The Commentariat -- September 30, 2021

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

** Tony Romm of the Washington Post: "Congress on Thursday approved a measure to fund the government into early December, staving off a shutdown that was set to occur after midnight. The votes in the House and Senate followed weeks of hand wringing between the two parties, after Democrats initially sought to move the measure along with another proposal to raise the country's debt ceiling. Senate Republicans blocked that effort, leaving the country's ability to borrow unresolved just 18 days before the next major fiscal deadline. The funding stopgap sustains federal agencies' existing spending until December 3, at which point Congress must adopt another short-term fix, called a continuing resolution, or pass a dozen appropriations bills that fund federal agencies through the 2022 fiscal year. The new measure also includes billions of dollars to assist in responding to two recent, deadly hurricanes that battered the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard, as well as other money to aid in resettling refugees arriving from Afghanistan. ~~~

~~~ [**] "Still unresolved is the fight over the debt ceiling, the statutory limit on U.S. borrowing. The cap allows the government to rack up debt to pay its bills. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has told Congress that her agency will run out of flexibility to avoid missing payments after October 18, at which point Washington would face the unprecedented threat of default unless Congress acts. House Democrats on Wednesday adopted a measure to raise the debt ceiling, but Senate ... Republicans have refused to raise the debt ceiling...." The AP's story is here.

Mike Lillis of the Hill: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is pressing ahead with her plan to stage a Thursday vote on the Senate-passed infrastructure bill, brushing aside threats from liberals vowing to sink the proposal and expressing confidence it will pass. 'We're on a path to win the vote,' Pelosi said. 'I don't want to even consider any options other than that.' Pelosi has promised moderate members of her caucus a Thursday vote on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, which passed the Senate with broad bipartisan support last month.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here.

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The Climax to a Dramedy of Errors Is Looking Like a "Thelma & Louise" Moment. Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Democrats in Congress moved on Wednesday to avert a looming fiscal crisis, scheduling a House vote to raise the debt ceiling and preparing a separate spending bill to head off a government shutdown looming at midnight on Thursday. The Senate could vote as early as Wednesday on the spending bill, which is needed to prevent a lapse in government funding when the fiscal year ends on Thursday and also includes emergency disaster aid. Republicans were expected to support it, after Democrats removed a debt-limit increase that the G.O.P. had refused to back. That left uncertain the fate of the legislation to raise the statutory limit on federal borrowing, which is on track to be breached by Oct. 18 if Congress does not increase it. House Democrats appear to have the votes to pass their bill, which would lift the cap until Dec. 16, 2022, but Senate Republicans have blocked efforts to advance such legislation in their chamber, where 60 votes are needed to move most measures. Still, the action on Wednesday appeared to pave the way to clearing the most immediate hurdle Congress faced, as Democratic leaders labored to resolve intraparty divisions that are threatening to derail President Biden's domestic agenda." ~~~

     ~~~ As Anderson Cooper of CNN said Wednesday night, "Nobody thought Thelma and Louise would drive off the cliff." ~~~

     ~~~ The NYT story has been updated. New Lede: "Democrats prepared legislation on Wednesday to avert a government shutdown this week, but they were desperately trying to salvage President Biden's domestic agenda as conservative-leaning holdouts dug in against an ambitious $3.5 trillion social safety net and climate bill that carries many of the party's top priorities. Congressional leaders moved to address the most immediate threat, working to complete a bill to prevent a government funding lapse at midnight on Thursday. Yet after days of intensive negotiations to bridge bitter differences in their party over Mr. Biden's two biggest legislative priorities, the president and top Democrats appeared as far as ever from an agreement on their marquee social policy package...." ~~~

~~~ Caitlin Emma & Jennifer Scholtes of Politico: "The Senate appears on track to prevent a government shutdown on Thursday at midnight, as Democrats and Republicans wade through last-minute impediments to a stopgap funding bill's speedy passage. Senators were close to finalizing an agreement on Wednesday evening that would tee up final passage of the short-term funding package on Thursday, just hours before federal cash expires, according to a source.... House leaders hope to quickly approve the measure after it passes the Senate. 'My sense is that we've got a lot of this worked out,' said Republican Sen. John Kennedy, whose hurricane-battered state of Louisiana would receive critical disaster aid through the bill. 'I always thought we would get to this point.'... The rush to avoid a shutdown comes after Senate Democrats ditched a provision that would suspend the cap on how much the government can borrow, through December 2022." ~~~

     ~~~ Update. John Nolen & Melissa Quinn of CBS News: "Senate Minority [Majority] Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday night that an agreement to keep the government funded and prevent a government shutdown has been reached. "We have an agreement on the C.R. -- the continuing resolution -- to prevent a government shutdown, and we should be voting on that tomorrow morning,' he said on the Senate floor. The majority leader said he hopes to hold a vote on final passage by midday -- hours before government funding would have run out, at midnight Thursday."

Burgess Everett of Politico: “Joe Manchin released a statement on Wednesday afternoon panning his colleagues' spending plans as 'fiscal insanity.' Then he started to lay out how he wants to work on President Joe Biden's family plan. As all of Washington hangs on his every word, Manchin said he did want to clinch a reconciliation bill even as some progressives fear he's trying to kill the whole thing. But rather than approach the effort as the multi-trillion-dollar social spending and climate change bill envisioned by his colleagues, Manchin said Democrats needed to start with gutting the 2017 Trump tax cuts and go from there.... And for Manchin the timetable is months, not days or weeks.... 'This is why we're not voting for the bipartisan bill until we get a reconciliation bill,' [progressive leader] Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) told reporters. 'After that statement we probably have even more people willing to vote no.'" ~~~

     ~~~ MEANWHILE, freshman Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D[ingbat]-Az.) is out there winging it. When NBC News report Frank Thorp confronted Sinema in the hall and asked her what she would tell progressives who were "frustrated they don't know where you are," she said, "I'm clearly right in front of the elevator."; The dizzy-blonde act is not wearing well. According to Jack Healy & Emily Cochrane of the New York Times, "... Ms. Sinema is facing a growing political revolt at home from the voters who once counted themselves among her most devoted supporters.” I believe it was John Heilemann, appearing on MSNBC, who said that Arizona's other Democratic Senator, Mark Kelly, who is going along with the program, is receiving no blowback on the home front. "With great power comes great responsibility," Heilemann said, and Sinema, who has great power right now, doesn't seem to get that she also has great responsibility.

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Business groups and some Senate Republicans -- working at cross-purposes with Republican leaders in the House -- have mounted an all-out drive to secure G.O.P. votes for a bipartisan infrastructure bill ahead of a final vote on Thursday. Although the measure is the product of a compromise among moderates in both parties, House Republican leaders are leaning on their members to reject the $1 trillion infrastructure bill by disparaging its contents and arguing that it will only pave the way for Democrats to push through their far larger climate change and social policy bill.... How the conflicting pressure campaigns play out could determine the fate of the infrastructure bill. On Tuesday, liberal Democrats accused Ms. Pelosi of a betrayal for abandoning her promise that the House would not take up the infrastructure bill until after the Senate secured passage of the larger measure. While Democratic leaders are working hard to secure as many of those liberal votes as possible, they know defections will have to be made up by House Republicans." (Also linked yesterday.)

Alex Horton & Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "President Biden's top military adviser told lawmakers Wednesday that the war in Afghanistan was lost through pivotal decisions spanning four previous administrations, offering his latest defense of the commander in chief whose order to end the 20-year campaign and the treacherous evacuation that followed have come under withering scrutiny on Capitol Hill. 'It wasn't lost in the last 20 days or even 20 months. There's a cumulative effect to a series of strategic decisions that go way back,' Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley told the House Armed Services Committee during a rancorous hearing that further underscored the deep partisan split after last month's deadly exit from Kabul. He cited multiple examples, including the United States' decision to shift focus and resources from Afghanistan to Iraq, and never 'effectively dealing with Pakistan,' where throughout the war key U.S. adversaries found a haven." This is an update of a story linked yesterday.

