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Thursday's Mini-Report, 8.5.21

Today's edition of quick hits.

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Today's edition of quick hits:

* An important energy policy: "President Joe Biden took the wheel of a plug-in Jeep Wrangler to tout electric vehicles on Thursday after signing an executive order setting a national goal for zero-emissions vehicles to make up half of new cars and trucks sold by 2030."

* CBO: "The bipartisan Senate infrastructure bill would add $256 billion to budget deficits over a decade, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Thursday. The report from the nonpartisan agency did not take into account potential revenue increases created by economic growth."

* On a related note: "As senators grind through votes this week on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, discontent is building among progressive Democrats, signaling a potentially bitter intraparty fight to come in the House."

* This is the third such investigation to be opened this year: "The Justice Department launched a civil rights investigation of the Phoenix police department Thursday, looking at whether police use excessive force, treat minorities differently, and deal properly with the disabled and homeless."

* A painful and unexpected loss: "Richard Trumka, the head of one of the nation's largest labor unions who advocated for worker rights, died on Thursday, a senior AFL-CIO official confirmed to NBC News. Trumka, 72, has served as president of the massive 12.5 million-member labor union for more than a decade."

* How unfortunate: "Rep. Ralph Norman, one of the three congressional Republicans suing Speaker Nancy Pelosi over fines for not wearing masks during a vote on the U.S. House floor, has contracted a breakthrough case of COVID-19, the second member of South Carolina's delegation to do so."

* I can only hope the unvaccinated hear about stories like these: "A Texas GOP leader railed against vaccines and masks. Then he died of covid."

* Something to keep an eye on: "Senate Democrats will make another, likely futile, attempt to take up voting rights legislation in the coming days before the chamber leaves Washington for a summer recess, a sign that party leaders remain determined to try to break a logjam on the issue as Republican-led states lock in new ballot restrictions."

* A curious story: "The State Department said Wednesday that it's investigating the disappearance of a nearly $6,000 bottle of whiskey given to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by the government of Japan. The department said in a notice posted in the Federal Register that the whiskey's whereabouts are unknown and 'it's looking into the matter and has an ongoing inquiry.'"

See you tomorrow.