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Total U.S. coronavirus deaths reported each morning this week: Monday 902,624; Tuesday, 905,544.
Four blue-state governors said Monday they plan to ease COVID-19 restrictions within weeks, most prominently by removing mask mandates in classrooms, a sign of a new pandemic phase tied to plummeting infection rates in the United States.
New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut and Oregon on Monday announced that mask directives affecting schools and students — among the most contentious virus-related requirements — will be phased out. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) (pictured below) said the mask rollback in his state will go into effect on March 7. Murphy, who narrowly won reelection in November, said declining numbers of confirmed infections and hospitalizations are behind the decision.
“This is a huge step back to normalcy for our kids,” Murphy said, adding that school districts can choose to keep mask mandates in place. “We are not going to manage COVID to zero. We have to learn how to live with COVID as we move from a pandemic to an endemic phase of this virus” (NJ.com).
On Monday, New Jersey recorded its lowest single-day case total since Thanksgiving.
In Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said the mask directive for students in his state will be rescinded on Feb. 28. Oregon and Delaware both will keep the classroom mandate in place through the end of March. Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) announced that his state’s indoor mask mandate will expire on Friday.
NJ.com: New Jersey plans to end its school mask mandate and parents have “very mixed feelings.”
Not all states are ready to follow suit. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is ending the indoor mask requirement for vaccinated individuals on Feb. 15 but will keep the mask directive in effect for schools (The Associated Press). New York Gov. Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said during an appearance in Kingston, N.Y., that she was still monitoring the situation, pointing out that the mandate in neighboring New Jersey would not be lifted for another month.
“I’m gathering data,” she said. “We are trending in a very, very good direction.”
Last week, Hochul said officials were “striving” to remove mask mandates in schools but that vaccination rates for younger children needed to rise before that happened (The New York Times).
“The more children we have vaccinated, the safer they’ll be when they go to school,” she said. “We’re just not there yet.”
Axios: Poll: America learns to live with COVID-19.
Kaiser Health News: Animal study offers mixed results for omicron-specific booster.
The New York Times: An omicron subvariant, BA.2, is spreading in Asia and Europe, but is unlikely to do more damage than omicron, experts say.
Changes announced by New Jersey, in particular, secured the support of the Biden administration, which supports Murphy’s plan because it does not bar school districts from implementing their own mask directives, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still backs universal masking in schools.
“What happened here in New Jersey and a couple of other states … is that they pulled back the requirement,” Psaki said, contrasting the decision with that of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). “They didn’t make it more difficult for schools, school administrators, local officials to keep requirements that they made a determination would keep their school safe” (The Wall Street Journal).
The Associated Press: Virginia Supreme Court dismisses mask mandate petition.
The Washington Post: Hong Kong’s “zero-covid” policy buckles under the onslaught of omicron — but authorities just won’t let it go.
The Hill: Australia says it will reopen its borders to vaccinated visitors in two weeks.
A MESSAGE FROM FACEBOOK
Why Facebook supports updated internet regulations, including Section 230
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LEADING THE DAY
ADMINISTRATION: Western world leaders on Monday worked in concert to try once again to defuse a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine, which the White House has said is possible “any day” despite Kremlin denials.
President Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin could and should de-escalate Russia’s massive military presence along Ukraine’s border, adding that the U.S. and NATO allies are unified and ready to respond to any Russian aggression. He vowed that the $11 billion Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline proposed between Germany and Russia would not happen if Russia attacks its neighbor (The Associated Press).
The Hill: Biden says U.S. and Germany are in “lockstep” to counter Russian aggression.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who met with Biden at the White House and has been wary of issuing public threats against Russia, said during an East Room appearance that it is “necessary for Russia to understand that a lot more could happen than they’ve perhaps calculated with themselves.”
French President Emmanuel Macron, who met for hours with Putin in the Kremlin on Monday (pictured below) and shared dinner of sturgeon and reindeer, said the discussion had been “substantial, deep.” Macron, who has seized a European leadership role to try to avert war, will be in Ukraine today to confer with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“The upcoming days will be crucial,” Macron said (The New York Times). He told the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, “The security and sovereignty of Ukraine or any other European state cannot be a subject for compromise, while it is also legitimate for Russia to pose the question of its own security.”
