Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A historic trip to Taiwan: “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who is leading an official congressional delegation to Asia this week, made an unannounced visit to Taiwan on Tuesday, a move that escalated tensions between Beijing and Washington. Pelosi is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Taiwan since then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich traveled there in 1997.”
* Important DOJ litigation: “The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Tuesday arguing that Idaho’s near-total abortion ban violates federal law — the Biden administration’s first legal action to protect abortion access since the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in late June. In making the announcement at DOJ’s headquarters, Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters that Idaho’s ban violates a federal law that requires medical providers to offer emergency medical treatment.”
* McKinney Fire: “The death toll from California’s McKinney Fire has grown to at least four after two more people were found dead at homes in Northern California on Monday, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office.”
* Speaking of the Golden State: “Gov. Gavin Newsom of California declared a state of emergency on Monday to address a monkeypox outbreak, making the state the third in four days to elevate its public health response to the rapidly spreading disease.”
* And speaking of monkeypox: “President Joe Biden is set to name top officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to serve as the White House coordinators to combat the growing monkeypox outbreak…. The White House said the pair would coordinate ‘strategy and operations to combat the current monkeypox outbreak, including equitably increasing the availability of tests, vaccinations and treatments.’”
* On the Hill: “A side agreement reached between Democratic leadership and Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) as part of their broader deal on an economic package would overhaul the nation’s process for approving new energy projects, including by expediting a gas pipeline proposed for West Virginia, according to a one-page summary obtained by The Washington Post.” * A post-Roe landscape: “A Kentucky appeals court has reinstated a near-total abortion ban that took effect when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The ruling means most abortions are illegal in the state, for now.” * The only members to vote against the Public Safety Officer Support Act were 17 House Republicans: “The Senate on Monday approved a bill that allows the families of public safety officers who die by suicide to seek death benefits, sending the measure to President Biden’s desk for his signature.” 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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