House Democrats try to pass the American Rescue Plan by the end of the week, President Biden says he wants schools open five days a week by the end of April, and Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Administration is under investigation for undercounting Covid-related nursing home deaths. Then Georgia State Representative Bee Nguyen talks to Tommy about her fight against a new round of voter suppression legislation from Republicans.

Show notes

Covid Relief 

• Politico: Democrats shift Congress into top speed on Covid aid, but it may still be too slow for many
• Reuters: U.S. House Democrats advance $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid bill 
• CNN: House Democrats unveil full $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill with minimum wage increase 
• CNN: READ: Full House Democratic Covid relief and $15 minimum wage increase bill
• NYT: Republicans Struggle to Derail Increasingly Popular Stimulus Package
• Vox: Congress is writing up Biden’s stimulus plan. Here’s what’s in it.
• Quinnipiac: February 3, 2021 – 61% Optimistic About Next Four Years With Biden In Office, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; 68% Of Americans Support The $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Relief Bill
• Yahoo News: Yahoo News/YouGov poll: More than two-thirds of Americans side with Biden on COVID relief — and most support the rest of his agenda
• CNN Analysis: In stimulus push, Biden calls on Republicans to heed their constituents
• WaPo: Biden to critics of $1.9 trillion relief plan: ‘What would they have me cut?’ 
• ABC News: Biden White House memo reveals strategy to pressure Republicans on COVID relief 
• WaPo: Biden is winning Republican support for his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan. Just not in Washington. 
• Politico: Sanders ‘confident’ $15 minimum wage would be allowed via reconciliation 
• CNN: Sanders says $15 minimum wage not ‘incidental’ to federal budget as its place in Covid relief bill questioned
• Politico: Biden privately tells governors: Minimum wage hike likely isn’t happening 
• AP: Biden’s $15 wage proposal: Job killer or a boon for workers? 
• CNN: Biden says he doesn’t think $15 minimum wage will survive in his Covid-19 relief proposal
• The Hill: Biden expects minimum wage increase will be dropped from final relief bill
• The Hill: Little known Senate referee to play major role on Biden relief plan
• The Hill: Manchin meets with advocates pushing for $15 minimum wage
• LA Times: Biden, progressive Democrats heading toward clash over minimum wage and student loans 
• Roll Call: Small-business tax cuts eyed as sweetener for minimum wage boost 
• Politico: The jockeying to replace Neera Tanden has begun
• CNN: Neera Tanden to keep reaching out to senators next week as confirmation in jeopardy 
• NYT: Neera Tanden, Biden’s Budget Nominee, Faces Challenge to Confirmation 
• Politico: Manchin to oppose Tanden for OMB, imperiling major Biden nomination 
• Axios: Manchin to vote “no” on Tanden’s nomination for White House budget office director
• WaPo: Sen. Joe Manchin announces opposition to White House budget pick, possibly dooming her nomination 
• NYT: Democrats’ Big Tent Helped Them Win. Now It Threatens Biden’s Agenda. 
• Vanity Fair: JOE BIDEN’S HONEYMOON WITH PROGRESSIVE DEMOCRATS IS OFFICIALLY OVER
• WaPo: Mostly united over covid relief, Democrats face divisions over Biden’s massive second economic plan 
• AP: Biden faces questions about commitment to minimum wage hike
• The Hill: Biden seems set to pick fight over Rahm Emanuel

