The U.S. government needs to contract with coronavirus vaccine makers by the end of the month in order to have enough booster shots for most Americans this fall but can't proceed until Congress approves more money, according to two senior Biden administration officials.
Why it matters: The debate over another round of booster shots is already heating up, and some experts are skeptical that they'll even be needed soon. But there's no telling what will happen between now and September, when the administration wants to have doses on-hand in case they're needed.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) on Thursday signed a new bill prohibiting legal action against people seeking an abortion or anyone who aids them, the Associated Press reported.
Why it matters: The bill bars abortion bans like the one in Texas, which allows citizens to receive as much as $10,000 for successfully suing a medical provider or person who aids someone seeking an abortion.
Activists are rushing to preserve a Texas school that educated Mexican American students during desegregation efforts and later became one of the models for the federal Head Start program.
The big picture: The property that's home to the Stephen F. Austin/Minnie Mae Hopper Elementary School — one of the last remaining "Little Schools of the 400" — is slated to be redeveloped into a housing complex in Wharton, Texas.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, less than a day before he was expected to meet with President Biden for St. Patrick's Day.
Driving the news: Martin learned of his positive test while at the Ireland Funds Gala, where President Biden was in attendance, according to a White House pool report. Biden instead met virtually with the taoiseach on Thursday.
Jeff Zients is set to leave his position as the White House's COVID-19 response coordinator in April, President Biden announced Thursday.
State of play: Zients will be replaced by Ashish Jha, who currently serves as dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. Biden called Jha "one of the leading public health experts in America."
U.S. intelligence officials are privately bracing for a massive influx of more than 170,000 migrants at the Mexico border if COVID-era policies that allow instant expulsions during the public health emergency are ended, sources with direct knowledge of the discussions tell Axios.
The response under way includes a newly created — and previously unreported — Southwest Border Coordination Center (SBCC), essentially a war room to coordinate an interagency response.
State legislatures more than doubled the money appropriated to arts agencies this fiscal year, setting aside $820.8 million for 2022 versus $402.8 million in 2021, according to the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA).
Why it matters: Artists have the power to lift people's spirits — an important role as we recover from the pandemic — and state arts agencies help pay for artists' work and make it more accessible to the public.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is marshaling support for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on what's expected to be a top issue at her confirmation hearings, which begin Monday.
The big picture: As a public defender, and later in private practice, Jackson represented several Guantanamo Bay detainees between 2005 and 2009.
Honduras' former President Juan Orlando Hernández can be extradited to the U.S. to face drug trafficking and weapons charges, a judge in the Central American country ruled on Wednesday night.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday lifted a ban that blocked a Biden administration policy of calculating climate change costs in government decisions.
Why it matters: The court's stay in a lawsuit brought by several Republican-led states means that, for now, federal officials can factor in the economic cost of climate change in projects and rulemakings — which could help the Biden administration reach its goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by up to 52% by 2030, compared with 2005 levels.
California authorities have released a video of a 38-year-old man who died after screaming "I can't breathe" while being restrained by multiple police officers who were trying to take a blood sample.
The big picture: Edward Bronstein died on March 31, 2020, after a California Highway Patrol (CHP) traffic stop less than two months before George Floyd told Minneapolis police officers that he couldn't breathe before they killed him, AP notes.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is prompting American CEOs anew to build their own mini-State Departments as they navigate the uncertainties of a war and world increasingly unbound by norms and institutions.
Why it matters: Executives traditionally rise to power by creating successful products and business lines, managing expectations and turning profits — not mastering foreign policy. With little margin for error, many are turning to D.C. experts with heightened urgency.
Congressional Democrats and Republicans are further apart ideologically than at any point during the past five decades — and Republicans are more to blame than Democrats, according to analysis by Pew Research Center.
Why it matters: The growing polarization makes it even more difficult for Congress to find bipartisan compromise for important legislation.
People across the U.S. commemorated one year since the Atlanta spa shootings on Wednesday, gathering in rallies and holding vigils in cities including Chicago, D.C., Dallas and Detroit.
Why it matters: A white gunman killed eight people, six of them Asian women, in Atlanta-area spas on March 16, 2021. The mass shooting renewed calls for action against anti-Asian violence amid a yearslong spike in hate crimes targeting Asians in the U.S.
