Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The outbreak in Texas has so far infected at least 124 people, mostly children: “Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday appeared to downplay the seriousness of the West Texas measles outbreak that has killed a school-age child. The child’s death, the first from the disease in a decade in the United States, was confirmed by Katherine Wells, director of public health at the health department in Lubbock, Texas. The child had not been vaccinated against the measles.”
* In related news: “As the measles outbreak in Texas keeps spreading, parents who previously chose not to vaccinate their children are now lining up to get their kids the shots needed to protect them from the serious illness.”
* The next round of layoffs: “The Trump administration directed federal agencies on Wednesday to prepare for mass layoffs, according to the heads of the White House budget and personnel management offices. Budget Director Russell Vought and Charles Ezell, the acting director of the Office of Personnel Management, wrote in a memo to the heads of these agencies that the federal government is ‘costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt.’”
* I’ve never been more afraid about the future of The Washington Post: “Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos said Wednesday that the paper’s opinion editor has ‘decided to step away’ as the section takes a new direction focusing on ‘personal liberties and free markets.’”
* On a related note, the editor of the Post’s opinion section, David Shipley, is leaving the newspaper in response to Bezos’s declaration.
* Egg prices: “As the price of eggs reaches record highs, the federal government is looking into importing more eggs from other countries, Brooke L. Rollins, the agriculture secretary, said on Wednesday. Ms. Rollins, in an interview on Fox News, said that the United States was in talks with several countries to secure immediate egg imports as a short-term solution. In addition to importing eggs, the department will invest up to $1 billion in its five-pronged approach to combating bird flu, Ms. Rollins wrote in an op-ed published in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.” * A story we’ve kept an eye on: “After a protracted legal saga in which he was held in contempt twice, Rudy Giuliani has finally put an end to the defamation case brought by two former Georgia election workers, having ‘fully satisfied’ the judgment against him last week. According to Monday’s federal court filing, Giuliani has satisfied the judgment that required him to pay Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss nearly $150 million for spreading lies about them after the 2020 election.” * Best wishes for a speedy recovery: “Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., was diagnosed with ‘a severe concussion, a seizure, and a slight brain bleed’ after slipping on ice in his backyard and hitting the back of his head, he said in a Facebook post yesterday.” 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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