School Reopening

• Bloomberg: Biden Aides Continue to Drive for School Reopenings by April 
• NPR: Biden Says He Wants Most K-8 Schools Open 5 Days A Week By His First 100 Days 
• FiveThirtyEight: Polls On Reopening Schools Are All Over The Map 
• AP: Muddled promises on schools pose political problem for Biden
• WaPo Opinion: Opinion: Republicans think they’ve found Biden’s big weakness. But there’s a problem. 
• WaPo: Republicans unite around a message — schools should reopen, and Democrats are to blame
• Politico: GOP tries to weaponize pandemic-exhausted parents against Biden 
• NYT: Republicans Seize on Shuttered Schools as a Political Rallying Cry 
• Politico: Teachers union leader on reopening schools: ‘If the NFL could figure out how to do this, let’s do it’
• Daily Beast: Teachers Unions Say CDC Reopening Guidelines Are Fine, if You’ve Got Cash
• HuffPo: Amid Tough School Reopening Battles, Americans Continue To Cheer Teachers Unions
• NYT: The Union Leader Who Says She Can Get Teachers Back in Schools 
• WaPo: Is it safe to open schools? Yes, but …
• Vox: What it would really take to reopen American schools
• NYT: C.D.C. officials say most available evidence indicates schools can be safe if precautions are taken on campus and in the community.
• NYT: What Does a More Contagious Virus Mean for Schools?
• NPR: If Schools Follow CDC Guidance, Biden’s Reopening Goals Could Be Hard To Reach
• NBC News: Map: Which counties are ready for schools to fully open? 
• CNBC: CDC’s classroom guidance would keep 90% of schools at least partially closed
• CNN: CDC director says ‘we have work to do’ when it comes to reopening schools safely
• CDC: Operational Strategy for K-12 Schools through Phased Mitigation
• NYT Magazine: Rhode Island Kept Its Schools Open. This Is What Happened.
• WaPo Analysis: School reopenings: A political pledge the Biden administration has limited authority to back up
• The Hill: Fauci: Stimulus bill needs to be passed for schools to reopen
• NPR: Education Dept. Launches First Federal Effort To Track School Reopening 
• NYT: Biden Is Vowing to Reopen Schools Quickly. It Won’t Be Easy.
• Morning Consult: Teachers Should Be Vaccinated Before Schools Reopen, Most Voters Say 
• WaPo: Biden team struggles to specify when schools will open, normalcy will return 
• Politico: Fauci: ‘Non-workable’ to vaccinate teachers before schools open
• CNN: Biden says teachers should move up in priority to receive Covid-19 vaccine 
• CNN: White House says teacher vaccinations are ‘not a requirement to reopen’ schools
• CNBC: Prioritizing teacher vaccinations will be a challenge until shortage is resolved, Biden official says 
• LA Times: California will earmark 10% of weekly COVID-19 vaccine supply for teachers

Covid in Nursing Homes

• WaPo Analysis: Andrew Cuomo’s nursing home problem is getting worse
• Spectrum News: A Timeline of New York’s Nursing Home Controversy
• NYT: New Allegations of Cover-Up by Cuomo Over Nursing Home Virus Toll
• AP: AP: Over 9,000 virus patients sent into NY nursing homes
• NYT: N.Y. Severely Undercounted Virus Deaths in Nursing Homes, Report Says 
• NPR: Investigation: Cuomo Team Undercounted N.Y. COVID-19 Nursing Home Deaths
• New York State Office of the Attorney General: Attorney General James Releases Report on Nursing Homes’ Response to COVID-19 
• The New Yorker: The Sound and the Fury of Andrew Cuomo
• NYT: As Outcry Over Nursing Homes Grows, Cuomo Lashes Out at Critics 
• NYT: Cuomo Attacks a Fellow Democrat Over Nursing Home Criticism 
• NYT: Cuomo Accepts Some Blame in Nursing Home Scandal but Denies Cover-Up 
• The Guardian: ‘Meet the governor we’ve known all along’: how Cuomo fell from grace
• NY Mag: AOC Calls for ‘Full Investigation’ of Cuomo Nursing Home Scandal
• WSJ: Nursing-Home Death Data Was Sought From Cuomo by U.S. Prosecutors 
• NBC News: U.S. attorney, FBI investigating Cuomo’s handling of nursing home deaths 
• NYT: Cuomo Faces Revolt as Legislators Move to Strip Him of Pandemic Powers 
• NBC News Opinion: Trump made Cuomo a Covid hero. A nursing home scandal proves the honeymoon’s over. (
• Slate: Why Do Democrats Pretend Andrew Cuomo Did a Good Job With COVID? 
• SacBee: California nursing home workers died of COVID. The industry failed to tell state watchdogs
• NYT: Cuomo at a Crossroads: What Comes Next? 
• The New Republic: Andrew Cuomo Needed Donald Trump

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here.

For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com.