Every COVID case in Congress so far

WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH VOTING RIGHTS THIS WEEK
By Joshua Barajas, @Josh_Barrage
Senior Editor, Digital

The U.S. Senate is back in session today to take up legislation on voting rights.

However, there’s one major roadblock for Democrats: They don’t have enough votes to push anything through in the chamber where 60 votes are required to break through a filibuster. This has led to a renewed debate of changing or ending the Senate’s rules, with Democrats not yet united on how or whether to do it.

Tonight, we took a closer look at how Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democrats plan to move forward. But first, here’s a quick catch-up to where we are now.

What do the bills say? The Senate is considering a package that combines two bills already passed by the House.

Here’s what they aim to do:

The Freedom to Vote Act:

Bans gerrymandering
Requires states to offer vote-by-mail or two weeks of early voting
States can require IDs, but must accept many forms
Enables automatic voter registration at DMVs

The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act:

Focuses on preventing discrimination in voting (more narrow than the Freedom to Vote Act)
Restores "preclearance" of state voting laws, if there was past discrimination. (A 2013 Supreme Court ruling gutted the preclearance provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which required certain state and local governments to get federal pre-approval for voting changes.)

Senate Republicans are nearly united in opposition to the legislation. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski supports the John Lewis portion of the bill. While Democrats do have a narrow majority in the Senate – Vice President Kamala Harris is able to break a tie in the 50-50 split in the chamber -- they need those 60 votes (aka the support of at least 10 Republicans) to overcome a GOP filibuster.

In the lead-up to this week’s debate, here are more highlights from our reporting:

Explained: The debate over ending the filibuster
Watch: Lawmakers took the Senate floor to make their arguments over the voting rights bills.
One-on-one: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s eldest son took aim at the Senate’s continued inaction over voting rights. Martin Luther King III told the NewsHour that his father “would be greatly disappointed in the current leadership in the Senate.”
Analysis: A closer look at what’s inside both bills
Perspectives: Brooks and Capehart sharply, but respectfully, disagreed over the scope of the voting rights problem and how President Joe Biden addressed it last week.

MLK’s granddaughter urges action on voting rights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlsZ-gYWMk8

Martin Luther King, Jr.'s teenage granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King, delivered a speech at the Washington National Cathedral today, urging people to take action on protecting their voting rights.

“We’ve got to be the generation that defends and extends our most fundamental freedom: The right to cast a vote that counts,” the 13-year-old said.

Part of King’s message Tuesday was that the voting rights for Black Americans have eroded since the activism of her grandfather and other civil rights leaders decades ago.

“If you're 9 years or older and you look like me, then you will have fewer voting rights on your 18th birthday than America promised you on the day you were born,” she said.

Civil rights leaders and groups, on the national and local level, have made repeated calls to action on voting rights. In recent years, a combination of voting restrictions and gerrymandering have made it harder for people to vote. As of early December 2021, 19 states passed 34 more restrictive voting laws, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

COVID AND CONGRESS
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent

As we’ve written before, the NewsHour has kept track of the publicly announced cases of COVID by members of Congress. This is part legislative watch and part public health research.

The current 533* members of Congress come from and return to every part of the country, and they have continually gathered in one place throughout the pandemic. Consistently, the trends for members of Congress have paralleled the virus’ spread in the U.S. in general.

What have we seen recently?

Record spread: 23 members of Congress have announced they’ve gotten COVID so far this month. That is the most in a single month yet, by our tally. And it follows the next highest infection month on record. In December, 17 members announced COVID diagnoses.
Previous high months were November 2020 and January 2021. Each had 14 cases announced by members of Congress.
Of this month’s 23 congressional cases, 15 were announced last week. Since then, we have seen three new cases. That includes two just today: Reps. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., and Dan Kildee, D-Mich.
Since July, nearly all of the cases have involved fully vaccinated members of Congress.
None have announced hospitalizations this month. Some have reported feeling seriously ill, while others have indicated they’ve felt no symptoms at all.
Notably, four members of Congress have now had COVID twice each, though breakthrough cases among vaccinated people remain rare.

Here is our spreadsheet for you to find your own data points of note.

Reminder -- you can now get free at-⁠home COVID-⁠19 tests. Every U.S. home is eligible to order four, free tests. The website went live a day before its official launch.

*There are two vacancies due to the death of Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., and retirement of Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. Hastings’ successor is due to be sworn in this evening.

WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU! What would you like to know about politics this year? Do you have questions about the upcoming midterms? What's happening on Capitol Hill? Voting (or barriers to voting)? Specific legislation? Tell the Here’s the Deal team here.

GUANTANAMO AT 20

A soldier stands guard in a tower at Guantanamo Bay in December 2009. Photo by Spc. Cody Black/U.S. Navy via Reuters

By Justin Stabley, @JustinStabley
Digital Editor

By Yasmeen Alamiri, @Yalamiri
Senior News Editor

Twenty years ago – four months after the 9/11 attacks – the first 20 prisoners arrived at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Since then, hundreds of people have been held at the complex.

Despite calls by human rights groups and some lawmakers to close the controversial facility, and promises by past administrations to do so, there are still dozens of detainees held at Guantanamo.

Here’s where things stand now:

Since 2002, nearly 800 people have been held at Guantanamo Bay.
At its peak, in 2003, the detention center held nearly 680 imprisoned people.
Today, 39 people are still held in detention at Guantanamo, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is known to be a main architect of the 9/11 attacks.
Twelve of those 39 people have been charged with war crimes through the military commissions system -- 10 are awaiting trial and two have been convicted.
Thirteen of the people being detained are not facing tribunal charges but have not been cleared for release.
The remaining 14 people have been recommended for transfer out of the facility.

What have past presidents done?

In 2009, President Barack Obama ordered the closure of Guantanamo Bay within a year, but was stymied by congressional resistance and logistical difficulties.
During his time in office, President Donald Trump promised to not only keep the facility open, but to "load it up" -- a promise that was never fulfilled.
President Joe Biden has indicated an intent to close the complex, but action has been slow -- one person has been transferred out of the facility and repatriated so far. Another person being held at Guantanamo was approved for transfer last week.

The cost: According to a 2019 analysis by The New York Times, it costs around $13 million a year to hold each person detained at Guantanamo.

#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Matt Loffman, @mattloff
Politics Producer

This week, Senate Democrats continue discussions about possible revisions to the filibuster — the 60-vote threshold to end debate on legislation. The Senate rule has seen numerous updates since being created.

Our question: When was the current 60-vote (a three-fifths majority) requirement established?

Send your answers to [email protected] or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: Georgia has been home to three different U.S. presidents at different points in their lives, from childhood to old age. Who are they?

The answer: Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Jimmy Carter.

Congratulations to our winners: Adam C. Harp and Robert Schmid!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.