It’s Friday, January 7th, and this is your Morning Wire. Listen to the full podcast:
1) Democrats Hold January 6 Anniversary Event
The Topline: Yesterday, on the one year anniversary of the Capitol riot, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris delivered scathing addresses, railing against former President Donald Trump and calling on Democrats to pass election reform.
Quote Of The Day: “Dates that occupy not only a place on our calendars, but a place in our collective memory. December 7th, 1941. September 11th, 2001. And January 6th, 2021.”
– Vice President Kamala Harris
Greg Nash-Pool/Pool/Getty Images
Biden’s Speech
President Biden delivered a speech as part of a larger ceremony honoring Capitol police officers and remembering the riot. He began by calling the event an attack on democracy, comparing the rioters to Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. He also compared the day to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, saying in the same way America banded together against fascism after that attack, they must do the same now.
After praising the Republicans who still “want to be the party, the party of Lincoln, Eisenhower, Reagan, the Bushes,” he criticized President Trump, accusing him of lying about the results of the election to fuel outrage, and saying he didn’t do enough to prevent the riot as it was unfolding.
President Biden told reporters he didn’t call out President Trump by name because he wanted to avoid “a contemporary political battle.”
Vice President Kamala Harris
Vice President Harris spoke before Biden and delivered a similar message, comparing the riot to Pearl Harbor and the attacks of September 11th.
While President Biden alluded to the need to pass the Democrats’ election reform bill, Vice President Harris was much more direct, and closed her speech with a call to action.
Throughout the day, Democrats painted the riot as an unprecedented attack on democracy and said the response should be the passage of their election bill.
Election Bill
Currently, each state decides its own voting laws, but the Democrats’ proposed bill would essentially override statewide election laws and federalize the process. It would allow for same-day voter registration, require states to offer at least two weeks of early voting, allow anyone to vote by mail for any reason, and restore the right of felons to vote. It would also loosen voter identification requirements and allow people to vote without an ID.
In its current form, the bill seems unlikely to pass, as Republicans have universally opposed it, calling the measure unconstitutional and federal overreach.
Republican Response
Many Republican leaders said the Capitol riot was undeniably wrong and that violence should be condemned, but that Democrats and the media had exaggerated it’s impact. Many pointed out how comparing the riot to an event such as Pearl Harbor, which killed thousands of people, would not bring people together.
They also pointed out that while Democrats routinely implied the riot was deadly, the only person killed was a rioter trying to enter a barricaded door in the Capitol.
Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said January 6th was like Christmas day for Democrats and the media before taking aim at those comparing the attacks to 9/11 and Pearl Harbor.
Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg/Contributor via Getty Images
2) Federal Vaccine Mandate Goes To Supreme Court
The Topline: The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments today over two federal vaccine mandates – the mandate for healthcare workers and the OSHA mandate for private employers – which would impact around 85 million Americans.
OSHA Mandate
OSHA’s mandate would require businesses with over 100 employees to require their employees to show proof of vaccination, or otherwise be tested weekly and wear masks in the workplace.
The Daily Wire was the first private business in the country to oppose the mandate in court. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the Mandate, and the 6th Circuit lifted that stay. Now it’s before the Supreme Court, with dozens of private parties and most of the states asking the Court to reinstate a stay.
The Court set an expedited schedule, with oral argument taking place today. Although there were dozens of parties, the court limited the argument time to one hour and chose two representative petitioners to argue. Those were a coalition of 28 states including Ohio, Florida, Texas, and Tennessee, and a coalition of businesses, the National Federation of Independent Business.
What Could Happen
The mandate is slated to go into effect on January 10th, and OSHA will start enforcing it in earnest on February 9th. The Court likely set oral arguments for today so it could make a ruling before Monday. If there’s going to be another stay, Americans can expect it to happen today or over the weekend.
There are many constitutional and statutory reasons the Court could grant a stay. The petitioners will argue that this mandate is not “necessary” to protect workers from a “grave danger.” There will likely be some back and forth on the meaning of the word “necessary,” and whether unvaccinated workers are the kind of “grave danger” from which Congress was trying to protect workers when it passed the OSHA Act.
Another avenue the Court could take is the Major Questions Doctrine, which requires agencies making decisions of “vast economic and political significance” to have specific and clear direction from Congress itself before implementing such a policy. The argument is that Congress created OSHA to protect workers but never specifically told OSHA it could essentially shut people out of the workforce if they don’t take a vaccine.
The Daily Wire is fighting Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate in federal court. Join us in this fight by signing our petition to OSHA, telling them that you will not comply with this mandate.
Ingo Dörenberg via Getty Images
3) Exodus Continues Out Of Blue States
The Topline: New census data shows how Americans are moving out of cities with spiking crime — which are often blue states — and moving into states that have lifted many of their COVID restrictions.
The Numbers
New U.S. census data was released in December and shows a trend of people leaving blue states. The states with the biggest losses were California and New York, while the biggest gains were in Texas and Florida.
New York saw about 319,000 people leave, which is nearly 2% of the state’s total population. Nearly 262,000 people moved out of California, which is close to 1% of its population. Meanwhile, Texas experienced a gain of over 310,000 people. Florida saw similar gains, welcoming 211,000 new people to the state.
Other states receiving a large number of new residents were Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Utah, Tennessee, and Idaho, while those with a large number of fleeing residents were Illinois and Massachusetts.
The U.S. population also grew by less than 400,000 people, which is the lowest rate since the nation’s founding.
Factors To Consider
Businesses and workers have struggled with the high cost of living in cities such as New York and Los Angeles, especially with many employees working from home. Many relocated to cities and states with cheaper living costs and lower taxes, which they discovered in Texas and Florida.
Another major factor was crime. Chicago saw its deadliest year in 25 years, topping 800 murders, according to Chicago PD. Crime has spiked in other major cities around the country including New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, and Washington, D.C.
Another factor is the stringent COVID restrictions in some of these cities like New York, where the governor recently reimplemented the indoor mask mandate. New York also does not allow unvaccinated people to dine indoors, go to the gym, or attend indoor entertainment venues. Los Angeles has a similar vaccine mandate, and Chicago’s new vaccine mandate for restaurants and other indoor venues went into effect this week.
Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Other Stories We’re Tracking
LGB
NASCAR rejected driver Brandon Brown’s sponsorship deal with a “Let’s Go Brandon” themed cryptocurrency coin. A spokesperson for Brown’s racing team said, “NASCAR did not speak with Brandonbilt Motorsports prior to making their decision to rescind the approval and multiple attempts to set-up a conversation to address this matter went unacknowledged.” NASCAR insists that the move was “not a reversal,” rather upholding its previous decision not to promote the “Let’s Go Brandon” slogan.
Teachers Unions
As the Chicago Teachers Union continues to refuse to provide in-person classes for public schools, citing COVID cases, members of the United Federation of Teachers in New York are ramping up calls to go remote, as well. Some teachers in San Francisco are also threatening to “shut the whole system down.”
Fauci
On the question of what “fully vaccinated” means, Dr. Anthony Fauci has announced a revised definition. Fauci said at a National Institutes of Health lecture on Tuesday, “We’re using the terminology now ‘keeping your vaccinations up to date,’ rather than what ‘fully vaccinated’ means.” He added that right now being fully vaccinated requires having a booster shot.
Hochul
Democratic Governor of New York Kathy Hochul said this week that COVID hospitalizations in the state could be inflated by over 50%. Hospitals are now asked to tell the state if the patient is in the hospital for COVID, or if they tested positive as they were receiving treatment for something else.