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TODAY'S HEADLINES:

A looming wave of evictions is expected to hit Black and Latino families especially hard. As local governments struggle to distribute federal aid to renters ahead of a December 30 deadline, housing advocates want Congress to extend that deadline and approve more aid.

Meanwhile, the GOP’s intra-party feuding in Georgia is reaching new heights of absurdity. Donald Trump is busily raising money for the Senate runoff in the state – but there’s a real question how much of it his party’s candidates will actually see.

And lastly, federal regulators are poised to approve a second coronavirus vaccine later this week, this one from Moderna. And, for the first time in the United States, a take-home Covid- 19 test is soon headed to drug store shelves.

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This cruel winter will soon take an even harsher turn for many. Politico reports that the expiration of the federal eviction ban at the end of the month will hurt Black and Latino tenants most, financially hobbling them for years and worsening the United States’ staggering racial wealth gap. Black and Latino people are twice as likely to rent as white people. Just twenty nine percent of Black renters and thirty one percent of Latino renters reported having high confidence they would be able to make their rent this month, Politico reports, citing the most recent Census survey. That’s compared with half of white renters.

The Centers for Disease Control’s nationwide ban on evictions expires December 31, Politico reports. Landlords are expected to rush to initiate eviction proceedings in the three weeks before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated. Housing advocates are pushing for lawmakers to pass a relief package with tens of billions of dollars in rental subsidies when the next Congress convenes. And there’s growing bipartisan support for rent relief as the best way to protect both tenants and landlords.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that bureaucrats nationwide are scrambling to unload hundreds of millions in federal aid for tenants before the December 30 deadline. More than four hundred state and local governments have used money from the federal CARES Act to

set up funds to cover at least $4.3 billion in rental assistance. But many jurisdictions are reporting trouble spending it. They are on pace to have more than $300 million left over. Tenant advocates, landlord organizations and local-government associations have called on Congress to extend the December 30 deadline. That should be an easy win for either party.

Trump Hoards Georgia Fundraising

Joe Biden was in Georgia yesterday to campaign for the Democratic US Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. Back in Washington, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell finally congratulated Biden on his victory – more than a month after Biden actually won. With Donald Trump still refusing to concede, the Washington Post reports that McConnell’s bow to reality sets up a struggle for control of the GOP. Speaking to that point, Utah Senator Mitt Romney told CBS News yesterday that Trump’s presidency has thrown his party’s core principles into doubt. Forgive us for wondering what those principles were to begin with.

The Senate was the best shot Trump had to at least gum up the works of Biden’s ascension to the presidency, the Post reports. But Trump has very much not given up on overturning the election. He even retweeted lawyer L. Lin Wood’s call yesterday morning for Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to go to jail, because he feels Kemp hasn’t fought hard enough for him. Trump’s machine is raising money to fight off the Democrats in Georgia, Politico reports – but most of the money is going to Trump’s own political action committee. Not a cent of the money Trump raises is going to the party’s US Senate candidates David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. Which is hilarious. But Trump’s fundraising prowess is also one measure of his ongoing sway over the Republican party.

Meanwhile in Virginia, State Senator and gubernatorial candidate Amanda Chase yesterday called on Trump to declare martial law to prevent his removal from office. Chase bills herself as QUOTE Trump in heels ENDQUOTE. Really. Nobody needed that image.

Moderna Vaccine Nears Approval

At last. Hundreds more hospitals around the country began dispensing Covid-19 shots to their workers yesterday in a rapid expansion of the US vaccination drive, the Associated

Press reports. Meanwhile, a second vaccine moved to the cusp of government authorization. A day after the rollout of Pfizer’s coronavirus shots, the Food and Drug Administration said its preliminary analysis confirmed the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine developed by Moderna and the National Institutes of Health. A panel of outside experts is expected to vote to recommend the formula on Thursday, with the FDA’s green light coming soon after.

The Moderna vaccine uses the same technology as Pfizer’s and showed similarly strong protection against Covid-19, the AP reports. However, Moderna’s vaccine is easier to handle because it does not need to be kept in deep freeze. Another weapon against the outbreak can’t come soon enough: The number of dead in the US passed a staggering three hundred thousand on Monday. On average, there are now twenty four hundred deaths and over two hundred and ten thousand new cases per day. Hospitals are strained nationwide. The Los Angeles Times reports that LA County – home to ten million people – has fewer than one hundred beds available in intensive care units.

Also yesterday, regulators approved the first home test for Covid-19 that doesn’t require a prescription. According to the AP, the test from Australian manufacturer Ellume will soon be available at pharmacies and for purchase online, priced around $30. Currently the US is testing nearly two million people daily. Most health experts agree the country needs to be testing many times more. Maybe this will do the trick.

AND NOW FOR SOME QUICKER QUICKIES:

Former Ohio state senator and Bernie Sanders surrogate Nina Turner made her bid for Congress official yesterday. The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reports that Turner is the third candidate to join the primary for Representative Marcia Fudge’s congressional seat. (Joe Biden recently named Fudge to head the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.) Turner will face Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Shontel Brown and former Cleveland City Councilman Jeff Johnson. This race is one to watch.

In other Biden Cabinet news, Biden will reportedly nominate former McKinsey consultant, presidential candidate, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg to lead the Department of Transportation. Does South Bend have a transit network? Does it matter?

The International Criminal Court has decided not to pursue an investigation into China’s mass detention of Muslims, the New York Times reports. Prosecutors in The Hague said they would not, for now, investigate allegations of genocide targeting the Uighur minority, because the alleged crimes took place in China, which is not a party to the court. How convenient.

Lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend and alleged accomplice of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, are urging a judge to free her to await trial, CBS News reports. Maxwell’s proposed $28.5 million bail package would include armed guards to ensure she remains safe and doesn’t flee a New York City residence. The identities of seven friends and family members willing to pledge about $5 million of their own assets toward the bail package were not revealed. Maybe check Epstein’s little black book?

That’s all for the AM Quickie. Join us this afternoon on the Majority Report.

DEC 16, 2020 - AM QUICKIE

HOSTS - Sam Seder & Lucie Steiner

WRITER - Corey Pein

PRODUCER - Dorsey Shaw

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - Brendan Finn