| | |  | BY RENUKA RAYASAM | COVID AT THE COURT — The cat appears to be out of the bag: POLITICO and other outlets are reporting that President Donald Trump will nominate conservative Federal Appeals Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death. Senate Republicans are prepping for a quick confirmation — setting up what could be the most fraught and controversial Supreme Court battle yet. While much of the debate over Barrett’s nomination will focus on the likelihood she’ll shift the court to the right on divisive issues like access to abortion, there’s also a good chance that Trump’s third Supreme Court pick, if confirmed, will shape the government’s ability to battle the coronavirus pandemic, which has now infected more than 7 million Americans. Legal experts note the Supreme Court could rule on cases in its upcoming term that could upend existing law on everything from First Amendment rights to administrative authority. Many of the lawsuits related to the pandemic are seeking emergency relief, meaning that they are coming before the high court in a matter of months, as opposed to the usual yearslong timeline. If the justices decide to hear these cases, they could affect how the federal government and states handle public health emergencies for years to come. “I think we’re in entirely new territory,” said Lawrence Gostin, a global health law professor at Georgetown University. “Covid-19 has proved to be so politically charged that we see a flood of litigation,” he said. “This is a dangerous and toxic brew that ... could chill public health agencies from doing what evidence tells them to do.” Several pre-pandemic cases that could have far-reaching implications for public health are also set to get their day before the Supreme Court during its next term. Here’s a rundown of some of the relevant cases: First Amendment challenges: Earlier this week, a church on Capitol Hill filed a lawsuit against Washington, D.C.’s ban on large indoor gatherings, the latest in a series of cases brought by religious groups around the country challenging state and local Covid-19 restrictions. Since 1990, the court has held that religious beliefs don’t give people the right to duck valid government restrictions. The Supreme Court has already rejected two emergency petitions on the issue, with Ginsburg part of the 5-4 majority. “If a justice was more inclined to read religious freedom more capaciously, that might well have come out a different way,” said Wendy Parmet, a health law professor at Northeastern University. Barrett is a devout Catholic whose connection to the charismatic Catholic group People of Praise has drawn scrutiny and raised questions from some liberals about the role religion plays in her jurisprudence. A reversal of the Supreme Court’s earlier opinion, written by Antonin Scalia, could make it impossible for states to force religious groups to follow gathering bans, mask mandates or even vaccine requirements. Economic and administrative law: A group of landlords has filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration challenging the CDC’s recent eviction moratorium. Parmet says that more such cases are likely to be filed across the country, forcing courts to think about economic rights, due process and the power of the administrative state. The Supreme Court could decide challenges to the CDC’s eviction moratorium in a number of ways: ruling that the CDC does have the power to issue such rules during a public health emergency, or that they do have that power, but that the CDC didn’t follow proper procedures to implement the rules. Or, a more conservative court could rule broadly that the CDC doesn’t have such authority, even in a public health crisis. Health care: Well before the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed the country, Texas brought a legal challenge against the Affordable Care Act, and several groups have sued conservative states over work requirements in the Medicaid program. Ginsburg’s death puts Obamacare in serious danger. And even if it survives, the addition of another conservative justice on the court makes it more likely the court could rule that states can impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients — that is, if they decide to take up the case. Both decisions would jeopardize access to health coverage at a time when people are looking for affordable Covid-19 testing and treatment options. “Telling people who are sick that they have to work to get health insurance, forget about if it’s heartless,” said Parmet. “It’s the wrong public health message. We don’t want people going to work if they are sick.” Welcome to POLITICO Nightly: Coronavirus Special Edition. Reach out rrayasam@politico.com or on Twitter at @renurayasam.
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POLITICO illustration/Getty Images, AP | STARSTRUCK — The Department of Health and Human Services has launched a highly unusual advertising campaign to “defeat despair” over the coronavirus, a $300 million-plus taxpayer-funded effort that was shaped by a political appointee close to Trump and executed in part by close allies of the official, health care reporter Dan Diamond writes. The ad blitz, described in some budget documents as the “Covid-19 immediate surge public advertising and awareness campaign,” is expected to lean heavily on video interviews between administration officials and celebrities, who will discuss aspects of the coronavirus outbreak and discuss the Trump administration’s response to the crisis, according to six individuals with knowledge of the campaign who described its workings to POLITICO. Senior administration officials have already recorded interviews with celebrities like actor Dennis Quaid and singer CeCe Winans, and the Health and Human Services department also has pursued television host Dr. Mehmet Oz and musician Garth Brooks for roles in the campaign. The public awareness campaign, which HHS is seeking to begin airing before Election Day on Nov. 3, was largely conceived and organized by Michael Caputo, the health department’s top spokesperson, who took medical leave last week and announced on Thursday that he had been diagnosed with cancer. Caputo, who has no medical or scientific background, claimed in a Facebook video on Sept. 13 that the campaign was “demanded of me by the president of the United States. Personally.” “The Democrats — and, by the way, their conjugal media and the leftist scientists that are working for the government — are dead set against it,” Caputo told his Facebook followers in the Sept. 13 video. “They cannot afford for us to have any good news before November because they’re already losing … They’re going to come after me because I’m going to be putting $250 million of ads on the air.” The campaign is indeed under investigation by Democrats, who have charged that the massive ad blitz is an attempt to boost Trump’s standing on Covid-19 before the election and have unsuccessfully called on HHS to halt the contract.
