Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Good: “The federal government’s website for Americans to order at-home rapid Covid-19 testing kits launched on Tuesday. The website says ‘every home in the U.S. is eligible to order 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests. The tests are completely free. Orders will usually ship in 7-12 days.’”
* In related news: “The United States has not yet reached a national peak of the omicron variant, the nation’s top doctor said, urging caution even as the explosion of cases has started to plateau in some areas. ‘We shouldn’t expect a national peak in the next coming days — the next few weeks will be tough,’ U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy said Sunday on CNN.”
* An imminent crisis: “The White House believes Russia could launch an invasion of Ukraine at any moment, press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday, warning that an ‘extremely dangerous situation’ is building along the Ukrainian border.”
* Watching the Hill: “Senate Democratic leaders are determined to force a showdown over voting rights on the floor, even if it ends in failure for the cause. The debate kicked off Tuesday, with Democrats using a loophole in the 60-vote rule to begin considering the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. But there is no such loophole to end debate and proceed to a final vote unless Democrats change the rules.”
* Nuclear negotiations: “As the Biden administration tries to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, one of the biggest obstacles is Tehran’s demand that the U.S. provides a guarantee that it won’t again quit the pact and reimpose sanctions, diplomats involved in talks in Austria say.” * This recommended course does not make sense to me: “House Democrats running for reelection in competitive districts, facing increasingly long odds of surviving a potential Republican wave, have confronted party leaders in recent days with demands for a new midterm strategy. Among the requests of these so-called ‘front-liner’ Democrats is to break up President Biden’s sprawling Build Back Better spending bill that has stalled in the Senate amid opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and hold votes on a series of politically popular provisions that would appeal to centrist voters and core Democrats alike.” * The latest on SB8: “A Texas law forbidding women from ending unwanted pregnancies after six weeks could stay in effect for at least several more months under a ruling Monday by a federal appeals court. In a 2-1 opinion, the New Orleans-based Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that before a challenge to the law could move forward in federal court, Texas’s highest court should address unanswered questions about Texas state law.” 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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