News Editor’s Roundup: Northeast Dems Threaten to Block Biden’s Infrastructure Package; Hunter Biden: Laptop ‘Absolutely’ May Belong to Me

BY JACK CROWE

April 05, 2021

Good morning and welcome to the News Editor's Roundup, a weekly newsletter that will ensure you're up to date on the developments in politics, business, and culture that will shape the week's news cycle — as well as those that might escape mainstream attention.

Northeast Dems Threaten to Block Biden's Infrastructure Package Unless Tax Deductions Included

Democratic lawmakers in recent days have criticized facets of President Biden's $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, including northeastern representatives who say they will not support any bill that does not remove the caps on state-and-local-tax deductibility.

As it stands, the bill does not include language to remove the caps, which were set at $10,000 in the 2017 tax law.

While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said she was sympathetic to that idea, according to the Wall Street Journal, the White House has said lawmakers should propose a way to fund the deduction.

In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last week, a group of Democratic lawmakers from New Jersey, New York, and Minnesota indicated that they "could not vote for a bill that has a meaningful tax impact on our constituents unless it restores SALT deduction relief to our middle-class families."

Hunter Biden Acknowledges Compromising Laptop 'Absolutely' May Belong to Him

Hunter Biden acknowledged recently that a laptop left at a Delaware computer-repair shop in 2019 filled with compromising information "absolutely" could be his.

"I really don't know what the answer is, that's the truthful answer," he said in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning set to air this weekend. "I have no idea."

"Certainly, there could be a laptop out there that was stolen from me. It could be that I was hacked, it could be that it was Russian intelligence. It could be that it was stolen from me," he added.

The acknowledgment comes months after the New York Post first reported on the emails, which suggest Hunter Biden may have made an introduction between his father, then–vice president Joe Biden, and a Ukrainian adviser to Burisma Holdings in 2015.

Travel Is Low Risk for Fully Vaccinated People, CDC Says

People who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus can travel at low risk to themselves as long as they wear masks and take other precautions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday in a shift from its previous blanket discouragement against travel.

Individuals who are fully vaccinated — two weeks past their final shot — need not receive a COVID-19 test before or after domestic trips and do not need to self-quarantine after travel, the agency says.

The guidance adds that for international travel, testing is not necessary for fully vaccinated people ahead of trips unless required by the destination country. However, fully vaccinated individuals should get tested and receive a negative result before boarding an international return flight.

Border Crossings Reached Highest Level in 15 Years Last Month: Report

Apprehensions at the U.S.–Mexico border reached a 15-year high in March, with Border Patrol agents taking more than 171,000 migrants into custody, according to a new report.

The figure represents a sharp increase from the 78,442 migrants apprehended in January, according to preliminary U.S. Customs and Border Protection data published by the Washington Post, as the Biden administration struggles to get a handle on the influx of migrants — especially unaccompanied minors — attempting to enter the country.

Customs and Border Patrol took in more than 18,800 unaccompanied minors in March, a 99 percent increase from the month prior. The previous one-month high, recorded in May 2019, was 11,861.

Capitol Police Officer Dead, Another Injured after Vehicle Attack; Suspect Fatally Shot

A man drove a car into two Capitol Police officers outside the U.S. Capitol on Friday, killing one and injuring the other before being fatally shot by authorities when he exited the vehicle holding what appeared to be a knife, the department's chief said.

Chief Yogananda Pittman said a person exited the vehicle with a knife and started lunging at officers, ignoring verbal commands. Police then opened fire, killing the suspect, she said.

The attacker has been identified as Noah Green, a 25-year-old Indiana man who identified himself as a follower of the Nation of Islam on his Facebook page.

MLB Moving All-Star Game from Atlanta over New Georgia Voting Law

Major League Baseball on Friday announced that it is pulling its 2021 All-Star Game and 2021 draft out of Atlanta in response to a Georgia voting law that critics claim makes it more difficult for underrepresented individuals, particularly black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to vote.

