Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.
(Want to get this newsletter in your inbox? Here’s the sign-up.) Good evening. Here’s the latest.1. The House of Representatives voted to strip Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments for endorsing the executions of Democrats and spreading bigoted and false misinformation. It was a largely party-line vote,230-199. Democrats argued that the Georgia freshman’s comments — and the lack of action from Republican leaders — had forced them to take the extraordinary action. The revelations of her past media posts unsettled even some of her voters. Ms. Greene, above, portrayed herself as regretful, saying that she now believed the Sept.11 attacks “absolutely happened” and that school shootings were “absolutely real.” Lawyers for former President Donald Trump said he would not testify at his Senate impeachment trial in the Senate over his role in the Jan.6 Capitol riot, for which federal criminal charges have now been lodged against more than 175 people. And Smartmatic, an election technology company, filed a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox and three of its anchors, as well as Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, over their representations of election fraud.2. “America is back.” That was President Biden in the first foreign policy speech of his term, outlining a sweeping vision of restored global leadership. Speaking at the State Department, above, he announced an end to U.S. support for the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen’s civil war, a freeze on troop redeployments from Germany, and the intention to confront China and Russia. Meanwhile, the Senate is in a “Vote-a-Rama,” a marathon session expected to stretch into the early-morning hours. Senators in both parties plan test votes to showcase their dueling priorities on a budget plan. A central focus is Mr. Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus bill. Republican proposals include prohibiting relief checks for undocumented immigrants and an end to funding for schools that do not hold in-person classes once teachers are vaccinated. Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, said Democrats would advance the budget once the Republican amendments had been defeated.3. U.S. health workers face burnout. Nursing homes and long-term-care facilities that were struggling to retain employees even before the pandemic are now facing an existential staffing crisis. And the stress of Covid-19 is broad. Sheetal Khedkar Rao, above, an internist in suburban Chicago, decided last year she could not continue practicing medicine. “After a while,” she said, “the emotional burden and moral injury become too much to bear.” California is losing an average of 500 people a day to Covid-19 and has now recorded 42,483 Covid deaths, about 1,400 fewer than New York, the state with the most.
