By
Today's edition of quick hits:
* This was supposed to be tomorrow; I'm glad it was today: "Marking a year of loss and disruption, President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law the $1.9 trillion relief package that he said will help the U.S. defeat the coronavirus and nurse the economy back to health."
* In related news: "The next batch of stimulus checks will be deposited into some bank accounts this weekend, the White House said Thursday."
* Ridiculous: "Then-President Donald Trump urged the chief investigator of the Georgia Secretary of State's office to look for fraud during an audit of mail-in ballots in a suburban Atlanta county, on a phone call he made to her in late December. During the six-minute call, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Trump repeatedly said that he won Georgia."
* Nursing homes: "The Biden administration published revised guidelines on Wednesday for nursing home visits during the coronavirus pandemic, allowing guests to go inside to see residents regardless of whether they or the residents have been vaccinated."
* Slowly but surely, the cabinet is taking shape: "The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Michael S. Regan, the former top environmental regulator for North Carolina, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and drive some of the Biden administration's biggest climate and regulatory policies."
* Merrick Garland has so much work to do: "Two whistle-blowers on Wednesday accused Jeffrey Bossert Clark, a former Justice Department official, of politicizing the hiring process in the waning days of President Donald J. Trump's tenure by improperly elevating an employee who was seen as loyal to the former president."
* Crushing data: "The U.S. death rate increased by 15 percent last year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, making it the deadliest year in recorded U.S. history, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention will announce, according to two senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the matter."
* So much for conservative principles on local control: "Accusing Austin and Travis County officials of violating Gov. Greg Abbott's pandemic-related orders, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton threatened Wednesday to sue unless a local mask mandate for businesses was rescinded."
* Jan. 6 fallout: "Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) on Wednesday requested that the House Committee on Ethics and the Office of Congressional Ethics investigate three House Republicans for 'instigating and aiding' the deadly Capitol insurrection earlier this year."
See you tomorrow.