FRI 1/7/22
•The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today in National Federation of Independent Business v. Department of Labor, regarding the Biden administration’s vaccination-or-test mandate for workers with at-large employees, and Biden v. Missouri,a mandate for health care workers at facilities that receive federal funding (SCOTUSblog).
•A judge is expected today to sentence the three men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery in Satilla Shores near Brunswick, Georgia (WaPo). Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William “Roddy” Bryan will be sentenced to life in prison – the judge will decide whether they will be eligible for parole.
Unemployment Rate Drops to 3.9 -- The U.S. economy added just 199,000 jobs in December, far below economists’ expectations, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday morning, although the unemployment rate fell to just 3.9%. The COVID-19 surge from the omicron variant is blamed for the poor jobs number. Upward trends in employment continue to be the hospitality industry, professional, and business services, manufacturing, construction and transportation and warehousing.
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Biden’s Best Speech – Democrats are giving President Biden high marks for his January 6 commemoration speech yesterday in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall, where he denounced the former president (without naming him) for instigating the insurrection (scroll down to read excerpts of his remarks in the January 6 News & Notes).
Biden’s party now hopes he will make a habit of such speeches in the months leading up to this November’s midterm elections, igniting perhaps a few legislative victories, despite super-thin majorities in both chambers. The president is scheduled to head to Georgia next Tuesday to build public support for voting rights legislation, according to Punchbowl News.
After Biden’s Speech: Representatives on the House floor commemorated the Capitol insurrection with solemn speeches Thursday afternoon. The Democrats’ side of the aisle was full, while the Republicans’ side had just two people, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney. “Warm words” were exchanged between the senior Cheney and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and afterward, the former vice president and Wyoming representative said of the GOP: “It’s not a leadership that resembles any of the folks I knew when I was here for 10 years.” (Per CNN video)
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He Who Was Not Named – Donald J. Trump issued four statements on his website Thursday, none mentioning the Capitol insurrection of a year earlier.
- ”Due to inept leadership that gave us open borders, COVID incompetence, loss of energy independence, a military in chaos, rampant inflation, corrupt elections, and lack of world standing, our Nation (sic), perhaps for the first time, has lost its confidence.”
- “Biden, who is destroying our Nation with insane policies of open Borders (sic), corrupt Elections (sic), disastrous energy policies, unconstitutional mandates, and devastating school closures, used my name today to further divide Americans…” (excerpt).
- (More of the same.)
- “To watch Biden’s speech is very hurtful to many people. They’re the ones who tried to stop the peaceful transfer with a rigged election. (Continues, with comparison of Biden’s popular vote versus Barrack Obama’s among Black voters in swing states.)
ICYMI: The closest President Biden came to calling out Trump by name in his January 6 speech was “defeated former president.”
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Arizona Ballot Audit Firm Shuts Down – Cyber Ninjas, the online security company hired by Trump supporters to audit Arizona ballots in the November 2020 presidential election last year is shutting down, The Guardian reports, citing a company spokesperson. The reportedly insolvent Florida firm, founded in 2013, has fewer than 12 employees. The firm closed its doors after a Maricopa County superior court judge threatened a $50,000-per-day fine for failing to turn over its financial records in an open records case by The Arizona Republic, whose attorneys had expected a daily fine of $1,000.
Note: This indicates that if Cyber Ninjas’ silent supporters were willing to burn $1,000 per day to avoid exposure, $50,000 per day is too much.
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Warner to Manchin – As Democrats’ plans to vote on the Build Back Better social infrastructure program broke down last month, the man at the center of the deal, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-WV) blamed poor relations and communication with White House staff. Now Politico Playbook says the Biden administration has recruited Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) to negotiate with West Virginia’s swing voter.
Warner is a former roommate of Manchin – who has said he will no longer negotiate with the White House -- and said to be one of his closest friends. BBB is back on, at least in the pages of Washington media.
Note: If the White House can’t repair its relationship with Manchin, 2022 could be a wash for Biden’s legislative agenda, including the voter rights bill and the change in Senate filibuster rules necessary to make it happen.
--Edited by Todd Lassa and Nic Woods
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THU 1/6/22 -- News & Notes
President Biden placed sole blame for the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection Thursday on former President Donald J. Trump. He called on American voters to accept the 2020 election results and reject political violence.
“And so, at this moment, we must decide what kind of nation we are going to be. Are we going to be a nation that accepts political violence as a norm? Are we going to be a nation where we allow partisan election officials to overturn the legally expressed will of the people? Are we going to be a nation that lives not by the light of the truth but in the shadow of lies? We cannot allow ourselves to be that kind of nation. The way forward is to recognize the truth and to live by it. …
Noting that last January 6 marked the first time the flag of the Confederacy was carried through the Capitol, Biden said; “We must make sure this type of attack never, never happens again.”
The president cited “zero evidence” of inaccurate results or fraudulent voting in the presidential election, noting that Republicans “closed the gap” in the House of Representatives even as Trump disputed the results. “He’s not just a former president, he’s a defeated former president.”
Graham responds: Neither chamber is in session Thursday, and many Republicans are in Atlanta for the funeral of former Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), but Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), tweeted this: “What brazen politicization of January 6 by President Biden … I wonder if the Taliban, who now rule Afghanistan with al Qaeda elements present contrary to President Biden’s beliefs, are allowing this speech to be cancelled?”
Schumer’s gamble: Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has set January 17, Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, as a deadline to change Senate filibuster rules to pass legislation by simple majority that would potentially outlaw legislation by several states, including Georgia and Texas, that would allow partisan election officials to flip their Electoral College count. The constant impediments to both the filibuster rule change and significant voter rights legislation are Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). Senate Democratic leaders have reportedly been discussing compromise with the two senators, specifically allowing for the old fashion Mr. Smith Goes to Washington-style filibuster that requires the subject to keep speaking.
AG Garland speaks: Attorney Gen. Merrick Garland addressed concerns Wednesday that the Justice Department is too slow in investigating and prosecuting the insurrection of January 6. Many Democrats are worried the investigation will drag on beyond the November midterms, when the GOP could retake the House and possibly the Senate, and put an end to Garland’s efforts.
“Our answer is, and will continue to be, the same answer we would give with respect to any ongoing investigation: as long as it takes and whatever it takes for justice to be done — consistent with the facts and the law,” Garland said.
“I understand that this may not be the answer some are looking for. But we will and we must speak through our work. Anything else jeopardizes the viability of our investigations and the civil liberties of our citizens.”
--Edited by Todd Lassa and Nic Woods