Hearings on the January 6th Capitol riot continued on Wednesday before the Senate Rules Committee and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, commanding general of the D.C. National Guard explained to Senators that “unusual” restrictions on deployment prevented him from sending in the guardsmen that were needed to the Capitol building. He had expressed the same concerns earlier in a Washington Post interview. Had those “unusual” restrictions not been made by the Pentagon, D.C. National Guardsmen might have arrived in time to help D.C. Capitol Police who were overrun by a massive, violent crowd of Trump supporters. AP explained that, “That delay stood in contrast to the immediate approval for National Guard support granted in response to the civil unrest that roiled American cities last spring as an outgrowth of racial justice protests.” In a separate hearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee, Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman said that threats to lawmakers have increased by 93.5% in the first two months of this year compared to the first two months of last year. Additionally threats made to lawmakers in 2020 were more than double the number in 2017 and that the majority were made by people outside D.C. Police have also uncovered what they are calling a “possible plot” by a militia group against the Capitol this Thursday by people linked to the QAnon conspiracy theorists.

In other news, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he was completely lifting all coronavirus-related restrictions in his state. Texans are still reeling from the devastating winter storm, power failures and water shortages, that Abbott faced public outrage over. Additionally, Texas has among the lowest rates of vaccination in the nation. Abbott apparently made his announcement soon after the federal government warned states against reopening too quickly. According to Reuters, “Employees at General Motors, Toyota Motor, Target Corp, and Macy’s Inc in Texas will keep face masks on at work.” Soon after Texas, Mississippi followed suit. 

President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced by the end of May there would be enough vaccine doses for all Americans. Biden’s promise followed a deal that he brokered with Merck to produce a new vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson and approved by the FDA. The President also called on states to prioritize vaccines for teachers so that children could get back t...