Robert Burns & Lolita Baldor of the AP: "Senior Pentagon officials said Wednesday the collapse of the Afghan government and its security forces in August could be traced to a 202 U.S. agreement with the Taliban that promised a complete U.S. troop withdrawal. Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of Central Command, told the House Armed Services Committee that once the U.S. troop presence was pushed below 2,500 as part of President Joe Biden's decision in April to complete a total withdrawal by September, the unraveling of the U.S.-backed Afghan government accelerated. 'The signing of the Doha agreement [in 2020] had a really pernicious effect on the government of Afghanistan and on its military -- psychological more than anything else, but we set a date-certain for when we were going to leave and when they could expect all assistance to end,' McKenzie said.... He said in addition to the morale-depleting effects of the Doha agreement, the troop reduction ordered by Biden in April was 'the other nail in the coffin' for the 20-year war effort because it blinded the U.S. military to conditions inside the Afghan army, 'because our advisers were no longer down there with those units.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: What McKenzie is really saying here -- though perhaps he would not put it this way -- is that the Afghan government was always going to collapse almost as soon as the U.S. was not propping it up with troops and lots of cash. As in so many of our misadventures abroad, we were supporting a puppet government -- and paying dearly for it. Is the Taliban worse than the U.S.-dependent government? Well, yeah. But it's reasonable to have a difference of opinion on whether or not U.S. taxpayers can afford to support more than one government at a time.

Helene Cooper & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: “Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III told a House committee on Wednesday that he had not supported keeping American troops in Afghanistan, for the first time publicly discussing the advice he had given before President Biden announced his decision to withdraw all U.S. forces from the country. But Mr. Austin included a key word: 'I did not support staying in Afghanistan forever.' The word 'forever,' officials said, sheds light on an apparent contradiction that has bedeviled the Biden administration since the president told ABC's George Stephanopoulos in an interview in August that his military advisers were 'split,' despite Defense Department recommendations over the years to keep troops in Afghanistan. On the second day of congressional hearings on Afghanistan, the House Armed Services Committee asked Mr. Austin; Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the head of the military's Central Command, many of the same questions that had been raised by a Senate panel on Tuesday." This is an update of a story also linked yesterday.

Jonathan Swan & Zachary Basu of Axios: "In a classified briefing with senators on Tuesday, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley directly blamed the State Department for a botched evacuation from Afghanistan, saying officials 'waited too long' to order the operation out of Kabul's airport, two sources with direct knowledge of the briefing told Axios..... Those private remarks were far more blunt than Milley's public testimony, in which the nation's top general said the issue of whether the order should have been given earlier is an 'open question that needs further exploration.'"

For the Birds. Lisa Friedman & Catrin Einhorn of the New York Times: “The Biden administration on Wednesday restored protections for migratory birds that were loosened under ... Donald J. Trump, a move celebrated by conservationists but expected to exacerbate tensions between the administration and the oil and gas industry. The move comes as some bird species have been disappearing from the planet. North America has lost almost three billion birds in the past 50 years, scientists said. In addition to suffering from habitat loss and climate change, they are killed by collisions with buildings, power lines and communication towers. They die in oil waste pits and oil spills. Deb Haaland, the secretary of the Department of Interior, said the agency will formally revoke a rule enacted in the waning days of the Trump presidency that shielded businesses, landowners and others from legal consequences if their activities unintentionally killed birds.... The Biden administration will return to a longstanding interpretation of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act that prohibits 'incidental' harm to birds, Ms. Haaland said."

Jacqueline Alemany, et al., of the Washington Post: “The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol issued subpoenas to 11 people associated with or involved in the planning of pro-Trump rallies that preceded the violent insurrection. The subpoenas announced on Wednesday evening by the committee come a week after the committee issued subpoenas targeting two top Trump White House officials, the chief of staff to the acting defense secretary, and longtime Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon. Several of the newly subpoenaed are rally organizers -- including the founders and staff of the pro-Trump Women for America First group — who could face questions about reports that the group had concerns about the 'Stop the Steal' rally turning into an illegal and chaotic march on the Capitol. They may also be able to shed light on the degree to which the former president and his senior White House aides knew about their fears of chaos on Jan 6." A Politico report is here. The New York Times story is here.

Spencer Hsu & Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: “A court sentenced two Ohio men to serve 45 days in jail Wednesday after U.S. prosecutors for the first time requested incarceration at sentencing hearings for nonviolent misdemeanor offenders in the storming of the U.S. Capitol.... U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg ordered Derek Jancart and Erik Rau to self-surrender to the D.C. jail at a later date, saying all charges related to the insurrection were serious. 'You attempted with others to undermine one of our bedrock acts, which is the peaceful transfer of power following a democratic election,' Boasberg said, adding, 'There are few actions as serious as the ones this group took on that day.'"

Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post: "Three-time Olympic swimmer Klete Keller, who notoriously wore his Team USA jacket to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one charge stemming from his role in the riot. The felony charge of obstruction of an official proceeding carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, though sentencing guidelines call for 21 to 27 months. Keller, 39, entered the plea in a hearing before U.S. District Court Judge Richard J. Leon. As part of a plea agreement, Keller will cooperate with the government in additional prosecutions stemming from the attack on the Capitol in exchange for the government dropping the six additional charges against him." MB: To those of you inclined to think of super-athletes as heroes, this so-white boy illustrates why your accolades are ill-given.

Andrew Dalton of the AP: “A judge on Wednesday suspended Britney Spears' father from the conservatorship that has controlled the singer's life and money for 13 years, saying the arrangement 'reflects a toxic environment.' Superior Court Judge Brenda Penny agreed with a petition from Spears and her attorney, Mathew Rosengart, that James Spears needs to give up his role as conservator. The move is a major victory for the singer, who pleaded in dramatic hearings in June and July that her father needed to be out. 'The current situation is untenable,' Penny said after hearing arguments from both sides. 'It reflects a toxic environment which requires the suspension of James Spears.' James Spears sought the conservatorship in 2008 and had been its primary controller and biggest champion. He reversed course in recent weeks, asking the judge to end the conservatorship. Britney Spears and Rosengart agreed that the conservatorship should end and said in court documents that James Spears removal was a necessary first step."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here.

Oriana Gonzalez of Axios: "The CDC issued 'an urgent health advisory' on Wednesday urging people who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant to get the COVID-19 vaccine.... The CDC said it 'strongly recommends' vaccination because its benefits for a pregnant person and the fetus outweigh the risks. It added that pregnant people with COVID-19 are at 'increased risk' of outcomes such as preterm birth, stillbirth and admission of a newborn into the ICU. The CDC is also calling on health departments and health care professionals to educate pregnant individuals on the safety and effectiveness of coronavirus vaccines."

Sharon Young of NPR: "YouTube is cracking down on the spread of misinformation by banning misleading and inaccurate content about vaccines. The platform announced the change in a blog post Wednesday, explaining that its current community guidelines, which already prohibit the sharing of medical misinformation, have been extended to cover 'currently administered' vaccines that have been proven safe by the World Health Organization and other health officials. The site had previously banned content containing false claims about COVID-19 vaccines under its COVID-19 misinformation policy. The change extends that policy to a far wider number of vaccines.... In its announcement, the company pointed specifically to videos that inaccurately describe what ingredients are used in vaccines as well as allegations that vaccines contain properties that can be used to 'track' those who receive them."

