An Ignoble Experiment: GOP lawmakers melt down over having to wear masks again

By Liza Hearon

TOP STORIES

Thursday, July 29

GOP MEMBERS FIGHT AND YELL OVER MASKS On the advice of the congressional physician, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) reinstated a mask mandate for House lawmakers and staff amid the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus. House Republicans responded with fighting and yelling, with Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), trying and failing to get the House to adjourn for the day on Wednesday because he didn't want to wear a mask. [HuffPost]

PELOSI DOESN'T MINCE WORDS ON CORONAVIRUS Asked to respond to Republican leader Kevin McCarthy's rejection of the reimposed mask mandate in the House, Pelosi didn't hold back: "He's such a moron," she told reporters. The California Republican claimed the new mask mandate was not based in science. [HuffPost]

SIMONE BILES RESPONDS TO SUPPORTERS Champion gymnast Simone Biles said the supportive response to her withdrawal from the Tokyo Olympics has made her realize she's more than her sport. "The outpouring love & support I've received has made me realize I'm more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before," she tweeted. [HuffPost]

INFRASTRUCTURE BILL MOVES FORWARD A bipartisan group of senators voted to move forward on a compromise infrastructure bill, a significant step toward achieving a major item on President Joe Biden's agenda. Talks were seemingly on the brink of collapse after finger-pointing by both sides only days earlier. [HuffPost]

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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT WARNS STATES ABOUT 'UNUSUAL' TRUMP-INSPIRED 'AUDITS' As Donald Trump-supporting state politicians consider conducting conspiratorial "audits" of the 2020 election returns, the Justice Department warned that federal law requires states to maintain possession of or direct supervision over election records that some states are handing over to contractors. An official told reporters that the administration was "keeping a close eye on what's going on around the country." [HuffPost]

REP. JIM JORDAN GRILLED ON WHEN HE SPOKE TO TRUMP Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) admitted, vaguely, that he spoke to Trump on Jan. 6, increasing the likelihood that he could be called to testify in the congressional inquiry. But in a grilling from a reporter on Wednesday he said he spoke to Trump "all the time" and couldn't remember the exact timing. [HuffPost]

WHAT'S BREWING

TRUMP'S FOLLOWERS PAY THE PRICE FOR JAN. 6 Ashli Babbitt is dead because of Trump's lies about the election. Many of her fellow insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 will own criminal records for the rest of their lives or serve prison time. Trump himself, meanwhile, has thus far escaped any legal consequence for his attempt to overthrow American democracy, writes S.V. Dáte. [HuffPost]

NXIVM SEX CULT MEMBER AVOIDS PRISON TIME A former member of NXIVM leader Keith Raniere's inner circle who was charged in his sex trafficking enterprise avoided prison at sentencing after prosecutors cited her extraordinary cooperation. Lauren Salzman was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court to five years probation for her role in the scandal-ridden, cult-like secret society of brainwashed women. [AP]

DISTURBING VIDEO SHOWS SALMON BURNING IN OVERHEATED RIVER A new video is highlighting the devastating effect of recent heat waves on Pacific Northwest salmon, which are suffering from lesions and fungus due to rising water temperatures, according to a nonprofit organization. Unusually warm temperatures have already been blamed for mass salmon deaths and illness. [HuffPost]

TEXAS GOV BANS GROUND TRANSPORTATION OF MIGRANTS Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) issued an executive order restricting the ground transportation of migrants, citing COVID-19 concerns. Immigration rights advocates have decried the order as "flagrantly illegal." Attorneys say migrants only make up a fraction of new coronavirus cases in Texas, and a majority of them are voluntarily getting vaccinated. [HuffPost]

RON POPEIL, INFORMERCIAL TYCOON, DIES AT 86 Ron Popeil, the legendary infomercial personality and inventor, died Wednesday. Popeil became the face of television marketing in the mid-1950s through his Ronco products, like the Chop-O-Matic and Hair in a Can. He may have been best known for his catchphrases, including, "Set it, and forget it!" [HuffPost]