Today’s edition of quick hits:
* On the move: “President Donald Trump, who has Covid-19, is to be taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Friday afternoon in his helicopter as a precautionary measure, a senior administration official confirms to NBC News. The move was recommended by the president’s physician, the official said, and he is expected to work from the hospital for a few days.”
* Quite a shift: “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday said fresh payroll support for airlines was “imminent” and asked them to pause furloughs for tens of thousands of workers. But one airline has already said it won’t stop until new legislation is passed.”
* Unexpected: “Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett was diagnosed with the coronavirus earlier this year but has since recovered, three officials familiar with her diagnosis told The Washington Post.”
* Census: “A federal judge is ordering the Census Bureau to text every 2020 census worker by Friday, letting them know the head count of every U.S. resident is continuing through the end of the month and not ending next week, as the agency previously had announced in violation of her court order.”
* Another ruling of note: “A judge on Thursday temporarily lifted a visa ban on a large number of work permits, undercutting a measure that the Trump administration says protects American jobs in a pandemic-wracked economy.”
* Keep a close eye on this one: “The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up a challenge to Arizona’s election laws that reject ballots cast in the wrong precinct and forbid anyone but family members or caregivers to turn in another’s mail ballots.”
* A lawsuit of note: “Voting rights advocates have filed suit against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, contending that his new order limiting mail-ballot drop-off locations to one per county burdens voters and ‘undermines the public’s confidence in the election itself.’”
* This seems worthy of some conversation: “The National Guard has designated military police units in two states to serve as rapid reaction forces so they can respond quickly to any potential civil unrest around the country, following violent protests that rocked the nation’s capital and several states this summer.” * Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman: “Two conservative political operatives known for smearing political opponents with transparently false accusations were charged with felonies by the state of Michigan on Thursday, accused of trying to intimidate voters with false robocalls about mail-in voting.” * Tragic: “The Trump administration said it would cut its already rock-bottom refugee admissions still deeper into record territory for the upcoming year, as President Trump returned to his anti-immigrant themes in the closing month of his re-election campaign.” * Quite a story: “The Secret History of Kimberly Guilfoyle’s Departure from Fox.” Have a safe weekend.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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