Beyond the Beltway

South Dakota. Lee Strubinger of NPR: "South Dakota's top law enforcement official says he is looking into a meeting that The Associated Press reports happened in July of last year among Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, her daughter, top officials and the head of a real estate appraiser certification program. The AP reports that the governor's daughter, Kassidy Peters, was initially issued a denial for her appraiser license. Months later, however, Peters became a certified residential appraiser. That is where Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg says questions are being raised. 'I have been contacted by concerned citizens and legislators,' says Ravnsborg. 'I am actively reviewing their concerns, and I will be following the steps prescribed in codified law in relation to those questions.' (A note on Ravnsborg: He recently pleaded no contest to a pair of misdemeanor driving charges for his involvement in a fatal car crash that killed a South Dakotan. That has led to Noem pushing for Ravnsborg to resign from office.)" The Washington Post's story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Stephen Groves of the AP: "South Dakota Republican and Democratic legislators alike said Wednesday that they want more details from Gov. Kristi Noem’s administration about a meeting last year that included the governor, her daughter and state employees overseeing an agency that had moved to deny her daughter’s application to become a certified real estate appraiser. In response to the report from The Associated Press this week, the Legislature’s Government Operations and Audit Committee will look into the matter when it meets at the end of October, according to the committee chairman, state Sen. Kyle Schoenfish. The Republican governor has dismissed the report as an attack on her family, but lawmakers from within her party said they want answers from her administration about what happened." ~~~

~~~ BUT This is the most-read Story on the WashPo's Website Wednesday night. And, yeah, it's pretty hilarious: ~~~

     ~~~ Felicia Sonmez & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem (R) on Wednesday dismissed a conservative media outlet's claim that she is having an extramarital affair with Corey Lewandowski, a former Trump adviser who is also advising Noem. 'These rumors are total garbage and a disgusting lie,' Noem said in a tweet. 'These old, tired attacks on conservative women are based on a falsehood that we can't achieve anything without a man's help. I love Bryon....' A conservative website, American Greatness, published a piece Tuesday claiming that, according to 'multiple' sources, Noem has been having an affair with Lewandowski 'for months.' The website did not identify any of the sources." MB: The headline doesn't let on who the supposed boyfriend is. When I read it was Lewandowski, I couldn't help LOL. I so hope this is not a “disgusting lie." But wait! There's more. ~~~

     ~~~ Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "A Donald Trump donor is accusing Corey Lewandowski, one of the former president's longtime top aides, of making unwanted sexual advances toward her at a Las Vegas charity event over the weekend. Trashelle Odom, the wife of Idaho construction executive John Odom, alleges that Lewandowski repeatedly touched her, including on her leg and buttocks, and spoke to her in sexually graphic terms. Odom said that Lewandowski 'stalked' her throughout the evening. Four people who were first-hand witnesses at the event corroborated Odom's allegations.... South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, to whom Lewandowski serves as an informal adviser, was also among the dinner's attendees." Read on for details of Lewandowski's (alleged) behavior toward Odom. MB: Gross.~~~

     ~~~ Update. Alex Isenstadt: "Corey Lewandowski ... has been exiled from [Donald Trump]'s orbit following allegations, reported earlier Wednesday by Politico, that he made unwanted sexual advances toward a major Trump donor. Lewandowski's roles advising Trump included overseeing the principal pro-Trump super PAC, Make America Great Again Action. But Taylor Budowich, a Trump spokesperson, announced on Twitter that Lewandowski was being removed from that job. 'Corey Lewandowski will be going on to other endeavors and we very much want to thank him for his service. He will no longer be associated with Trump World,' Budowich wrote." MB: The Boss can do it, but you can't, Corey. And for Pete's sake, even Trump probably doesn't fondle the donors.

Texas. John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Matthew Dowd, the chief strategist for George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign, announced Wednesday that he is running for lieutenant governor of Texas — as a Democrat. In an announcement video, Dowd, who worked more recently as a political analyst for ABC News, takes aim at the Republican incumbent, Dan Patrick...."

Wyoming. Derrick Taylor of the New York Times: "The widespread attention surrounding the case of Gabrielle Petito helped the authorities find a body believed to be a man who had been missing since last month, in the same national forest in Wyoming where Ms. Petito's remains were discovered, officials said. Search teams on Tuesday found the body of a man fitting the description of Robert Lowery in Teton Pass, a heavily forested area in Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming, according to Teton County Search and Rescue. The area is about 17 miles from where Ms. Petito's remains were found on Sept. 19. Mr. Lowery, 46, from Houston, was last seen on Aug. 20. A cause of death is under investigation, officials said."

Way Beyond

Canada. Rachel Pannett of the Washington Post: "A Canadian court has paved the way for billions of dollars in compensation to be paid to First Nation children removed from their families and placed into state welfare after a judge on Wednesday dismissed a legal challenge from the federal government. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal had previously ruled that Ottawa 'willfully and recklessly' discriminated against Indigenous children living on reserves by failing to properly fund child and family services. The neglect was found to have pushed many of the children into foster care, leading the tribunal in 2019 to order Ottawa to pay about $31,000 to each child removed from home. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government had appealed the judgment, but Canada's Federal Court sided with the tribunal, saying Ottawa failed to show its compensation ruling was unreasonable." The Guardian's report is here.

The Commentariat -- September 29, 2021

Late Morning Update:

Alex Horton & Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "The senior military leaders who oversaw last month's withdrawal from Afghanistan returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday, a day after all three acknowledged the war's chaotic and deadly conclusion was a 'strategic failure' that came after President Biden rejected their recommendations to retain troops there." A New York Times story is here.

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Business groups and some Senate Republicans — working at cross-purposes with Republican leaders in the House -- have mounted an all-out drive to secure G.O.P. votes for a bipartisan infrastructure bill ahead of a final vote on Thursday. Although the measure is the product of a compromise among moderates in both parties, House Republican leaders are leaning on their members to reject the $1 trillion infrastructure bill by disparaging its contents and arguing that it will only pave the way for Democrats to push through their far larger climate change and social policy bill.... How the conflicting pressure campaigns play out could determine the fate of the infrastructure bill. On Tuesday, liberal Democrats accused Ms. Pelosi of a betrayal for abandoning her promise that the House would not take up the infrastructure bill until after the Senate secured passage of the larger measure. While Democratic leaders are working hard to secure as many of those liberal votes as possible, they know defections will have to be made up by House Republicans."

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Infrastructure Week Never Goes Well. Tony Romm, et al., of the Washington Post: "Negotiations between the White House and top Democratic lawmakers intensified Tuesday as President Biden scrambled to save roughly $4 trillion in economic initiatives from an embarrassing setback at the hands of his own party. For Biden, the day of diplomacy sought to blunt a fast-worsening congressional stalemate: An upcoming House vote on a $1 trillion plan to improve the nation's infrastructure remains imperiled as Democrats clash over the size and scope of a second spending package.... To try to break the logjam, Biden huddled with ... [Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.)] in a series of meetings at the White House on Tuesday. But their negotiations did not immediately appear to produce an agreement over the final size of the spending package, frustrating liberals who have pledged in the absence of a deal to scuttle a vote on the infrastructure package expected in the House later on Thursday." ~~~

~~~ So Not Business as Usual. Fadel Allassan of Axios: "President Biden has canceled a trip to Chicago on Wednesday and will stay in Washington to continue negotiations on key pieces of his legislative agenda, a White House official confirmed Tuesday.... It's a sign of how crucial the coming days of talks will be if Biden is to advance his $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package and his flagship infrastructure bill...." ~~~

~~~ We're Against It & We Won't Say What We're For. Marianne Levine & Burgess Everett of Politico: “Democrats wanted clarity Tuesday from Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema after back-to-back meetings with President Joe Biden. They didn't get it. During a private meeting with the president, Sinema made clear she's still not on board with the party's $3.5 trillion social spending plan and is hesitant to engage on some specifics until the bipartisan infrastructure package passes the House, according to a person who spoke with her.... After returning from his White House meeting, Manchin said that he did not give Biden a top-line number and made 'no commitments from my standpoint.'" ~~~

~~~ Sahil Kapur, et al., of NBC News: "House progressives are digging in on their resistance to passing the infrastructure bill this week, repeating their threat to block the measure despite Speaker Nancy Pelosi's call to pass it quickly and tackle the social safety net package later. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., the chair of the progressive caucus, whic boasts 95 House members, told NBC News that 'nothing has changed' and more than half her caucus is prepared to vote down the infrastructure bill if it comes up before the larger tax-and-spending bill has passed the Senate.... 'We have to understand we're in the situation of mutually assured destruction here...,' [Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., told NBC News.]... But among Democrats in both chambers, there is growing frustration with centrist Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., for rejecting the $3.5 trillion level without specifying what they would support. Some on the left blame them for holding up both bills."

