Yahoo News First Thing: rare bipartisan vote moves forward $1.2tn infrastructure deal
Good morning.
After a bipartisan breakthrough the Senate voted yesterday to begin work on a $1.2tn infrastructure deal that Joe Biden hailed as “historic”.
Yesterday’s vote was a key procedural victory on a deal that the president and a bipartisan group of senators announced had all been settled earlier in July, following months of negotiation. A similar vote failed last week, with many Republicans refusing to move forward without any text to the bill, despite precedent for doing so.
It was a rare bipartisan showing on the 67-32 vote, with support from 17 Republicans. There remains a long way to go before the bill becomes law – including being turned into formal legislative text – with yesterday’s procedural step expected to launch lengthy discussions.
The bill proposes $550bn in new spending on everything from roads and bridges to broadband and green energy, and will be separate from the sweeping $3.5tn reconciliation package focused on “human infrastructure” that Republicans have vowed to oppose.
The Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema said yesterday she did not support the price tag of the reconciliation bill, which focuses on social services and environmental measures and is backed by the progressives of the party.
Top Republicans have changed their tone on vaccines. Is it too late?
Many high-profile Republicans – from the Alabama governor, Kay Ivey, to the Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, to the Fox News commentator Sean Hannity – are now becoming more proactive in encouraging Americans to get vaccinated.
Pollsters, however, say their party’s base remains unswayed, with conservative Americans much more likely to be unvaccinated and hesitant about getting the shot.
DC officer condemns Republicans who did not watch Capitol attack hearing
Michael Fanone, a DC Metropolitan police department officer who suffered a heart attack after being beaten and stun gunned by Donald Trump supporters while protecting the US Capitol during the 6 January attack, went on CNN’s New Day to call out the Republicans who refused to watch his harrowing testimony on Tuesday.
He said he had received a voicemail threatening his life while he was on the stand, adding: “This is what happens when you tell the truth in Trump’s America,” and criticized Republicans, including the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, who was among a number of senior party officials who claimed they were “too busy” to watch the select committee investigation.
The anti-trans Instagram post that led to violence in the streets
Two weekends of chaotic rallies in Los Angeles this month resulted in anti-trans and trans-rights protesters fighting in the streets. Women carrying “protect female spaces” signs paraded alongside members of the far-right Proud Boys.
It all began with one Instagram post spouting unsubstantiated allegations about a spa in the Koreatown neighborhood – a case study, experts say, in how viral misinformation can result in violence.
Jared Kushner to launch investment firm in Miami
Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser, plans to move away from politics and launch an investment firm in the coming months.
In other news …
Arthur, the longest-running children’s animated series in the US, will end after 25 years.
Five mostly elderly and retired Cuban military generals have died in recent days. Though there is no suggestion of foul play, the mysterious circumstances around the deaths add intrigue to a new round of freedom protests taking place on the island and in the US.
A chemical leak at a plant in the Houston, Texas area killed two people and left 30 hospitalized, officials said.
An 18-year-old woman was killed and a TikTok influencer is on life support after a shooting at a movie theater in southern California.
Employees of the video game company that produces World of Warcraft and Call of Duty staged a walkout yesterday calling for better working conditions. The company, Activision Blizzard, faces allegations of a “frat boy” culture and severe harassment and discrimination against female workers.
The FBI is investigating at least 41 instances of railway sabotage in Washington state since 19 January 2020. According to anarchist blogs, saboteurs are acting in solidarity with Indigenous people to stop construction of the Coastal Gaslink pipeline through Wet’suwet’en territory in northern British Columbia.
Stat of the day: three Americans will create enough emissions to kill one person
New research building upon what is known as the “social cost of carbon”, a monetary figure placed upon the damage caused by each ton of carbon dioxide emissions, found that three average American lifestyles are enough to kill one person.
Climate check: extreme weather is sinking a US tourism site
Summer vacations at Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border have either been canceled or put on hold after extreme drought caused the water line to drop to historic lows.
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Last Thing: the formerly homeless artist who became an Oprah-endorsed sensation
When Richard Hutchins was in Los Angeles county jail for a crime he would later be found not guilty of, he painted on envelopes using the dye from Skittles and M&Ms, and plucked hair from his beard to use as a brush.
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