| Welcome to The Daily 202! Tell your friends to sign up here. We'd like to wish all of you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving! We're grateful for your readership, your reasoned objections to Olivier's occasional flare-ups of grammatical insouciance and your support for a free and independent news media. We'll be back on Monday. | | |  | The big idea | | Roughly 90 percent of the federal workforce is vaccinated. That's a win for Biden. |  (Washington Post illustration; iStock) | | | Across the federal government, more than nine in 10 workers have had at least one coronavirus vaccine shot, the White House announced Wednesday, urging the private sector to lean into mandating inoculation against a disease that has killed nearly 774,000 people on U.S. soil. That's the top line from a new agency-by-agency report released this morning by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which oversees President Biden's vaccine mandate. The policy allows some exemptions based on health or religion. At least 92 percent of the more than 3.5 million federal workers have had at least one dose of the vaccine. Another 4.5 percent are completing vaccinations or have a pending request for exemption, bringing the total of employees in compliance with Biden's order to 96.5 percent. That leaves about 122,500 people who are not. The report landed as the administration is fighting in court to unblock its requirement that private sector employers with 100 or more workers enforce vaccines or regular testing, a signature Biden policy frozen by legal action from Republican governors. Bringing the coronavirus to heel was a big promise when Biden ran for office, but the pandemic has proven frustratingly hard to control as the same time as Republican officials battle mitigation measures like vaccine or mask mandates. The report gives the administration something to brag about heading into the Thanksgiving weekend and shortly after it became clear more Americans have died from the virus in 2021 than in 2020 despite the widespread availability of a safe and effective vaccine. The toll stands are nearly 774,000. "These requirements work: they increase vaccination rates—leading to a safer, more productive, and efficient workforce," OMB said in a blog post. | | "They're good for workers, good for businesses, and good for the country. That's why the President has called for businesses to follow the Federal Government's lead and put these requirements into place right now," OMB said. The top-line numbers are slightly up from Monday, when White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said 90 percent of federal workers had had at least one shot and the total of employees in compliance with Biden's order was 95 percent. For contrast, The Washington Post calculates 59 percent of Americans overall are fully vaccinated, while about two thirds have had at least one shot. The most vaccinated state, Vermont, comes in at 72.6 percent. | USAID has highest vaccination rate | | Of the 24 departments OMB surveyed, the highest performing was the U.S. Agency for International Development, where 97.8 percent of workers have had at least one shot. The Department of Agriculture brought up the rear at 86.1 percent. (USDA's "compliance" rate was 95.6 percent, suggesting a high number of exemption requests.) The Departments of Homeland Security, Interior, Justice, Veterans Affairs, and the Social Security Administration all reported vaccination rates under 90 percent. On Monday, Zients had cited 99 percent compliance at the FBI and the FAA; 98 percent at the IRS and US Customs and Border Protection; and 93 percent at the TSA. Inside the Executive Office of the President, 99 percent of employees were vaccinated, he said. For most holdouts, agencies start with a five-day "education and counseling" period of highlighting the benefits of the vaccine and where to get it. That escalates to a suspension of 14 days or less for continued refusal. That "can be followed by proposing removal." "This next stage of the process will not result in disruptions to Government services and operations and will result in more employees becoming vaccinated," OMB said in its blog post. That's a really critical question. Republicans who oppose the mandate have pointed to holdouts in the Defense Department and the intelligence community, where losing even a few critical employees could have significant consequences. | | "The numbers are quite small," Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told lawmakers in late October. "We're not anticipating that it is going to be an issue for mission." At CIA, at least 97 percent of the workforce had been vaccinated when she testified. On Nov. 1, the Pentagon had said 97 percent of active-duty forces had had at least one shot. But my colleague Alex Horton reported this weekend up to 10,000 active-duty Marines won't make the Defense Department's deadline. "While 94 percent of Marine Corps personnel have met the vaccination requirement or are on a path to do so, according to the latest official data, for the remainder it is too late to begin a regimen and complete it by the service's Nov. 28 deadline. Within an institution built upon the belief that orders are to be obeyed, and one that brands itself the