Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
House To Vote Thursday On Policing Act As Lawmakers Continue Push For Overhaul
AP: Police Overhaul Dims, But House Democrats Push Ahead On Vote
A policing overhaul may have collapsed in Congress, but House Democrats are returning to Washington for a daylong debate on their sweeping proposal that now serves as a signal to voters after the global outcry over the death of George Floyd and other Black Americans. The House is set to vote Thursday evening on the Justice in Policing Act, perhaps the most ambitious proposed changes to police procedures and accountability in decades. (Mascaro, 6/25)
The Washington Post: Pence Tries To Assure GOP Senators As Coronavirus Cases Spike
Vice President Pence urged GOP senators on Wednesday to focus on “encouraging signs” despite a recent spike in coronavirus cases in numerous states as various localities move swiftly to reopen their economies, according to several people present. Pence made the remarks in a closed-door lunch with Republican senators on Capitol Hill as lawmakers have begun to express alarm because of rising infection rates in Florida, Arizona, Texas and several other states, some of which are likely to be critical to the outcome of the presidential race in the fall and control of the Senate. On Wednesday, five states hit new highs in coronavirus hospitalizations. (Werner, 6/24)
In other government news —
Politico: Coronavirus Threatens Democracy, Prominent Figures Warn
The future of liberal democracy is under threat because of the Covid-19 pandemic, as even democratically-elected governments have accumulated emergency powers that restrict human rights, numerous prominent figures argue in an open letter published Thursday. "Parliaments are being sidelined, journalists are being arrested and harassed, minorities are being scapegoated, and the most vulnerable sectors of the population face alarming new dangers as the economic lockdowns ravage the very fabric of societies everywhere," says the letter, commissioned by IDEA, a Stockholm-based think tank. (Gehrke, 6/25)
