Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The latest from Memphis: “More than a dozen Memphis fire and police department employees have been charged in connection with the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, a city official said Tuesday at the conclusion of its investigation into Nichols’ January death.”
* Powell’s discouraging diagnosis: “Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told lawmakers Tuesday that policymakers may have to speed up their interest rate hikes to tame high inflation. With prices continuing to rise at a yearly pace of 6.4%, according to government data, Powell warned that it may take time for Americans to see further relief.”
* Will freedom lose again in Florida? “Moments before Gov. Ron DeSantis delivered a highly publicized speech Tuesday morning touting his policy record, a Republican state legislator put forward a bill that will bring further national attention to the conservative transformation DeSantis has overseen in Florida: a proposal to ban abortion at six weeks of pregnancy.”
* Sen. Joe Manchin’s opposition to Sohn helped seal her fate: “Gigi Sohn, a consumer advocate who faced an unprecedented wave of personal attacks, has withdrawn her candidacy to join the Federal Communications Commission. Sohn would have been both the first openly gay FCC commissioner and the rare commissioner who spent her career working in the nonprofit and advocacy realm, rather than the telecommunications industry that the FCC regulates.”
* A dispute worth watching: “California will sever business ties with Walgreens after the pharmacy giant announced it would not distribute abortion pills in several states where abortion is legal, Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote Monday in a tweet.”
* I wish Republicans weren’t still threatening us with the possibility of deliberate harm: “The U.S. economy could quickly shed a million jobs and fall into recession if lawmakers fail to raise the nation’s borrowing limit before the federal government exhausts its ability to pay its bills on time, the chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, Mark Zandi, will warn a Senate panel on Tuesday.”
* Missing Jan. 6 defendants: “The FBI is searching for a Florida woman who was supposed to stand trial Monday on charges stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack as well as another riot defendant who has also gone missing, officials said.”
* Stefan Passantino is facing some real scrutiny: “[S]everal dozen prominent legal figures, including past presidents of the American Bar Association and the District of Columbia Bar, are seeking to revoke Mr. Passantino’s license to practice law. The move reflects intensifying scrutiny over whether Mr. Passantino, a former Trump White House ethics lawyer whose legal fees were covered by Mr. Trump’s political action committee, violated his own professional duty, along with a host of other ethical requirements, by putting the interests of a third party over that of his client.
See you tomorrow.
