2020 Day 1293: Trump insisted that the coronavirus pandemic is “under control" and that U.S. deaths reaching 1,000 people a day "is what it is"; the White House is considering three executive orders to bypass the stalled coronavirus relief negotiations; Trump downplayed the legacy of John Lewis and instead complained how the recently deceased civil rights icon made a “big mistake” by not coming to his inauguration; the Census Bureau will end all counting efforts for the 2020 census a month sooner than previously announced; and Trump claimed he has the authority to issue an executive order addressing mail-in voting in the November election despite the Constitution expressly giving states the right to run their elections. Aug 4, 2020
2021 Day 197: The FDA plans to fully approve the Pfizer vaccine by next month; NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed multiple women; the State Department is looking for a $5,800 bottle of whiskey that Japan gave to Mike Pompeo; Los Angeles might require residents to show proof of vaccination at indoor locations; Trump is trying to prevent the Treasury Department from giving his tax returns to Congress; and Mexico is planning to sue U.S.-based gun manufacturers over the flow of weapons coming across the border. Aug 4, 2021
2022 Day 562: The Justice Department charged four current and former Louisville police officers with violating Breonna Taylor's civil rights; the Biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency; Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Tampa's elected prosecutor for pledging not to prosecute abortions and gender-affirming care; Alex Jones conceded that the 20 first graders and six educators killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 – the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history – was "100 percent real" and not a hoax staged by crisis actors; and the Jan. 6 committee requested two years’ worth of records from Alex Jones’ phone as part of its investigation into the Capitol riot. Aug 4, 2022
2025 Day 1658: White House adviser Kevin Hassett defended Trump’s firing of the Bureau of Labor Statistics chief, but offered no evidence to support the claim that jobs data was "rigged"; Texas Democrats fled the state to block Republicans from redrawing the state’s congressional map under pressure from Trump that would shift five U.S. House seats to Republicans; New York and California said they will pursue new congressional maps to offset Republican redistricting efforts in Texas; the Congressional Budget Office said Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” will increase the federal deficit by $4.1 trillion over 10 years and raise debt interest payments by $718 billion; Corporation for Public Broadcasting will shut down after Trump and Congress eliminated its federal funding; and Trump’s Transportation Secretary ordered NASA to fast-track plans to build a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030. Aug 4, 2025