7. Death toll in collapsed Miami building still being determined
- There is still more to be learned about the situation in the Miami area where an apartment building, Champlain Towers South, unexpectedly collapsed. So far, there have been four people pronounced dead from the incident, but 99 people are still missing.
- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has declared a state of emergency in Miami-Dade County. President Joe Biden has also made FEMA and other federal government resources available to help if needed.
6. ‘China lied and Americans died’
- At a press conference, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) and other Republicans said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) needs to start hearings to determine the origin of the coronavirus.
- Scalise said they’ve been calling for this for over a year “as we’ve heard more and more reports and evidence mounting that this evil virus may have started in the Wuhan lab.” House GOP Conference chair Elise Stefanik (R-NY) added, “The evidence is clear, China lied and Americans died.”
5. UNA SGA president is apologizing
- University of North Alabama Student Government Association president Jake Statom is apologizing for an Instagram story post that he made a few days ago of a rainbow T-shirt that said “Born this way? You must be born again.”
- This post led to a petition for him to resign, but Statom has now said that he sees “the story from a different perspective” and he’s sorry. He added that his “role as SGA President is to honorably represent all UNA students, and I fell short of this ideal.” Statom also said that he’s committed to “educating myself using campus resources,” but other members of SGA are likely to bring impeachment proceedings against Statom if he doesn’t resign by the end of June.
4. Ban on transgender treatments for minors will return to the legislature
- State Senator Shay Shelnutt (R-Trussville) is very ahead of schedule and has already introduced legislation for the 2022 session that would ban medical procedures and treatments to help transgender minors transition. This includes hormones, puberty-blockers and gender reassignment surgery.
- In the 2021 legislative session, the bill passed the State Senate, but the State House of Representatives let time run out before considering the legislation. Shelnut has maintained that this bill is to protect children.
3. New effort to censure Biden
- Due to the ongoing crisis at the southern border, congressmen have joined an effort to censure President Joe Biden over his “dereliction of duty” at the border. U.S. Representative Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) has joined this effort.
- The resolution was started by U.S. Representative Laura Boebert (R-CO), who said in a statement that the president “has refused to enforce the laws securing our border, he has refused to visit our border.” She noted how Vice President Kamala Harris hasn’t been to the border yet, either, “and his Secretary of Homeland Security is lying to the American people saying that our border is closed.”
2. Deal on infrastructure reached (kind of)
- It’s been announced that a $953 billion infrastructure has gained bipartisan support, rather than the previously proposed about $4 trillion in spending that President Joe Biden had been pushing.
- Biden did indicate that further action on more spending would be done through reconciliation, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) supported this by saying, “There ain’t going to be a bipartisan bill without a reconciliation bill.”
1. Sending the wrong message to allies and enemies
- U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) has made it clear that he disagrees with President Joe Biden’s attitude toward defense spending and the idea of cutting defense spending. He continued the criticism of decreasing spending while addressing Navy and Marine Corps officials.
- Shelby made clear that these “reductions are proposed despite the need to maintain readiness and make progress on key modernization priorities.” He added the action “sends the wrong message to our allies and our adversaries.”
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.