"I Can't Pay the Rent" -- Yellin. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen on Tuesday warned lawmakers of 'catastrophic' consequences if Congress failed to soon raise or suspend the statutory debt limit, saying inaction could lead to a self-inflicted economic recession and a financial crisis. At a Senate Banking Committee hearing where she testified alongside the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell, Ms. Yellen laid out in explicit terms what she expects to happen if Congress does not deal with the debt limit before Oct. 18, which Treasury now believes is when the United States will actually face default." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Helene Cooper & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "Pentagon leaders publicly acknowledged on Tuesday that they advised President Biden not to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan ahead of a chaotic evacuation in which 13 U.S. service members died in a suicide bombing and 10 Afghan civilians were killed in an American drone strike. During an expansive Senate hearing on the war in Afghanistan, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also defended his actions in the tumultuous last months of the Trump administration, insisting that calls to his Chinese counterpart and a meeting in which he told generals to alert him if the president tried to launch a nuclear weapon were part of his duties as the country’s top military officer. Some six hours of public testimony from senior Pentagon leaders were at times acrimonious and at times verging on political theater. Republican senators who had in the past defended President Donald J. Trump's desire to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan demanded resignations from military leaders who carried out a Democratic president’s orders to withdraw." ~~~

~~~ Lara Seligman of Politico: "Top generals told lawmakers under oath on Tuesday that they advised President Joe Biden early this year to keep several thousand troops in Afghanistan -- directly contradicting the president's comments in August that no one warned him not to withdraw troops from the country.... Gen. Kenneth 'Frank' McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services in a hearing Tuesday that he recommended maintaining a small force of 2,500 troops in Afghanistan earlier this year. He also noted that in the fall of 2020, during the Trump administration, he advised that the U.S. maintain a force almost double the size, of 4,500 troops, in Afghanistan.... McKenzie's remarks directly contradict Biden's comments in an Aug. 19 interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, in which he said that 'no one' that he 'can recall' advised him to keep a force of about 2,500 troops in Afghanistan.” Gen. Mark Milley said he agreed with McKenzie's testimony. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

~~~ Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: “Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee didn’t just give a dressing down to the nation's top soldier about the Afghanistan pullout; they assassinated his character and impugned his patriotism, accusing him of aiding the enemy and of placing his own vanity before the lives of the men and women serving under him. And this is the man ... Donald Trump nominated to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.... Had the senators listened, they would have learned from the generals that they uniformly opposed staying in Afghanistan beyond Aug. 31 because it would have resulted in 'significant' U.S. casualties, that Trump's withdrawal agreement with the Taliban was violated by the Taliban from the start and left Afghan security forces demoralized, and that [President] Biden faced the very real risk of the situation escalating into another war if he didn’t withdraw. But that was difficult to hear much beyond the Republicans' heckling[.]"

Tim Scott Is a Republican. Of Course He Lied. Felicia Sonmez & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Two of the country's largest groups representing police officers said Tuesday that 'defunding the police' was not proposed in the policing reform negotiations that fell apart in Congress last week, in an apparent pushback against the lead Republican negotiator's claim. The International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police said in a joint statement Tuesday that ... 'Despite some media reports, at no point did any legislative draft propose "defunding the police."'... After the talks fell apart without a deal, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.), the lead Republican negotiator, blamed Democrats, claiming that their push to 'defund' law enforcement made it impossible to agree on legislation. President Biden, Democratic congressional leaders, and [Rep. Karen] Bass [D-Calif.] and [Sen. Cory] Booker [D-N.J.] have rejected the idea of slashing police departments' budgets."

Neil Vigdor of the New York Times: "More than four years after leaving office, Barack Obama broke ground on Tuesday on his presidential center on the South Side of Chicago, a legacy project that has been bogged down by a lengthy discord over its use of a public park and its potential impact on a historically neglected part of the city. In an hourlong ceremony that was scaled down because of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Obama and Michelle Obama ... scooped up dirt with commemorative shovels at the 19-acre site in Jackson Park, near the shores of Lake Michigan. Joining the Obamas for the groundbreaking, which was streamed online, were Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago.... Mr. Obama ... said that the presidential center would become a catalyst for job growth and economic development in the place where he came of age as a politician, husband and father. The project, he said, would also turn Chicago's South Side into a destination.... In a departure from similar projects recognizing former presidents, the center won't actually be a presidential library. It won't house Mr. Obama's presidential papers, which will be digitized -- a decision that has been a sore point for some presidential observers. Mr. Obama envisioned that the center would host concerts, cultural events, lectures, trainings and summits." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Ha! And you thought the first presidential* "library" without books would be Trump's. I can think of a few books that you will find in the Obama center: go to the gift shop & there are sure to be copies of books that President & Mrs. Obama wrote.

Say What? Betsy Swan & Lara Seligman of Politico: "On Jan. 6, more than 30 minutes after the first attackers breached barricades erected to protect the Capitol, the Department of Homeland Security sent an incongruous update to the Pentagon. 'There are no major incidents of illegal activity at this time,' read an internal Army email sent to senior leaders at 1:40 p.m. that day, referring to an update the service had just received from DHS's National Operations Center (NOC).... 'These emails raise serious questions about the response to the threat of January 6th,' said Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a government watchdog group that obtained the email through a public records request and shared it with Politico.... The Pentagon did receive more accurate information about the threat on Jan. 6 via frequent communications throughout the day with other agencies, as well as lawmakers, the White House, the DC mayor and the local law enforcement." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If you consider the claims made by whistleblower Brian Murphy, a former top staffer in the DHS's Office of Intelligence & Analysis, it's not too hard to suspect that DHS purposely chose not to inform the Pentagon about the attack on the Capitol.

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Federal judges for months have questioned whether no-prison plea deals offered by the government to low-level Jan. 6 defendants are too lenient to deter future attackers from terrorizing members of Congress. Now judges can decide for themselves, after prosecutors for the first time are requesting jail time at a sentencing hearing scheduled Wednesday morning for a nonviolent misdemeanor offender in the U.S. Capitol breach. Derek Jancart, an Air Force veteran from Ohio who pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, is the first of three misdemeanor defendants facing sentencing this week in cases prosecutors hope will yield home confinement or time behind bars.... And Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan warned Dawn Bancroft of suburban Philadelphia to prepare to explain her actions at sentencing after she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor trespassing at the Capitol and sent a video on Facebook of herself saying: 'We broke into the Capitol.... We got inside, we did our part,' and adding, 'We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin' brain, but we didn't find her.'"

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Stephanie Grisham, the former Trump White House press secretary perhaps best known for >never holding a televised briefing with reporters, plans to release a tell-all book next week that accuses ... Donald J. Trump of abusing his staff, placating dictators like Vladimir Putin of Russia, and making sexual comments about a young White House aide. In her book, titled 'I'll Take Your Questions Now,' Ms. Grisham recalls her time working for a president she said constantly berated her and made outlandish requests, including a demand that she appear before the press corps and re-enact a certain call with the Ukrainian president that led to Mr. Trump's (first) impeachment, an assignment she managed to avoid. 'I knew that sooner or later the president would want me to tell the public something that was not true or that would make me sound like a lunatic,' Ms. Grisham writes, offering a reason for why she never held a briefing." Rogers lists some highlights. The Washington Post's review was linked yesterday. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ digby republishes much of the dish reported by the WashPo's reviewer. It's all funny, in a horrifying sort of way.

Biggest Loser Loses Again. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has lost an effort to enforce a nondisclosure agreement against Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former White House aide and a star on 'The Apprentice' who wrote a tell-all book about serving in his administration. The decision in the case, which Mr. Trump's campaign filed in August 2018 with the American Arbitration Association in New York, comes as the former president is enmeshed in a number of investigations and legal cases related to his private company.... The decision, dated on Friday and handed down on Monday, calls for her to collect legal fees from the Trump campaign.... The arbitrator, Andrew Brown, said that the definition of the type of comment protected by the nondisclosure agreement was so vague that it had been rendered meaningless. What was more, he wrote, the statements Ms. Manigault Newman had made hardly included privileged information." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Catrin Einhorn of the New York Times: "The ivory-billed woodpecker, which birders have been seeking in the bayous of Arkansas, is gone forever, according to federal officials. So is the Bachman's warbler, a yellow-breasted songbird that once migrated between the Southeastern United States and Cuba. The song of the Kauai O'o, a Hawaiian forest bird, exists only on recordings. And there is no longer any hope for several types of freshwater mussels that once filtered streams and rivers from Georgia to Illinois. In all, 22 animals and one plant should be declared extinct and removed from the endangered species list, federal wildlife officials planned to announce on Wednesday. The announcement ... comes amid a worsening global biodiversity crisis that threatens a million species with extinction, many within decades." ~~~

     ~~~ Matthew Brown of the AP: "The factors behind the disappearances vary -- too much development, water pollution, logging, competition from invasive species, birds killed for feathers and animals captured by private collectors. In each case, humans were the ultimate cause.... All 23 were thought to have at least a slim chance of survival when added to the endangered species list beginning in the 1960s. Only 11 species previously have been removed due to extinction in the almost half-century since the Endangered Species Act was signed into law."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here. The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Wednesday are here: "The side effects Americans experienced from a third dose of a coronavirus vaccine are similar to those from a second dose, according to a study released Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.... Data from nearly 12,600 people who received a third dose of a coronavirus vaccine by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna showed that side effects -- which were described as mostly mild to moderate, and occurring the day after vaccination -- were prevalent at similar rates to those from a second vaccine dose during the regular course."

