the House are demonstrating against passing any sort of agenda without the human infrastructure proposal being passed at the same time, holding Biden’s plans hostage alongside other ideological groups. President Biden huddled together with House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Schumer to plan how they’re going to get Biden’s agenda across, with the possibility of placing the debt ceiling into the budget reconciliation process, which allows for bypassing the filibuster as long as a Senate measure has something to do with the federal budget - with the caveat that Democrats are limited in how many times they can use the move, and they’re almost up as they used it once already for Biden’s COVID relief bill. On Friday, the House and Senate quickly put together a separate government funding bill that averted a government shutdown until December, with the bill also giving federal aid to Afghan refugees that just left the country and areas around the country that were ravaged by various climate events. Biden signed the bill the same day.

House

• Jan 6:
  • The House select panel looking into the January 6th insurrection and what Trump’s officials were doing at the time sent out subpoenas against 11 organizers of the fateful rally that day that preceded the insurrection, including Katrina Pierson, who was heavily involved in Trump’s election campaign. The subpoenas demanded documents and seek to depose organizers of the Stop the Steal rally, including the niece of Trump’s chief of staff. Peirson, for her part, had a meeting with Trump on January 4th where he reportedly asked about the speakers at the event. 

Senate

• Milley testimony:
  • General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, commenting on Biden’s recent pullout from Afghanistan and recent book passages detailing how Milley called his counterparts in China during Trump’s tenure telling them America won’t attack China, even on Trump’s command. Milley defended his call with Chinese counterparts, pushing back on book reports by saying the call was never secret as it had numerous officials together on the call, and that he was simply calming down his Chinese equivalents against Trump’s erratic behavior. Milley also defended Biden’s plan to pull out of Afghanistan, already he did say he was against the idea, instead being in favor of leaving around 2500 troops in Afghanistan. Milley called the Afghanistan War as a whole a strategic failure.
• Facebook:
  • The Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing this week examining Facebook’s policies after reports showed that Instagram worsened teen girls’ perception of body image, with Facebook’s global head of safety, Antigone Davis, testifying that despite the internal research, Facebook, which owns Instagram, actually enriches the lives of teens. Instagram wanted to launch a new app just for kids, but paused the idea.
• Immigration:
  • Adding to the frustration in passing Biden’s agenda, Elizabeth Macdonough, the Senate Parliamentarian who makes decisions on the rules of the Senate, said that creating a pathway for Dreamers to become citizens can’t be put into the $3.5t human infrastructure proposal because it doesn’t satisfy budget reconciliation rules. The rule requires that the proposal’s measures only pertain to the budget, whereas Macdonough said the immigration plan had nothing to do with it.
• Warren:
  • Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren said that she’ll oppose the renomination of Jerome Powell to head the Federal Reserve, saying she has grave concerns about him wanting to loosen financial rules and called him a dangerous man to Powell’s face at a Senate Banking Committee hearing. Warren herself is known for spearheading the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
• Confirmations:
  • The Senate has also confirmed this week Biden’s choice to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra, and Tracy Stone-Manning for the Bureau of Land Management, who faced hard opposition from Republicans.

Federal Courts

• Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor, who oversees New York as part of her jurisdiction, allowed New York’s school vaccine mandate to go forward when she swatted down a challenge brought by four teachers and teaching assistants. School staff had a deadline of 5pm this past Friday to get at least one shot or stay unpaid until next September.
• The DOJs challenge to the Texas abortion law that allows private citizens to go after those seeking or helping carry out an abortion came before US District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin’s federal court. Judge Pitman didn’t indicate which way he ruled, but doubtless whatever decision comes down, if someone won’t like it, they’re appealing to a panel on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Justice Brett Kavanaugh tested positive for COVID this past week despite him being fully vaccinated. Kavanaugh isn’t reportedly experiencing any symptoms. By way of a reminder, someone who is fully vaccinated isn’t guaranteed to never get infected again with COVID, although the chances of getting infected are lower, but the chances of dying or getting hospitalized are very low if you’re vaccinated versus the opposite.
• The Supreme Court agreed to review a 9th Circuit case that gave a Spanish museum the rights to hold onto art that was originally stolen by the Nazis.
• John Hinckley, the man who attempted to assassinate late President Ronald Reagan in 1981, was granted unconditional release by US District Court Judge Paul Friedman this week, as long as he remains mentally stable and follows rules put in place in 2016. Hinckley was placed in a mental hospital for three decades after a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity after trying to take Reagan’s life outside a DC hotel. Reagan’s Press Secretary at the time, James Brady, was paralyzed in the attempt.
• New York’s 2nd CIrcuit ruled through a three judge panel to block a challenge by landlords against New York’s eviction moratorium, saying that the landlord’s due process claims were rendered moot when the Supreme Court struck down a key provision in the law that prevented evictions so long as tenants fill out a hardship form.
• The DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Biden administration can continue to expel those seeking asylum in the US under a controversial public health order used under the Trump administration called Title 42. Trump used the law claiming that COVID made those seeking asylum at the Southern border dangerous, and although Biden pledged to not use the law anymore, has disappointed his supporters by still employing the tactic.

