1/ U.S. Covid-19 hospitalizations are at the lowest point since Thanksgiving as the rate of coronavirus vaccinations has accelerated. Hospitalizations declined by nearly 30% in the last three weeks to 91,000 patients – the lowest number since Nov. 28. More than 27 million Americans have received their first shot – higher than the total number of reported U.S. infections – and more than 6 million are fully inoculated. (ABC News / Washington Post)

Biden’s Covid-19 Response Team is considering sending masks directly to Americans. The Trump administration scrapped a similar plan last year, opting instead to send cloth masks to nonprofit organizations and state agencies. (NBC News)

Mitt Romney proposed sending at least $3,000 per child to millions of American families as a means of combating child poverty. Romney’s proposal would provide $4,200 a year for every child up to the age of 6 and $3,000 per year for every child 6 to 17. Democrats have drafted similar legislation that would provide $3,600 a year for children ages 0-5 and $3,000 a year for children aged 6-17. (Washington Post / CNBC / Axios / HuffPost)

2/ Weekly unemployment claims fell to 779,000 – the lowest level since the end of November. While claims remained well above the pre-pandemic peak of 695,000, it was the third consecutive decrease in initial claims. (Bloomberg / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)

3/ House impeachment managers requested that Trump testify under oath during his own Senate impeachment trial next week about his involvement in the events that led to the Capitol riot Jan. 6. “In light of your disputing these factual allegations, I write to invite you to provide testimony under oath,” Rep. Jamie Raskin wrote in a letter to Trump. The letter comes two days after Trump’s legal team “denied many factual allegations set forth in the article of impeachment.” House impeachment managers invited Trump to testify either before or during his actual impeachment trial. The Senate could also seek to compel Trump’s testimony by subpoena. Trump’s defense team, meanwhile, rejected the invitation, accusing Democrats of waging a “public relations stunt.” (NBC News / Politico / New York Times /

1/ Biden urged congressional Democrats to press ahead with the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan, saying “I’m not going to start my administration by breaking a promise to the American people.” Biden said he was open to negotiating the price tag for his Covid-19 relief proposal, including narrowing the distribution of $1,400 stimulus checks to focus on poor and middle-class people, but that he wouldn’t reduce the amount of the stimulus checks. “I think we can better target the number,” Biden said, but “We need to act — we need to act fast.” (NPR / NBC News / CNN / Bloomberg / Politico / Wall Street Journal)

1/ House impeachment managers accused Trump of whipping the crowd in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6 “into a frenzy” and then aiming them “like a loaded cannon” at the Capitol. In a memorandum filed ahead of Trump’s second impeachment trial, the House’s nine impeachment managers said Trump was “singularly responsible” for the riot, accusing him of “a betrayal of historic proportions.” They added: “Trump’s responsibility for the events of January 6 is unmistakable” and that his “abuse of office threatened and injured our democratic order” and “his conduct endangered the life of every single member of Congress, jeopardized the peaceful transition of power and line of succession, and compromised our national security.” (Washington Post / NPR / NBC News / Wall Street Journal / CNN / ABC News / CBS News)

2/ Trump’s lawyers denied that he sought to subvert the election results and incite the deadly assault on the Capitol, arguing that the trial is unconstitutional because he is out of office. In a 14-page response to the House’s impeachment charge, Trump’s lawyers argued that Trump did not incite the crowd on Jan. 6 “to engage in destructive behavior” and suggested that case was “substantially flawed” and should be dismissed. Trump’s lawyers also denied that he was “factually in error” when he claimed that he had won the election “in a landslide,” claiming “insufficient evidence exists upon which a reasonable jurist could conclude that the 45th president’s statements were accurate or not, and he therefore denies they were false.” (New York Times / Politico / CNN / ABC News / Bloomberg)

3/ The Biden administration will distribute Covid-19 vaccine doses to retail pharmacies across the nation. Biden’s team said they would begin shipping roughly one million doses per week to about 6,500 pharmacies nationwide as a trial run. White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients also announced that the administration will increase the weekly allocation of vaccines going to states by 5%, bringing the weekly total shipment of vaccines to 10.5 million per week. (Politico / CNN / Bloomberg /