Micah Lee of the Intercept: "A network of health care providers pocketed millions of dollars selling hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, and online consultations, according to hacked data provided to The Intercept. The data show that vast sums of money are being extracted from people concerned about or suffering from Covid-19 but resistant to vaccinations or other recommendations of public health authorities. America's Frontline Doctors, a right-wing group founded last year to promote pro-Trump doctors during the coronavirus pandemic, is working in tandem with a small network of health care companies to sow distrust in the Covid-19 vaccine, dupe tens of thousands of people into seeking ineffective treatments for the disease, and then sell consultations and millions of dollars' worth of those medications.... America's Frontline Doctors, which debuted in the summer of 2020, has close ties to a network of right-wing efforts to undermine public health during the pandemic, including the Tea Party Patriots. AFLDS's founder, physician Simone Gold, was arrested and charged after the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6.... The extremely partisan group also misleads people about Covid-19 vaccines, which they refer to as 'experimental biological agents,' and against public health measures like vaccine mandates, masking, social distancing, and restrictions on businesses." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The story helps you see that many Covid-19 vaccine skeptics are not behaving irrationally. If the folks on your favorite TV channel keep telling you not to trust what you read & hear in the MSM, if "your" doctor tells you the vaccine is an "experimental biological agent" & urges you to swallow dewormer pills instead, if she tells you masks & social distancing are unnecessary impositions on your "freedom," if the Internet "news" sites you read and most of your friends agree with this advice, then it makes "sense" for you to reject vaccines and masks. Sure, you're a nincompoop, but you're not a crazy nincompoop.

Lori Aratani of the Washington Post: "Nearly all of United Airlines' U.S.-based employees have been vaccinated, the company said Tuesday, touting the success of its policy after becoming the first U.S. carrier to require the vaccine among its workforce. United's deadline for meeting the requirement was Monday, and the carrier said Tuesday it has begun the process of terminating 593 employees who declined to be vaccinated and did not apply for a health or religious exemption. The company said less than 3 percent of its roughly 67,000 workforce applied for exemptions, while 1 percent didn't comply." MB: Mandates work.

** NEW. Alabama. Kim Chandler of the AP: "Facing a Justice Department lawsuit over Alabama's notoriously violent prisons, state lawmakers on Monday began a special session on a $1.3 billion construction plan that would use federal pandemic relief funds to pay part of the cost of building massive new lockups. Gov. Kay Ivey has touted the plan to build three new prisons and renovate others as a partial solution to the state's longstanding troubles in its prison system.... U.S. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York sent a letter Monday to Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen asking Treasury to 'prevent the misuse of (American Rescue Plan) funding by any state, including Alabama' to build prisons. 'Directing funding meant to protect our citizens from a pandemic to fuel mass incarceration is, in direct contravention of the intended purposes of the ARP legislation,' Nadler wrote in the letter." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Why not use it to buy yourself a gubernatorial airplane, Kay? And/or trips to the spa? Because those are just as much representative of Congress's intentions for use of pandemic funds as is your prison scheme.

NEW. Connecticut. Andrea Salcedo of the Washington Post: "Over the summer, an anonymous tipster reached out to the Connecticut Department of Public Health ... [to complain that] Sue McIntosh, a retired physician, was mailing fake coronavirus vaccine and mask exemption forms to those who reached out and followed her instructions, the person reported. All a requester had to do, the tipster wrote, was send McIntosh a stamped and self-addressed manila envelope 'for every person you would like an exemption for.'... The probe revealed that McIntosh sent out fraudulent coronavirus vaccine exemption forms using the same modus operandi the tipster had described. It also found that she would issue fake exemption forms to help people evade coronavirus testing, mask and other vaccine requirements. She did this without ever seeing a patient, the state's health department said.... Last week, the Connecticut Medical Examining Board suspended McIntosh's physician and surgeon license during an emergency meeting following the results of the state health department's investigation."

North Carolina. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "A North Carolina-based hospital system announced Monday that roughly 175 unvaccinated employees were fired for failing to comply with the organization's mandatory coronavirus vaccination policy, the latest in a series of health-care dismissals over coronavirus immunization.... [A spokesperson] told The Washington Post that more than 99 percent of the system's roughly 35,000 employees have followed the mandatory vaccination program." MB: Mandates work. (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Maryland. Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "The man who stormed into the newsroom of a community newspaper chain in Maryland's capital in 2018, killing five staff members, was sentenced on Tuesday to five consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, according to prosecutors. The man, Jarrod W. Ramos, 41, had pleaded guilty in October 2019 to 23 charges, including five counts of first-degree murder, for the shooting at the Capital Gazette newspaper offices in Annapolis on June 28, 2018, one of the deadliest attacks on American journalists. The Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office announced the sentence after a two-hour hearing.... The state's attorney's office said in a statement that Mr. Ramos also was sentenced to a sixth life term for the attempted first-degree murder of one person who survived the shooting. He was also sentenced to an additional 345 years on other charges, including assault and firearms counts.... In July, a jury deliberated for less than two hours before finding that Mr. Ramos was sane at the time of the attack and criminally responsible for his actions."

Virginia. Sarah Rankin of the AP: "Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin clashed Tuesday evening over vaccinations, tax policy, education and their respective records in the second and final debate in Virginia's closely watched gubernatorial election. The event quickly got off to a combative start and neither candidate let up over the course of the hour, with each accusing the other of lying to voters. Five weeks from Election Day and with early voting already underway, recent polls suggest a tight race between McAuliffe, who is seeking a second term after his first ended in 2018, and Youngkin, a former business executive and political newcomer." The Washington Post's report is here.

Way Beyond

France. Vive la Liberté. Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "French President Emmanuel Macron urged Europeans to 'come out of their naivete' on the world stage and assert their independence from the United States, sending one of the strongest signals to date that the diplomatic crisis prompted by a disrupted submarine deal could have long-lasting repercussions on transatlantic relations."

Japan. Mari Yamaguchi of the AP: "Japan's former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida won the governing party leadership election on Wednesday and is set to become the next prime minister, facing the imminent task of addressing a pandemic-hit economy and ensuring a strong alliance with Washington to counter growing regional security risks. Kishida replaces outgoing party leader Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who is stepping down after serving only one year since taking office last September. As new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Kishida is certain to be elected the next prime minister on Monday in parliament, where his party and coalition partner control the house. Kishida beat popular vaccinations minister Taro Kono in a runoff after finishing only one vote ahead of him in the first round where none of the four candidates, including two women, was able to win a majority."

North Korea. Michelle Lee of the Washington Post: "North Korea said Wednesday that it launched a 'hypersonic' missile for the first time, in what marks the latest advance in its expanding weapons program and a milestone in a project officials had identified as a top military priority. Hypersonic missile systems are some of the latest warfare technology being developed by military powers such as China, Russia and the United States. The weapons fly faster and at lower altitudes than traditional ballistic missiles, allowing them to maneuver more flexibly. They are being developed to eventually carry nuclear warheads." An AP story is here.

