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- June 23, 2020 at 02:50PM
Fauci warns of 'disturbing surge' in new Coronavirus cases
Click on this headline to read the full story at Jamie Dupree - Washington Insider
Against the backdrop of a recent increase in new Coronavirus cases, Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress on Tuesday that the fight against the Coronavirus is facing a critical next few weeks, acknowledging concerns about growing outbreaks in Texas, Arizona and Florida. 'A couple of days ago, there were 30,000 new infections - that's very troublesome to me,' Fauci told the House Energy and Commerce Committee, flanked by other federal health experts at a hearing. While noting clear improvements in the situation in New York City, Fauci said the overall situation in the U.S. remains a concern. 'However in other areas of the country, we are now seeing a disturbing surge in infections,' Fauci added, singling out Texas, Arizona, and Florida. 'It's a mixed bag, some good, and some now we have a problem with,' Fauci said. The testimony from Fauci and other federal health experts came as President Trump told reporters he was not kidding on Saturday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he said he had asked federal officials to slow testing on the Coronavirus - as he argued the jump in cases was due to more testing. 'By having more tests, we find more cases,' the President told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House. 'We test better than anybody in the world.' Asked directly about the President's talk of slowing the rate of testing, Fauci and other top health officials said they had never been asked to do anything like that. 'To my knowledge, none of us have ever been told to slow down on testing,' Fauci testified. 'We have a very low mortality rate, just about the best in the world,' the President added. While the number of Coronavirus cases has been going up of late, the number of deaths from the virus continues to go down, with the 7-day average reaching 573 deaths per day on Monday. That's a dramatic drop from where it was on May 22 - 1,246 deaths per day - and on April 22 - when it was an astounding 2,146 deaths per day. Since late April, the number of deaths has been trending down, even as overall cases hit a plateau.
(Feed generated with FetchRSS) - June 23, 2020 at 02:50PM Fauci warns of 'disturbing surge' in new Coronavirus cases Click on this headline to read the full story at Jamie Dupree - Washington Insider
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The White House faced continued questions on Monday about President Donald Trump's remark at a campaign rally on Saturday that he had seemingly urged officials to slow testing for the Coronavirus, as the President's press secretary faulted the media, and the President himself danced around the question. 'The President was trying to expose what the media often times does is they ignore the fact that the United States has more cases, because we have more testing,' White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters. 'Any suggestion that testing has been curtailed is not rooted in fact,' McEnany added. The first explanation from the White House was that the President was joking when he made his 'slow the testing' remark. 'He was not joking about the Coronavirus,' McEnany added. 'I just said he was joking about the media.' Earlier on Monday, President Trump did a series of TV interviews at the White House, and was asked about the testing matter. 'Did you ask to slow it down?' The President paused before answering. 'If it did slow down, frankly I think we are way ahead of ourselves, if you want to know the truth,' Mr. Trump said. 'We've done too good a job.' Democrats piled on the President over his remarks, accusing him of being more concerned about not having larger numbers of positive tests, because it might reflect badly on how he's handled the situation. 'Amazing,' said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY). 'He said that.' 'This weekend, the President bragged about telling people to slow down testing because he didn’t like how it reflected on him,' said Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH). 'He’d rather Americans die than have to take responsibility.' Democrats also demanded to know why the Trump Administration has not yet released $14 billion in funding for states - to help with expanded Coronavirus testing. 'This inexcusable delay is hurting families and communities,' said Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA). 'These funds should be distributed now.' Questions over the Trump Administration's response to the Coronavirus outbreak come as data shows a diverging story - even as cases climb again, the number of deaths in the U.S. has continued to drop. 'The fatality numbers, we're pleased to see that number coming down,' McEnany said at Monday's White House briefing. On Sunday, only 312 deaths were reported in the entire nation from the Coronavirus, the lowest figure since late March, when the outbreak was just beginning to be felt. But higher positive test numbers were causing concern especially in Florida, Texas, and Arizona. 'COVID-19 is now spreading at an unacceptable rate in the state of Texas and it must be corralled,' said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R).
