Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The latest CDC mess: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has walked back information posted on its website just three days ago, which stated Covid-19 can spread through aerosolized droplets.”
* RBG: “Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will lie in repose this week at the Supreme Court, the building where she worked for 27 years until cancer claimed her life Friday. The court announced Monday that the legendary justice will lie in repose at the court Wednesday and Thursday. The feminist icon will then lie in state at the U.S. Capitol on Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office said.”
* Timeline: “President Donald Trump said Monday he will announce his Supreme Court pick at the end of this week because he wants to wait until after memorial services for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. ‘I will announce it either Friday or Saturday, and then the work begins,’ Trump said during an interview on the morning show ‘Fox & Friends.’”
* More on this tomorrow: “The Department of Justice on Monday released a list of cities it has deemed ‘anarchist jurisdictions’ under President Donald Trump’s instructions earlier this month to review federal funding to local governments in places where violence or vandalism has occurred during protests.”
* Power grab: “In a stunning declaration of authority, Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services, this week barred the nation’s health agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, from signing any new rules regarding the nation’s foods, medicines, medical devices and other products, including vaccines.”
* Given his track record, should this be seen as terrifying? “White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters Monday that the United States had ‘regained control of the virus,’ both in cases and fatalities, even as the death toll nears 200,000, per C-SPAN footage.”
* DOJ: “Four Democratic House committee chairs on Friday asked the Justice Department’s inspector general to launch an ’emergency investigation’ into whether Attorney General Bill Barr and U.S. Attorney John Durham, his appointee, are taking actions that could ‘improperly influence the upcoming presidential election.’” * ISIS isn’t dead: “Islamic State remains flush with cash despite setbacks in the past year, holding financial reserves and a range of revenue streams that U.S. and Western security officials warn could pay for a dangerous resurgence. The extremist organization and its affiliates have assets ranging into the hundreds of millions of dollars across the Middle East and Central Asia, according to the officials and government records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.” * This is one wild story: “A New York City Police Department officer was arrested Wednesday on federal charges of acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government, authorities said.” See you tomorrow.
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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