1/ The Biden administration reached a $231 million deal for 8.5 million at-home, over-the-counter Covid-19 rapid tests. The test, made by Ellume, “can detect Covid with roughly 95 percent accuracy within 15 minutes.” The FDA granted an emergency use authorization in December for the tests, which are expected to cost about $30 each. (NPR / NBC News / Wall Street Journal)

1/ Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine was 66% effective overall at preventing moderate to severe illness in a global study. In the U.S., the vaccine was 72% effective, but the efficacy rate dropped to 57% in South Africa, where a highly contagious variant is driving new cases. The vaccine was particularly effective at stopping severe disease in all regions, preventing 85% of severe infections and 100% of hospitalizations and deaths. Johnson and Johnson said it planned to apply for emergency authorization of its vaccine from the FDA, putting it on track to receive clearance later in February. (Washington Post / Bloomberg / Politico / New York Times / The Guardian / NBC News)

1/ Democrats plan to bypass Republicans and approve a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package on a party-line basis using budget reconciliation. The process allows some legislation tied to the budget to pass the Senate with a simple majority, rather than the 60 votes needed to avoid a filibuster. Republicans have repeatedly rejected Biden’s plan, which would provide a $1,400 check, increase and extend federal unemployment, provide funds for vaccine distribution, state and local governments, and schools. Press secretary Jen Psaki also ruled out splitting up the package, saying the Biden administration is “not going to do this in a piecemeal way or break apart a big package meant to address the crisis we’re facing.” (Politico / NBC News / Wall Street Journal / New York Times)

1/ The Department of Health and Human Services diverted millions of dollars in federal funds intended for vaccines research and public health emergencies to pay for unrelated salaries, administrative expenses, the removal of furniture, news subscriptions, and legal services. In 2018, an unidentified whistleblower alleged the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response had been misusing money since at least 2010 that Congress had allocated for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. A HHS inspector general report says the agency couldn’t account for $517.8 million from 2007 to 2016. And, as recently as fiscal year 2019, more than $25 million was improperly taken from BARDA. (Washington Post / Bloomberg / CNN / Axios)

2/ The Department of Homeland Security warned of “ideologically-motivated violent extremists” in the U.S. The DHS bulletin said the threat of violence – spurred by “grievances fueled by false narratives” about the unfounded claims about the 2020 election and “anger over COVID-19 restrictions … and police use of force” – will persist for “weeks” following Biden’s inauguration. The National Terrorism Advisory System was last used a year ago to warn of potential retaliation by Iran for the U.S. assassination of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. A year before that, DHS highlighted the threat from foreign terrorist groups, like ISIS or al-Qaida. (Washington Post / New York Times / ABC News / Politico / Axios)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene reportedly endorsed executing Democratic leaders and federal agents in 2018 and 2019 before being elected to Congress. In January 2019, Greene “liked” a comment that said “a bullet to the head would be quicker” to remove House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and in other posts, Greene “liked” comments about executing FBI agents who, she believed, were part of a “deep state” working against Trump.(CNN / Washington Post)

A second police officer died by suicide following the insurrection at the Capitol Building on Jan. 6. A third member of law enforcement died from injuries he sustained during the Capitol attack. (Politico)

3/ House and Senate Democrats introduced legislation that would make Washington, D.C., the 51st state. The bill, first introduced in 2013, would give the District full authority over local issues and grant it full representation ...

1/ Global Covid-19 cases topped 100 million – less than three months after the world hit 50 million cases and just over a year after the first confirmed U.S. case. The U.S. accounts for more than 25 million infections. (NBC News / CNN / CNBC)

Global: Total confirmed cases: ~100,092,000; deaths: ~2,152,000

U.S.: Total confirmed cases: ~25,408,000; deaths: ~425,000

Source: Johns Hopkins University

Biden will reopen the Affordable Care Act marketplace and reverse changes to Medicaid. (Washington Post / Reuters)

Several hundred Biden staffers have been administered the coronavirus vaccine “to ensure a COVID-safe working environment around the president and key leaders who have national security and continuity of government responsibilities.� (Axios)

2/ The Biden administration plans to purchase an additional 200 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, with the goal of having enough supply to vaccinate nearly the entire U.S. population by the end of the summer. The administration says it’ll buy an additional 100 million doses each from Moderna and Pfizer. The purchases would be in addition to the 400 million combined doses the companies had already committed to providing to the U.S. and would increase available supply by 50%, bringing the total to 600 doses by this summer. Weekly allocations of coronavirus vaccines will also increase by roughly 16% next week – about 1.5 million additional doses. The weekly allocation is expected to go from about 8.6 million doses to about 10 million doses. (NPR / NBC News / Washington Post / Bloomberg / New York Times / Wall Street Journal)

3/ Mitch McConnell dropped his demand that Democrats promise to preserve the filibuster, easing a stalemate that prevented new senators from being seated and party leaders from negotiating a power-sharing agreement. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer refused to meet McConnell’s demands. McConnell, however, said he received “assurances� from two centrist Democrats – Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema – that they opposed getting rid of the procedural tool Republicans c...

