The Commentariat -- January 21, 2021
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Ben Leonard & Tyler Pager of Politico: "President Joe Biden will keep FBI Director Christopher Wray on in that role, White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed on Thursday. Wray was named to head the bureau in 2017 by... Donald Trump...." MB: I'll say this: Wray did a masterful job of keeping Trump on his leash; again & again, Wray disputed Trump's outlandish tales, but he did so in a way, in a context, and/or at a time that made it impolitic for Trump to fire him. And now Wray gets to keep the job. Trump, however, does not. Pretty clever.
Hill: "Former South Bend, Ind., mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Thursday is set to face the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee as they consider his nomination to lead the Transportation Department. The confirmation hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m." Live video at the link.
The New York Times has a "seating chart" interactive graphic of who-all attended President Biden's inauguration ceremony at the Capitol. Currently (2 pm ET Thursday), a version of the graphic also appears on the Times' front page, so nonsubscribers can see it.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here.
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President Biden on Day 1 signs executive orders in the Oval Office. New York Times photo.
Shannon Pettypiece of NBC News: "On his second day in office, President Joe Biden will sign 10 executive orders to ramp up Covid-19 vaccinations, expand testing and reopen schools as he outlines a detailed plan to tackle the pandemic. The new administration will increase the number of vaccination sites by creating federal community vaccination centers in stadiums, gymnasiums and conference centers staffed with thousands of additional workers, some of them from federal agencies and the military, as well as first responders. Biden's plan also looks for ways to speed vaccine production, including using the Defense Production Act, shoring up the supply chain and releasing more of the federal government's reserves. Biden will encourage all states to start vaccinating people 65 and older, along with certain essential workers, including teachers and grocery store employees." (See related CNN story linked under "Pandemic" below.)
Matthew Choi of Politico: "President Joe Biden swore in dozens of appointees and staffers on Wednesday evening, urging them to treat one another with respect or else 'I will fire you on the spot.... Everyone, every single person, regardless of their background, is entitled to be treated with dignity,' Biden said.... Though he did not mention former ... Donald Trump by name, his message of treating others with respect and addressing the pressing issues of racism, economic inequality and climate change came in stark contrast to the turbulence of the Trump White House. He added that their loyalties lay with the American people, not him.... The swearing-in took place over a video conference in the White House because of the coronavirus pandemic."
** Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Biden unleashed a full-scale assault on his predecessor's legacy on Wednesday, acting hours after taking the oath of office to sweep aside President Donald J. Trump's pandemic response, reverse his environmental agenda, tear down his anti-immigration policies, bolster the sluggish economic recovery and restore federal efforts aimed at promoting diversity. Moving with an urgency not seen from any other modern president, Mr. Biden signed 17 executive orders, memorandums and proclamations from the Oval Office on Wednesday afternoon. Among the steps the president took were orders to rejoin the Paris climate accord and end Mr. Trump's travel ban on predominantly Muslim and African countries. Individually, the actions are targeted at what the president views as specific, egregious abuses by Mr. Trump during four tumultuous years. Collectively, Mr. Biden's assertive use of executive authority was intended to be a hefty and visible down payment on one of his primary goals: to, as his top advisers described it, 'reverse the gravest damages' done to the country by Mr. Trump." A CBS News story is here. ~~~
~~~ Erasing Whozit. Aishvarya Kavi of the New York Times: "... Mr. Biden's first actions as president are sharply aimed at sweeping aside ... Donald J. Trump's pandemic response, reversing his environmental agenda, tearing down his anti-immigration policies, bolstering the teetering economic recovery and restoring federal efforts to promote diversity. Here's a look at what the measures aim to accomplish." ~~~
~~~ Coral Davenport & Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday recommitted the United States to the Paris climate agreement, the international accord designed to avert catastrophic global warming, and ordered federal agencies to start reviewing and reinstating more than 100 environmental regulations that were weakened or rolled back by former President Donald J. Trump. The moves represent a first step in healing one of the deepest rifts between the United States and the rest of the world after Mr. Trump defiantly rejected the Paris pact and seemed to relish his administration's push to weaken or undo major domestic climate policies. Mr. Biden has elevated tackling the climate crisis among his highest priorities."