(Feed generated with FetchRSS) - June 23, 2020 at 02:50PM White House blames media on Trump COVID-19 testing remark Click on this headline to read the full story at Jamie Dupree - Washington Insider
Much like the start of his Presidency when top aides claimed crowd estimates at his Inauguration were too low, President Donald Trump's campaign on Sunday disputed crowd figures for his first campaign rally in over three months, as the Tulsa Fire Marshal's office said only 6,200 people attended the event. '12,000 people made it past protestors thorough the metal detectors,' said Trump Campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh, as campaign officials alternately blamed demonstrators and the news media for depressing turnout at the rally. It was a dramatic change from the days before the rally, when Trump Campaign Manager Brad Parscale was talking about how over a million people had signed up for tickets. 'The crowds are unbelievable,' the President said to reporters on Saturday as he left the White House for the rally. But it didn't turn out that way in Tulsa, as whole sections in the upper bowl of the arena were empty when the President started his speech. The President had been talking excitedly for days about the rally, his first since early March, as the 2020 campaign was sidelined by the Coronavirus outbreak. 'It's a crowd like, I guess, nobody has seen before,' the President said last Thursday, during an roundtable with the Governor of Oklahoma. 'We have tremendous requests for tickets, like I think probably has never happened politically before,' the President added. As the number of requests for tickets went up all week - finally clearing over 1 million - the Trump Campaign went so far as to build an outside stage, so the President could address those unable to get inside the BOK Center in Tulsa. But it wasn't needed. The Trump Campaign denied stories that TikTok users had sabotaged the event by signing up for huge numbers of tickets.
(Feed generated with FetchRSS) - June 22, 2020 at 01:50PM Trump Campaign disputes crowd totals for Tulsa rally Click on this headline to read the full story at Jamie Dupree - Washington Insider
After pressing southern states to replace statues of Confederate leaders in the U.S. Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday ordered the removal of four paintings of past Speakers who had sided with the Confederacy. 'There's no room in the hallowed halls of this temple of democracy to memorialize people who embody violent bigotry and grotesque racism of the Confederacy,' Pelosi told reporters. The four Speakers were Robert Hunter of Virginia, Howell Cobb of Georgia, James Orr of South Carolina, and Charles Crisp of Georgia. All were Democrats except for Hunter, who was a Whig when he served as Speaker. Hunter was the Secretary of State for the Confederacy. Cobb was President of the founding convention of the Confederacy. Orr was a Confederate Senator. Crisp fought as a soldier for the Confederacy. 'We must lead by example,' Pelosi added, saying any cursory examination of the beliefs of those four Speakers would show why their portraits should not hang on the walls just outside the House Chamber. Unlike the statues sent to the Capitol by the states, Pelosi as Speaker controls what goes on the walls of the House side of the Capitol, giving her the power to pull down these portraits. The last time that happened was in 2015, when GOP Speaker Paul Ryan removed the painting of former Speaker Dennis Hastert. That move came after Hastert pleaded guilty to charges that he had evaded federal banking laws, as well as reports that the former Speaker was paying $3.5 million to someone from his past, possibly to hide claims of sexual misconduct. Hastert's portrait had occupied prime real estate inside the Speaker's Lobby; the paintings taken down on Thursday were just outside the Chamber on the Democratic side of the aisle.
(Feed generated with FetchRSS) - June 19, 2020 at 10:50AM Pelosi pulls down paintings of Speakers who were Confederates Click on this headline to read the full story at Jamie Dupree - Washington Insider
In an election year setback for President Donald Trump, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked his efforts to do away with the DACA program for younger illegal immigrant 'Dreamers,' ruling that the Trump Administration did not properly follow federal laws in moving to end the program, but clearly leaving the door open for future changes. 'We do not decide whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies,' Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the Court. ''The wisdom' of those decisions 'is none of our concern.'' 'We address only whether the agency complied with the procedural requirement that it provide a reasoned explanation for its action,' the Chief Justice added. It was yet another example of where the courts had blocked efforts by the Trump Administration to change various federal rules - simply because officials had not followed the letter of the Administrative Procedure Act, which says such changes cannot be 'arbitrary and capricious.' And that specific line was front and center in this DACA decision. 'DHS’s decision to rescind DACA was arbitrary and capricious under the APA,' the Supreme Court ruling stated. 'It's not that Chief Justice Roberts is a closet progressive,' University of Texas law professor Steve Vladeck said. 'It's that the Trump administration is *really bad* at administrative law.' In Congress, Democrats celebrated, and most Republicans bemoaned the decision. 'This decision is an essential step toward justice and opportunity for Dreamers,' said Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN). 'Today the U.S. Supreme Court took a significant step toward validating the right of Dreamers to continue to live, work, learn, and contribute to their communities right here in the United States, their home,' said Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV). 'Today’s Supreme Court decision provides much-needed certainty for those living in the United States under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program,' said Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), one of the few GOP lawmakers to praise the ruling. 'It is the right thing to do - period.' 'If President Obama could create it, President Trump can end it,' argued Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), who called it a, 'Disappointing ruling with a double standard.' The DACA decision was like one almost a year earlier, where the U.S. Supreme Court blocked an effort by President Trump to add a citizenship question to the Census - not because the question was wrong, but because the administrative arguments provided by federal officials had been 'contrived.' 'We are presented, in other words, with an explanation for agency action that is incongruent with what the record reveals about the agency’s priorities and decision making process,' the Chief Justice wrote in 2019. In March of 2019, the Washington Post found that the Trump Administration had already lost over 60 court cases in a similar fashion on changes in federal rules, where courts had found the APA law had been violated. Unlike in the Census case - where the White House had no extra time to try again on the citizenship question - this ruling does not block the Trump Administration from trying again to get rid of DACA.
