1 Biden Vaccine Mandate Reinstated
A federal appeals court is reinstating the Biden administration's vaccine mandate for large companies (those with 100 or more employees). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Ohio made the ruling Friday after the mandate was blocked in November by a lower court. It was a 2-1 ruling. A coalition of 27 business groups quickly appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The vaccine mandate forces companies with 100 employees or more to require their workers to get COVID-19 shots or submit to weekly testing. The mandate had been set to take effect January 4th. In the wake of the ruling, OSHA says it won’t issue citations tied to the mandate before January 10th, so that companies have time to adjust to and implement the requirements. As for testing requirements, the agency says there will be no citations before February 9th.
2 Manchin Is A "No" For Biden's Social Spending Package
President Biden knew well that the Senate wouldn’t be passing his social spending bill until after the New Year. As of now, that may not happen at all. That’s because West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, has confirmed that he’s got no plans to support the initiative. During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Senator Manchin made it clear that he will not vote for President Biden's “Build Back Better” bill. Manchin cited concerns over inflation, the federal debt and a surge in COVID-19 infections as his main reasons for saying 'no.' He also said that he tried "everything humanly possible' to work with the legislation. Not surprisingly, Democrats in general are speaking out en masse about Manchin’s move. But also, the White House itself has made the rare move of scolding on of its own. In a statement, Press Secretary Jen Psaki refuted Manchin's reasons for withdrawing his support of the social spending bill and called his decision "sudden and inexplicable." The statement went on to say the White House will continue to press the West Virginia senator and find a way to move forward with Build Back Better in the new year.
3 Fauci Warns Holiday Travel Presents COVID Risk
The nation's top infectious disease expert says holiday travel will give the omicron COVID-19 variant an increased risk of spreading. During an interview with NBC's “Meet The Press,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said that if people do travel, they should be vaccinated, boosted, and wear a mask inside places like airports. Fauci warned that regardless of how careful people are, there are going to be breakthrough infections, especially given how contagious the omicron variant is. On that note? Fauci is admitting scientists didn't see the level of possible COVID-19 mutations coming. He was reacting to a recent quote from Vice President Harris saying scientists didn't anticipate the Delta or Omicron variants. Fauci explained that scientists expected to see COVID variants, but did not foresee the extent of possible mutations. He called the 50 mutations seen in Omicron "unprecedented."