Savannah Behrmann of USA Today: "As President Joe Biden sat behind the Resolute Desk for the first time as president, some physical differences -- from the symbolic choices in decor to simply wearing a mask -- were stark compared to that of his predecessor.... A bronze bust of Mexican-American civil rights activist and labor leader César Chávez stood out from behind the Resolute Desk as Biden signed ... executive orders.... Biden selected Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Chavez's granddaughter who worked in the Obama administration and in Biden's campaign, as his director of the White House Office of Intergovernmenta Affairs. The Chavez bust is just one of several American leaders and icons that now fill the Oval Office. There are also busts of civil rights activists Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. A massive portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt also hangs across from the Resolute Desk. Gone is the controversial painting of President Andrew Jackson that Trump had hung in the Oval Office. Biden replaced it with a portrait of Benjamin Franklin 'to represent Biden's interest in following science,' according to the Washington Post." The Washington Post story includes lots of photos of the new decor.
Tim Perry of CBS News: "Vice President Kamala Harris won't immediately move into the vice president's residence at the Naval Observatory that is traditionally used by vice presidents, an aide for Harris told CBS News. The aide said that the delay is due to the need for some repairs to the home.... Chimney liners need to be replaced and other household maintenance will be performed.... Harris ... has a home in downtown, Washington, D.C."
Rebecca Falconer of Axios: "Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton wished President Biden well and spoke of coming together in a 'peaceful transition of power' in a video organized by the inaugural committee Wednesday." MB: The played during Wednesday evening's festivities. See also unwashed's comment in today's thread:
Matthew Choi of Politico: "White House press secretary Jen Psaki committed on Wednesday to 'bringing truth and transparency back to the briefing room,' in her first news briefing of Joe Biden's presidency.... Psaki said she would commit to 'sharing information even when it is hard to hear' -- a reflection of Biden's inauguration address, in which he raised the alarm about rampant misinformation in the country, and an indirect rebuke of the tumultuous relationship between ... Donald Trump's White House and the news media.... Psaki also said she would carry out daily news briefings -- a change from previous administration, which would often go weeks without addressing reporters. Former press secretary Stephanie Grisham did not have a single briefing during her time in the position.... Psaki's debut appearance was a diametric contrast to the first news briefing of the Trump presidency, where then-press secretary Sean Spicer insisted that Trump's inauguration crowd was the largest in U.S. history -- a claim that was quickly proved false with aerial photos of the event."
Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The director of the National Security Agency, who was ordered over the weekend to install a former GOP political operative as the agency's top lawyer, on Wednesday placed that individual on administrative leave, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter. The NSA director, Gen. Paul Nakasone, placed Michael Ellis, a former Trump White House official [MB: and Devin Nunes' protégé, on leave pending an inquiry by the Pentagon inspector general into the circumstances of his selection as NSA general counsel, said the official.... Nakasone was ordered on Saturday by then acting defense secretary Christopher C. Miller to install Ellis by 6 p.m. Ellis officially started the job on Tuesday.... Miller's pressure on Nakasone just days before the Biden administration was to take over raised eyebrows and further alarmed critics who said Ellis's naming to the general counsel job represented the politicization of a career job at the helm of the nation's largest spy agency." A CNN story is here.
"You're Fired." Eli Rosenberg & Reis Thebault of the Washington Post: "A standoff between the Biden administration and the National Labor Relations Board's general counsel ended Wednesday evening in the top lawyer's firing, according to a White House official. The fracas over now-former general counsel Peter Robb's tenure unfolded just hours into Joe Biden's presidency. It began earlier Wednesday, when the Biden administration asked Robb to resign, the White House official said, a precedent-breaking move first reported by Bloomberg Law. But Robb, a Trump appointee with 10 months left in his Senate-confirmed role, refused.... Biden reportedly told Robb he should step down by 5 p.m. or he would be fired. By 8:45 p.m., the general counsel position on the NLRB's online organizational chart was listed as 'vacant.'... Labor groups celebrated Robb;s dismissal and hailed it as a welcome departure from Trump administration policies they deemed hostile toward workers and unions." MB: While it's unclear from the story whether or not Biden personally spoke to Robb, it does appear that he's better at firing undesirables than was that guy who starred in the "Apprentice" teevee show.