"Over the last week, we have engaged in thoughtful conversations with Clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players Alliance, among others, to listen to their views," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year's All-Star Game and MLB Draft."

Manfred said MLB "fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box."

Trump Urges Boycott of MLB, 'Woke Companies' after All-Star Game Moved from Georgia

Former President Donald Trump on Friday called on Major League Baseball fans to boycott the organization over its decision to move the 2021 All-Star Game and 2021 draft out of Atlanta in response to a Georgia voting law that critics claim makes it more difficult for individuals, particularly black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to vote.

Trump accused MLB leadership of being "afraid of the Radical Left Democrats," in a statement on Friday.

"Baseball is already losing tremendous numbers of fans," Trump wrote, "and now they leave Atlanta with their All-Star Game because they are afraid of the Radical Left Democrats who do not want voter I.D., which is desperately needed, to have anything to do with our elections."

"Boycott baseball and all of the woke companies that are interfering with Free and Fair Elections," he added. "Are you listening Coke, Delta, and all!"

GOP Senators Propose Revoking MLB's Antitrust Status

Republican lawmakers, including Senators Ted Cruz (Texas) and Mike Lee (Utah) have called for an end to Major League Baseball's antitrust exemption after the league announced it would pull the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta.

The league's decision came in response to a Georgia voting law that critics claim makes it more difficult for individuals, particularly black voters, to exercise their constitutional right to vote.

However, proponents of the law deny accusations that it aims to suppress votes, pointing out that the legislation does not place new limits on voting hours and makes the state's elections more secure without restricting voter access. It even expands weekend early voting.

Representative Jeff Duncan (R., S.C.) said Friday that he had instructed his staff to begin drafting legislation to rescind the league's decades-old antitrust exemption, "In light of @MLB's stance to undermine election integrity laws."

Schumer: Senate Will Move Forward with Marijuana Legalization with or without Biden

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate will "move forward" with legalizing marijuana with or without the support of President Biden, according to a new report.

In an interview with Politico this week, Schumer, who first introduced a bill to legalize marijuana in April 2018, indicated that though he will aim to get Biden on board with loosening federal restrictions that "at some point, we're going to move forward, period."

MLB Expands Deal with Chinese Firm That Blocked NBA Team amid Hong Kong Spat

Major League Baseball has expanded its contract with Chinese firm Tencent, the streaming service that briefly blocked National Basketball Association games amid a row over Hong Kong.

The deal with Tencent gives the firm rights to continue streaming MLB games in China until 2023. Additionally, the contract will allow Tencent to broadcast MLB games in other Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, through its international service WeTV.

News of the contract was revealed on Thursday, one day before MLB announced it will move the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta, Ga., in protest of the state's new voting law.

Roy Blunt Says Biden Could Easily Pass Infrastructure Bill with Narrower Focus

Senator Roy Blunt (R., Mo.) said that the Biden administration could pass an infrastructure bill as long as the legislation deals solely with infrastructure, in an interview on Fox News Sunday.

"I think there's an easy win here for the White House if they would take that win, which is make this an infrastructure package, which is about 30 percent, even if you stretch the definition of infrastructure some, it's about 30 percent of the $2.25 trillion we are talking about spending," Blunt told host Chris Wallace.

Currently, however, Democrats are "trying to take 70 percent of this bill and call it infrastructure in a new way than we've ever talked about infrastructure before," Blunt said. "That means you're looking at another partisan package just like we had with Covid."

Biden Admin Places Johnson & Johnson in Charge of Baltimore Vaccine Factory after Mix-Up

The Department of Health and Human Services has placed Johnson & Johnson in charge of a Baltimore factory where an ingredient mix-up between vaccines of that company and those of AstraZeneca ruined 15 million doses, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

The factory, which is managed by Emergent BioSolutions, will only make vaccines designed by Johnson & Johnson and will cease production of AstraZeneca shots. Workers at the factory reportedly mixed up ingredients from the vaccines several weeks ago. The Food and Drug Administration, however, has not yet authorized the use of vaccines made at the facility, meaning that none of the botched doses were administered in the U.S.