Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Interest rates: “The Federal Reserve is accelerating key interest rate hikes in light of record-high inflation. On Wednesday, the central bank announced a rate increase of 0.75% — a sign it is acting more aggressively to fight rising consumer prices.”
* Ukraine aid: “President Biden on Wednesday said the United States will deliver another $1 billion worth of military equipment to Ukraine, including weapons to defend the country’s coast, additional artillery, and more ammunition for the rocket systems to defend against Russian aggression in the eastern part of the country.”
* Vaccine news: “Food and Drug Administration advisers voted Wednesday to recommend authorizing both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccines for young children, clearing one of the final hurdles to getting the youngest Americans vaccinated.”
* Formula news: “The Biden administration is facilitating an additional shipment of infant formula on Thursday, the White House announced, transporting specialty formula from Switzerland to the US through ongoing ‘Operation Fly Formula’ efforts as the federal government continues to work to address the shortage.”
* Good move at the White House: “President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday aimed at combating a historic number of anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legislatures across the country.”
* Another good move at the White House: “Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is joining the Biden administration as a top White House aide, NBC News confirmed Tuesday.”
* Buffalo’s mass shooting: “Federal prosecutors filed hate crime charges against the white gunman who allegedly fired five dozen shots while killing 10 people in a racist attack in western New York, officials said Wednesday.”
* SCOTUS: “The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed an attempt by Republican-led states to defend a Trump-era immigration policy that made it harder for immigrants to obtain green cards, which has been abandoned by the Biden administration.” * The testimony is scheduled for a month from today: “New York’s highest court on Tuesday rejected former President Donald Trump’s last-ditch effort to avoid testifying in the state attorney general’s civil investigation into his business practices, clearing the way for his deposition next month.” * A fascinating report: “In the 1980s, Virginia ‘Ginni’ Thomas had a moment of clarity: She realized she had fallen in with a group she considered ‘a cult’ and sought to be ‘deprogrammed’ from it, she said in decades-old remarks obtained by NBC News.” 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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