"You're Fired." Kate Bennett of CNN: "The Bidens moved quickly on Wednesday to fire White House chief usher Timothy Harleth, who was installed by the Trumps, two sources with knowledge have confirmed to CNN. Harleth was hired by Melania Trump in 2017 to fill the important role of chief usher. Harleth came to the White House from Trump International Hotel DC, where he was rooms manager. First lady Jill Biden's office did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment. Harleth took the place of Angella Reid, who was hired during the Obama administration. Reid made history when she took the job in 2011 as the first woman to serve in the position.... She was let go by the Trumps a few months after they took over the White House." MB: After the Trump flew the coop early Wednesday, it was left to Harlath to welcome the Bidens to the White House. Looks as if Dr. Jill doesn't have any trouble firing Trumpies, either.
Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "Michael Pack, a Trump appointee who sought to remake the Voice of America and other government-funded overseas news agencies, resigned on Wednesday, bringing an end to a short and tumultuous tenure. Pack quit a few hours after President Biden took office and less than eight months into his three-year term as chief executive of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM). The government agency oversees VOA, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the Office of Cuba Broadcasting and other networks that produce and distribute news to millions of people in countries whose governments suppress independent reporting. He said that his resignation came at Biden's request."
Burgess Everett of Politico: "Senate Democrats are signaling they will reject an effort by Mitch McConnell to protect the legislative filibuster as part of a deal to run a 50-50 Senate, saying they have little interest in bowing to his demands just hours into their new Senate majority.... Many Democrats argue that having the threat of targeting the filibuster will be key to forcing compromise with reluctant Republicans. They also believe it would show weakness to accede to McConnell's demand as he's relegated to minority leader. 'Chuck Schumer is the majority leader and he should be treated like majority leader. We can get shit done around here and we ought to be focused on getting stuff done,' said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.)... The filibuster appears safe for the immediate future.... If Democrats were to change it, it would likely be in response to Republicans blocking their bills repeatedly.... Democrats could change the Senate rules to a simple majority with the support of all 50 Senate Democrats as well as Vice President Kamala Harris via the 'nuclear option,' or a unilateral rules change.... Changing the legislative filibuster would effectively make the Senate much more like the House, a majoritarian institution."
Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Democrats claimed control of the Senate by the thinnest possible margin Wednesday as Vice President Harris swore in three new Democratic senators, bringing Republicans and Democrats to an even 50-50 split in the chamber. Harris, appearing in her role as Senate president just hours after her inauguration as vice president, will serve as the tiebreaker, giving her party a one-vote majority -- and thus the power to set the agenda in Senate committees and on the Senate floor.... Rising for the first time as majority leader, [Chuck] Schumer [D-N.Y.] pledged to 'do business differently' and to take action to combat racial injustice, economic inequality and climate change.... After Schumer spoke, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) agreed to lift his objection to Avril Haines, Biden's choice to serve as director of national intelligence; the Senate voted to confirm Haines, on a vote of 84 to 10. However, four other nominees -- Janet Yellen for treasury secretary, Gen. Lloyd Austin for defense secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas for homeland security secretary and Antony Blinken for secretary of state -- were left waiting amid procedural hurdles and GOP objections." ~~~
~~~ Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "The Senate confirmed President Joe Biden's first Cabinet nominee Wednesday evening, voting to approve his pick for director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, on his first day in office[.]... Haines will become the first woman to serve as director of national intelligence, taking over an intelligence community that was repeatedly disparaged and sidelined by Trump throughout his four years in office. The director of national intelligence is the president's top intelligence official and leads an agency that coordinates the entire intelligence community, a total of 17 agencies and organizations."
Jaclyn Peiser of the Washington Post: "With copies of the century-old manifests from his great-grandparents' journeys from Israel to Ellis Island in his suit pocket, Jon Ossoff on Wednesday clutched a Hebrew Bible that was equally steeped in history as he was sworn in as Georgia's first Jewish senator. It once belonged to Rabbi Jacob Rothschild, an ally of Martin Luther King Jr. and leader of Atlanta's Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple, the city's oldest synagogue and a home for civil rights activism that was bombed by white supremacists in the 1950s. More than just recognizing Ossoff's barrier-breaking win, his choice of a Hebrew Bible speaks to the crucial bounds [bonds??] between the Jewish and Black communities in Atlanta that made the moment possible."
