12.50pm EST
12:50
Congressman Pat Fallon, a Republican from Texas, has introduced a joint resolution to implement term limits for Congress.
Jack Fink
(@cbs11jack)
#NEW @RepPatFallon introduces a Joint Resolution to implement term limits for U.S. House & Senate: House: 8 terms or 16 years and Senate: 3 terms or 18 years. “Individuals that spend 20,30, or even 40 years in Congress are far too disconnected from the American people.” @CBSDFW
January 28, 2022
12.20pm EST
12:20
Biden administration meeting with banks to discuss possible Russia sanctions
Bloomberg is reporting that the Biden administration has been meeting with the the country’s largest banks on possible sanctions against Russia.
As tensions continue to rise at the Ukraine border, members of the national security council and other senior administration officials spoke with executives from banks including Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Goldman Sachs Group.
One focus of the discussions has been on a package that would include targeting Moscow’s ability to convert currency. Officials have also been voicing concerns about triggering a possible repeat of 2018, when sanctions against Russia disrupted the global supply chain for aluminum and sent prices for the metal soaring 30%.
11.42am EST
11:42
A 2019 law allowing anyone in Pennsylvania to vote by mail is unconstitutional, a state court ruled on Friday.
The ruling is likely to quickly be appealed to the state supreme court and will be paused as the body decides whether to take up the case. Nonetheless, it is a hugely significant decision in a key swing states where a record 2.6m people voted by mail in the 2020 election. Donald Trump has railed against mail-in voting in the state, even though there is no evidence of widespread fraud or wrongdoing.
In a 3-2 ruling, judges on the Pennsylvania commonwealth court ruled that no-excuse absentee voting was prohibited by several provisions in the state’s constitution that outline the conduct of elections. One of those provisions lays out the specific conditions under which someone may vote absentee, cites absence from their home on election day, as well as illness, physical disabilities and a religious exemption. Another provision says “all elections by the citizens shall be by ballot or by such other method as may be prescribed by law.”
The court ruled that those provisions meant that the state legislature could not make it so that anyone could vote by mail without an excuse.
“A constitutional amendment must be presented to the people and adopted into our fundamental law before legislation authorizing no-excuse mail-in voting can “be placed upon our statute books,” Mary Hannah Leavitt wrote for the majority.
But the two dissenting judges argued that the constitution does authorize the legislature to enact no-excuse absentee voting. The provision that says elections must be conducted by ballot “ or by such other method as may be prescribed by law,” authorizes it, they said.
“The General Assembly is constitutionally empowered to enact Act 77 to provide for qualified and registered electors present in their municipality of residence on an election day to vote by no excuse mail-in ballot,” they wrote.
11.20am EST
11:20
The newly inaugurated conservative administration of Virginia continues to make waves, with the attorney general today issuing an opinion that public state universities cannot mandate the Covid-19 vaccine as a condition for enrollment or in-person attendance.
Reminder that prior to the pandemic, public schools across the country have required some form vaccine for a number of illnesses, including measles, mumps and rubella.
Jason Miyares
(@JasonMiyaresVA)
BREAKING: I’ve issued my first ever Attorney General opinion – Virginia state universities cannot mandate the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition for enrollment or in-person attendance.
Check it out here ⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/dliMICczCZ
January 28, 2022
10.53am EST
10:53
The New York City mayor’s office is asking any New Yorkers who came in contact with former Alaska governor Sarah Palin to get tested for Covid-19, the Gothamist is reporting.
This comes after the unvaccinated Palin tested positive ahead of her defamation trial against The New York Times, postponing proceedings – and then went on to dine at multiple restaurants on the Upper East Side.
Fabien Levy
(@Fabien_Levy)
To be clear, if @SarahPalinUSA actually “loved New York City” as she claims, she would stay home and isolate.
Loving New York means loving New Yorkers and that means not putting them at risk of getting COVID.https://t.co/P1JyGnOhxc via @gothamist
January 27, 2022
10.36am EST
10:36
In his State of the State address, Jim Justice, governor of West Virginia, told his haters – specifically, Bette Midler – to his kiss the “hiney” of his pet English bulldog, Babydog.
He then picked Babydog up and flipped her around so he could flash her posterior to the crowd.
Danielle Dindak
(@danielledindak)
Governor Justice has some words for @BetteMidler at his State of the State Address. pic.twitter.com/2KGXPP0v73
January 28, 2022
“They told every bad joke in the world about us,” Justice said. “So from that standpoint, Babydog tells Bette Midler and all those out there: kiss her hiney.”
Justice’s beef with Midler goes back to an angry tweet she sent out last month about Joe Manchin, the senator from West Virginia, when he refused to support the Build Back Better bill in Congress. “He sold us out,” Midler wrote. “He wants us all to be just like his state, West Virginia. Poor, illiterate and strung out.”