The New York Times: Putin said on Monday that Macron’s ideas are worth pursuing but the Russian president clarified nothing about his next steps or timetable. Asked by a reporter whether his country would invade Ukraine, Putin did not rule out the possibility. He said Zelensky needs to implement a peace plan negotiated in Minsk, Belarus, in 2015 — one that could give the Kremlin a way to influence Ukraine’s foreign-policy decisions.
On Sunday, Biden told reporters he believes Putin wants from the West “things he cannot get.”
Reuters: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that sanctions and other measures will be ready if Russia decides to attack Ukraine.
CNN: Russian government officials and military officers have expressed doubts about whether Putin recognizes the high costs and challenges of a possible full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to U.S. intelligence intercepts.
Politico: Poland braces for “up to a million people” who might decide to flee or be displaced amid a potential Russian attack against Ukraine.
More in the administration: First lady Jill Biden, who teaches English and writing to community college students, on Monday said, to her disappointment, the administration will not deliver free community college to Americans, acknowledging that a major provision of Biden’s economic agenda is officially off the table (The Hill and NBC News). … Geneticist, molecular biologist and mathematician Eric Lander, who directed the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, resigned on Monday after the White House disclosed finding credible evidence he mistreated his staff (The Associated Press). … Jessica Lewis, a former congressional staff member, spoke to The Hill about her role leading the State Department team responsible for speeding U.S. security assistance to Ukraine.
*****
CONGRESS: Ongoing congressional deliberations about how to fund the government beyond Feb. 18 veered Monday between short-term can-kicking and pressure on House and Senate leaders to perhaps assemble in the same room to hammer out a specific, one-year funding accord.
The House has three more days this week to act before a potential shutdown because lawmakers are out of Washington next week for the President’s Day recess. For that reason, House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) on Monday introduced a short-term bill that would buy more time and keep the government operating through March 11 (The Hill).
At the moment, Appropriations Committee members in both chambers are not close to a spending deal for any year-long measure. Lawmakers in both parties tell The Hill’s Alexander Bolton that it may be time for the top four leaders — Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) — to meet face-to-face to speed things up. Yet, there’s a hitch: Relations among Congress’s leaders are about as bad as they’ve ever been, making in-person collaborations less likely.
If Congress fails to move beyond a rolling series of temporary funding Band-Aids, billions of dollars for bipartisan infrastructure and transportation investments enacted months ago remain in limbo ahead of the November elections (The Washington Post).
IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES
POLITICS: Democrats are by no means in the driver’s seat in their quest to maintain control of the House of Representatives in November. However, things are looking up for the party’s battle for the House in future cycles thanks to some recent redistricting victories.
As The Hill’s Reid Wilson details, a number of court victories at the state level have given the majority party a major boost, handing them a better chance at controlling the chamber during the 2020s. Courts in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Ohio have made a series of rulings that will roll back the number of seats Republicans are favored to hold in the coming years.
“It’s certainly been a good break for Democrats,” said Michael Li, a redistricting expert and senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. “The war against gerrymandering has always been a multifront war, and state Supreme Courts have been a part of that.”
The Associated Press: The Supreme Court sided with the GOP in an Alabama election map case on Monday.
The Hill: Former President Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence avoid going scorched-earth.
Margaret Talbot, The New Yorker: Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s long game.
The Hill: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) says he texted GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, his niece, after the Republican National Committee’s decision last week to censure two House Republican members of the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol.
Politico: Senate GOP backlash follows RNC censure vote.
> Mask-free Dems: Stacey Abrams followed in a long line of COVID-induced political faux pas by Democrats last week as she posed maskless in a classroom full of masked schoolchildren, rekindling a favorite GOP attack line: For me but not for thee.
As The Hill’s Niall Stanage writes in his latest Memo, the photo is primed and ready to appear in GOP political attacks in the coming months after a year of Democrats instituting mask mandates, only to be seen flouting those rules behind closed doors. Most recently, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D), whose city has an indoor mask mandate in effect this month, was pictured maskless alongside Magic Johnson at a Los Angeles Rams. Incredibly, he defended himself by saying that he held his breath for the photo.
“What opponents are trying to say is that there is a tremendous amount of hypocrisy from lawmakers who say, ‘Masks for thee but not for me.’ In this case, it is a very stark image that crystallizes all of her opponents’ criticisms of her,” said Kevin Madden, a GOP strategist. “It is one image that tells a thousand stories. … That photo will show up in other campaigns all across the country. It is not going to just define one Georgia race.”