Zach Montague of the New York Times: "In one of his first acts as president, buttressed by several of his predecessors, President Biden on Wednesday moved a ceremonial segment of his inauguration to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, paying his respects at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Reflecting upon the memorial on the first sunny Inauguration Day in 28 years, former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton stood by as Mr. Biden arrived with Vice President Kamala Harris to lay a wreath before the tomb, standing in silence for a long moment in a solemn display of solidarity."
~~~ Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, taking office at a moment of profound economic, health and political crises with a promise to seek unity after a tumultuous four years that tore at the fabric of American society. With his hand on a five-inch-thick Bible that has been in his family for 128 years, Mr. Biden recited the 35-word oath of office swearing to'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution' in a ceremony administered by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., completing the process at 11:49 a.m., 11 minutes before the authority of the presidency formally changes hands. The ritual transfer of power came shortly after Kamala Devi Harris was sworn in as vice president by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, her hand on a Bible that once belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the civil rights icon and Supreme Court justice. Ms. Harris's ascension made her the highest-ranking woman in the history of the United States and the first Black American and first person of South Asian descent to hold the nation's second highest office. In his Inaugural Address, Mr. Biden declared that 'democracy has prevailed' after a test of the system by a defeated president, Donald J. Trump, who sought to overturn the results of an election and then encouraged a mob that stormed the Capitol two weeks ago to block the final count." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Here's the full transcript of President Biden's inaugural speech (via Yahoo! News). (Also linked yesterday.)
Ben Leonard of Politico: "Amanda Gorman became the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history on Wednesday at President Joe Biden's swearing-in, using the historic moment to call for unity and to ask 'where can we find light in this never-ending shade.'" Gorman, 22, is the country's first National Youth Poet Laureate. (Also linked yesterday.) You can view Gorman's reading at the inauguration here on YouTube or near the top of yesterday's Commentariat. Here's the full text of the poem (via the Hill, also linked yesterday). A New York Times story is here.
Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "Eugene Goodman, a Capitol Police officer who was captured on video facing down members of the mob that breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 and diverting them from entering the Senate chamber and potentially saving lives, has been elevated to serve as the No. 2 security official in the Senate for the inaugural events on Wednesday. As the acting deputy Senate sergeant-at-arms, Officer Goodman, a Black man who fended off a mostly white throng, is part of the official escort accompanying Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to the platform outside the Capitol where she will be sworn into the nation's second-highest office." (Also linked yesterday.)
Meg Kinnard of the AP: "As they witnessed President Joe Biden take the oath of office on Wednesday, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said former Republican President George W. Bush lauded him as a 'savior' for helping get Biden elected. The South Carolina Democrat is largely credited with giving Biden the endorsement he needed to shoot to the top of 2020′s large Democratic field and win his party's nomination. Clyburn, on a call with reporters, said Bush told him, 'you know, you're the savior, because if you had not nominated Joe Biden, we would not be having this transfer of power today.' He said Bush added that Biden was the only Democratic candidate he felt could have defeated ... Donald Trump."
Forrest M. kindly watched Trump's going-away speech for us, and he has provided a complete report in yesterday's Comments of everything you need to know. It's a short report. Also in yesterday's Comments, Akhilleus offered critical analysis of Trump's Last Word. (Also entered yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Oh, okay, here are some excerpts from Maggie Haberman's New York Times report: "To the surprise of some of his own aides, [Donald Trump] left a note for Mr. Biden in the Oval Office, although its contents remained undisclosed.... It was the first time in two weeks that Mr. Trump had addressed the public in person.... His remarks were riddled with falsehoods and factual errors, boasts about his time in office and demands for credit... A large space was built for an audience that the White House had invited to see the president off. But for a man obsessed with crowd size, only about 300 people showed up, filling roughly a third of the standing area.... Some of his aides who had been with him the longest said they did not even watch the send-off on television.... [He issued a final pardon Wednesday morning] for Albert J. Pirro Jr., the former husband of an old friend, Jeanine Pirro, a Fox News host.... The route from the [West Palm Beach] airport to his private club, Mar-a-Lago, was lined with people waving flags, some weeping as he passed."
