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February 26, 2021

Top News

  • House set to approve Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus package, send bill to the Senate. CNBC
  • House GOP opens fraught internal debate over earmarks. Politico
  • Neera Tanden: First Cabinet-Level Casualty of the Twitter Age? New York Times
  • White House plans messaging campaign to stress Johnson & Johnson vaccine’s benefits. NBC
  • Equality Act: US House passes legislation protecting LGBT rights. BBC
  • The nation’s cartoonists on the week in politics. Politico

Energy & Natural Resources

  • Former Michigan Gov. Granholm confirmed as energy secretary. Associated Press
  • Gov. Greg Abbott, in statewide address, promises answers on winter weather disaster. Texas Tribune
  • Biden signs executive order to address chip shortage through a review to strengthen supply chains. CNBC
  • Biden Meets Virtually With Canada’s Trudeau on Climate Change, Covid-19, Economic Recovery. Wall Street Journal
  • Biden urged to back water bill amid worst US crisis in decades. The Guardian
  • North Dakota Officials Block Wind Power In Effort To Save Coal. NPR

Indian Affairs

  • Indian Country gripped by Haaland hearing for top US post. Associated Press
  • Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hears from Native leaders. Indianz
  • Schatz to serve as chairperson of Indian Affairs committee. Hawaii News Now
  • Navajo UT Commission discusses goods, hunting. San Juan Record
  • National Congress of American Indians: State of Indian Nations. Indianz
  • Bureau of Indian Affairs Jeopardized Land Buy-Back Program. Red Lake Nation News

Labor

  • Senate ruling says Democrats can’t put $15 minimum wage in Covid relief bill. NBC
  • Lawmakers Call for Federal Program to Upgrade Unemployment Systems. Route Fifty
  • Calif. Voters ‘Clearly’ Against Uber Drivers’ Suit, Judge Says. Law 360
  • Biden squeezed between promises to go green and bolster unions. Politico
  • Tenth Circuit Decides That An “Active, Full-time Employee” Is Entirely Different Than an Employee Who is “Actively at Work.” National Law Review

Taxation & Trade

  • ‘Plan B’ for $15 minimum wage unveiled. The Hill
  • Democrats’ relief bill would expand earned income tax credit. Marketplace
  • After the GameStop fiasco, momentum builds for an $800 billion tax. News Break
  • US removes stumbling block to global deal on digital tax. Financial Times
  • China Will Extend Tariff Exemptions for 65 U.S. Products. US News
  • Trade won’t be on ‘back burner’ for Biden, USTR pick Tai tells Senate. Politico

Technology

  • The House’s three big ideas to take on tech power. The Verge
  • The Future of the FTC: Part I. JD Supra
  • FCC proposes rules for emergency broadband program to keep struggling families online. Tech Crunch
  • California has quietly ended its COVID-19 testing partnership with Verily. Mercury News
  • Facebook Fight Over Media Payments Shifts Focus to Europe. Wall Street Journal
  • What we can learn from the Facebook-Australia news debacle. Technology Review

Transportation & Infrastructure

  • Freeport eyes U.S. expansions as Biden’s EV plan boosts copper demand. Reuters
  • Senate EPW Panel Starts Looking at Infrastructure Package. Transport Topics
  • U.S. Postal chief commits to 10% of new delivery fleet as electric vehicles. Reuters
  • Secretary Pete Buttigieg Suggests Usage Charge as Sustainable Funding Solution. Transport Topics
  • How Much Service Are Transit Agencies Running During the Pandemic? Transit Center
  • Urban transit took a pandemic wallop. Can it bounce back? Christian Science Monitor

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