When the U.S. Senate narrowly approved the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package earlier this year, it gave Georgia Democrats a reason to crow. The measure would never have passed without wins in Georgia by Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock that gave Democrats narrow control of the chamber.
The infrastructure plan passed Tuesday is a different story. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell and 18 other Republican senators voted with Democrats to pass the $1.2 trillion infrastructure package.
Support from Ossoff and Warnock was never in question. What was more uncertain was how many Republicans would back the measure.
With more than a dozen GOP senators on board, President Joe Biden and others celebrated the final tally as a victory for bipartisanship.
The Republican senators who supported the measure did so despite loud opposition from former President Donald Trump, still the de facto head of the GOP.
But Trump’s stance against the bill was echoed by key Georgia Republicans, despite funds in the bill for everything from upgrades to dozens of local Georgia airports to replacing lead pipes in schools, expanding public transportation and installing electric vehicle charging stations in the state.
The three leading Republican contenders for U.S. Senate each opposed the infrastructure plan. U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, who is running for Georgia secretary of state, pressed a similar line after the vote.
“How in the world did that $1.2 trillion bill pass in the Senate 69 to 30?” Hice wrote on Twitter. “Two words. RINO Republicans!!!”
None of that stopped Warnock from taking a victory lap of his own on Twitter, posting a photo from his spot presiding over the chamber as the massive bill passed and detailing the billions in spending headed to Georgia.
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Now that the infrastructure bill has cleared a key hurdle, work now moves forward on a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint that lays out the framework to expand dozens of federal social programs.
So, too, do the attacks on Democrats over a measure that amounts to the biggest expansion of the social safety net in nearly 60 years.
The American Action Network, a policy group with close ties to House GOP honchos, launched the first volley of TV ads tying Democratic U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux to the measure.
The ads are backed by an $800,000 buy and will air over three weeks in the first-term Democrat’s Gwinnett-based district.
They warn of new tax hikes and the threat of inflation before urging conservatives to call on Bourdeaux to oppose the “socialist agenda.”
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When House lawmakers are called back early from August recess for a vote on that budget framework, they are likely to also vote on a federal election bill named after the late Georgia Congressman John Lewis.
The text of the bill is not yet finalized, but the goal is to reinstate federal pre-clearance of changes to election law in at least some states and will likely include Georgia.
Later this morning members of Lewis’ family will participate in a press conference in Washington with Rev. Jesse Jackson to back this federal legislation and others. Our D.C. Insider will be on hand.
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We are still waiting to learn who President Joe Biden appoints as U.S. attorney in Georgia’s three federal court districts.
But in a slate of U.S. attorney nominees in other states announced Tuesday, there is one person with local ties.
Christopher Kavanaugh, who will serve as the top prosecutor for the Western District of Virginia, earned his undergraduate degree from Georgia Tech.
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Speaking of U.S. attorneys, we told you yesterday that U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the Illinois Democrat who chairs the Judiciary Committee, confirmed to reporters that the next person his panel will interview is former Atlanta-based U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak.
The committee is investigating whether former President Donald Trump improperly tried to overturn the 2020 general election results, but it wasn’t clear when Pak’s interview would take place.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, appears to have nailed that down, telling Rachel Maddow on MSNBC that Pak will testify later today.
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We at the Jolt like to scan news from around Georgia every morning to look for statewide trends and important local issues. We regret to say this week they are one in the same as COVID-19 rips through Georgia again and pushes hospitals large and small to their limits:
- The AJC’s Carrie Teegarden and Yamil Berard have the statewide view this morning, with “worries that the new surge may overwhelm facilities already struggling to find enough nurses to adequately staff emergency rooms and intensive care units.”
- WSB-TV spoke with Grady Hospital’s chief medical officer, who “said the only thing he can compare the latest wave of cases during the pandemic to is a Tsunami.”
- The Brunswick News’ top headline today: “Virus hospitalizations push health system to the brink.”
- Northside Cherokee is “above 100% capacity,” with COVID-19 patients, the Rome News Tribune writes.
- And from the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer: “Muscogee County’s two-week COVID case rate doubled in ten days.”
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An upcoming biker rally at the Georgia National Fairgrounds shows what happens with a patchwork of rules and regulations related to COVID-19 as the Delta variant of the virus spreads across Georgia.
Last week, the City of Perry announced it would cancel all city-sponsored events, like Food Truck Friday, for 30 days. WMAZ-TV reports the city made the decision after speaking with health officials worried about the rise in hospitalizations in Houston County.
But up the road this weekend, a national biker roundup is expected to draw 40,000 people from around the country, booking local hotels to capacity. Although the event is also in Houston County, the Fairgrounds are operated by the state of Georgia, rather than the city.
An organizer for the rally told WMAZ they plan to ask attendees to wear masks.
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POSTED: Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was suspended from Twitter again after posting COVID-19 misinformation.
With the weeklong punishment, Greene is just one more misstep away from having her account permanently taken offline.
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Embattled state Labor Commissioner Mark Butler is under pressure to speed long-overdue unemployment benefits to Georgians who lost jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But WSB Radio has another headache for him: Employed Georgians who were sent benefits in error this year, returned the benefits to the Department of Labor, but have now been told they owe federal taxes on the returned money anyway.
It’s not clear how widespread the problem is, but the department told WSB it is aware of the issue.
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The Joint state House and Senate Legislative & Congressional Reapportionment Committees are wrapping up their round of public hearings across the state.
The forums are designed to receive input from the public on the upcoming process of redrawing state legislative and congressional boundaries, although we’ll have to see how much that feedback really affects the maps once they’re drawn.
A final hearing takes place tonight in Martinez. Georgians can also watch the hearing via livestream.
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As always, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
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