(Feed generated with FetchRSS) - June 19, 2020 at 10:50AM Supreme Court preserves DACA, but doesn't end challenges Click on this headline to read the full story at Jamie Dupree - Washington Insider
Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday took the next step on a sweeping package of reforms and accountability measures for police, sending a bill to the full House spurred by the Memorial Day police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. 'What are we in Congress going to do about the murders of George Floyd and so many others?' asked Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). The debate turned testy at one point, as Rep. Cedric Richmond, a black Democrat from Louisiana, sharply rebuked Republicans over their reaction to the police reform effort. “You all are white men who have never lived in my shoes and you do not know what it is like to be an African-American male!' Richmond shouted in a tense exchange with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). 'This is a crisis,' Richmond said. 'People are losing their lives.' Republicans scoffed at the plan from Democrats, and complained about not being part of the bill drafting process. “Democrats have made it clear that they would rather appease their radical base,” said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). In a lengthy committee debate, Democrats accused Republicans of offering amendments to the police bill which had nothing to do with the issue of police brutality - as the GOP forced votes on matters related to Antifa, the Mueller Report, and the area in Seattle taken over by protesters. Unlike plans from Republicans in the Senate, the House Democratic bill includes a measure to open police officers to liability lawsuits, by doing away with what's known as 'qualified immunity' in the courts. 'It's time for us to end that charade, that legal charade,' said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA), saying if lawyers can be sued for misconduct, then police officers should be forced to deal with the same possibility for violating the rights of others. 'Nobody should be above the law,' Johnson said. 'That's the way it should be in America.' The action by the House Judiciary Committee means the House and Senate will be considering much different bills on police reform in coming weeks. It's not clear if the two parties will be able to come together later this summer to actually produce something which can get to the President's desk. “We're serious about making a law here,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday morning - but Democrats have said GOP plans are too 'watered down' to accept.
(Feed generated with FetchRSS) - June 18, 2020 at 09:51AM House panel approves police reform plan from Democrats Click on this headline to read the full story at Jamie Dupree - Washington Insider
With a call for action on police brutality spreading through both political parties in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, GOP Senators on Wednesday unveiled their own package of police reforms, as both the House and Senate will try to take action on competing plans over the next few weeks. 'It's police reform, accountability, and transparency,' said Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who has been the GOP point man on the issue. The only black Republican Senator, Scott again told of how he has been stopped repeatedly for 'Driving While Black,' including one time in 2020, when an officer warned his about turning on his blinker incorrectly when making a lane change. 'We can train our officers better, we can find ways and mechanisms to de-escalate the situations,' Scott said of the GOP package, which will emphasize ways to have police seek better ways to manage possibly violent interactions with suspects on the streets. 'We're serious about making a law here,' said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who announced that the Senate would try to turn to the Scott bill as early as next week. The Senate GOP plan does more than President Trump's Executive Order on police accountability issued on Tuesday, but less than a sweeping package of reforms from Democrats in the House. While Senators have been having discussions about details of a reform bill, there was no hint of ongoing talks, as a key Republican slammed Democrats over efforts to deal with police brutality. 'I'm getting a little tired of being lectured to by my Democratic colleagues, that all of this is Trump's fault,' said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), whose stern statement rang a different note, as he blamed Democrats for not trying to make reforms during the Obama Administration. 'So, if you want to fight about that, let's fight,' Graham added, talking about the chokehold issue. Unlike a bill from House Democrats, the GOP plan does not address the issue of 'qualified immunity,' which limits lawsuits against individual police officers for their misconduct. “The Senate proposal of studies and reporting without transparency and accountability is inadequate,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “The Senate’s so-called Justice Act is not action.” The 106 page bill from Senate Republicans on police reform and accountability can be read here.
