Senate Democrats have taken the first step towards passing the most important democracy-reform bill since 1965, ratcheting up the pressure on a shrinking group of filibuster-reform holdouts, and sending a frantic Mitch McConnell into Turbo Lie Mode.
 

• The Senate held its first hearing on S.1 (the artist formerly known as H.R.1) on Wednesday, during which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made the case that the wave of GOP voter-restriction bills across the country is an “existential threat to our democracy,” and Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) argued that Georgia Republicans aren’t doing a voter suppression, God simply doesn’t want Americans to vote on Sundays. Equally great points here, much to think about.
   
• While Democrats rally support around “the once-in-a-century moment to protect people’s right to vote,” as Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) put it, the filibuster fight is heating up accordingly. On Wednesday, Sen. Angus King (I-ME) earned his last name by indicating he would reform the filibuster for voting rights. Organizing staff for the Arizona Democratic Party, who helped get Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) elected in 2018, have published an op-ed urging her to do the same. This is no longer a niche fight for democracy nerds: The Jonas Brothers have come out against the filibuster. (One Direction’s silence is deafening.)
   
• Over on the other end of the spectrum, GOP West Virginia election officials have been lobbying Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), the only Democrat who didn’t co-sponsor the For The People Act, to oppose the legislation. West Virginia’s Secretary of State Mac Warner (who supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election) testified against the bill on Wednesday, telling the Senate Rules Committee that it “stomps on states’ rights.” Fortunately, it’s not all-or-nothing: To secure Manchin’s support for both S.1 and the filibuster reform needed to pass it, Democrats can rewrite or jettison some non-essential sections.

It seems abundantly clear that Republicans are trying to block certain people from voting and using a Jim Crow relic to do it, until you consider Republicans’ well-crafted rebuttal: “.......Nuh-uh.”
 

• "It has no racial history at all. None. There's no dispute among historians about that,” claimed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of the filibuster on Tuesday, hoping you will overlook the filibuster’s well-documented history as a tool for blocking civil rights. “States are not engaging in trying to suppress voters, whatsoever,” claimed McConnell during Wednesday’s hearing, hoping you will bonk your head and forget that Republicans introduced more than 250 bills to restrict voting access in 43 states over the first two months of the year. 
   
• For McConnell’s argument against passing S.1 to make sense, you’d have to continue bonking your head on a more-or-less hourly basis. This week, Montana Republicans advanced a bill to end Election Day voter registration. Not content with manipulating elections in the voting phase, GOP Georgia lawmakers have introduced measures that would make it easier for the state legislature to dismantle local election boards if they don’t cooperate with future coup attempts, and sideline Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on the state election board. Republicans are pushing similar maneuvers in at least seven other states. 

This is an all-hands-on-deck moment if ever there was one. Republicans don’t need a workable justification for their assault on voting rights because the laws themselves will let Republicans cheat their way into power perpetually—unless Democrats reform the filibuster and pass the For The People Act, now. H.R.1/S.1 or we’re fucked → 

On this week’s America Dissected, host Dr. Abdul El-Sayed talks to Dr. Julie Morita, former Chicago City Health Commissioner and member of President Biden’s COVID-19 Transition Task Force, about the lessons we’ve learned in this pandemic—and those we yet need to. Listen and subscribe to America Dissected wherever you get your podcasts →

Some hand sanitizers that flooded the market during the pandemic contain high levels of a carcinogen, because life is a cruel joke. The online pharmacy Valisure found high levels of benzene, a chemical linked to certain blood cancers, in a number of hand sanitizers that consumers bought last year after the name-brand varieties quickly sold out. Among the most contaminated products were those from artnaturals, Scentsational Soaps and Candles Inc., The Creme Shop, and, in an extra twist of the knife, a Star Wars Mandalorian brand Baby Yoda-themed bottle. Valisure has urged the FDA to recall all tainted products and investigate how they made it onto shelves in the first place.

As Republicans walk around screaming that the Biden administration inherited a perfect immigration system and created an appalling border crisis, here are a couple of key things to know: Firstly, the Biden transition team started sounding the alarm about the need for more shelter space for migrant kids back in early December, but the Trump administration did nothing about it until days before the Inauguration. Secondly, there’s...not actually a crisis. A Washington Post analysis of monthly CPB data going back to 2012 found that the current increase in apprehensions at the border fits a predictable pattern of more border crossings at this time of year, combined with migrants who would have come earlier, but for the pandemic. Are kids being held for too long in unfit DHS facilities? Absolutely, and we shouldn’t look away until that problem is solved and a better long-term system is put in place. But it’s not a problem the Biden administration created, nor is it the result of a policy-driven surge.

Voters of color continue to be targeted by discriminatory election practices intended to diminish their voting power. In 2020, we witnessed even more attempts to disenfranchise Black and Brown voters through attacks on vote by mail, cuts to early voting periods, and unnecessary identification requirements. And, in the wake of record levels of turnout last year, we are now seeing proposals in many states seeking to cut back on voter access. Voting rights can’t wait. Add your name if you agree.

The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would begin to root out voting barriers that discriminate against voters of color. Our democracy works best when all eligible voters can cast their ballot freely and fairly.

The ACLU is demanding that Congress pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act to protect our fundamental right to vote and defend us against discrimination. Are you with us? Sign our petition today and demand that Congress pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act now.

Virginia has officially become the first southern state to abolish the death penalty.

Dr. Rachel Levine has become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the Senate.

A federal appeals court has upheld Hawaii’s gun control law, ruling that states can restrict the open carrying of guns without violating the Second Amendment. 

New York leaders have reached a deal to legalize recreational marijuana.