It’s Thursday, December 9th, and this is your Morning Wire. Listen to the full podcast:
1) Senate Moves To Overturn Biden Vaccine Mandate
The Topline: Senate Republicans scored a victory yesterday, voting to overturn President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for private businesses.
Quote Of The Day: “We certainly hope the Senate, Congress will stand up to the anti-vaccine and testing crowd. … If it comes to the president’s desk, he will veto it.”
– White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The Mandate
In September, President Joe Biden announced he would direct the Labor Department to require companies with 100 or more employees to mandate that all their workers get vaccinated or be tested once a week. The president issued what sounded like a warning, telling Americans, “We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us.” Biden’s move spurred lawsuits from Republican states and companies, including The Daily Wire.
The Law
The proposed legislation outlaws vaccine mandates and directly targets Biden’s mandate for large private companies. It is unlikely to become law since President Biden has said he will veto it even if it passes the House. However, the vote is a bipartisan effort and Republicans are joined by multiple Democratic senators.
Republicans have been unified in this effort. Senator Mike Braun of Indiana led all 50 GOP senators in holding together to overturn the mandate. They were joined by two Democrats – Senators Jon Tester (MT) and Joe Manchin (WV).
Last week, Manchin said he does not support any government vaccine mandate on private businesses. Ahead of the vote, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked at her press briefing about the White House’s response to Democrats voting against Biden. She said the president has a good relationship with both Manchin and Tester but the White House considers weekly testing to be a “quite reasonable” alternative for unvaccinated people.
Remember: Last December before he was inaugurated, Biden promised Americans he would not issue a vaccine mandate, saying he doesn’t think vaccines or face masks should be mandatory.
Chip Somodevilla/Staff/Getty Images
2) Biden Staffers Hold Secret Meetings With Media Outlets
The Topline: As the economy continues to struggle under the weight of skyrocketing inflation and persistent supply chain backups, a new CNN report says the White House is quietly trying to mold the way media outlets cover President Biden’s handling of the economy.
The Report
According to a new CNN report, President Biden is “not happy with the news media’s coverage of the supply chain and economy.” In response, White House officials have been meeting secretly with major newsrooms around the country to try and “reshape” the way they’re covering the economy to paint a more favorable picture of President Biden.
According to the report, the meetings have so far been “productive” with major network anchors and producers getting to speak with White House officials directly.
Reaction
There were a lot of journalists defending the Biden Administration, saying this sort of thing is normal and that government officials should be briefing members of the media, but many disagreed and said the secretive nature of these meetings blurred the line between reporting and propaganda.
On social media, many conservatives questioned how CNN would have covered the same story if Trump officials had met secretly with media outlets to sway coverage of him.
Big Picture
The move by President Biden’s team shows they’re aware that many Americans are beginning to sour on his handling of the economy, as inflation continues to rise at record rates and supply chain backups persist nationwide.
Polling shows Biden’s approval rating on the economy hovering around 35%, and one recent Washington Post poll showed 70% of Americans rated the economy negatively. That was a 13% drop in the number of Americans who say the President is handling the economy well. Another poll from CBS showed just one third of Americans approved of his handling of inflation.
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3) Critics Unhappy With Notre Dame Reconstruction Plans
The Topline: Restoration efforts are underway on France’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral, which was ravaged by fire in 2019, but many are unhappy about the plans being made by Catholic church officials.
Quote Of The Day: “How could a priest choose, on his own, the interior decoration of a cathedral that belongs to the universal heritage of humanity and is being rebuilt with donations coming from all over the world?”
– Parisian architect Maurice Culot
Notre Dame Fire
Two years ago, Notre Dame caught on fire, a tragedy authorities still believe was accidental. The spire collapsed, most of the roof was destroyed, and the upper walls were severely damaged. The vaulted ceiling managed to contain most of the fire, and experts say the vast majority of artwork and religious relics were moved to safety early on and could be reinstalled once restoration is complete.
Restoration
During an online conference in May, Father Gilles Drouin, the liturgist chosen by the archbishop of Paris to oversee the restoration, unveiled his proposal for the interior. It was then posted to YouTube. Last week, a British outlet broke the news about what was in the presentation, calling it a “woke theme park.”
Father Drouin’s proposal includes updates such as removing confessional boxes, altars, and some of the classical sculptures and paintings. Those would be replaced with modern murals; contemporary, abstract art; and new sound and light installations to create “emotional spaces.”
There would also be a “discovery trail” through the fourteen side chapels which would emphasize Africa and Asia. Quotes from the Bible will be projected onto the walls in languages like Mandarin. One chapel would also have a climate change theme.
Drouin is arguing that Notre Dame has always evolved with the times and his plans are no different. He told French news agency, AFP, that his changes to the church are intended to be welcoming to people “who are not always from a Christian culture.”
Around 340,000 people around the world donated $940 million to the restoration efforts.
A foremost critic is the famed Parisian architect Maurice Culot who told The Art Newspaper, “It’s Notre Dame de Paris turned into Disneyland.” Culot went on to point out the exterior of the building will feature traditional, period-appropriate materials like stone, wood and lead, but said he’s afraid the inside is going to be a “theme park” for foreign tourists.
What’s Next?
Under French law, any church built before 1905 is owned by the government, which means the final say will come from France’s National Heritage and Architecture Commission. According to reports, the commission will be reviewing the plans this week, and if the plan is approved the project will move forward.
In the meantime, French President Emanuel Macron seems optimistic and is promising that the cathedral will be open to visitors in Spring, 2024, just before the Summer Olympics in Paris.
GordonsLife via Getty Images
Other Stories We’re Tracking
Hispanic Voters
A new poll from the Wall Street Journal found that Hispanic voters, a group which has historically swung heavily in favor of democrats, are now split evenly between preferring Democrat or Republican candidates on a generic ballot. This is the first time in U.S. history this demographic has been evenly split.