- Trump’s Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke doing a fun and flirty lil conspiracy theory on the House floor

In the almost eleven months since Russia’s war in Ukraine began, the conflict shows few signs of easing, but the contours continue to shift. 
 

• U.S. officials announced today that the Pentagon is planning to bring Ukrainian troops to the United States for training on the Patriot missile defense system at Fort Sill in Oklahoma City, OK, and could begin as soon as next week. This development follows President Biden’s decision last month to approve the transfer of the Patriot system to Ukraine, part of an effort to beef up Ukrainian defense as it continues to be shellacked by Russian missile attacks on its energy grid and vital infrastructure. 
   

• How many Ukrainian soldiers will be sent to Oklahoma is yet unclear, but a typical Patriot battery includes about 90 troops. This program will be an extension of an approach that the Pentagon calls “train the trainer,” showing Ukrainian forces how to operate drones, howitzers, and other advanced systems, who will then return to the battlefield and teach their fellow Ukrainians what they have learned. The Pentagon considered holding the trainings overseas, but chose to hold them at Fort Sill where the system’s instruction school is well-established and they plan to get Ukrainian troops back on the battlefield as quickly as possible.
   

• The Patriot missile defense system is advanced but not necessarily new technology. First used during the Gulf War, it relies on a sophisticated radar to find incoming threats, including cruise and ballistic missiles, and launches long-range missiles to intercept them. It requires a crew of at least three soldiers to operate, with extensive backup at the ready to maintain functionality. Senior defense official Laura Cooper said that it will take several months to get Ukrainian soldiers up-to-speed to the degree that they could use the system in battle. In recent weeks, the Biden administration has also approved a broad expansion of weapons transfers to Ukraine.

Back in Eastern Europe, the scene looks much more tense. 
 

• The British Ministry of Defense said Russian troops and fighters had probably captured most of Soledar, a salt mining town in Eastern Ukraine after four days of advances. If this is true, it would be Russia’s most substantial military gain since last August, before they suffered a series of humiliating retreats later in the fall of 2022. Russian forces have been trying for months to capture the large nearby city of Bakhmut. Troops from both sides have taken heavy losses recently in some of the most intense combat since the war began. Kyiv has released pictures in recent days showing what it says are scores of dead Russian soldiers strewn across sodden fields. 
   

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late last night that Bakhmut has seen new levels of death and destruction, that “Everything is completely destroyed. There is almost no life left.” After Ukrainian forces recaptured the southern city of Kherson in November, the battle around Bakhmut escalated quickly. The Donetsk region’s Kyiv-appointed governor, Pavlo Kyrylenk, described the Russian attacks on Soledar and Bakhmut as relentless, saying “The Russian army is reducing Ukrainian cities to rubble using all kinds of weapons in their scorched-earth tactics…Russia is waging a war without rules, resulting in civilian deaths and suffering.” 

Despite the recent Russian onslaught, there are still signs that the Kremlin’s troops continue to have supply problems, and that they cannot outrun the technology and support Western allies are willing to give Ukraine in their time of need.

Over 7,000 nurses at two of New York City’s largest hospitals went on strike Monday after lengthy weekend negotiations over a new contract stalled. The New York State Nurses Association, which represents the workers at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, stated that they were being forced into the strike because of chronic understaffing that leaves nurses caring for too many patients. Striking workers noted that just a few years ago, nurses were lauded as the “heroes” of the pandemic, on the front lines of the crisis, but that has not translated into sufficient salary increases, overtime pay, or better working conditions. New York Attorney General Letitia James and other elected officials said that Mount Sinai had already ignored staffing guidelines, which are in place chiefly for patient safety. Hospitals have seen huge increases in their assets in the past few years, and can more than afford to give nurses raises and adequate staffing to make their jobs workable, rather than just an occasional patronizing pizza party.

The House GOP passed a resolution today to create a select subcommittee to investigate the Democratic lawmakers and government agencies that investigated disgraced former president Donald Trump. The committee is a complete waste of government time and resources, and will therefore of course be headed by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). 

The Supreme Court heard arguments today that could have massive implications for union workers exercising their federally-protected right to strike. 

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said today that the Fed’s independence from political influence is central to its ability to fight inflation, and therefore requires it stay out of issues like climate change. Okay Jerome, just remember that weakening worker power is also not politically neutral!

After being at least partly blamed for Republicans’ poor showing in the midterm elections, anti-abortion groups, undeterred, are pushing full steam ahead for a national abortion ban. 

Heavy rains continue to soak California as ongoing storms caused flooding, mudslides, rockslides, severe thunderstorms, and the risk of tornadoes. More than 210,000 state residents had no power as of today. 

Speaking of weather, a new report from the European Union’s climate change agency concluded that the last eight years have been the hottest in recorded history. Oh good!

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) sent a letter to Moderna this week asking the drug company to halt planned price increases on its Covid vaccine. 

The Justice Department is proposing changes to how it runs federal prisoners’ financial accounts in an effort to ensure that victims are paid restitution, especially in the cases of high-profile inmates with large balances. 

The White House is moving forward with its mission to address the root cause of student debt in what the Education Department calls a “student loan safety net” that will prevent borrowers from becoming overloaded with debt in the first place.

How do you solve a problem like Rep. George Santos (R-NY)? Santos faces state, federal, and even international investigations for a wide array of fraudulent activities, but now, two of his Democratic colleagues in the New York congressional delegation have filed an ethics complaint against him and have requested an official probe. Reps. Ritchie Torres and Daniel Goldman noted that Santos misled voters about “his ethnicity, his religion, his education, and his employment and professional history,” along with major discrepancies on his financial disclosure forms. That's...too many things! The House GOP isn’t sure what to do with him, and are debating whether to give Santos any committee assignments at all. Not exactly in line with all of those pledges for “accountability” and “transparency” the Republican Party has been disingenuously peddling these past few months, is it?

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Ben Affleck worked the drive-thru window at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Medford, MA today, a huge moment for New Englanders and Dunkin’ heads everywhere. 

Queen of the whiteboard Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) announced she’s running for the U.S. Senate today, amid uncertainty about whether Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) will seek re-election in 2024 at age 90, which by the way, she shouldn’t!

A new United Nations report states that the Earth’s protective ozone layer is slowly but noticeably healing at a pace that would fully mend the hole over Antarctica by about 2066.