The Trump power play goes on
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Evan McMullin & Mindy Finn
A detailed study released this week demonstrated that the argument against vote-by-mail, made by the president and others, has no basis in reality. The Stanford study found no evidence that the rollout of vote-by-mail policies in California, Utah, or Washington benefitted either party over the other. In short, vote-by-mail should not be the polarizing issue it has become. Something everyone can do right now to ensure all Americans can vote safely in November is to call your congressional representatives and demand that vote-by-mail be made available in every state in the union. No American should have to risk their health to exercise their right to vote.
—Mindy Finn
1. Can he really do that?
President Trump's Rose Garden briefing yesterday left many Americans reaching for their pocket Constitution. Claiming Senate Democrats have blocked him from filling vital government jobs, he threatened to force both houses of Congress to adjourn so that he can make such appointments without Senate approval. It's not clear whether a president has the authority to force Congress to adjourn, and Trump would be sure to face fierce opposition if he did. "Perhaps it's never been done before, nobody is even sure if it has, but we're going to do it," he said. On that point, at least, he is correct. Presidential historian Michael Beschloss tweeted last night, "No President in history has ever used the Constitutional power to adjourn Congress." —Bloomberg
— You must obey. In hopeful news, a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers has been invited by the White House to join a panel tasked with determining how to reopen the U.S. economy. Unfortunately, their guidance won't influence the new guidelines on an economic restart that Trump is sharing with state governors today. Trump has threatened to "take very strong action" against any governor who refuses to follow them. —New York Daily News
— Trump base rebels against lockdowns. Multiple states are seeing protests against stay-at-home orders intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus. In Michigan, where orders are especially stringent, a demonstration dubbed "Operation Gridlock" brought thousands of vehicles—many draped with protest signs and Trump flags—to the state Capitol yesterday. Protesters also marched in defiance of social distancing orders. —USA Today— Where's my check? Other Americans are frustrated by delays in receiving their stimulus money. Many of those eligible to receive it are encountering problems ranging from persistent error messages on the new online payment tracking tool to money deposited into the wrong account. There are also reports of payments going to people who are deceased. —ABC News
— Delays cost US big. The Trump Administration has awarded bulk contracts to third-party vendors in recent weeks in the scramble to obtain N95 respirator masks to equip healthcare workers. The government has paid the companies more than $5 per unit—nearly eight times what it would have spent in January and February, when U.S. intelligence agencies were warning of the approaching pandemic. —The Washington Post
More: Harris: The shutdown backlash is coming soon—with a vengeance (Politico)
2. Baron: Trump's WHO cuts aren't about COVID-19
"China has much to answer for, and holding international organizations to account when they falter is more than admirable—it's actually the Trump Administration's basic responsibility, as the government of a member state. But withholding funds and so brazenly scapegoating the international community's premier health agency during a global pandemic only serves to weaken public trust in that agency, healthcare professionals, and the science that is saving lives. It's the latest example of how weakening international organizations often weakens American security." —Defense One
More: A timeline of coronavirus comments from President Trump and WHO (NPR)
3. What really happened in China?
That's the question more and more lawmakers are asking as the coronavirus pandemic leaves its wake of destruction around the world. Newly released internal documents don't look good for the country's Communist government. In the six days after Chinese officials determined they likely were facing a pandemic, the city of Wuhan hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people, and millions began traveling through for Lunar New Year celebrations. By the time President Xi Jinping warned the public on the seventh day, more than 3,000 people had been infected. —ABC News
— U.S. investigates. President Trump announced at his coronavirus press briefing yesterday that the U.S. is investigating the response of both China and the World Health Organization to the pandemic from its onset. Congressional Republicans are also planning their own investigation of the Chinese government and the WHO. —NBC News
— 'The Chinese government needs to come clean.' In a Fox News interview after Trump's news conference, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, "We know this virus originated in Wuhan, China," and that the Institute of Virology is only a handful of miles away from the wet market where the virus supposedly started. "We really need the Chinese government to open up," Pompeo continued, and help explain "exactly how this virus spread." —Reuters
— McKinsey hypocrisy? Trump has halted funding to the WHO for being too soft on China, but he's taken a different approach to McKinsey & Co. The consulting firm has played a major role in the Chinese government's economic growth and global ambitions, but despite that, the Trump Administration has signed multiple multimillion-dollar contracts with McKinsey to aid the U.S.'s coronavirus response. —Rolling Stone
More: Allsop: China, conspiracy theories, and the murky coronavirus origin story (Columbia Journalism Review)
4. Kemmelmeier & Kusano: Democracy vs disease
"Accountability is a key factor. Essentially, democratic societies, which tend to emphasize individual rights, are actually better over the long haul at dealing with these kinds of threats. Democratically elected governments are accountable to the people. That is always going to be the vulnerability of every authoritarian regime, because they're not accountable. They're not necessarily doing the prevention; they are not necessarily building national capacity to respond to disasters. And they don't reward people for sniffing out the problems." —Nevada Today
Ed. Note: Markus Kemmelmeier is the director of the social psychology program at the University of Nevada, Reno. Kodai Kusano is a social psychology doctoral student at UNR who led a published study on the response to pandemic in democratic vs. authoritarian societies.