1/ Biden reversed Trump’s ban on transgender troops serving in the military, restoring protections first put in place by Obama. In 2017, Trump tweeted that the U.S. would no longer “accept or allow” transgender people in the military, saying the military “must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory” and it could not afford to accommodate them. As Biden signed the executive order, he said: “What I’m doing is enabling all qualified Americans to serve their country in uniform.” The order provides protection for all transgender service members, stops all involuntary separations or discharges based on gender identity, and directs the secretary of Defense and the secretary of Homeland Security to implement the order and brief Biden within 60 days on their progress. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / NPR / Associated Press / NBC News / Axios)

2/ Biden signed an executive order requiring the federal government to “Buy American” for products and services where possible. The new policies will tighten existing government procurement rules, reduce opportunities for waivers, and make it harder for federal agencies to purchase imported products. The order also ensures that small and midsize businesses will have better access to bid for government contracts. (Washington Post / New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Axios)

3/ Trump considered a plan in early January to replace the acting attorney general with a different Justice Department lawyer who would pursue his baseless claims of voter fraud. The plan would have forced Jeffrey Rosen out as the acting attorney general and replaced him with Jeffrey Clark, who had been working with Trump to devise ways to force Georgia lawmakers to overturn its presidential election results. Trump also pushed for the Justice Department to file its own lawsuit against four states, asking the Supreme Court to invalidate Biden’s victory. The efforts failed after Trump’s own appointees at the Justice Department refused to file what they viewed as a legally baseless lawsuit. Later, Trump forced Rosen and Clark to make their case to him in a White House meeting that two officials compared with an episode of “The Apprentice.” Trump ultimately backed off that plan after senior Justice Department leadership threatened to resign en masse if he removed Rosen. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, demanded that the Justice Department’s inspector general launch a probe “into this attempted sedition,” saying it is “unconscionable a Trump Justi...

1/ Biden marked the start of his presidency by signing or finalizing 17 executive orders, memorandums, and proclamations to roll back some of Trump’s policies. Hours after his inauguration, Biden began signing orders on a range of issues, which included defunding the construction of Trump’s border wall, reversing Trump’s travel ban targeting Muslim-majority countries, ending the Trump administration’s efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from the Census, recommitting to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, revoking the permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, and rejoining the Paris climate agreement. “There’s no time to start like today,” Biden told reporters in the Oval Office as he began signing. “I’m going to start by keeping the promises I made to the American people.” Biden also signed an order appointing Jeffrey Zients as his Covid-19 response coordinator who will report to the president, in an effort to “aggressively” gear up the nation’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. One of Biden’s top advisers described the flurry of executive authority as an effort to “reverse the gravest damages” done to the country by Trump. (New York Times / NPR / CBS News / CNN / Washington Post / The Guardian / Politico / Wall Street Journal / New York Times)

Biden signed an executive order requiring all political appointees to sign an ethics pledge, including a ban on lobbying for two years after they leave the administration. (The Hill)

Biden will reverse a Trump administration policy prohibiting funding for nongovernmental groups that provide or refer patients for abortions. (NPR)

Biden revoked a Trump administration report that aimed to promote “patriotic education” in schools. Biden disbanded Trump’s presidential 1776 Commission and withdrew the report that it released Monday. (Associated Press)

2/ Biden, pledging a “full-scale wartime effort” to combat the coronavirus, signed at least 10 executive orders and directives on his second day in office aimed at addressing the pandemic. Biden’s national strategy will address testing, treating, and vaccinating people for Covid-19 by ordering federal agencies to invoke the Defense Production Act to boost the manufacture of necessary supplies of masks, gowns, gloves, rapid test kits, testing agents a...