U.K. Karla Adam & William Booth of the Washington Post: "Prime Minister Boris Johnson put British army troops 'on standby' to work as truck drivers to haul fuel to gas stations where supplies have been emptied by panic buying and labor shortfalls -- not to mention Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic. Supply chain disruptions and attendant shortages of goods are hitting countries around the globe, including the United States. But Britain appears on the forefront of the chaos -- where recovery from the pandemic is colliding with steep labor shortages, driven by the end of free movement of workers from Eastern Europe who were handling the low-wage jobs Britons take a pass on -- in nursing homes, slaughter houses and on the highways." MB: Hey, Queen Elizabeth drives a truck; call her up. (Also linked yesterday.)

News Lede

New York Times: "Ten days into a volcanic eruption on the Spanish island of La Palma, a pyramidlike structure formed on Wednesday just off its coast as lava started pouring into the ocean. The local authorities called on residents on Wednesday morning to keep their windows shut because a mix of toxic gases and small particles may be released when molten lava comes into contact with cold water. Scientists have also been warning that the chemical reactions between lava and water could cause powerful underwater explosions. The lava entering the water should be treated as 'a very dangerous moment,' said Ángel Víctor Torres, the regional leader of the Canary Islands, an island grouping off northwestern Africa that includes La Palma."

The Commentariat -- September 28, 2021

Afternoon Update:

The New York Times' live updates of a Senate hearing interrogating Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin & Gen. Kenneth McKenzie are here: "Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defended his actions in the tumultuous last months of the Trump administration, insisting that calls to his Chinese counterpart and a meeting in which he told generals to alert him if the president tried to launch a nuclear weapon were all part of his job duties as the country's most senior military officer."

Lara Seligman of Politico: "Top generals told lawmakers under oath on Tuesday that they advised President Joe Biden early this year to keep several thousand troops in Afghanistan -- directly contradicting the president's comments in August that no one warned him not to withdraw troops from the country.... Gen. Kenneth 'Frank' McKenzie, the commander of U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services in a hearing Tuesday that he recommended maintaining a small force of 2,500 troops in Afghanistan earlier this year. He also noted that in the fall of 2020, during the Trump administration, he advised that the U.S. maintain a force almost double the size, of 4,500 troops, in Afghanistan.... McKenzie's remarks directly contradict Biden's comments in an Aug. 19 interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, in which he said that 'no one' that he 'can recall' advised him to keep a force of about 2,500 troops in Afghanistan." Gen. Mark Milley said he agreed with McKenzie's testimony.

"I Can't Pay the Rent" -- Yellin. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen on Tuesday warned lawmakers of 'catastrophic' consequences if Congress failed to soon raise or suspend the statutory debt limit, saying inaction could lead to a self-inflicted economic recession and a financial crisis. At a Senate Banking Committee hearing where she testified alongside the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome H. Powell, Ms. Yellen laid out in explicit terms what she expects to happen if Congress does not deal with the debt limit before Oct. 18, which Treasury now believes is when the United States will actually face default."

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Stephanie Grisham, the former Trump White House press secretary perhaps best known for never holding a televised briefing with reporters, plans to release a tell-all book next week that accuses President Donald J. Trump of abusing his staff, placating dictators like Vladimir Putin of Russia, and making sexual comments about a young White House aide. In her book, titled 'I'll Take Your Questions Now,' Ms. Grisham recalls her time working for a president she said constantly berated her and made outlandish requests, including a demand that she appear before the press corps and re-enact a certain call with the Ukrainian president that led to Mr. Trump's (first) impeachment, an assignment she managed to avoid. 'I knew that sooner or later the president would want me to tell the public something that was not true or that would make me sound like a lunatic,' Ms. Grisham writes, offering a reason for why she never held a briefing." Rogers lists some highlights. The Washington Post's review is linked below.

Biggest Loser Loses Again. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump has lost an effort to enforce a nondisclosure agreement against Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former White House aide and a star on 'The Apprentice' who wrote a tell-all book about serving in his administration. The decision in the case, which Mr. Trump's campaign filed in August 2018 with the American Arbitration Association in New York, comes as the former president is enmeshed in a number of investigations and legal cases related to his private company.... The decision, dated on Friday and handed down on Monday, calls for her to collect legal fees from the Trump campaign.... The arbitrator, Andrew Brown, said that the definition of the type of comment protected by the nondisclosure agreement was so vague that it had been rendered meaningless. What was more, he wrote, the statements Ms. Manigault Newman had made hardly included privileged information."

Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "A North Carolina-based hospital system announced Monday that roughly 175 unvaccinated employees were fired for failing to comply with the organization's mandatory coronavirus vaccination policy, the latest in a series of health-care dismissals over coronavirus immunization.... [A spokesperson] told The Washington Post that more than 99 percent of the system's roughly 35,000 employees have followed the mandatory vaccination program." MB: Mandates work.