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post: "The inauguration of President Biden on Wednesday was more than a transfer of power. In ways symbolic and substantive, it was the redemption of a nation.... The defeated president departed in typically vulgar fashion: He granted late-night pardons to scores of crooks and cronies after some clemency-seeking felons paid Trump allies lavishly; and ordered a last-minute cancellation of his 'drain-the-swamp' ban on former aides becoming lobbyists or foreign agents. On Wednesday morning, Trump staged a campaign-style rally with a couple hundred supporters at Joint Base Andrews, where family and aides shunned face masks and a sound system played 'Macho Man.' Trump treated the crowd to his usual self-congratulation ('amazing by any standard,' '91 percent approval'), repeated oft-told falsehoods about his achievements, made a jingoistic reference to the 'China virus' and spoke in the past tense of the still-raging pandemic.... Biden's arrival was everything Trump's departure wasn't. The president-elect held a memorial for the 400,000 dead on Tuesday night ('to heal, we must remember') and devoted a moment of silence to them in his inaugural address. Later, he joined former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama at Arlington National Cemetery, where they heard a 21-gun salute and placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Trump, who famously skipped similar memorials when in office, honored himself with a 21-gun salute at his departure rally."
Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Wednesday called for reforming the use of the president's pardon power after former President Trump granted clemency to 143 individuals as his final act of office, including Stephen Bannon, his former strategist, who was charged with defrauding donors. 'I can't imagine the founders in providing for pardon power for a president anticipated that presidents would use it to reward political friends, and as a result I would hope that we could develop a tradition of more narrowly providing pardons,' Romney said. Romney said there should be a tradition of 'not providing them to people who are cronies or political individuals.' Romney said he 'would love to see a constitutional remedy' even though he acknowledged 'it's unlikely that something like that can get passed just given the difficult process of passing a constitutional amendment.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: While it's true that any curbing of the president's pardon would require a Constitutional amendment, this seems like the kind of reform that would be noncontroversial enough to pass in Congress & the states. It would not be easy, but it's useful to remember than one guy on a mission was largely responsible for passage of the most recent Amendment, the 27th. It took a while. The amendment was originally proposed in 1789, and was finally ratified by the requisite number of states in ... 1992.
Trump Squeezes in One Last Grift. Carol Leonnig & Nick Miroff of the Washington Post: "In the days before he left office..., Donald Trump instructed that his family get the best security available in the world for the next six months, at no cost -- the protection of the U.S. Secret Service. According to three people briefed on the plan, Trump issued a directive to extend post-presidency Secret Service protection to his four adult children and two of their spouses, who were not automatically entitled to receive it. Trump also directed that three key officials leaving government continue to receive the protection for six months: former treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, former chief of staff Mark Meadows and former national security adviser Robert C. O'Brien, two people familiar with the arrangement said. Under federal law, Trump, his wife, Melania Trump, and their 14-year-old son are the only members of his immediate family entitled to Secret Service protection after they leave office. The couple will receive it for their lifetimes, and Barron is entitled to protection until he turns 16.... A president can order Secret Service protection for any person he chooses, but it is highly unusual for a departing president to provide 24-hour security to relatives who are adults.... It's unclear what precedent there is for a departing president to extend this same protection to aides after they have left his administration." ~~~
~~~ Marie: You can bet the Trumps are dining at Mar-a-Lardo off the best White House china & slurping their soup from Mamie Eisenhower's gold-plated soup spoons.