More: Chait: The massive political corruption behind the coronavirus response (New York Magazine)
— Trump holds a solemn respect for Limbaugh, as his radio show offers the president a real-time measure of how the president's decisions are being received by his base. The Rush Limbaugh Show has long been the most popular talk-radio show in the country, drawing about 15.5 million listeners per week.
— Limbaugh speaks to the president frequently and has been a strong advocate for re-opening the country and the economy as soon as possible. Limbaugh believes the economic shutdown was a political effort to hurt Trump in November, and even went as far as to call Dr. Anthony Fauci a "Hillary Clinton sympathizer."
— The president, missing his campaign rallies, felt stifled that he could not connect directly with his supporters. To bridge this divide, he decided that daily press briefings would be a good alternative. Since they began, he has frequently touted his "ratings" for the briefings. —The New York Times
More: Fox News asks court to toss lawsuit calling network a public health risk (The Hill)
— A year ago, the shortlist for the JEDI contract was down to two finalists: Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure. Industry experts largely expected Amazon to win the contract and were surprised when the Pentagon sealed the deal with Microsoft in October.
— Amazon sued in December, alleging Microsoft won because Trump personally hates Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Amazon cited instructions from Trump to former Defense Sec. James Mattis to "screw Amazon," as well as other tweets and comments about Bezos and the company.
— In its review, DoD investigators were unable to interview anyone from the White House. After "repeated requests for a response," the White House would only allow witnesses to provide written answers subject to review by White House counsel for executive privilege. The inspector general who oversaw the D0D investigation, Glenn Fine, was later removed from overseeing the coronavirus stimulus package. —Ars Technica
7. Rush: VA should expand ranked-choice voting
"Gov. Ralph Northam just signed into law two bills that enable local electoral boards, the general registrar, and city council members to use ranked-choice voting, and establishes ranked-choice voting for board of supervisors elections in counties operating under the county manager plan of government.
If the Commonwealth can do this at the local level, it can easily and, therefore, should switch to a system of multimember General Assembly districts represented by people chosen in elections with ranked-choice voting. This would transform the quality of elections for all voters while fulfilling a long-overlooked mandate of the Voting Rights Act. It is only a matter of political will." —The Fulcrum
Ed. Note: Mark Rush is a professor of politics and law and the director of the Center for International Education at Washington and Lee University.
More: Virginia governor signs ranked-choice voting bill (Culpeper Star-Exponent)
8. House members seek to vote from home
House Democrats are growing restless with their leadership, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi has thus far resisted allowing remote voting in the chamber amid the coronavirus pandemic. With lawmakers stuck at home with no guarantee of when they'll return to the Capitol, many wish a protocol for voting remotely had been established weeks—or even years—ago.
— The issue of remote voting challenges long-standing traditions, rules, and protocols in Congress. There are also questions about constitutional issues if a law were passed using remote voting and was later challenged in court. Pelosi has expressed concerns about security as well.
— Last week, the House Problem Solvers Caucus sent a letter to Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy urging them to develop a system for legislating remotely in an emergency, and outlining a number of options, including phoning the House clerk, using videoconferencing, or setting up voting machines in district offices or homes.
— The issue gained more urgency yesterday, when the Small Business Administration announced it would run out of money for its coronavirus loan program. Without remote voting, congressional leaders must rely on unanimous consent agreements to pass legislation to increase the program's funding—and Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie has vowed to object to any voice vote. —CNN
More: Small business rescue loan program hits $349 billion limit and is now out of money (CNBC)
9. Healey: Warren's endorsement lays it bare
"The election in November won't be a referendum on Trumpism vs. whatever platform [former Vice President Joe] Biden puts forward, despite the manifest and crucial policy differences between the two. It will be about character. Americans are seeing the president's character on display every day in his coronavirus briefings, and it's not a pretty sight." —Los Angeles Times
More: Libertarians view Amash as potential 2020 game changer for party (The Hill)
10. An American Story: Small acts of kindness go a long way
One FedEx worker in Boca Raton, Fla., went above and beyond during his work shift to ensure that one family stayed protected during the coronavirus outbreak. When Justin Bradshaw went to deliver a package to Carrie Blasi's house, he noticed a sign on the door that read, "Someone in this house has an autoimmune disorder..." Bradshaw sanitized the package before leaving it at the door.
— "We have a sign on our door for packages/mail as our 11-year-old daughter is a Type 1 Diabetic. Our Federal Express delivery guy wrote this on our box: 'I sanitized your box once I've seen the note on your door'—and you can tell that he used sanitizer wipes on the box. Amazing!!" Blasi wrote on Twitter.
— The family captured the moment through their video doorbell. Times like these can be scary, but opportunities for small acts of kindness are easy to find, easy to perform, and can make a world of difference. Great job, Justin! —USA Today
Ed. Note: We are spotlighting ways that Americans are helping each other through the coronavirus crisis. Would you like to suggest an "American Story" from your local news? If so, please forward a link to the story to editor@topline.com. Thank you!
We cannot assume that people who have had COVID-19 and recovered are immune to the disease. At least one article I read on "herd immunity" suggested that not enough research had been done to confirm that those who recover are immune. The same article also cited an instance where a Chinese man tested positive for COVID-19 and contracted the illness a second time. Of course this could be a special case, but we should not make any assumptions about immunity.
—Eliza C., Texas
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