Nicole Lafond
Where Things Stand: Pence Is Biding His Time With Little Side Gigs ‘Til 2024 
First it was his conservative podcast for the youths. Then his op-ed in the Daily Signal, hyping Trump’s “Big Lie.” Then meetings with an agency that reps former politicos on the speaking circuit.
Now, it’s narrating a four-part Fox Nation series commemorating racist shock jock Rush Limbaugh (this, according to Politico Playbook).
Where Things Stand: It’s Been A Year
TPM has been working remotely for one full year, as of today.
Because such things as space and time and memories have escaped into the ether, a photo memory app on my phone alerted me to the grim anniversary.
Where Things Stand: Committee-less And Bored, Greene Annoys Her Own Colleagues
Forty of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) Republican colleagues voted against her motion to adjourn the House this morning, a wave of intra-party pushback on a pellucid delay tactic designed to do little but stall the passage of the crucial COVID-19 relief bill.
Where Things Stand: The GOP’s Alternate Universe
The House is set to vote on President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill tomorrow, sending it to the President’s desk. The bill is stuffed with a litany of underreported positives for the progressive agenda — putting more than $7,000 into the pockets of the average family of four, reducing health care costs, and at least temporarily addressing child poverty.
Yet the Republican rhetoric surrounding the bill has become increasingly bizarre — perhaps that’s how you know it’s good.
Where Things Stand: America’s Rivals See A Weapon In Vaccine Hesitancy
Russian intelligence, it appears, are attempting to sow distrust in the U.S. COVID-19 vaccine in order to bolster the sale of its own supply.
According to a new Wall Street Journal report, the State Department’s Global Engagement Center has identified at least four publications that have been used as Russian intel fronts in the past that are publishing articles questioning the safety of the Pfizer vaccine and other Western vaccine companies. Read More
Where Things Stand: Top FL Dem Urges FBI To Probe DeSantis Vaccine Favoritism
A small update on the pattern that Matt Shuham highlighted yesterday involving the COVID-19 vaccine, GOP donors and Florida’s Republican governor: The state’s highest ranking elected Democrat is calling on the FBI to investigate the matter.
Where Things Stand: Pompeo Winks At 2024
This is one of the most concerning installments yet in the much-too-early-but-inevitable political musings about 2024.
During an appearance on Fox News’ Sean Hannity last night, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a pretty firm “maybe” to the prospects of running for president in 2024 — a prospect that his former boss has already called dibs on in the strongest possible terms.
Where Things Stand: Let’s Check In On Steve
Steve Bannon was, of course, among the 100-plus people Trump pardoned during his last months and days and minutes in office. But there’s been speculation since the pardon was issued about how much weight it would actually hold — Bannon had only been charged, but not convicted, of allegedly taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from a border wall crowd-funding campaign for personal use.
Where Things Stand: Fox News–GOP Megamerger Continues At CPAC
Long gone are the excuses of yesteryear that a Fox News personality’s seemingly partisan appearance was merely a journalist performing his or her journalistic duties.
Where Things Stand: The Problem With Just Asking Questions
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) chose to use his time during a Senate hearing on the Capitol riot last week to read a Federalist column that made unsubstantiated claims about antifa being involved in the insurrection — giving a national megaphone to conspiracy theories about the deadly attack that have been floated by Republicans since Jan. 6.
But now he claims he’s just asking questions ¯\_(ツ)_/¯