(Feed generated with FetchRSS) - June 18, 2020 at 09:51AM Senate Republicans unveil police reform measure Click on this headline to read the full story at Jamie Dupree - Washington Insider
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order designed to prod police departments to embrace better police training and practices on the use of force, and also establishing a federal database to keep track of officers hit with misconduct complaints. 'We need to bring law enforcement and communities closer together,' President Trump said in the White House Rose Garden, as he signed the new order. The President's plan would funnel federal grant money to police departments which update their training regimens related to the use of force by officers. 'I'm signing an executive order encouraging police departments nationwide to adopt the highest professional standards to serve their communities,' Mr. Trump added. In order to get federal money, local police would have to stop using techniques like the one which killed George Floyd in Minneapolis - though the President left open a loophole where chokeholds could be used if an officer felt his or her life was in danger. The President's new executive order is much less sweeping than legislation being pushed on Capitol Hill by Democrats - which is expected to advance through a key House panel on Wednesday. Both would set up a national registry to make it easier for police departments to check and see whether a prospective new hire has had previous incidents of misconduct involving the use of force. The President said the registry was a good idea, 'so that officers with significant issues do not simply move from one police department to the next.' As for the content of the President's order, Democrats scoffed at it. “The President’s weak Executive Order falls sadly and seriously short of what is required to combat the epidemic of racial injustice and police brutality,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
(Feed generated with FetchRSS) - June 17, 2020 at 08:50AM Trump presses police to embrace better practices on use of force Click on this headline to read the full story at Jamie Dupree - Washington Insider
Updating Senators on the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday that any economic rebound from the damage caused by the Coronavirus will basically be dependent on the ability of Americans to rein in the virus outbreak. 'Until the public is confident that the disease is contained, a full recovery is unlikely,' Powell told the Senate Banking Committee, as he warned about the possibility of lasting damage to workers and the nation. 'Moreover, the longer the downturn lasts, the greater the potential for longer-term damage from permanent job loss and business closures,' Powell added. While Powell noted a better than expected jobs report in May, he emphasized that 'significant uncertainty remains about the timing and strength of the recovery.' 'Much of that economic uncertainty comes from uncertainty about the path of the disease and the effects of measures to contain it,' Powell testified.
(Feed generated with FetchRSS) - June 17, 2020 at 08:50AM Fed Chair: economic growth linked directly to virus fight Click on this headline to read the full story at Jamie Dupree - Washington Insider
Despite a personal endorsement and use by President Donald Trump, the Food and Drug Administration on Monday revoked its emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine as a way to treat the Coronavirus, as the feds say the side effects caused by the drug outweigh any benefits of its use. In a statement, the FDA said it had 'determined that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are unlikely to be effective in treating COVID-19.' 'Additionally, in light of ongoing serious cardiac adverse events and other potential serious side effects, the known and potential benefits of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine no longer outweigh the known and potential risks for the authorized use,' the statement added. In a statement, FDA officials said 'hydroxychloroquine showed no benefit on mortality or in speeding recovery' for those with the Coronavirus, as the agency cited a 'rigorous assessment' by government scientists. Most often used as an anti-malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine has become the subject of a giant political tussle in recent months, with the President and some conservative Republicans recommending its use, while critics say it smacks of medical quackery. At the White House on Monday, the President expressed bewilderment again about critics of the drug. “I can't complain about it,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “It took it for two weeks, and I'm here - here we are. And we've had some great studies.” But while other countries have promoted the drug, the FDA has resisted its use.
(Feed generated with FetchRSS) - June 16, 2020 at 07:50AM FDA says hydroxychloroquine not effective in treating virus Click on this headline to read the full story at Jamie Dupree - Washington Insider |
Jamie DupreeJamie Dupree is the Washington Bureau Chief for Cox Communications. He writes and produces radio reports with the aid of digital reconstructions of the voice he lost in 2012.. Archives
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