A group of ten Republican Senators unveiled their draft legislation of a Covid-relief bill on Monday, paring down by more two thirds a proposal by President Joe Biden and Democrats. The GOP lawmakers, who consider themselves “centrist” and are led by Susan Collins of Maine, want to pass a $618 billion package, down from the $1.9 trillion that Democrats say is needed to help those devastated economically by the pandemic. Their counter proposal includes $1,000 stimulus checks to Americans, rather than the $1,400 that Biden promised. Their logic is that if all 50 Democrats joined their group of ten, there would be the 60 votes needed to pass such a bill. Biden agreed to meet them in person on Monday afternoon saying he was open to, “a full exchange of views.” But Senate Budget Committee chair Bernie Sanders countered in an interview that there was enough support among Democrats to pass the original bill. West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who is considered one of the most conservative Democrats in the Senate, already indicated that he preferred to work with Republicans rather than side with his own party to pass the popular bill. The White House has now reached out to Senator Manchin. 

In news from the pandemic, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who last year was hailed for his leadership on curbing the virus, is now under fire after 9 state level health officials quit over the past several months. According to the New York Times, “Mr. Cuomo has all but declared war on his own public health bureaucracy.” The paper quoted his Friday press conference where Cuomo said, “When I say ‘experts’ in air quotes, it sounds like I’m saying I don’t really trust the experts…Because I don’t. Because I don’t.” Meanwhile, the Wisconsin pharmacist who is facing charges over his destruction of more than 500 COVID-19 vaccine doses says he did so because he thought they were harmful to humans. He apparently has other outlandish views that include believing that the earth is flat. Similarly uneducated people helped to shut down Dodger Stadium, a mass vaccination site in Los Angeles, over the weekend. A group of people holding signs that claimed vaccines were dangerous, attempted to stop people from getting them and resulted in the vaccinations being halted for about an hour on Saturday. Many people hoping to get vaccinated had driven hours to the stadium and expressed outrage that the anti-vax mob had been allowed to stop vaccinations without even suffering arrest. According to the LA Times, anti-vax gathering was organized by far-right Trump supporters who advised attendees to not flaunt their support for the former anti-democratic and racist president. 

Meanwhile,