In his first joint address to Congress and the unconscious husk of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), President Biden laid out his plan for using government spending to transform the economy, with or without GOP cooperation. In response, Republicans have gone to bat for lead pipes.
 

• Biden spent much of the speech outlining his American Families Plan, framing the expanded federal programs as necessary for the U.S. to keep up with global competition in the 21st century. In pitching his accompanying tax hikes on the wealthy, Biden explicitly rejected the failed conservative economic model: “Trickle-down economics has never worked. It's time to grow the economy from the bottom up and the middle out.” We did it, America: The future is pear-shaped.
   
• The address steered clear of any partisan language or culture war fuel, so Republicans have gone ahead and reacted to a different, imaginary speech. GOP Race Spokesman Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) ran through a litany of grievances in his rebuttal, and argued that while Biden “seems like a good man,” the country feels pretty divided, and who else’s fault could that be? In a Fox News interview on Wednesday night, House Leader Kevin McCarthy repeated the thoroughly debunked lie that Biden is out to abolish red meat, with no pushback from Sean Hannity.
   
• Republican lawmakers in the mostly-empty House chamber sat silently as Democrats applauded initiatives like “cutting child poverty in half” and “clean drinking water for all,” previewing a day of utterly bonkers statements. EXHIBIT A: Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), pointing out that the Soviets had universal day care, so. EXHIBIT B: American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp, challenging Joe Biden to come rip his lead pipes out of his cold, lead-poisoned hands. EXHIBIT C: Peter Thiel-backed Senate candidate J.D. Vance, saying, uh, this: “‘Universal day care’ is class war against normal people.” The GOP’s populist rebrand is coming along nicely.

Spectacular nonsense aside, here are a few other key takeaways from Biden’s address:
 

• Biden stated plainly that “white supremacy is terrorism,” and urged vigilance against domestic threats. He also called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act by the end of May—before the anniversary of Floyd’s death. Congressional negotiators convened a broader group for police reform talks on Thursday, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was optimistic about reaching a bipartisan compromise. 
   
• In a particularly moving moment, Biden addressed the wave of Republican anti-trans bills by pledging his support for the kids most of those measures target: “For all transgender Americans watching at home, especially young people who are so brave, I want you to know that your president has your back.” Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) had signed yet another trans sports ban into law just hours earlier, and Florida isn't far behind. On Thursday, the Tennessee legislature passed a bill that would require businesses to post signs if they don’t police which bathrooms trans people use.
   

Republicans can yell “affordable daycare is for socialists” as much as they want: Viewers liked what they saw on Wednesday, and multiple recent polls have shown that Biden’s spending proposals are incredibly popular. Sure seems unifying to us.

This week marks the end of Biden’s first 100 days in office — and the season finale of Rubicon. Join  host Brian Beutler as he reviews the administration's biggest wins and fails. 

The last episode of the season drops Friday, listen and subscribe to Rubicon wherever you get your podcasts  →  

A group of Senate Democrats have (once again) called on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and the IRS to crack down on dark money spending in elections. In a Wednesday letter, 38 senators urged the Treasury Department and IRS to reverse the Trump administration’s decision to lift disclosure requirements for 501(c)(4) organizations, allowing them to dump millions of dollars into political campaigns without publicly disclosing where their contributions came from. That’s made it much harder to enforce rules against foreign spending in U.S. elections, or rein in dark money groups. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sent a similar letter back in February, asking Yellen to “undertake a careful review of what the IRS has done, reform its approach, and rein in abuse by ‘dark money’ organizations.”

• The country’s economic recovery picked up speed in the first three months of the year, and new unemployment claims fell to a record pandemic low for the third straight week. 
   
• Federal prosecutors have filed new charges against the men who plotted to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), saying that they had also planned to blow up a bridge: “The defendants engaged in domestic terrorism.”  
   
• New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city will “fully reopen” on July 1, setting off another squabble between de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY). 
   
• Speak of the devil: Cuomo’s office repeatedly overruled state health officials to obscure the nursing home death toll over at least five months, a far more sustained effort than previously known.
   
• In a 6-3 decision (and it’s a weird six), the Supreme Court ruled that the Justice Department had been violating federal law by not providing immigrants it wants to deport with a single, detailed hearing notice.
   
• Former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley (D), the first Black woman to hold that post, announced she will run for North Carolina’s open Senate seat. 
   
• After just about every corporate PAC cut off donations to Ted Cruz in the wake of the insurrection, Ted Cruz has penned an op-ed on why he shan’t be accepting donations from woke corporate PACs any longer. A profile in courage.
   
• A number of Trump supporters who attended the January 6 rally are now running for office—including a few who appear to have stormed the Capitol.
   
• You: “I know only one thing about life after the pandemic, and it is that I will never set foot on a cruise ship again.” Gwyneth Paltrow: “GOOP CRUISE!”
   
• The child in the Disaster Girl meme has a) grown up?? and b) sold the meme as an NFT for $500,000. What a time to be alive.
   
• Just making sure everyone has seen the long duck?
  
   

Texas’s energy market wasn’t the only deregulation nightmare that contributed to the catastrophe in February: The state is one of just six in the country with no statewide requirement for carbon monoxide alarms in homes. During Texas’s historic freeze, thousands of Texans unwittingly released poisonous gas into their homes as they improvised to stay warm, and at least 11 people died. Many of them didn’t have alarms in their homes or apartments, because none were required in their jurisdiction. Black, Hispanic, and Asian Texans accounted for 72 percent of the poisonings. In spite of a decade's worth of warnings, and recent proof that those warnings were right, Texas lawmakers have not leapt into action to fix this. They happen to be considering a broader overhaul of state building codes which would require carbon monoxide alarms in some new homes, but not in anything built before 2022, and local governments would still be able to opt out.

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The Senate overwhelmingly passed a bill to repair and improve water systems, including replacing lead pipes. The only two votes against: Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT).

Gov. Ralph Northam (R-VA) has signed a bill that will establish a statewide LGBTQ+ advisory board.

The FDA has begun the process of banning menthol cigarettes and all flavored cigars. 

Labor Secretary Marty Walsh said that in “a lot of cases,” gig workers should be reclassified as employees.