National

• COVID
  • Pharmaceutical company Merck announced positive results from testing it has done on a pill the company developed that could cut the chances of immunocompromised Americans from dying from COVID in half. The pill, molnupiravir, could be key to bringing down the COVID death toll if clinical results continue to pan out, and alongside it's partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, Merck said they would apply for emergency use authorization as fast as possible.
  • But despite that bit of good news, the US has surpassed the threshold of dead Americans from COVID to 700k. It took a little more than three months for the country to get there from the previous toll of 600k, with the amount of the dead surpassing the 675k Americans that died from the 1917 Spanish flu. Although the US has hit the grim milestone, the CDC said that death rates are forecast to drop for the first time since June, as 2k people die a day.
  • YouTube has finally decided to crack down on conspiracy videos that cast doubt on the efficacy of COVID vaccines or spread misinformation about the virus in general. The policy takes down videos associated with famous anti-vaxxers such as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. YouTube received modest plaudits for the decision, with critics saying the decision came too late.
  • California again became one of the states with the most stringent vaccine requirements, as it moved forward with mandating that all students over the age of 12 be vaccinated since Pfizer has become FDA approved.
• Jan 6:
  • Olympic Gold medalist Klete Keller pled guilty to obstructing an official proceeding stemming from his role at the January 6th insurrection against the Capitol, agreeing to cooperate and testify as a witness if need be.
• Spears:
  • Britney Spears is now free. Judge Brena Penny granted the pop star’s petition to remove her father Jamie Spears as the sole remaining conservator, suspending the conservatorship in general. Conservatorships are legal guardianship arrangements, usually reserved for those that can’t take care of themselves, but had been in place against Britney Spears for 13 years following a high-profile meltdown. Ever since, Britney couldn’t conduct her own business affairs and was even spied on through her iCloud account, with her father controlling her every move. Spears recently got rid of her court-appointed conservatorship lawyer and retained the services of a private attorney who aggressively sought to investigate Jamie Spears.
• R. Kelly:
  • And another pop star is going to jail. Former R&B star R. Kelly was found guilty by a jury in New York this week of sex-trafficking and racketeering after a weekslong trial concluded where testimony highlighted Kelly’s practices of grooming underage girls for sexual favors and slavery-like conditions.
• Maryland Capital Gazette killer:
  • Maryland Judge Michael Wachs sentenced Jarros Ramos to five life sentences for killing 5 Capital Gazette journalists in 2018 this week. Ramos’ lawyers tried using an insanity defense, claiming Ramos didn’t know what he was doing was wrong at the time, but a jury rejected that defense in July, convicting Ramos of murder, assault, and other charges.
• Obama Presidential Library:
  • Former President Obama opened his presidential library in Chicago on Tuesday. Obama used the opening ceremony to say the library will be used as a place to strengthen democratic ideals rather than just being a boring old library.
• Amtrack:
  • An Amtrack train derailed in Montana, causing the deaths of 3 people and injuring numerous others. It’s still unclear how the train derailed, as the National Transportation Safety Board investigates.
• Omarosa:
  • Arbitrator T. Andrew Brown has given Omarosa Manigault Newman the green light to publish a book retelling her time working in the Trump White House. Trump tried to stop Omarosa’s book, citing that she signed an NDA preventing her from talking about her time working for him, but Brown’s ruling said the NDA’s terms were vague and therefore, void, and the book’s contents weren’t privileged. Trump made his employees sign NDAs preventing them from disclosing their experiences working for him and was generally common practice even before Trump became President.
• Disney and Scarlet:
  • Disney and Scarlett Johansson are friends again after the two parties settled Johnsson’s case against the media conglomerate. The Black Widow star originally brought suit against Disney for allegedly breaching a contract related to how the Black Widow movie was going to be distributed, with Johansson crying foul when the movie was streamed on Disney+, claiming it went against her compensation agreement. Other actors followed suit in similar lawsuits.

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