The Daily Roundup: January 29

Politics MICHAEL REGAN CONFIRMED AS EPA ADMINISTRATOR The Senate confirmed Michael Regan as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday evening by a vote of 66-34. The former secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality becomes the first Black man to head the agency. Regan, who has a reputation…

Curating the day’s top stories so you don’t have to. 1. The Trump riot by the numbers: 56: Number of police officers injured 15: Number of police officers hospitalized 11: Number of Molotov cocktails recovered 5: Number of deaths 2: Number of pipe bombs discovered 1: Number of police officers…

Politics MANCHIN, COLLINS, AND ROMNEY TO OPPOSE OMB NOMINEE NEERA TANDEN Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced on Friday that he would oppose Neera Tanden’s nomination for director of the Office of Management and Budget. Manchin’s announcement was followed by similar declarations on Monday from Sens. Susan Collins and Mitt Romney,…

Politics CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE APPROVES $7.6 BILLION COVID RELIEF PACKAGE AND $600 STIMULUS CHECKS Gov. Gavin Newsome signed into a law Tuesday a coronavirus economic relief package that will give $600 stimulus checks to at least 5.7 million people and $2 billion in grants to struggling small businesses. “The backbone of…

A group of seven Senate Democrats filed an ethics complaint against Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley last week over their decision to object to the Jan. 6 certification of election results, claiming that making such an objection amidst violent threats “lent legitimacy to the mob’s cause and made…

Joe Biden recommitted the United States to the Paris climate accord on Wednesday in one of his first official moves as president. The order attracted the praise of world leaders and climate hawks alike but drew criticism from some Republicans in Congress. Sen. Marsha Blackburn said that the decision would…

“I briefly considered that it might be too early to start drinking, but then I remembered that people frequently drink after funerals.” This was the message that adorned my Facebook wall, four years ago today.  It wasn’t the death of America, of course—though at times it might have felt like…

Politics HOUSE RELEASES FIRST DRAFT OF RELIEF BILL House Democrats released the first draft of their COVID-19 relief bill on Monday with provisions for $1,400 stimulus checks, a hike in the minimum wage, extension and expansion of unemployment benefits, increases in the annual child credit and earned income tax credit,…

President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland rolled out a series of actions and regulations Thursday aimed at curbing gun violence. We will discuss the measures below, but as it is our stated goal to offer as much primary source material as possible, we…

It has been an eventful week, and we’re here to catch you up on what you might have missed. So without further ado, here are the week’s top stories. Politics SENATE ADVANCES $1.9 TRILLION STIMULUS PACKAGE The Senate passed a budget reconciliation resolution in a pre-dawn vote Friday after 14…

Curating the day’s top stories so you don’t have to. 1. Coronavirus by the numbers: 5.9 million: Number of Americans who have received one of the two coronavirus vaccines 365,400: Number of coronavirus deaths in the United States 4,112: Number of coronavirus deaths yesterday, marking a new record high With…

As news of Donald Trump’s latest attempt at subverting the election results dominates the airwaves, I felt it necessary to conduct a brief review of some facts. 1) When asked about their voting preferences, Americans routinely told pollsters that they intended to vote for Biden over Trump. At the time…

It has been an eventful few days, and The Middle is here to walk you through it. So without further ado, here are the day’s top stories. 1. Senate leaders arrived at an agreement Friday to delay Donald Trump’s impeachment trial until February 8, allowing President Biden time to install…

Politics HOUSE SET TO PASS $1.9 TRILLION CORONAVIRUS RELIEF PACKAGE The House is expected to pass President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package Friday night, paving the way for $1,400 stimulus checks, a $400-a-week federal unemployment bonus, a per-child allowance of up to $3,600, $20 billion for vaccine distribution,…

Remember what it was like not to think about the president? To go about your day—or even week—without a single second lost to the stressors that come with wondering what they were doing (or not doing, for that matter)?  It seems like such a distant memory. Like a time lost…