1 Trump’s Impeachment Article Delivered To The Senate
The second impeachment of former President Trump is one step closer to trial. Congressman Jamie Raskin and the other House impeachment managers have delivered the article to the Senate – it charges Trump with inciting the deadly protests at the Capitol earlier this month. The managers, led by Raskin, will be sworn in today. The trial is expected to get started the week of February 8th, just a little more than a year after Trump was acquitted in his first impeachment. Trump is the first president to be impeached twice. Even though Trump's out of office, a conviction in the Senate could ban him from holding office in the future.
2 White House Looking At March Timeline To Pass Additional COVID Relief
Looking for that stimulus check now-President Biden promised? We’re getting more of an idea when it might show up. The White House is looking at a March timeline to pass President Biden's comprehensive coronavirus relief package. At a briefing, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said there’s an urgency to moving forward on passing more funding, including 14-hundred-dollar stimulus checks. Psaki said there needs to be progress in the next couple of weeks because the U.S. will "hit the unemployment cliff" in March. As far as what else will be in the bill, Psaki added that the President doesn't expect the bill to look exactly the same as bipartisan negotiations are ongoing with Congressional leaders.
3 Merck To Discontinue Development Of COVID Vaccine
If you can’t beat ‘em...make something else? That appears to be the case for New Jersey-based drugmaker Merck, who is discontinuing development of its COVID-19 vaccine. The pharmaceutical company says its early studies show immune responses were inferior to natural infection in other COVID-19 vaccines. Merck isn’t totally out of the Covid game, however. The company plans to continue studying two potential coronavirus treatments. These might help control the response people have to the virus. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca is denying a report that claimed its COVID-19 vaccine is less effective in the elderly. This comes after a German media outlet reported the European Union (E-U) might not approve it for people over the age of 65 due to an “eight percent effectiveness.” The pharmaceutical giant called the report "completely incorrect" and cited published data, which shows one of its clinical trials found 100% of the elderly who received the vaccine had "spike specific antibodies."