• • CCUSA Presents the Washington Weekly
• • Faith and the Common Good
• • Trivia
• • Connections

Overview: Speculation about the identity of the next Supreme Court nominee dominated social media after Justice Stephen Breyer's plans to retire became known. Congress faces another government funding deadline on Feb. 18. The Build Back Better Act may be stalled at the moment but leaders in the House predict that a version with strategic provisions will be moved forward before the midterm elections in some form. 

Budget reconciliation: House leaders suggest that the Build Back Better legislation may be broken into smaller, targeted legislative proposals in order to be reconsidered by members before the midterms. CCUSA continues to advocate in support of key provisions that will assist people struggling with housing, hunger, poverty and other challenges. 

Economy: In the week ending January 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial [unemployment insurance weekly] claims was 260,000, a decrease of 30,000 from the previous week's revised level.

Funding the government: Congress continues to work toward a bipartisan omnibus bill before the current continuing resolution expires on Feb. 18. Funding the government affects not only current programs but also the implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Several programs authorized by the new infrastructure law cannot be implemented because their funding has been constrained by the continuing resolutions to keep the government funded based on the last appropriations bill.

COVID-19: Every home in the United States may order four at-home COVID-19 tests that will be provided by the federal government at no cost (covidtests.gov). OSHA withdrew its vaccine or testing mandate as an emergency temporary standard (ETS) for employers with more than 100 employees following a ruling by the Supreme Court. The agency may propose a version of the mandate as a permanent rule.

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Jan. 28 is the memorial of Saint Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor of the Church. Perhaps best known for his genius, displayed in his magisterial Summa Theologiae, St. Thomas is also known for what seems like an extremely rash statement: that all he had written was so much straw compared to the perfection to which our faith calls us, which is God himself. To put it another way: it's one thing to know of something, it's quite something else to possess the thing.

St. Thomas' writings and thoughts inform the Church's understanding of the common good. In paragraph 26 of Gaudium et spes, the common good is defined as "the sum of those conditions of social life which allow social groups and their individual members relatively thorough and ready access to their own fulfillment." The definition helps us to keep in mind that as we work for affordable housing, good healthcare, nutritious food, etc., the main goal is to journey together to our final end and fulfillment: God. 

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Q. Many people remember exactly where they were on Jan. 28 at 12:51 p.m. EST 36 years ago. Why?

Please send your answers to [email protected]. 

Last week's question and answer:

Q. Jan. 21 is the second anniversary of what event that has affected all our lives?

A. Thanks to Rita Meyer, who got the right answer: Following a rapid spread from its origin in Wuhan, China, the first U.S. case of the 2019 novel coronavirus, which causes a disease known as COVID-19, is confirmed in a man from Washington state on Jan. 21, 2020.

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