U.K. Karla Adam & William Booth of the Washington Post: "Prime Minister Boris Johnson put British army troops 'on standby' to work as truck drivers to haul fuel to gas stations where supplies have been emptied by panic buying and labor shortfalls -- not to mention Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic. Supply chain disruptions and attendant shortages of goods are hitting countries around the globe, including the United States. But Britain appears on the forefront of the chaos -- where recovery from the pandemic is colliding with steep labor shortages, driven by the end of free movement of workers from Eastern Europe who were handling the low-wage jobs Britons take a pass on -- in nursing homes, slaughter houses and on the highways." MB: Hey, Queen Elizabeth drives a truck; call her up.

~~~~~~~~~~

Miriam Jordan & Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "The Biden administration plans to publish a proposed rule on Tuesday in hopes of preserving Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, a program that has protected hundreds of thousands of undocumented young adults from deportation and allowed them to legally work in the United States. The proposal is especially important given a recent decision by the Senate parliamentarian to not allow immigration provisions to be included in a sprawling budget bill, which Democrats had hoped would put DACA recipients on a path to citizenship. The new rule, to be published in The Federal Register, would go into effect after the administration considers public input during a 60-day comment period. It would protect some 700,000 undocumented people brought to the United States as children from being deported or losing their work permits, even if Congress does not pass comprehensive immigration reform."

Robert Burns & Lolita Baldor of the AP: "In their first public testimony since the U.S. completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan, top Pentagon leaders will face sharp questions in Congress about the chaotic pullout and the Taliban's rapid takeover of the country.... Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are slated to testify Tuesday in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee and then on Wednesday before the House Armed Services Committee. Gen. Frank McKenzie, who as head of Central Command oversaw the withdrawal, will testify as well." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post is live-updating Tuesday's hearings here.

Rachel Siegel of the Washington Post: "Two top Fed officials are leaving their posts amid scrutiny over their stocktrading activities during the covid crisis, behavior which spurred an unusual review by the Federal Reserve of trading rules for its officials. Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren and Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan both announced their retirements on Monday. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News and other outlets reported on the financial disclosures of the regional bank presidents, showing that both actively traded in stocks and other investments while in their roles setting monetary policy and assisting the central bank through the covid crisis.... Rosengren and Kaplan's behaviors don't help the Fed's public perception, which is why Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell said last week that the central bank's existing guidelines around financial activity 'is now clearly seen as not adequate to the task of really sustaining the public's trust in us.'"

Jeff Schogol of Task & Purpose: “Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller, the Marine officer ... [who criticized] military leadership over Afghanistan, is currently in the brig, his father told Task & Purpose.... After this story was first published, the Marine Corps issued a statement confirming that Scheller has been sent to the brig. 'Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller Jr. is currently in pre-trial confinement in the Regional Brig for Marine Corps Installations East aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune pending an Article 32 preliminary hearing,' said Capt. Sam Stephenson, a spokesman for Training and Education Command.... Scheller published his first video on the same day that a suicide bomber attacked Hamid Karzai International Airport's Abbey gate, killing 11 Marines, one sailor, and one Army special operator.... The next day, Scheller posted on Facebook announcing that he had been relieved as battalion commander ... at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.... On Aug. 29, he made a YouTube video from inside what he described as 'an abandoned school bus in Eastern North Carolina,' in which he vowed to resign his commission and proclaimed, 'Follow me and we will bring the whole f---king system down.' Following that video, the Marine Corps announced in a statement that it had taken steps to 'ensure the safety and well-being of Lt. Col. Scheller and his family....'" Scheller has posted two more videos since, both extremely critical of military command. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The father's protestation that "all our son did was ask questions" is disingenuous. It seems to me a hospital would be a better place for Stuart than the brig.

Uh, Yikes!? Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California signaled to Democrats on Monday that she would push ahead with a vote this week on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, pushing to salvage President Biden's agenda in Congress even as the party remained divided over a broader social safety net measure. Progressive lawmakers have long warned that they will not vote for the infrastructure legislation, which the Senate passed last month, until a far more expansive $3.5 trillion domestic policy and tax package also clears the chamber. But in private remarks to her caucus on Monday evening, Ms. Pelosi effectively decoupled the two bills, saying that Democrats needed more time to resolve their differences over the multitrillion-dollar social policy plan. The move amounted to a gamble that liberals who had balked at allowing the infrastructure bill to move on its own would support it in a planned vote on Thursday. It also left unclear the date of the more costly social safety net package, which Democrats are pushing through using the fast-track reconciliation process to shield it from a Republican filibuster." Politico's story is here.

Wake Up, Wake Up, It's Not the 1990s Any More. Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "... some Democrats seem to have formed their perceptions about both economics and politics during the Clinton years and haven't updated their views since.... Specifically, some Democrats still seem to believe that they can succeed economically and politically by being Republicans lite. It's doubtful whether that was ever true. But it's definitely not true now.... The voting behavior of white working-class voters seems more driven by racial resentment than ever.... It doesn't matter how much ['moderate' Democrats] force [President] Biden to scale back his ambitions; it doesn't matter how many pious statements they make about fiscal responsibility. Republicans will still portray them as socialists who want to defund the police, and the voters they're trying to pander to will believe it. So my plea to Democratic 'moderates' is, please wake up. We're not in 1999 anymore, and your political fortunes depend on helping Joe Biden govern effectively."

"The Party of Default." Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Senate Republicans on Monday blocked a spending bill needed to avert a government shutdown this week and a federal debt default next month, moving the nation closer to the brink of fiscal crisis as they refused to allow Democrats to lift the limit on federal borrowing. With a Thursday deadline looming to fund the government -- and the country moving closer to a catastrophic debt-limit breach -- the stalemate in the Senate reflected a bid by Republicans to undercut President Biden and top Democrats at a critical moment, as they labor to keep the government running and enact an ambitious domestic agenda. Republicans who had voted to raise the debt cap by trillions when their party controlled Washington argued on Monday that Democrats must shoulder the entire political burden for doing so now...." NPR's story is here.

Sinema Monetizes the Big-Ticket Bill at an "Undisclosed Location." Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, the inscrutable Democrat who may hold the key to passing her party's ambitious social policy and climate bill, is scheduled to have a fund-raiser on Tuesday afternoon with five business lobbying groups, many of which fiercely oppose the bill. Under Ms. Sinema's political logo, the influential National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors and the grocers' PAC, along with lobbyists for roofers and electrical contractors and a small business group..., have invited association members to an undisclosed location on Tuesday afternoon for 45 minutes to write checks for between $1,000 and $5,800, payable to Sinema for Arizona."

William Vaillancourt of Rolling Stone: "A Department of Homeland Security whistleblower leveled a series of bombshell accusations Sunday in his first television interview, accusing his Trump administration superiors of pressing for manipulated intelligence on three critical subjects: Russian support for Donald Trump, the Mexican border, and the white supremacist threat inside the United States. Brian Murphy, the former principal deputy undersecretary in DHS's Office of Intelligence and Analysis, filed a whistleblower complaint last year -- as well as a handful of internal complaints and reports -- that all painted a frightening picture of how things were running in the department tasked with keeping Americans safe. 'From the outset, there were three things that I was told that we would look to manipulate intelligence on and bend the truth about,' Murphy told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week. 'And I told them upfront that I wasn't going to do it.'... Murphy said he felt 'intense pressure to try to take intelligence and fit a political narrative' -- accusing administration officials of demanding information be manipulated to burnish Trump's image and help his messaging[.]" (Also linked yesterday.)

Isaac Arnsdorf of ProPublica: "... Donald Trump empowered associates from his private club to pursue a plan for the Department of Veterans Affairs to monetize patient data, according to documents newly released by congressional investigators. As ProPublica first reported in 2018, a trio based at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort weighed in on policy and personnel decisions for the federal government's second-largest agency, despite lacking any experience in the U.S. government or military. While previous reporting showed the trio had a hand in budgeting and contracting, their interest in turning patient data into a revenue stream was not previously known.... 'Patient data is, in my opinion, the most valuable assets [sic] the VA has,' a consultant said in a June 2017 email released Monday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. 'It can be leveraged into hundreds of millions in revenue' by selling access to major companies, he said.... The documents do not show what became of the plan or whether the VA ever sold access to patient data."

Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "Sometimes, and much to our detriment, we find real events are simply too outlandish to take seriously. Many professional Republicans, for example, initially dismissed the movement to 'Stop the Steal' as a ridiculous stunt.... Now, 10 months after the election, 'Stop the Steal' is something like party orthodoxy, ideological fuel for a national effort to seize control of election administration and to purge those officials who secured the vote over Donald Trump's demand to subvert it.... The upshot is that we are on our way to another election crisis.... Despite the danger at hand, there doesn't appear to be much urgency among congressional Democrats -- or the remaining pro-democracy Republicans -- to do anything.... We should secure our elections against whatever threat might materialize because if there is anything our history tells us, it's that everything looks settled until one day it isn't."

Damon Linker of the Week, while taking Ross Douthat to task, makes the point that Donald Trump is capable of inspiring chaos after the 2024 election because "the one political talent Trump does possess ... is the demagogic manipulation of public opinion...." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Knowing what we know now, what surprises me the most is that Trump did so little to present a cogent argument to convince his puppydog pence to throw the election. It seems likely that just bringing in a couple of "legal scholars" & a buddy from the DOJ to tell pence he had the authority to toss state slates of electors would have persuaded mike to roll over & let Trump stroke his belly. And if that had happened, what about the Supremes? I don't know how they all would have voted in an inevitable Democratic challenge to the Trumpence shenanigans, but I would guess that Thomas, Alito & the Trump dwarfs -- Gorsuch, O'Kavanaugh & Barrett -- all would have taken Trump's calls. And Al Gore tells me that a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling can decide the presidency.

[Democrats] cheat on the elections. They don't need votes. They cheat on the elections. I mean, you look at 43,000 votes were found last night. They cheat on elections. When you cheat on elections you don't have to destroy the country. They are destroying our country. Our country will not survive this. Our country will not survive. -- Donald Trump, this past weekend ~~~

~~~ Steve Benen of MSNBC: "... the rhetoric of democracy's opponents isn't irrelevant. When a former American president -- who may yet run again and who continues to lead a major political party -- tells a national audience that the United States 'will not survive' because of election crimes that exist only in his mind, I'm not inclined to look away." MB: The point is ... "Our country will not survive" because Donald Trump intends to kill it.

Jada Yuan & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: In her new book, staffer Stephanie Grisham dishes on Donald & Melania Trump. They are not amused. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian reports on the Post's review.

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A U.S. judge said Monday he will grant the unconditional release of John W. Hinckley Jr. effective in June 2022, 41 years after he shot President Ronald Reagan and three others outside a D.C. hotel. The court acted after the Justice Department agreed last week to end court and medical supervision of Hinckley, who was freed from a government psychiatric hospital to live with his mother in Williamsburg, Va., in 2016." (Also linked yesterday.) An NPR story is here.

