10 things you need to know today: December 16, 2020

Harold Maass

1.

President-elect Joe Biden has decided to nominate former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg to be his transportation secretary. Buttigieg ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries, but ended his campaign and endorsed Biden shortly before Super Tuesday. Axios previously reported that Buttigieg's top choice for a job in Biden's administration was ambassador to the United Nations, but Biden selected Linda Thomas-Greenfield for that role. Should Buttigieg be confirmed by the Senate, he would become the first openly gay Cabinet member. Biden also is expected to nominate former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a strong advocate of zero-emissions vehicles, as secretary of energy. [Reuters, The Washington Post]

2.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday congratulated Democrat Joe Biden for his victory in the presidential election, marking the first time the Senate Republican leader had acknowledged that Biden was president-elect. McConnell's remarks came six weeks after the election, and the day after electors from across the nation made Biden's victory official. "The Electoral College has spoken," McConnell said on the Senate floor. Behind the scenes, McConnell also reportedly appealed to Senate Republicans not to join some House Republicans expected to object to state election results when the electoral votes are formally counted on Jan. 6. President Trump still hasn't conceded, and claims without evidence that ballot fraud cost him the election. [CNN]

3.

A Food and Drug Administration review released Tuesday concluded that Moderna's coronavirus vaccine "was highly effective" at preventing COVID-19 symptoms after trial participants received a second dose. The endorsement put Moderna's vaccine candidate on track to be the second to be authorized for emergency use, after the Pfizer/BioNTech shots distributed this week. Approval is expected Friday, a day after a panel of outside experts meets to make its recommendation. Moderna's vaccine appeared to be associated with more severe side effects, including aches and pains, than Pfizer's vaccine, but that was not expected to slow the process. Moderna has said the vaccine was 94 percent effective in trials. It also showed signs of efficacy after the first of two doses. [Stat News, The New York Times]

4.

The jihadist group Boko Haram said Tuesday that it had abducted more than 300 students from an all-boys boarding school in Katsina, in northwest Nigeria, as punishment for their "un-Islamic practices." Local officials said 333 of the school's 800 students were missing. The mass kidnapping came six years after Boko Haram abducted 276 schoolgirls, traumatizing the country and sparking the global #BringBackOurGirls campaign. Nigerian surveillance aircraft and American drones were dispatched to search for the kidnapped boys. One 17-year-old, Usama Male, managed to escape. "They said they would kill whoever tried to flee, but I positioned myself near the back and waited for a chance to run," he said. "Hundreds of my fellow pupils are still in captivity somewhere in the forest."

5.

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday issued an emergency use authorization for the first over-the-counter, fully at-home COVID-19 test. The Ellume COVID-19 Home Test will likely be sold at pharmacies, and it won't require a prescription. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said patients can buy the rapid antigen kit, take it home, conduct their own nasal swab, and get their results "in as little as 20 minutes." Ellume says its intention is for the test to cost $30 or less and while production has just started, the company expects to send out initial shipments the first week of January. There is hope that at-home testing will not only expand Americans' access to coronavirus testing, but also reduce the burden on laboratories and test supplies, Hahn said. [FDA, CNBC]

6.

President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday campaigned in Georgia for Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, who are challenging Republican incumbent Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in Jan. 5 runoffs that will determine control of the Senate. "You all did something extraordinary in November," Biden told voters at a drive-in rally. "You voted in record numbers in order to improve the lives of every Georgian. And you voted as if your life depended on it ... Now you're going to have to do it again." Republicans won 50 seats in the 100-member Senate. They will hold onto a narrow majority if they win one of the Georgia races, which would give them greater power over confirming Biden's Cabinet and limiting his ability to push through his plans on climate change, immigration, and other priorities. [The New York Times]

7.

An unprecedented flood of e-commerce packages threatens to overwhelm the U.S. Postal Service ahead of Christmas, as Americans shift more of their shopping online due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Washington Post reported Tuesday, citing postal employees and industry tracking firms. Private carriers, including FedEx and UPS, have cut off pickups for some retailers, redirecting a huge amount of delivery traffic to the Postal Service, worsening delays. "We're really gridlocked all over the place," said a Postal Service transportation manager in Ohio. "UPS and FedEx have shut us off. Nobody can keep up right now, but we don't have the luxury of turning people down." The Postal Service warned employees this week would be the peak. [The Washington Post]

8.

The biggest East Coast winter storm in years is expected to dump up to two feet of snow on parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Wednesday and Thursday. Forecasters say the "blockbuster" storm could shut down travel in some areas. It also is expected to worsen shipping delays at the peak of this year's unprecedented online shopping, and force schools to close. The National Weather Service warned that the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast would be hit with "a widespread swath of heavy, wet snow," while western North Carolina and southwest Virginia would get freezing rain and ice. "Travel is not recommended," the NWS said. Winter storm warnings, watches, and advisories were posted from northeastern Georgia to Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

9.

President Trump's next-door neighbors in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday sent the town and the Secret Service a letter demanding that Trump not be allowed to live in his Mar-a-Lago private club after he leaves office. Trump is expected to move to Mar-a-Lago after President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated on Jan. 20. Trump shifted his official residency from New York City to Mar-a-Lago during his term in office. But his neighbors say in the letter, obtained by The Washington Post, that Trump forfeited his right to live at Mar-a-Lago under an early 1990s agreement he signed when he turned the residential estate into a club. A spokesman for Trump's family business said there was "no document or agreement in place" preventing him from living at the club. [The Washington Post]

10.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, the reigning back-to-back NBA MVP, announced Tuesday he's signing an extension to remain with the Milwaukee Bucks for the next five seasons. The five-year "supermax" deal will be worth an estimated $228 million, making it the largest contract in professional basketball history. Antetokounmpo reportedly will be able to opt out of the agreement after the fourth year. There was speculation that Antetokounmpo, who was set to become a free agent after the upcoming season, would leave Milwaukee, but he and the Bucks squashed those rumors. "This is my home, this is my city," he tweeted. Antetokounmpo is coming off a year in which he won MVP and Defensive Player of the Year. He is the third player ever to win both awards in the same season, joining Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. [ESPN, The New York Times]

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