nation's premier crisis-response force, it is a vexing outcome," Alex reported. | | Office of Management and Budget on news 90 percent of federal workforce is vaccinated | "These requirements work: they increase vaccination rates—leading to a safer, more productive, and efficient workforce." | | | | | | | | |  | What's happening now | |  Holiday hiring sign is displayed at a retail store in Vernon Hills, Ill., on Nov. 13, 2021. (Nam Y. Huh/AP) | | Weekly jobless claims plunge to 199,000, the lowest level in more than 50 years | | "It's a stark contrast to this time last year, when claims were hovering around 700,000. It's also a reflection of a tight labor market that has companies scrambling to retain and expand their workforces, and stands out in an economic landscape wracked by the highest inflation in decades and a protracted supply chain crisis," Taylor Telford and Aaron Gregg report. | | "It is fair to say we didn't see that coming," Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate, said Wednesday in comments emailed to The Post. "Getting new claims below the 200,000 level for the first time since the pandemic began is truly significant, portraying further improvement." | Biden nominates Young as budget director, Coloretti deputy | | "President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he is nominating Shalanda Young to lead the White House budget office and Nani Coloretti to serve as Young's deputy," the Associated Press's Darlene Superville and Alexandra Jaffe report. "If confirmed by the Senate, Young would be the first Black woman to lead the Office of Management and Budget while Coloretti, who is Filipino American, would become one of the highest-ranking Asian Americans in the Biden administration." | U.S. invites Taiwan to its democracy summit, angering China | | "The Biden administration has invited Taiwan to its 'Summit for Democracy' next month, according to a list of participants published on Tuesday, a move that infuriated China, which views the democratically governed island as its territory," Reuters's Humeyra Pamuk reports. | German parties form new center-left led government, marking end of Merkel era | | "The new coalition will mark a shift for Germany after more than a decade and a half in power for [Angela] Merkel's center-right Christian Democrats, which will now head into the opposition. But few expect drastic departures in policy from a government under [Olaf] Scholz, who served as finance minister in Merkel's outgoing cabinet," Loveday Morris reports. | U.S. to require vaccines for all border crossers in January | | "President Joe Biden will require essential, nonresident travelers crossing U.S. land borders, such as truck drivers, government and emergency response officials, to be fully vaccinated beginning on Jan. 22, the administration planned to announce," the AP's Zeke Miller reports. | Exxon lobbyist questions urgency of climate's catastrophic risks | | "Erik Oswald, a vice president and registered lobbyist for Exxon, said during a Nov. 9 panel hosted by the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission in Santa Fe, N.M., highlighted his firm's financial interest in curbing carbon emissions rather than the dangers posed by climate change," Desmond Butler reports. "Is it catastrophic inevitable risk? Not in my mind. But there is risk," he said, according to a recording that the watchdog group Documented shared with The Post. | Pentagon forms a group to examine unexplained aerial sightings | | "The Pentagon on Tuesday night announced a new group to investigate reports of unidentified aerial phenomena in sensitive areas, work that will be overseen by both the military and the intelligence agencies," the New York Times's Julian E. Barnes reports. "The group will lead an effort to 'detect, identify and attribute objects' in restricted airspace, as well as mitigate any threats to military flights." | Russia and Ukraine both step up military alert with combat drills | | "Russia staged military drills in the Black Sea, south of Ukraine, on Wednesday and said it needed to sharpen the combat-readiness of its conventional and nuclear forces because of heightened NATO activity near its borders," Reuters's Alexander Marrow and Pavel Polityuk report. | | |  | Lunchtime reads from The Post | | Deep dive into Astroworld deaths |  Travis Scott performs on day one of the Astroworld Festival at NRG Park on Nov. 5, 2021, in Houston. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP) | | Seven of the 10 dead after Astroworld Festival were in one highly packed section of the audience | | "At least seven of the 10 dead after the Astroworld Festival were clustered in a small area enclosed on three sides by metal barriers that became dangerously crowded, according to a Washington Post investigation," Shawn Boburg, Sarah Cahlan, Joyce Sohyun Lee, Atthar Mirza and Elyse Samuels report. "The Post's reconstruction of the night's events, including details evident in exclusively obtained videos, also underscores unanswered questions about how long the concert was allowed to continue after fans already were pleading for help and receiving emergency care." |  President Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff assemble Thanksgiving meal kits at the DC Central Kitchen in Washington on Nov. 23, 2021. