Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
“The National Mall was lit last night by the ‘Field of Flags’ from the Presidential Inaugural Committee — ‘approximately 191,500 U.S. flags of varying sizes, including flags representing every state and territory, and 56 pillars of light,’ representing ‘the American people who are unable to travel to Washington.’" [Axios]
“The FBI privately warned law enforcement agencies Monday that far-right extremists have discussed posing as National Guard members in Washington and others have reviewed maps of vulnerable spots in the city — signs of potential efforts to disrupt Wednesday’s inauguration, according to an intelligence report obtained by The Washington Post.
The document, a summary of threats that the FBI identified in a Monday intelligence briefing, warned that both ‘lone wolves’ and adherents of the QAnon extremist ideology, some of whom joined in the violent siege on the Capitol on Jan. 6, have indicated they plan to come to Washington for President-elect Joe Biden’s swearing-in ceremony.
The FBI also said it had observed people downloading and sharing maps of sensitive locations in Washington and discussing how those facilities could be used to interfere in security during the inauguration.” Read more at Washington Post
Reuters: A woman who breached the Capitol may have tried to sell a purported office laptop or hard drive of Pelosi to Russians, according to the FBI.
Biden to reverse Trump policy, propose 8-year citizenship path for immigrants; Great Expectations: Biden has set sky-high goals, can he meet them?
“Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, seeking to move past the toxicity and bitterness that has engulfed the nation as the divisive Donald Trump's tenure in the White House comes to a grinding halt.
There will be 180 degree reversals, immediate ones, from Day One of his presidency in both policies and tone.
The president-elect plans to unveil a sweeping immigration bill as soon as his administration takes over. It would provide an eight-year path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status, Lisa Mascaro and Bill Barrow report.
It's a massive about-face from the Trump administration’s harsh anti-immigration policies.
The legislation puts Biden on track to deliver on a major campaign promise after four years of Trump’s restrictive policies. But it does not include beefed-up border security, which makes its passage in Congress more difficult.” Read more at AP
“President Trump is expected to issue around 100 pardons and commutations today, his last full day in office. The list of clemency actions reportedly includes white-collar criminals and high-profile rappers but so far not Trump himself or members of his family (there's been talk of Trump pardoning himself in the wake of the Capitol riots). The President also wanted to declassify information related to the Russia probe before he leaves office, but with the hours ticking down, it’s not clear if that will get done. Even after he leaves office, Trump has at least one thorny battle waiting for him: his impeachment trial, which will likely start in the Senate soon. Speaking of the Senate, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell are hammering out a plan for how the evenly split Senate will be run. Democrats will make the schedule, and each party will likely hold an even number of committee seats.” Read at CNN
“For comparison: Former President Clinton issued 141 pardons and commutations of sentences just before leaving office in 2001. Former President George W. Bush only issued 18 pardons and commutations in the last hours of his presidency. Former President Obama pardoned 64 individuals and commuted the sentences of 209 more — 109 of whom faced life sentences, most notably including former U.S. Army Private First Class Chelsea Manning, who had been convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917.” Read more at The Hill
National Security: “Biden’s national security Cabinet may be bare on Day One of his presidency. His nominees to head the State Department, the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security and the intelligence community are facing a series of confirmation hearings. None is likely to be confirmed by the time Biden takes the oath of office Wednesday.” Read more at AP
“A vast effort is underway to get Americans vaccinated, but the campaign is off to an uneven start. According to the latest federal data, about 31 million doses of vaccine have been distributed, but fewer than 11 million people have received at least one dose. David Crary reports.
The U.S. will likely surpass 400,000 deaths later today, a terrible toll under the watch of the Trump administration.” Read more at AP
“President Donald Trump on Monday ordered an end to the ban on travelers from Europe and Brazil that had been aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus to the United States, a move quickly rejected by aides to President-elect Joe Biden, who said Biden will maintain the ban when he takes office Wednesday.” Read more at Boston Globe
“Laying bare a yearlong cascade of failures, a World Health Organization panel recounts in a damning report how governments and public health organizations worldwide responded slowly and ineffectively to the coronavirus, despite years of warnings.
