7. Some schools will require the vaccine to return
- In what could be a first, Los Angeles schools will require students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine if they want to return to campus. The Los Angeles schools superintendent also suggested that schools will not be staying closed until the vaccine is available to children.
- Superintendent Austin Beutner said that having students take the vaccine is “no different than students who are vaccinated for measles or mumps.” It is uncertain how many other school districts nationwide will follow suit.
6. ABC stores closing across the state
- Due to coronavirus cases, the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has decided to close 41 ABC Stores for a period of time, with ABC Board administrator Mac Gipson saying that keeping all of the stores in the state staffed has been “challenging at best.”
- The Board is closing the stores to “provide the greatest amount of employee/customer protection, while ensuring maximum productivity and efficiency.” The stores will remain closed until late February or early March.
5. Sorry, Pence isn’t taking out Trump
- After acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf resigned, the media and their Democrats’ hopes for an invoking of the 25th Amendment took another hit, but the biggest blow to that gambit came when Vice President Mike Pence announced that he will be working closely with President Donald Trump until the end of their terms.
- Trump and Pence met in the Oval Office, showing that it seems unlikely that Pence is ready to take the drastic step of kicking Trump out of office with so few days left, even as the House will vote to urge him to invoke the 25th Amendment.
4. Read the room, guys
- The FBI has said that there have been plans made to hold armed protests in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. in the few days before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated. It’s expected that some of the protests could start at the end of this week.
- The bulletin from the FBI says, “Armed protests are being planned at all 50 state capitols from 16 January through at least 20 January, and the U.S. Capitol from 17 January through 20 January.”
3. Brooks facing censure
- U.S. Representatives Tom Malinowski (R-NJ) and Debbie Wasserman (D-FL) have brought a censure resolution against U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) for his comments made at the rally for President Donald Trump on January 6.
- Malinowski said that Brooks “incited the crowd that attacked the Capitol, endangering the lives of his fellow members of Congress.” The comment in particular that has been criticized by many that Brooks made was: “Today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.”
2. Terri Sewell co-sponsoring impeachment article
- As the House of Representatives brings articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump for a second time, U.S. Representative Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham) has announced that she’ll be co-sponsoring one of the articles.
- The article says that Trump “willfully made statements that encouraged – and foreseeably resulted in – imminent lawless action at the Capitol.” The article directly blamed Trump for inciting the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
1. House Minority Leader McCarthy says Trump acknowledges his role
- During a conference call with House Republicans, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said that President Donald Trump has accepted “some responsibility” for the U.S. Capitol riots that left five dead, led to calls for the president’s impeachment and has Democrats attempting to censure and expel Republicans like Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville).
- McCarthy also told members that he urged Trump to call up President-elect Joe Biden and finally congratulate him for his victory, a move that Trump seems unlikely to make and Biden seems unlikely to accept.
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