Today’s edition of quick hits:
* 500 million kits: “The federal government next month will start mailing at-home Covid test kits for free to any U.S. household that requests one, a senior administration official said, as the omicron variant of the coronavirus contributes to a spike in new cases.”
* On a related note: “President Joe Biden announced Tuesday several new steps the administration is taking to combat the spread of Covid-19, seeking to reassure Americans that the anticipated holiday surge won’t be a return to the devastating early days of the pandemic.”
* Viral wildfire: “Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers showed nearly a six-fold increase in omicron’s share of infections in only one week.”
* This ought to be interesting: “Senate Democrats are set to hold a special caucus meeting Tuesday evening to discuss the next step for the Build Back Better Act and voting rights legislation.”
* DOJ: “Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered the Bureau of Prisons on Tuesday to allow federal inmates released because of the Covid pandemic to remain at home.”
* Ending a big strike: “Kellogg’s employees who have been on strike since early October have voted to ratify a tentative labor contract at the company’s four U.S. cereal plants. The contract covers approximately 1,400 workers represented by the union at plants in Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.”
* A 46-month sentence for Devlyn Thompson: “A man who helped assault police officers during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol was sentenced to almost four years in prison Monday, prosecutors said.” * An update on a story we’ve been following: “The Army will award the Purple Heart to dozens of additional soldiers injured when Iran struck their airbase in Iraq with ballistic missiles in January 2020. The shift comes after a CBS News investigation last month found these same soldiers had not been recognized with the award and denied the medical benefits that come with it, despite appearing to qualify.” * An important initiative: “The Pentagon on Monday issued new guidelines meant to root out extremism in the U.S. military, warning that “liking” white nationalist and extremist content on social media and similar activities could result in disciplinary action.” 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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