This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.
Once again, the country has been rocked by videos of police officers engaged in unconscionable abuse. Once again, people have taken to the streets, demanding change. Once again, elected officials are scrambling to propose solutions. This is a depressingly familiar story, but there is reason for optimism, however guarded. Something feels different this time.
A former FEMA administrator tells us that the Trump administration’s approach on closing testing sites as hotspots flare is, to use the technical term, “dumb.”
The number of confirmed new coronavirus cases per day in the U.S. hit an all-time high of 40,000 Friday — eclipsing the mark set during one of the deadliest stretches in late April — in a resurgence that has led some governors to backtrack or at least pause the reopening of their states.
While the increase is believed to reflect, in part, greatly expanded testing, experts say there is ample evidence the virus is making a comeback, including rising deaths and hospitalizations in parts of the country, especially in the South and West. Arizona, Texas and Florida are among the states that have been hit hard.
Continue reading “A Grim Milestone: Confirmed New COVID-19 Cases Hit New Record High In US”
Vice President Mike Pence is slated to lead a press briefing with the White House COVID-19 task force on Friday.
Continue reading “WH COVID-19 Task Force To Hold Briefing For First Time In Almost Two Months”
President Donald Trump shrugged off the havoc brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. on Thursday night.
Continue reading “Trump Plays Down Devastation Caused By COVID-19 As An ‘Artificial Problem’”
The House of Representatives passed a police reform bill named in honor of George Floyd, whose death in police custody has sparked nationwide calls to address police misconduct and racial injustice and prompted weeks of protests and civil unrest.
The bill passed largely along party lines amid Republican opposition with a final tally of 236-181. Three Republicans crossed party lines in favor of the bill including Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Will Hurd (TX) and Fred Upton (MI).
The legislation – titled the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 – was drafted by the Congressional Black Caucus. Its passage comes after Democrats blocked a less-sweeping Republican policing proposal in the Senate headed up by the only Black Republican senator, Tim Scott (SC).
Despite agreement between the parties that action to address police misconduct is sorely needed, each thwarts the efforts of its opposing party and stalls progress for meaningful change. In a Fox interview on Thursday, Scott accused Democrats of playing “race politics,” while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Wednesday refused to apologize for accusing Republicans in the Senate for “trying to get away with murder” in their policing proposal.
The House package bans chokeholds at the federal level as a civil rights violation and also puts a ban on no-knock warrants in federal drug cases. The Democrats’ bill takes on racial profiling among law enforcement which has been a common theme in recent racial justice protests against police violence. The bill has the teeth to upend qualified immunity for law enforcement and would form a national registry of police misconduct maintained by the Department of Justice.
Ahead of Thursday’s vote, Pelosi told reporters at a press conference that the bill was a pledge to honor the life of George Floyd and all of those killed by police brutality. “Never again,” Pelosi said.
“When we pass this bill, the Senate will have a choice: to honor George Floyd’s life or to do nothing,” Pelosi added.
Last week, Pelosi expressed her hopes of bringing Democrats’ legislation to conference with the Senate Republicans’ alternative. The chances for the passage of wider police reforms remain uncertain however, after Democrats knocked down the GOP proposal on Wednesday. In advance of any moves to conference Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) preemptively knocked the House’s plan, saying the Democrats’ Floyd bill was an overreach that would sink in the Senate.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Thursday railed against Attorney General Bill Barr but wouldn’t throw her support behind calls from fellow Democrats to impeach him. Continue reading “Pelosi Slams Barr For Being A ‘Mess’ But Won’t Back His Impeachment”
When the Senate was considering Attorney General Bill Barr’s nomination for his current position in January 2019, the Drug Policy Alliance warned lawmakers of his “long track record of championing extreme views on drugs and sentencing that should be disqualifying for this position” and urged the Senate to vote against Barr’s confirmation.
States that received federal support for testing had to agree with a condition from the Trump administration: don’t ask for that help to be extended.
Continue reading “For States, Fed Support For Testing Came With A Demand: No Extensions”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Robert Redfield on Thursday estimated that the number of COVID-19 cases in the country may be 10 times higher than reported, which means that the actual amount of cases may top 20 million. Continue reading “CDC: For Every COVID-19 Case Reported ‘There Are Actually 10’ More”
