Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The latest on vaccines: “Pfizer-BioNTech asked the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday for emergency use authorization for its Covid-19 booster shot for all adults ages 18 and up, a move the company has been angling for over the past several months.”
* In related news: “The Biden administration on Monday argued that the federal government had all the power it needed to require large employers to mandate vaccination of their workers against the Covid-19 virus — or to require those who refuse the shots to wear masks and submit to weekly testing.”
* Supply chain: “The Biden administration announced steps Tuesday to speed up the distribution of some of the $17 billion for ports in the infrastructure bill passed Friday, even before the bill has been signed into law, in an effort to relieve supply chain backlogs that have driven up prices and created project shortages.”
* This was a foolish effort that was doomed to fail: “A federal judge on Monday shot down a request from former President Donald Trump to prevent the National Archives from releasing documents requested by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.”
* Interesting SCOTUS case: “Conservative Supreme Court justices expressed skepticism Tuesday about a Texas death row inmate’s demand that a chaplain be allowed to pray out loud and touch him during his execution.”
* Legislative logistics: “The White House is planning a signing ceremony for the infrastructure bill, but there’s one complication. After Biden signs it, a mandatory transfer of $118 billion to the highway trust fund would kick in. If the president puts pen to paper immediately, that could move up the debt ceiling deadline.” * So much avoidable suffering: “A North Dakota lawmaker and an organizer of a rally Monday to oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandates is infected with the coronavirus and won’t attend the event. Republican Rep. Jeff Hoverson posted on Facebook Sunday that he was ‘quarantining and each day is getting better.’ The Minot lawmaker said he is taking the deworming drug ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment, and has not checked into a hospital.” * Others can and should learn from these regrets: “Richard Soliz, a graphic artist who had not received a Covid-19 vaccine, spent nearly a month on a ventilator and heart monitor at a Seattle hospital. He returned to the hospital a month later after getting fully vaccinated to share his appreciation with the people who saved his life.” 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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