Last night the U.S. House voted to create a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, with every Democrat and 35 Republicans (about one-fifth of their caucus) voting yes. The bipartisan support was less than supporters had hoped for a few days ago, but some of it melted away after top GOP leaders came out against the commission. It now heads to the Senate, where its prospects of getting 60 votes to overcome a filibuster are questionable. [ Read more from Politico's Melanie Zanona, Nicholas Wu and Olivia Beavers]
Local angle: Minnesota's congressional delegation split on party lines, with all four Democrats voting yes and all four Republicans voting no. [See the roll call]
Today, the U.S. House had a much closer vote to pass a $1.9 billion bill to improve security at the U.S. Capitol. The bill passed 213-212, with three lawmakers — including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Rashida Tlaib — voting "present." Progressives had balked at some of the bill's funding for law enforcement. [Read more from CNN's Clare Foran and Annie Grayer]
Local angle: Rep. Ilhan Omar was one of three Democrats to vote no on the otherwise party-line vote. Afterwards, Omar said she had been asked to vote "present" but "just could not justify this" because she votes "on principles."
Yesterday Rep. Jim Hagedorn said that "you guys in the media and a handful of Republicans are the only ones that want to keep talking about" former President Donald Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Which might be true if, as the Star Tribune's Hunter Woodall pointed out, you count Trump as one of "a handful of Republicans." The former president has posted statements relitigating the 2020 election on May 6, May 7, May 10 and May 11, to list just the first four I found browsing his blog.
In 2017, the Pentagon launched its first-ever independent financial audit to cheers from good-government advocates. Then it failed the audit. And the next one. And the one after that. In addition to the almost routine cost overruns, the incomplete queries have dug up a forgotten warehouse full of obsolete aircraft parts, missing paper trails for massive projects — even, according to one congressional aid, a conclusion that "the Pentagon can't even tell you where all of its buildings are located in the United States." Now a bipartisan group of senators want to add teeth: docking any agency of the Defense Department that's unable to pass an audit 1 percent of its budget. [Read more from NPR's Bill Chappell]
Two months ago, there were big hopes that the U.S. was in line for a surge of new vaccine doses. That never happened, and a big reason why is a company called Emergent BioSolutions, which has been paid $271 million by the U.S. government to manufacture vaccines but has yet to produce a single usable dose. Notably, the company ruined 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine by accidentally mixing up ingredients. [Read more from Laura Olson at the Minnesota Reformer]
The Onion's famously parodied then-Vice President Joe Biden in its 2009 article, "Shirtless Biden Washes Trans Am In White House Driveway." While some parts of the Onion's Biden character are off — he doesn't drink alcohol, and once responded, "You think I’d drive a Trans Am?" — it is true that cars have been an important part of the president's long life. [ Read more from the Washington Post's Matt Viser]
The Democratic National Committee is running ads in Minnesota's Hmong Times and other Asian American/Pacific Islander-focused publications, touting President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party's support for "our AAPI brothers and sisters."
Something completely different: Plastic is notoriously difficult to recycle, but that could be about to change. Several new techniques could vastly expand the types of plastics that are able to be returned to their oil base. [Read more from the BBC's Katherine Latham]
Listen: When I first moved to the Twin Cities in late 2014, one of my earliest experiences was driving a moving truck up Cathedral Hill in St. Paul while The Current played a song by a new-to-me Swedish band, First Aid Kit. So "The Waitress Song" has always been deeply associated with Minnesota in my mind. Plus it's a great song! [Listen]