The interim report, an early blueprint for reform, describes the faulty assumptions, ineffective planning and sluggish responses — including missteps by the WHO itself — that helped fuel a pandemic that has killed more than 2 million people.” Read more at Boston Globe
WHO issues more warnings on vaccine hoarding. “The World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanonom Ghebreysus has warned of a ‘catastrophic moral failure’ if vaccines are not made more readily available to poor countries. In highlighting the divide between rich and poor, Tedros pointed out that high-income countries had distributed roughly 39 million vaccine doses so far, whereas those classified as low-income had only distributed 25 in total.” Read more at Foreign Policy
“President Trump’s last-ditch effort to remove civil service protections from tens of thousands of career federal employees appears to have lost steam, facing time constraints and legal hurdles as the administration prepares to leave office, officials said.
As a result, President-elect Joe Biden will become president Wednesday with an executive order in place to carry out the biggest change to the civil service in a generation — but no completed paperwork to reclassify the affected employees so they can be fired without cause. Allies of Biden say he’s likely to reverse Trump’s order.” Read more at Washington Post
“Steven Dillingham resigned on Monday as director of the Census Bureau, bringing an early end to a tumultuous tenure that culminated this month in charges that he had allowed politics to override policy at the nation’s premier statistical agency.
Mr. Dillingham notified the White House that he would leave the agency on Wednesday, when the new Biden administration takes control of the federal government. Under federal law, his term as director had been scheduled to end in December 2021.
Mr. Dillingham, who took over the agency in January 2019 after being nominated for the post by President Trump, cast himself as a seasoned statistical expert who was committed to upholding the Census Bureau’s historically nonpartisan work. He had earlier run two other federal statistical agencies and held a range of other federal positions, from the Peace Corps to the Office of Personnel Management.
But while his principal task was to oversee the 2020 census, even that work was often overshadowed by the Trump administration’s yearslong effort to use the bureau’s population tallies to change the rules for reapportioning the House of Representatives and drawing political districts nationwide, largely to the benefit of Republicans.” Read more at New York Times
“President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. is expected to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline permit on his first day in office, quickly reversing his predecessor’s approval of a project to move oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico long opposed by environmentalists, according to a person familiar with Mr. Biden’s plans.
Opponents of the nearly 1,200-mile pipeline have regarded it as both a contributor to climate change and a symbol of the country’s unwillingness to move away from an oil-based economy. Many Republicans, including President Trump, argued the pipeline would create jobs and help local economies.” Read more at New York Times
China's GDP growth defies the pandemic. “Beijing said the country's gross domestic product rose 2.3% last year. That is the weakest annual rate of growth since the Mao era, but was enough to make China the only major world economy to gain any ground last year, and accelerated its likely overtaking of the U.S. economy.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Brazil started its vaccination campaign. The country’s death toll is second only to that of the United States.” Read at New York Times
“The White House released the report on Monday of the presidential 1776 Commission, a sweeping attack on liberal thought and activism that calls for a “patriotic education,” defends America’s founding against charges that it was tainted by slavery and likens progressivism to fascism.
President Trump formed the 18-member commission — which includes no professional historians but a number of conservative activists, politicians and intellectuals — in the heat of his re-election campaign in September, as he cast himself as a defender of traditional American heritage against “radical” liberals. Not previously known for his interest in American history or education, Mr. Trump insisted that the nation’s schools had been infiltrated by anti-American thought and required a new ‘pro-American’ curriculum.” Read more at New York Times
“The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund launched a $40 million scholarship program on Monday to support a new generation of civil rights lawyers, dedicated to pursuing racial justice across the South. With that whopping gift from a single anonymous donor, the fund plans to put 50 students through law schools around the country.
