Thursday News & Notes
OCTOBER 14, 2021 -- CHUCK YEAGER BREAKS SOUND BARRIER IN BELL X-1 AIRPLANE, 1947
•A Moderna booster shot for recipients of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine triggered more antibodies than either Pfizer or J&J boosters, according to an FDA review and a separate ‘pre-print’ study (WaPo).
•Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Nicholas Kristof has left the NYT for a likely run for the 2022 Democratic primary for governor of Oregon (Politico).
Lowest Unemployment Claims Since Pandemic Began – New unemployment claims for the nation fell to 293,000 for the week ending October 9, compared with an adjusted 329,000 claims the previous week, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. The latest numbers represent the lowest initial claims since the beginning of shutdowns over the pandemic. New unemployment claims were 256,000 for the week of March 14, 2020.
•••
Another 1/6 Committee Subpoena – The House of Representatives January 6 Select Committee Wednesday subpoenaed former Trump administration Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark as it took more than eight hours of closed-door testimony from former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen (per The Washington Post) regarding the final days of the 45thpresidency. Rosen had replaced President Trump’s longest-serving AG, William Barr, just before Christmas. Leading up to the January 6 Capitol insurrection, Clark, as a Justice Department official who was ready to lend DOJ resources to Trump’s false claims of election fraud, was ready to replace Rosen as acting AG.
Former Trump administration officials due to appear before the committee today include the ex-president’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, and Kashyap Patel, former chief of staff to then-acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller. The fourth, ex-advisor Stephen R. Bannon, already has refused to testify on the grounds of executive privilege, despite that those grounds do not apply to former presidents, let alone their associates and staff.
Note: The House select committee is currently sorting out with the current DOJ how to enforce the subpoenas and force Trump officials, and Bannon, to testify on how close they had come to organizing an inside coup for the lame-duck president. In other words, expect more MAGA rallies like Trump’s appearance in Iowa last weekend, as he heads toward another run in 2024.
•••
Trumped Again? — Thirty-five percent of those surveyed in a Morning Consult/Politico poll say that Donald Trump should “definitely” (25%) or “probably” run for president in 2024. Of the Republicans queried, 67% give him the nod.
Note: Odd how a man twice impeached and twice soundly beaten in the popular vote would be of appeal to what has now become the Republican Party, a party once known for ideas and now known for conspiracy theories and little in the way of support of democratic principles and the rule of law.
The survey also shows that for those who don’t want Trump to run, 26% say that Mike Pence, the former vice president whose life was openly threatened by Trump supporters during the January 6 insurrection, should be the candidate.
•••
Dueling Parties – Capitol Hill may be gridlocked in place with Republicans stonewalling Democrats, and Democrats fighting against each other, but there’s plenty of action on the campaign front according to third-quarter fundraising reports, as covered by Politico. Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, raised nearly $8.3 million for the latest reporting quarter as he is expected to sail to re-election next year and potentially set up a run for the GOP presidential nomination for 2024. Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, reported $9.6 million raised in Q2, more than twice the second-highest number reported, by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, who also faces re-election in the midterms.
In addition, the Opportunity Matters Fund, a political action committee supporting Scott, received a $10 million contribution from Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Politico notes.
But Scott’s Q3 number was not number-one among all midterm candidates. Rep. Val Demings, D-FL, raised $8.4 million in the quarter for his bid to challenge Rubio in the November 2022 Senate election.
•••
Former Michigan Congressman Kildee Dies – Former U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee, a Democrat from Michigan, has died. Described in Roll Call as the “Cal Ripken of Congress” for casting more than 20,000 votes in the House between 1977 and 2012, he was known for his “quiet work to protect the auto industry and labor unions,” and to improve public schools. His nephew Dan Kildee, who won the seat representing the Flint area in 2012, announced the former congressman’s death but did not give a cause. Kildee was 92.
--Edited by Todd Lassa, Gary S. Vasilash and Nic Woods