If you found yourself tuning out the wave of distressing news and conspiracy theories throughout the past month, you are not alone. Alongside the highly anticipated presidential election and the uncertainty that followed, the country has continued to grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic and turbulent social discourse throughout the month of November. If you’re currently experiencing news fatigue, it’s our hope that this summary will catch you up to speed in a less overwhelming way.
Presidential Election
Following a long week of disputed election results and close races, the Associated Press declared Joe Biden the victor of the 2020 presidential election on November 7th. Numerous lawsuits have since been filed in favor of President Trump, largely disputing the validity of mail-in ballots.
One of the most notable lawsuits was rejected by a federal appeals court in Pennsylvania in late November. President Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, argued that the state’s election result was unlawful because some counties allowed voters to correct errors in their mail-in ballots while others did not. The case was thrown out due to insufficient evidence and baseless allegations.
While legal battles are expected to continue, they’ve thus far been unsuccessful in swaying the election results, especially as state certification deadlines have begun to pass. Key states like Georgia and Pennsylvania have already certified Biden as their winner, and after weeks of resistance, the transition of power process has begun.
Congressional Elections
In the hard-fought congressional races, Democrats have maintained their control of the House of Representatives, and Republicans appear to be holding onto control of the Senate with 50 seats Republican, 48 Democrat (or independent caucusing with Democrats), and two seats remaining to be filled. Georgia has two open Senate seats, due to the resignation of Republican Senator Johnny Isakson at the end of this year, that will be decided in a runoff election in January. Republicans have thus far suffered a single net loss, and with the election of a democrat vice president (who acts as a tie-breaker in the Senate) the Georgia elections may very well be the deciding factor in numerous congressional actions for the next two years.
Newly elected San Bernardino County Supervisor and long-time representative Paul Cook announced in January that he would not be running for reelection as U.S House Representative for California’s 8th district. Former Republican State Assemblymember Jay Obernolte ultimately won the general election for the 8th district against Democratic newcomer, Chris Bubser.
Covid-19
Three million new Covid-19 cases were reported in the first three weeks of November, furthering the trend of consistently record-breaking numbers and increasing rate of infection. The death toll is now upwards of 270k, despite a relatively low death rate in the United States, as the infection rate continues to skyrocket.
Despite warnings by the CDC, the day before Thanksgiving had the highest amount of plane travel since March, creating a potential “accelerator event”. Hope that we may soon round the corner, however, comes in the form of multiple vaccines announced this month. Initially, Pfizer and partner BioNTech announced the development of a vaccine with an over 90% success rate in early trials, and Oxford has since announced a less efficient, but more inexpensive vaccine as well. While the general public may not have access to the vaccine until spring of next year, states have already begun preparing for its initial distribution to roughly 20 million Americans.
California’s unemployment spiked to nearly 5 million people receiving assistance in April and has since decreased to 1.3 million—still a stark contrast to the roughly 350k preceding the Covid-19 outbreak and stay-at-home orders. Amidst this economic crisis, a $1 billion fraud scheme was recently uncovered. At least 20,000 unemployment claims under the names of Californian inmates were paid out due to California’s lack of a cross-checking system between unemployment claims and prison rosters.
Supreme Court
Concerns following the confirmation of Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett came into play this past month with Supreme Court hearings regarding the Affordable Care Act and LGBTQ rights.
Though the Supreme Court has upheld the Affordable Care Act in the past, even with a conservative majority, the 2017 repeal of its individual mandate and the reinforced conservative majority raised some concerns for ACA proponents. Support for the Affordable Care Act, however, has increased among Americans and Supreme Court Justices have signaled that it will likely be upheld.
Criticism of the landmark case Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, by Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito in October, furthered concerns about the conservative supermajority. Though the overturning of marriage equality is unlikely, Nevada became the first state to ensure its protection through a state constitutional amendment in mid-November. A Supreme Court case to watch is Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, which began its hearings on November 4th. In this case, it’s expected that the Supreme Court will side with a Catholic adoption agency that sued the city of Philadelphia for halting the referral of new children to them for breaking an anti-discrimination agreement by turning away same-sex couples looking to foster.
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