As Niall explains, the image is especially potent because it hits upon three of the most emotive topics within the broader discussion of COVID-19 restrictions: masking, education and whether excessive restrictions are being placed upon very young children, for whom the statistical probability of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 is very small.
The Hill: Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) reportedly feels “vindicated” and will not rule out another run for office.
The Hill: Morgan Ortagus, a Trump-backed former State Department spokeswoman, announced a bid for Congress in Tennessee.
The Detroit News: A defendant in the kidnapping plot aimed at Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) pleaded guilty, according to a court document Monday.
The Morning Report is created by journalists Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver. We want to hear from you! Email: asimendinger@digital-release.thehill.com and aweaver@digital-release.thehill.com. We invite you to share The Hill’s reporting and newsletters, and encourage others to SUBSCRIBE!
OPINION
There’s a name for someone who calls violence “legitimate.” It isn’t “Republican,” by Dana Milbank, columnist, The Washington Post. https://wapo.st/3J8Gj31
U.S. alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin moves on to the next, by Jason Gay, columnist, The Wall Street Journal. https://on.wsj.com/3gwJMvT
A MESSAGE FROM FACEBOOK
Why Facebook supports updated internet regulations, including Section 230
Aaron is one of 40,000 people working on safety and security issues at Facebook.
Hear more from Aaron on why Facebook supports updating regulations on the internet’s most pressing challenges, including reforming Section 230 to set clear guidelines for all large tech companies.
WHERE AND WHEN
The House meets at 10 a.m.
The Senate convenes at 10 a.m. and will resume consideration of the nomination of John Howard to be a judge on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.
The president and Vice President Harris will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 10:15 a.m. Biden and Harris will have lunch at noon. Biden will speak at 1:45 p.m. about bolstering U.S. manufacturing, accompanied by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. He will announce a new private-sector manufacturing facility in Lebanon, Tenn., that will create 500 local jobs making fast chargers for use with electric vehicles. The president and Harris will receive a weekly economic briefing at 2:45 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room.
The vice president will lead a “Day of Action” event to increase public participation in the federal child tax credit and a $1,500 earned income tax credit enacted last year in the American Rescue Plan law.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is traveling today to Melbourne, Australia, where he will meet with officials as part of a foreign ministers’ Quad gathering (representing the United States, Australia, Japan and India), then hold meetings on Saturday in Fiji, followed by the U.S. hosting of foreign ministers from Japan and South Korea in Hawaii for a trilateral conference later this week before returning to Washington on Sunday.
The White House daily press briefing is scheduled at 2 p.m.
Hill.TV’s “Rising” program features news and interviews at http://digital-release.thehill.com/hilltv or on YouTube at 10:30 a.m. ET at Rising on YouTube.
ELSEWHERE
➜ OLYMPICS: America’s Nathan Chen posted a world-record-setting figure skating performance during the men’s short program on Tuesday. Chen recorded a score of 113.97 — the top score of the day and the highest in the history of the short program (ESPN). … Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai, 36, emerged in Beijing to give an interview to a French sports publication focused on her career and not her allegations of sexual assault by a former Chinese Communist Party official (The Associated Press).
➜ TECH: Peter Thiel, one of Facebook’s first board members, is stepping down from his board position at the platform’s parent company Meta. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called Thiel a “valuable member” of the board, adding that he is “deeply grateful for everything he has done for our company.” Thiel, one of the most prolific GOP donors, is reportedly making the move as he shifts his focus to the midterm elections. He is supporting Senate GOP candidates J.D. Vance in Ohio and Blake Masters in Arizona. Vance and Masters co-bylined an opinion piece in October calling on Facebook to stop “meddling” in elections. The venture capitalist and PayPal founder has a net worth estimated at $2.6 billion (The New York Times).
➜ ABOUT FACE: The Treasury Department is moving away from the controversial verification software ID.me amid concern over the company’s use of facial recognition technology. The IRS had announced last year that it would start requiring people who file taxes online to register with ID.me, which would verify the identity of filers with a video selfie. The program had been expected to be rolled out this summer for all IRS services (The Hill).
THE CLOSER
And finally … RBG is going to the Smithsonian.
The National Museum of American History will begin to feature “a significant selection of artifacts” connected to late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s career starting next month as the museum prepares to honor her lengthy tenure on the Supreme Court.
According to the Smithsonian, Ginsburg’s items (some of which are pictured below in 2010) will be given to the museum in a March 15 ceremony by the late justice’s children, Jane and James. They will also accept the Great Americans Medal on her behalf (The Hill).