Violent Proud Boys Denounce Wussy Trump. Sheera Frenkel & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "After the presidential election last year, the Proud Boys, a far-right group, declared its undying loyalty to President Trump.... But by this week, the group's attitude toward Mr. Trump had changed. 'Trump will go down as a total failure,' the Proud Boys said in the ... Telegram channel on Monday. As Mr. Trump departed the White House on Wednesday, the Proud Boys, once among his staunchest supporters, have also started leaving his side. In dozens of conversations on social media sites like Gab and Telegram, members of the group have begun calling Mr. Trump a 'shill' and 'extraordinarily weak,' according to messages reviewed by The New York Times. They have also urged supporters to stop attending rallies and protests held for Mr. Trump or the Republican Party.... On social media, Proud Boys participants have complained about his willingness to leave office and said his disavowal of the Capitol rampage was an act of betrayal." MB: Just like one of those crime dramas where the wise guys turn on the capo who has gone soft. ~~~
~~~ Pilar Melendez of the Daily Beast: "A Proud Boys leader caught on camera storming the U.S. Capitol with a pro-Trump mob has been arrested and charged for participating in the deadly insurrection. Joseph Biggs, a top organizer with the white nationalist organization, has been slapped with three charges, including obstruction of an official proceeding, for his role in the Jan. 6 riots. Prosecutors say the 37-year-old Florida resident is a 'self-described organizer' of the Proud Boys.... Biggs can be seen in several videos and photos taken inside the Capitol building, including one where someone shouts out his name. In the video, Biggs pulls down his face mask and declares, 'This is awesome,' according to a criminal complaint." ~~~
~~~ Kevin Roose of the New York Times: "Followers of QAnon, the pro-Trump conspiracy theory, have spent weeks anticipating that Wednesday would be the 'Great Awakening' -- a day, long foretold in QAnon prophecy, when top Democrats would be arrested for running a global sex trafficking ring and President Trump would seize a second term in office. But as President Biden took office and Mr. Trump landed in Florida, with no mass arrests in sight, some believers struggled to harmonize the falsehoods with the inauguration on their TVs." An NBC News story is here.
TMZ: "Donald Trump's pettiness apparently knows no bounds, because Joe Biden isn't getting what Trump himself got ... a government aircraft taking him to D.C. for his inauguration. Biden just boarded a private jet for the short flight to Washington. Protocol has been for the incoming President to get the courtesy of a military aircraft. Aside from the fact this tradition is rooted in the transfer of power, it's gotta be safer, with all the bells and whistles that come with it." (Also linked yesterday.)
Hmm. Dan Lamothe, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Army falsely denied for days that Lt. Gen. Charles A. Flynn, the brother of disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn, was involved in a key meeting during its heavily scrutinized response to the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol. Charles Flynn confirmed in a statement issued to The Washington Post on Wednesday that he was in the room for a tense Jan. 6 phone call during which the Capitol Police and D.C. officials pleaded with the Pentagon to dispatch the National Guard urgently, but top Army officials expressed concern about having the Guard at the Capitol. Flynn left the room before the meeting was over, anticipating that then-Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, who was in another meeting, would soon take action to deploy more guard members, he said.... There is no indication that Charles Flynn shares his brother's extreme views [about declaring martial law to redo the election] or discharged his duties at the Pentagon on Jan. 6 in any manner that was influenced by his brother."
Yet Another Trumpian National Security Risk. Lara Seligman & Bryan Bender of Politico: "The Pentagon blocked members of President Joe Biden's incoming administration from gaining access to critical information about current operations, including the troop drawdown in Afghanistan, upcoming special operations missions in Africa and the Covid-19 vaccine distribution program, according to new details provided by transition and defense officials. The effort to obstruct the Biden team, led by senior White House appointees at the Pentagon, is unprecedented in modern presidential transitions and will hobble the new administration on key national security matters as it takes over positions in the Defense Departmenton Wednesday, the officials said.... People involved with the transition, both on the Biden team and the Pentagon side, [told] Politico ... briefings on pressing defense matters never happened, were delayed to the last minute, or were controlled by overbearing minders from the Trump administration's side." (Also linked yesterday.)
The Pandemic, Ctd.
NBC News: "... inauguration day was the deadliest so far for the U.S. since the start of the pandemic: there were 4,131 deaths on Wednesday, according to an NBC News tally, beating the previous record set on Jan. 7.... Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leading U.S. expert on infectious diseases, says the country is now committed to working with the World Health Organization under Biden, following years of harsh criticism and obstruction from ... Donald Trump's administration."
M.J. Lee of CNN: "Newly sworn in President Joe Biden and his advisers are inheriting no coronavirus vaccine distribution plan to speak of from the Trump administration, sources tell CNN, posing a significant challenge for the new White House.... 'There is nothing for us to rework. We are going to have to build everything from scratch,' one source said. Another source described the moment that it became clear the Biden administration would have to essentially start from 'square one' because there simply was no plan as: 'Wow, just further affirmation of complete incompetence.'"
News Lede
CNBC: "Americans continued to hit the unemployment line last week in large numbers as the ongoing surge of Covid cases added to America's unemployment problem. Jobless claims totaled 900,000 for the week ended Jan. 16, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That was slightly less than the Dow Jones estimate of 925,000 and below the previous week's downwardly revised total of 926,000."
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