Sonia Rao of the Washington Post: "In the landmark conclusion to the most high-profile trial to arise from the music industry in the #MeToo era, a jury found R. Kelly guilty on all nine federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges. The verdict was announced Monday in the Brooklyn courthouse for the Eastern District of New York. The disgraced R&B singer, 54, faces 10 years, the mandatory minimum, to life in prison for the charges related to nearly 30 years' worth of allegations that he physically and sexually abused women and minors. The verdict followed five weeks of often-harrowing testimony from 50 witnesses and arrived swiftly on the second day of jury deliberations. Kelly was found guilty on one count of racketeering, a charge that is often levied in organized crime cases, and eight of violating the Mann Act, which is aimed at curbing sex trafficking. He still faces additional federal charges of sexual assault and abuse in Illinois." An AP story is here. ~~~

~~~ A #MeToo Moment for Black Women. Deepti Hajela of the AP: "For years, decades even, allegations swirled that R&B superstar R. Kelly was abusing young women and girls, with seeming impunity. They were mostly young Black women. And Black girls. And that, say accusers and others who have called for him to face accountability, is part of what took the wheels of the criminal justice system so long to turn, finally leading to his conviction Monday in his sex trafficking trial. That it did at all, they say, is also due to the efforts of Black women, unwilling to be forgotten. Speaking out against sexual assault and violence is fraught for anyone who attempts it. Those who work in the field say the hurdles facing Black women and girls are raised even higher by a society that hypersexualizes them from a young age, stereotyping them as promiscuous and judging their physiques, and in a country with a history of racism and sexism that has long denied their autonomy over their own bodies."

The Pandemic, Ctd.

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "Thousands of health care workers in New York got inoculated against Covid-19 ahead of Monday's deadline, helping the state avoid a worst-case scenario of staffing shortages at hospitals and nursing homes.... New York has 600,000 health care workers. Statewide, the vaccination rate for hospital employees rose by Monday night to 92 percent of workers having received at least one dose, according to preliminary data from the governor's office. The rate for nursing homes also jumped to 92 percent on Monday, from 84 percent five days earlier." MB: Gosh, it looks as if vaccine mandates work. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here: "Pfizer and BioNTech on Tuesday said they had submitted initial data to the Food and Drug Administration from their vaccine trial on children between 5 and 11 years old. The drugmakers said their trial had yielded 'positive topline results,' which included 2,268 participants from that age group. The companies said that their coronavirus vaccine had so far 'demonstrated a favorable safety profile' among young participants and 'elicited robust neutralizing antibody responses using a two-dose regimen.'"

Kate Sullivan & Jamie Gumbrecht of CNN: "President Joe Biden received his Covid-19 vaccine booster shot on Monday afternoon at the White House just days after booster doses were approved by federal health officials. 'We know that to beat this pandemic and to save lives ... we need to get folks vaccinated,' Biden said during remarks ahead of his shot. 'So, please, please do the right thing. Please get these shots. It can save your life and it can save the lives of those around you.' The President received his first two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine ahead of his inauguration in January. The 78-year-old President qualified for a booster dose since he received his second Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine more than six months ago and is in an eligible age group. The President had said Monday afternoon that Jill Biden would also be getting a shot soon but that the first lady ... was teaching. Her press secretary Michael LaRosa told CNN later Monday that she had received her booster at the White House." ~~~

Justine Coleman of the Hill: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he received the COVID-19 booster shot on Monday, calling his choice to get the third dose 'an easy decision[.]' The 79-year-old senator announced that he got the booster dose while on the Senate floor, hours after President Biden received his third shot."

Brazil. Rick Gladstone of the New York Times: "Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil's proudly unvaccinated president, is contending with more fallout from his visit to New York last week to speak at the United Nations: A fourth member of his entourage has tested positive for Covid-19, and his wife, Michelle, opted to get vaccinated before they returned home."

Beyond the Beltway (& Inside, Too)

Sanjana Karanth of the Huffington Post: "... nine states and Washington, D.C., now mandate that every voter be mailed a ballot ahead of an election by default. Last year was the first time that California, Vermont and the nation's capital began the practice.... Several states ― mostly in the South ― still require voters to provide an 'excuse' for mailing in their ballots, forcing more people to vote in person at polling places." These states have permanently instituted automatic vote-by-mail: "California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont & Washington. New Jersey & Washington, D.C. have temporarily instituted automatic vote-by-mail. ~~~

~~~ California. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "All California voters will now receive a ballot mailed to them whether they request it or not, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Monday, in a move long sought by state Democrats who have argued that it will make it easier for residents to take part in future elections.... The legislation permanently extends vote-by-mail provisions enacted in California during the coronavirus pandemic. Those provisions were in place during the 2020 election as well as during this month's unsuccessful campaign to recall Newsom.... California voters can still opt to go to the polls in person if they prefer."

Oregon. Ally Mutnick of Politico: "The Oregon state House reached a grudging compromise on a new congressional map that would create four Democratic districts, a safe Republican seat and one potential battleground, bringing an end to a bitter partisan standoff. State House Speaker Tina Kotek, a Democrat, gaveled the legislature into session on Monday morning, hours before a redistricting deadline, after a nearly week-long delay caused by a Covid scare and a Republican boycott. The agreement: Republican state representatives returned, and in return Democrats did not muscle through a map that would have given them solid control of five of the state's six districts."

South Dakota. Stephen Groves of the AP: "Just days after a South Dakota agency moved to deny her daughter's application to become a certified real estate appraiser, Gov. Kristi Noem summoned to her office the state employee who ran the agency, the woman's direct supervisor and the state labor secretary. Noem's daughter attended too. Kassidy Peters, then 26, ultimately obtained the certification in November 2020, four months after the meeting at her mother's office. A week after that, the labor secretary called the agency head, Sherry Bren, to demand her retirement, according to an age discrimination complaint Bren filed against the department. Bren, 70, ultimately left her job this past March after the state paid her $200,000 to withdraw the complaint.... Government ethics experts ... said Noem's decision to include her daughter in the meeting created a conflict of interest regardless of what was discussed. While Peters was applying for the certification, Noem should have recused herself from discussions on the agency, especially any that would apply to her daughter's application, said Richard Painter, a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School who was the chief ethics lawyer for former President George W. Bush. 'It's clearly a conflict of interest and an abuse of power for the benefit of a family member,' he said."

Texas. Paul Weber of the AP: "Texas Republicans proposed redrawn congressional maps Monday that would shore up their slipping dominance and bolster their nearly two dozen U.S. House members, while adding new districts in booming Austin and Houston. Texas was the big winner in the 2020 Census, as torrid growth fueled by nearly 2 million new Hispanic residents made it the only state awarded two additional congressional seats, bringing its total to 38. Those demographic shifts threaten decades of Republican control in Texas, but in taking up the once-in-a-decade process of drawing new voting maps, GOP mapmakers' first draft largely appears to firewall their existing seats and advantage rather than take additional seats from Democrats."

Wyoming. Ha Ha. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump is leading an all-out war against Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming because of her perceived lack of loyalty.... But his choice to replace her, Harriet Hageman..., was part of the final Republican resistance to his ascent in 2016, backing doomed procedural measures at the party's national convention aimed at stripping him of the presidential nomination he had clinched two months earlier. Ms. Hageman worked with fellow supporters of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in a failed effort to force a vote on the convention floor between Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz.... Calling Mr. Trump 'the weakest candidate,' Ms. Hageman attributed his rise to Democrats who she claimed had voted in Republican primaries. She condemned Mr. Trump as a bigoted candidate who would repel voters..., warning that the G.O.P. would be saddled with 'somebody who is racist and xenophobic.' Ms. Hageman's yearslong journey from Never-Trumpism to declaring him the best president of her lifetime is one of the most striking illustrations yet of the political elasticity demonstrated both by ambitious Republicans in the Trump era...."

Way Beyond

Afghanistan. Cora Engelbrecht & Sharif Hassan of the New York Times: "Tightening the Taliban's restrictions on women, the group's new chancellor for Kabul University announced on Monday that women would be indefinitely banned from the institution either as instructors or students. 'I give you my words as chancellor of Kabul University,' Mohammad Ashraf Ghairat said in a Tweet on Monday. 'As long as a real Islamic environment is not provided for all, women will not be allowed to come to universities or work. Islam first.' The new university policy echoes the Taliban's first time in power, in the 1990s, when women were only allowed in public if accompanied by a male relative and would be beaten for disobeying, and were kept from school entirely."

Germany. Philip Olterman of the Guardian: "The centre-left contender to fill Angela Merkel's shoes has announced his intention to forge a 'social-ecological-liberal coalition' following Sunday's knife-edge German national vote, as momentum slips from the outgoing chancellor's own designated successor. 'The voters have made themselves very clear,' Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic party (SPD) said at a press conference on Monday morning. He pointed out that his centre-left party, the Greens and the pro-business Free Democratic party (FDP) had all picked up significant numbers of new votes at the election, while the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffered a loss in support of almost nine percentage points."