Census Bureau Halts Planned Changes To Disability Survey Questions
The Census Bureau has reconsidered its plan for now to change the questions it uses in the annual American Community Survey to gather information related to disabilities. The agency received thousands of comments, many of which cited concerns that the policy shift would undercount people with sight, hearing, mobility, or other functional disabilities.
NPR:
The Census Bureau Is Dropping A Controversial Proposal To Change Disability Statistics
The U.S. Census Bureau is no longer moving forward with a controversial proposal that could have shrunk a key estimated rate of disability in the United States by about 40%, the bureau's director said Tuesday in a blog post. The announcement comes just over two weeks after the bureau said the majority of the more than 12,000 public comments it received about proposed changes to its annual American Community Survey cited concerns over changing the survey's disability questions. (Lo Wang, 2/6)
The Washington Post:
New Air Pollution Rule Could Prevent Thousands Of Premature Deaths
The Environmental Protection Agency is strengthening limits on fine particulate matter, one of the nation’s most widespread deadly air pollutants, prompting praise from public health experts and backlash from business groups. The stricter standards could prevent thousands of premature deaths, particularly in communities of color where people have breathed unhealthy air for decades. While business groups don’t dispute these enormous health benefits, they argue that the standards could cause major economic upheaval by erasing manufacturing jobs across the country. (Joselow, 2/7)
Reuters:
US Agency To Hire 50 AI Experts To Crack Down On Drugs, Child Abuse
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to hire 50 artificial intelligence experts this year to help it halt child abuse, counter fentanyl production and assess damage from natural disasters, as it seeks to increase use of the burgeoning technology. The agency, tasked with securing U.S. borders, announced the hiring effort at an event in Mountain View, California, headlined by Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer Eric Hysen. (Alper, 2/6)
The New York Times:
Federal Records Show Increasing Use Of Solitary Confinement For Immigrants
The United States government has placed detained immigrants in solitary confinement more than 14,000 times in the last five years, and the average duration is almost twice the 15-day threshold that the United Nations has said may constitute torture, according to a new analysis of federal records by researchers at Harvard and the nonprofit group Physicians for Human Rights. The report, based on government records from 2018 through 2023 and interviews with several dozen former detainees, noted cases of extreme physical, verbal and sexual abuse for immigrants held in solitary cells. The New York Times reviewed the original records cited in the report, spoke with the data analysts and interviewed former detainees to corroborate their stories. (Baumgaertner, 2/6)
Fox News:
KJP Dodges Question On Biden’s Mental Health After He Claimed To Recently Meet With Long-Dead French Leader
White House press secretary Karine Jeane-Pierre on Tuesday dodged a question on President Biden’s mental and physical health after the president appeared to confuse French President Emmanuel Macron with former French President François Mitterrand, who has been dead for nearly 30 years. The gaffe came during a campaign stop in Las Vegas on Sunday. The president was recalling a meeting he had with Macron at the G7 summit in England, shortly after he assumed the White House in 2021. But instead of Macron, Biden dropped the name of "Mitterrand," who was the president of France between 1981 and 1995 and died in 1996. (Betz, 2/6)
In updates from Capitol Hill —
The New York Times:
Democrat Al Green, In Hospital Garb, Delivers Vote To Kill Mayorkas Impeachment
The Democrat from Texas had undergone abdominal surgery but rushed to the Capitol because he said the vote was “personal.” (Guo, 2/6)
Axios:
Scoop: China Panel Plans Biotech Field Hearing
The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party is planning to hold a field hearing on China biotech competition next week in Boston, Axios has learned. Chinese genomics companies are becoming a national security concern in some quarters of Congress, where there's bipartisan support for cutting off some firms from taxpayer funding. (Snyder, 2/6)