| | 7 MILLION — The U.S. coronavirus case count passed 7 million today with new signs of disease spread. The country accounts for more than 20 percent of infections, globally, health care reporter Brianna Ehley writes. The figure, based on a tracker maintained by Johns Hopkins University, is the latest milestone in the pandemic and comes just days after the U.S. surpassed 200,000 deaths. It took less than a month after the U.S. crossed 6 million confirmed infections for case numbers to jump by 1 million. While U.S. cases began to decline at the end of the summer, at least 21 states are now seeing a resurgence in infections, according to CDC data. The U.S. is averaging more than 40,000 new cases each day, down from the 65,000-per-day peak in July. Collectively, the world has recorded more than 32 million coronavirus cases since the pandemic first began, with India and Brazil home to the second and third highest case counts, respectively, after the U.S. The U.S. also far outpaces every other country in Covid-19 deaths.
| | Nightly asked you: As cooler weather arrives in much of the U.S., the Nightly crew has noticed that fall and winter holidays seem to be getting an early pandemic observance. Have you or your neighbors set up some early decorations for Halloween or Thanksgiving (maybe even Christmas)? Below are some of the photos you sent us.
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| | | BOO COVID — Towns in Ohio have already canceled public trick-or-treating. Los Angeles County has advised against it. A town in Maryland canceled, too. Spooky season is yet another thing Covid-19 has cursed. The CDC is warning that door-to-door trick or treating is high risk, while also advising against costume masks and Halloween parties. The agency is instead suggesting “low risk activities,” like a scavenger hunt where kids can walk around to see neighborhood decorations, virtual costume contests or having a Halloween movie night with family. Even worse: Halloween falls on a full moon Saturday this year. In other words, the pandemic has squandered the rare occasion when sugar-high children (and their weary parents) get to sleep in the morning after. Salem, Mass. usually draws 500,000 people to its city of 43,000 in October, packing hotels, restaurants and attractions. People plan their costumes for the annual street festival as much as a year in advance. “You’re talking about a place that takes Halloween very seriously,” said Mayor Kim Driscoll. Now, many of the activities don’t comply with Massachusetts’ Phase 3 requirements, which include limiting indoor gatherings to 25 people or less and requiring face masks. Buskers who dress up to take photos with visitors risk violating the 6-feet-apart rule. The downtown ambassadors who are usually there to recommend activities or places to eat are now helping with social distancing compliance, instead. Driscoll said they’re still expecting tourists. But visitors coming from states with higher Covid-19 infection counts must get tested and fill out a form before staying at any hotels or Airbnbs. “No one will be happier than me when Nov. 1 comes. Maybe my police chief and public health folks, as well,” Driscoll said. “We don’t have a gate, we don’t have a border, you know, that we can just close up.”
| | THAT’S A WRAP — Brooke Minters takes us through the week that was in political cartooning and satire in the latest Punchlines, featuring remembrances of RBG, the battle over the next Supreme Court justice and Trump’s attempts to downplay Covid-19.
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| | | WORLD OF VACCINES — Rich countries have moved aggressively to lock down sufficient vaccine doses for their citizens, but few have invested in ensuring there’s an effective vaccine, in the first place. And even big upfront investment in some countries could be wasted if their citizens are too skeptical to take an eventual vaccine. We’ve mapped where 15 countries, plus the European Union, stand on their vaccine prospects. You’ll be surprised by some of the results.
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Global Translations mapped out the vaccine readiness of major countries and the European Union — and found countries most wanting. | | | | |
$2 million The amount local Florida governments issued in citations related to Covid-19, according to a survey conducted by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office. DeSantis, a Republican, today moved Florida into the third phase of its reopening plans, clearing much of the state to return to a pre-pandemic way of life and preempting any attempts by local governments to impose tougher restrictions. |
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| OFF TO SCHOOL — I did not get one of those adorable first-day-of-school pics that have filled my Facebook and Twitter feeds over the past couple of weeks, as my friends’ kids settled in for virtual or in-person schooling. The night before my boys, ages 2 and 1, were set to start a new day care in a new city, I carefully laid out their clothes. I ran through the checklist that the day care sent to make sure that their backpacks (trucks for the older one and dinosaurs for the little one) were loaded with the now-required masks, indoor shoes and multiple changes of clothes and bibs. That morning my kids just sobbed as we dropped them off at an unfamiliar building, to unfamiliar people. We weren’t allowed inside. The staff conducted temperature checks and screenings outside and then whisked them away. Nightly editor Chris Suellentrop suggested I ease the process by being cheerful and positive during drop off. But the boys couldn’t see my wide, fake smile behind my mask. It wasn’t until I was on my way back to an empty house that I realized I didn’t get a picture. Between the tears and the whisking I didn’t have much chance, anyway. Like so many families trying to navigate risks during the pandemic, my husband and I decided to send our kids to day care this fall. He started a new job outside the house, I work full-time inside the house, and the reality is that we couldn’t afford a long-term, full-time nanny. Plus, I thought that they would enjoy it: My outgoing, chirpy boys have had virtually no contact with other kids for the last six months — my two-year-old was obsessed with other kids he saw on the playground or during our neighborhood walks but we had to warn him to keep his distance. It seemed to me that the structure and instruction they get at a day care would be better than the steady diet of Tollywood film songs that they had been consuming during the pandemic. I don’t know if it’s the right decision. I’ve heard of day cares sparking outbreaks in other communities and know that, despite all of the precautions, that could happen here, too. It’s been a couple of weeks since they started; this morning was the first day that they didn’t cry. And my older son has learned more new words: He says “please” now. The teachers send a daily report over WhatsApp and things seem to be going well. Maybe at the end of the school year, I can get a last day of school pic, with two healthy, smiling kids. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. | |
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