She later tweeted an apology:
bettemidler
(@BetteMidler)
I apologize to the good people of WVA for my last outburst. I’m just seeing red; #JoeManchin and his whole family are a criminal enterprise. Is he really the best WV has to offer its own citizens? Surely there’s someone there who has the state’s interests at heart, not his own!
December 20, 2021
10.24am EST
10:24
Justice Clarence Thomas is facing calls for his recusal in the case over race-based affirmative action in college admissions that the supreme court agreed this week to hear.
That’s because his conservative powerhouse wife, Ginni Thomas, sits on the board of the National Association of Scholars, which filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit accusing Harvard University admissions of being prejudiced against Asian students and stereotyping them as “uninteresting, uncreative and one-dimensional”.
Read more here:
9.41am EST
09:41
Update on the bridge collapse in Pittsburgh: while authorities are now reporting that three people have been transported to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries, there appear to have been no fatalities.
Pittsburgh Public Safety
(@PghPublicSafety)
UPDATE 4: Three people were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
USAR is being deployed to ensure there are no victims under the collapsed bridge. https://t.co/NfXo7MN3lx
January 28, 2022
John Fetterman
(@JohnFetterman)
Been at the scene of the bridge collapse since earlier this morning.
So thankful to the first responders + to hear from them that there are no reported fatalities. pic.twitter.com/0VEE0osGJd
January 28, 2022
Jade Elliott
(@JadeElliottTV)
UPDATE:
-Everyone has been rescued from the collapsed bridge
-No fatalities, 3 injured
-Gas leak repaired, evacuation order lifted
-Bridge last inspected Sept. 2021
-President headed to area in already planned trip to discuss Infrastructure Bill, Mayor says it’s needed here https://t.co/aUYEwhjD73
January 28, 2022
As for the $1tn bipartisan infrastructure law that Joe Biden will be traveling to Pittsburgh to speak about later today:
Rachel Scott
(@rachelvscott)
The bipartisan infrastructure law would allocate $1.63 billion to PA in federal funding for bridges alone.
The bridge program will provide $27 billion across the country.
h/t to super producer @sarahkolinovsky for stats
January 28, 2022
Updated
at 9.41am EST
9.25am EST
09:25
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has gone on Twitter to say that the White House is in touch with state and local officials regarding the Pittsburgh bridge collapse. Joe Biden will proceed with his trip to the city as planned, she said.
Jen Psaki
(@PressSec)
.@POTUS has been told of the bridge collapse in Pittsburgh. Our team is in touch with state and local officials on the ground as they continue to gather information about the cause of the collapse.
January 28, 2022
Jen Psaki
(@PressSec)
@POTUS is grateful to the first responders who rushed to assist the drivers who were on the bridge at the time. The President will proceed with trip planned for today and will stay in touch with officials on the ground about additional assistance we can provide.
January 28, 2022
9.18am EST
09:18
Bridge collapses in Pittsburgh ahead of Biden’s infrastructure remarks
Joe Biden is heading to Pittsburgh today to deliver remarks about supply chains, manufacturing jobs and above all, the $1tn bipartisan infrastructure law that will go toward improving roadways and bridges across the country.
Hours before the president was set to leave Washington, a bridge collapsed near the city’s Frick Park. Though authorities say no initial reports of injuries , the collapse severed gas lines.
Tim Williams
(@realtimwilliams)
#BREAKING New photos of a bridge collapse in #Pittsburgh. Several cars and a city bus were on the bridge when it collapsed. Crews trying to rescue them now. 📸: @PAKnitWit pic.twitter.com/ry9s2K1V4d
January 28, 2022
Pittsburgh Public Safety
(@PghPublicSafety)
UPDATE 3:
PIO is on scene. Will advise on when there will be a news conference. https://t.co/l8tQryZwIW pic.twitter.com/OEHkAPJy6N
January 28, 2022
No doubt the bridge collapse will bolster Biden’s stance for why the infrastructure law was so necessary – an American Road and Transportation Builders Association analysis of the Department of Transportation’s 2020 national bridge inventory found that more than 220,000 bridges across the country are in need of repair, with 45,000 considered structurally deficient. That’s 36% – more than a third – of all bridges in the US.
But Punchbowl News is reporting that prior to the bridge collapse, Biden was focusing his remarks on economic growth, in particular on the 367,000 manufacturing jobs created since Biden took office. In talking about the infrastructure law, he was going to talk about how it has strengthened the supply chain.
We’ll see how his remarks will change with the bridge collapse – and if talking about what has been a feather in his legislative agenda should help with his approval ratings. A new Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll had Biden’s approval was at 32-62 – not great.