In return, they must commit to eight years of racial justice work in the South, starting with a two-year post-graduate fellowship in a civil rights organization.” Read more at Newson6
Kremlin foe Navalny jailed for 30 days; allies plan protests
“A Russian judge has sent opposition leader Alexei Navalny to jail for 30 days after the leading Kremlin critic returned to Russia from Germany where he was recovering from nerve agent poisoning he blames on the government. The ruling concluded a court hearing set up at a police precinct where Navalny was being held since his arrest at a Moscow airport. It prompted calls for protests from Navalny’s allies, including plans for large rallies this Saturday ‘all across the country.’ Navalny, speaking in a video statement after the ruling, told Russians ‘Don't be afraid, take to the streets.’ The 44-year-old is the most well-known critic of the widespread corruption during President Vladimir Putin's government.” Read more at AP
$7 trillion — “The increase over the past four years in U.S. government debt that is held by the public, to $21.6 trillion. While the nation’s debt currently exceeds its gross domestic product, Biden's pick for Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, has embraced his spending plans. They could add trillions of dollars more to the national debt in an effort to boost the U.S. economy. Yellen is set to testify in her nomination hearing before a Senate panel today.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Since COVID knocked out the traditional parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, President-elect Biden’s inauguration is mirroring his convention’s popular virtual ‘roll call’ for a ‘Parade Across America,’ including 56 states and territories.
The parade, showcasing America’s diversity and heroes, includes 1,391 people (not counting the military escort), 90 horses and nine dogs.” Read more at Axios
“President Trump is inviting supporters to a sendoff ceremony at Andrews tomorrow before he flies to Florida ahead of President-elect Biden's inauguration
Invitees may bring ‘up to five guests,’ and must show up by 7:15 a.m.
Trump requested a military-style sendoff, with a band and possibly a flyover.
This is the first time in 152 years that a president refused to attend his successor's inauguration — since Andrew Johnson snubbed Ulysses Grant in 1869.” Read at Axios
“Gallup reports that President Trump leaves office with a 34% approval rating, a new low for him — but beating the worst final presidential poll, Harry Truman's, by 2 points.
Trump's 41% average approval rating throughout his presidency is four points lower than any president since Gallup started polling in 1938. The previous record-holder was Jimmy Carter, at a lofty 46%.
Trump's approval gap between Rs and Ds averaged 81 points — a record.
Trump is the only president never to hit 50% approval at any point.” Read more at Gallup
“Conservative book publisher Regnery Publishing said it would release Sen. Josh Hawley’s The Tyranny of Big Tech, after Simon & Schuster canceled its deal with the lawmaker over his role in the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
Regnery said it would publish the book on May 4. Sen. Hawley, a Missouri Republican, was a leader among the members of Congress who objected to certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election.” Read more at Wall Street Journal
“Lawyers for election technology company Dominion Voting Systems have warned prominent Trump ally and MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell of ‘imminent’ litigation over ‘false and conspiratorial’ claims that the firm somehow rigged the 2020 election against President Trump, demanding in letters late last year and this month that Lindell make a public apology.
More than 150 people — including Kelli Ward, the staunchly pro-Trump chair of the Arizona GOP — were sent cease-and-desist notices and warnings to preserve documents in a recent wave of letters to those who provided affidavits in election lawsuits, according to Hamilton Place Strategies, a communications firm representing Dominion that shared copies of letters and a list of recipients Monday. Dominion also sent a follow-up retraction demand to Rudolph W. Giuliani, the Trump lawyer at the forefront of the president’s fruitless efforts to overturn the election in court.” Read more at Washington Post
“Most of Uganda is back online after a five-day internet outage that critics are calling a ‘textbook case of pre-meditated, pre-election internet blackout.’ Ugandans recently held their presidential election, and internet connectivity was restored after incumbent President Yoweri Museveni was declared the winner for a record sixth term. His opponent, Bobi Wine, a singer-turned-politician whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, has protested the results and says he has evidence of fraud and intimidation. Wine has been under house arrest after military surrounded his home on Friday, he said. Heavily armed military and police raided his party offices in Kampala yesterday. Museveni's house arrest of Wine and blocking of the internet have been met with international condemnation.” Read at CNN
“Delivering on a promise he made at Mount Rushmore this summer, President Trump yesterday released his 244 candidates for a ‘National Garden of American Heroes.’
Axios data visualization editor Danielle Alberti fired up a spreadsheet and found:
Men outnumber women nearly four to one (192 to 52).
86 of the nominees, nearly a third, were born between 1900 and 1950.
The first person born was Christopher Columbus, in 1451.
Last born was Kobe Bryant, in 1978.
Most recent death was Alex Trebek.
Oldest was NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson at 101.
Youngest was Nathan Hale, the Revolutionary War soldier and spy who was executed by the British at 21.” [Axios]
No posts