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP) | | Does Biden need an enemy? | | "To improve Biden's popularity, earnest consultants might tell him to work on the fundamentals. But the fundamentals are actually good: The economy is getting better. Americans have both cash and jobs. Sure, inflation is an issue, but it's a global phenomenon and not unexpected, because we're coming out of a pandemic. The disconnect between the facts and the polls suggests that Biden's true problem is a narrative one. Specifically, he doesn't have an enemy, a punching bag to absorb Americans' anger (rational or irrational)," the Atlantic's Molly Jong-Fast writes. | 'Let's talk about what truly happened': Native Americans push for inclusion beyond lessons about Thanksgiving | | "Those advocating for Indigenous studies in K-12 schools intend to give students the opportunity to learn about American Indians throughout the academic year rather than solely on Thanksgiving or Indigenous Peoples' Day," the 19th's Nadra Nittle reports. | | |  | The Biden agenda | |  Biden and first lady Jill Biden make their way to board Air Force One before departing from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Nov. 23, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/AFP) | | Beyond Manchin: Dems' $2T bill faces Senate gauntlet | | "It took half a year but Democrats have driven President Joe Biden's $2 trillion package of social and climate initiatives through the House. It gets no easier in the Senate, where painful Republican amendments, restrictive rules and Joe Manchin lurk," the AP's Alan Fram reports. | Hostage families' mission to meet the president | | "Relatives of American hostages and political prisoners held overseas are increasingly impatient for a meeting with President Biden," Axios's Zachary Basu reports. "In half a century in politics, Biden has long worn his empathy on his sleeve. Multiple hostage advocates told Axios they believe the president's key advisers are deliberately shielding him from the personal agony of these stories to minimize the potential for emotional decision-making." | Immigrant protections in Democrats' plan inch forward in senate | | "Democratic aides met with the Senate parliamentarian to informally discuss a plan to give some undocumented immigrants temporary work permits and deportation protections, a pathway known as parole, according to a person familiar with the effort," Bloomberg Government's Ellen M. Gilmer reports. | Many environmentalists back Biden's move to tap oil reserve | | "Democrats and climate activists generally supported President Joe Biden's decision to release a record 50 million barrels of oil from America's strategic reserve, even as the move appeared to contradict his long-term vision of combating climate change," the AP's Matthew Daly reports. | Flush with cash, Saudi prince snubs Biden and sends a message | | "For Prince Mohammed [bin Salman], sitting atop what's sometimes described as the central bank of oil, soaring crude prices are giving him the confidence to demand the attention of Biden, and everyone else. The influx of cash also helps his plan to make the kingdom a global investment powerhouse through the $450 billion Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund which he also chairs and wants to grow to $1 trillion by 2025," Bloomberg's Matthew Martin and Javier Blas report. | | |  | D.C. records 200th homicide, visualized | | | The District on Monday recorded its 200th homicide this year, the first time that symbolic threshold of deadly violence has been reached in the nation's capital since 2003. | | |  | Hot on the left | | The Buttigieg presidential buzz has penetrated the White House | | "Since 2010, he has run for treasurer of Indiana, mayor of South Bend, chair of the Democratic National Committee, and president of the United States. At 39, he is one of the most omnipresent and newly-powerful members of President Joe Biden's Cabinet. But he says he's not thinking about what comes next, even as he's buzzed about as a potential Biden heir," Politico's Alex Thompson reports. "While Buttigieg says he's not contemplating the race to be Biden's successor, inside the West Wing, others are imagining it for him. His name is sometimes discussed by aides as a natural Democratic presidential nominee in 2028 — or 2024 if the president opts not to run." | | |  | Hot on the right | | | Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wants to award Kyle Rittenhouse a Congressional Gold Medal. | | |  | Today in Washington | | | The president and vice president have nothing on their public schedules today. The Bidens are on Nantucket, where they will stay at the home of Carlyle Group founder David Rubenstein until Sunday. | | |  | In closing | |  Bob Vogelbaugh, known as "Mr. Thanksgiving," on his front porch in Moline, Ill. (Vicki Birdsell-Baker) | | | As we head into Thanksgiving, here's a heartwarming story about 80-year-old Bob Vogelbaugh, a former grocer (and current crossing guard) who has for decades hosted free Thanksgiving feast for 3,000. Cathy Free has the touching details on the man whose community knows him as "Mr. Thanksgiving." | | Thanks for reading. Happy early Thanksgiving, and see you next week. | | |
